From Marvel movie to attraction: Avengers Campus opens at Disneyland Paris

The whole world knows about superhero movies, but how do you turn it into a physical experience? In recent years, Disneyland Paris has worked hard to attract visitors to the Marvel universe. The result is the Avengers Campus, opening July 20 at Walt Disney Studios Park. “We have put our soul and our salvation in this,” artistic director Beth Clapperton told NU.nl.

Help Peter Parker (real name Spider-Man) avoid a double robot catastrophe or be launched into the universe as a superhero on a roller coaster: these are two of the soon-to-open attractions in the park with French attractions.

Thanks to an investment of 2 billion euros in 2018, Walt Disney Studios Park will grow considerably in the coming years. The first result is the Marvel Avengers Campus. The theme park has already opened in Los Angeles and offers several superhero-focused attractions. Some come straight from the United States, others just from Paris.

“A few years ago we started discussing how to turn the Marvel world into something physical,” says the designer. “You start with the basics, these are epic stories that always have a human core. We wanted to create a place where the Avengers could create.”

“Now the story is, they want a world with more heroes. They hope to discover and train new superheroes on their campus and the power of collaboration. At first glance we kept out more theatrical films and comics.’

Compress history in minutes

Clapperton makes movies more interesting places. He previously worked on the attraction in the Pixar movie Ratatouille the foundation was laid. “You start with a story and squeeze it into a four or five minute experience. It is never the same as an hour and a half of film. So you have to take it apart and heal it.”

“By the way, you also need to think about how you want to add your charm. Will it be something you physically walk around with, see footage from the film? Are you looking for tools to tell the story?”

Beth Clapperton is working on new attractions at Disneyland Paris.

“As powerful as the movie”

Clapperton says it takes years to get a movie into a shot. “I started this project in November 2018, but a smaller team had started a year ago. The whole process is divided into three parts. After a design phase in which you let your imagination run wild, everything is designed with three-dimensional drawings. † These three phases then take about the same time to start the real production.

Since much has already been thought of in the cinematic universe, Clapperton had to take a detour. Doesn’t this make her feel blocked? “Absolutely not,” he replies.

“On the contrary. The richer the Marvel Universe gets, the more ways we find ways to tell a story. When you make something cinematic into a physical world, you sometimes run into physical limitations. For example, we don’t do cheats for movies. someone is flying so dreamers We use other tricks. You also have a lot of creative opportunities out there to tell a story. I find it as powerful as a movie.”