Volume 2, No. 12. June 28, 2002
New Arrivals
It's
a roller coaster!
Warner Bros. Movie World in Gold Coast, Australia, announces the arrival of
Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster, June 17, 2002. Measurements: 17 meters high
(56 feet), 530 meters long (1,749). Delivered by Mack.
When a blockbuster-to-be movie is filmed right next door, who wouldn't grab some of the glory, not to mention some of the props? Desiring to build an indoor coaster and looking for something to replace its Gremlins ride, which opened with the park in 1991, WB Movie World grabbed the opportunity of the filming of Scooby-Doo in the studios adjoining the theme park to make the changes it long desired.
In doing so, the park accomplished a marriage of many forms. The Mack Mouse starts off with a long run through several scenes typical of a haunted house or dark ride, with swinging axes and monsters jumping out at the cars. A quarter of the way into the ride, the car's ascend a vertical lift and roll down the first drop backwards. The continue up onto a turntable, where they rotate and continue the rest of the hairpin course in traditional manner, albeit all indoors.
"We were able to use the same people involved with the movie to assist with the theming of the ride, and used a number of the actual artifacts from the movie on the ride," said Steve Peet, CEO of Warner Village Theme Parks. Several of the park's rides carry out movie themes, but not to the degree Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster does, which nearly replicates a coaster Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne rides in the movie. "It was very, very easy to convert the imagery of that scene straight into the ride itself," Peet said.
When WB Movie World was deemed the ideal place to give the movie its Australian premier, the occasion also served as the perfect moment to premier the ride. The gala night attracted key tourism and entertainment officials, Linda Cardellini who plays Velma in the movie, and the big star himself, Neil Fanning, the voice of Scooby and a performer in the park's Police Academy Stunt Show.
"Unbeknownst to us, he did the voice of Scooby-Doo," Peet said. Fanning first was hired to help the movie with coordinating locations, including the Warner Village's Wet 'n' Wild waterpark, which served as a setting for the mythical Spooky Island Theme park, but his talents became obvious to the producers who cast him as the lead vocal role.
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