Volume 3, No. 9. May 9, 2003
Figments
of imagination
Many of the world’s most popular celebrities are not real. The nice thing
for budget restricted parks and zoos is that many of those celebrities reside
in your very neighborhood, down at the local cable station.
“Last year we had Spider-man,” said David Dean, president of Joyland
Amusement Park in Lubbock, Texas. “We’re trying to do it this year
with Hulk.”
Dean works with his local cable provider to bring costumed characters out to
his park, which the cable company can do if it broadcasts the cartoons featuring
the characters and has access to their licenses. Among the characters available
are Marvel heroes, Nickelodeon toons or Scooby-Doo’s gang. Joyland has
had actors who play the character come in from Dallas, and the park has had
costumes arrive in Federal Express packages for someone at the park to wear
for the day. “A friend of my wife’s got to dress up as Dexter,”
Dean said.
“Sometimes the cable rep pays part of the fee for them coming, sometimes
we pay part of the fee,” Dean said. “A lot of times the cable company
can work with the park’s budget. They can bring in whatever you can afford.”
Nickelodeon characters, for example, tend to cost more than Marvel characters,
said Dean, who backed off of SpongeBob SquarePants when he saw the appearance
fee. But Hulk would cost him about $3,000, a fee which other sponsors could
subsidize.
The character generally greets guests at the park, works an autograph stand
and poses for pictures. The park advertises the appearance which, Dean said,
could prompt people to show up merely to see the character. “They could
come here and go, ‘Hey, while we’re here, let’s go ride something,’”
said Dean, whose Joyland is a pay-as-you-go park. He tries to schedule the appearances
early in the season and on days when they are more apt to bolster attendance,
like a holiday weekend.
Naturally, the character has to have some drawing power. Dean wants Hulk this
year because the Hollywood film based on the character is scheduled to be released
this summer. In doing so he hopes to catch lightning in a bottle twice, after
his experience with Spider-man’s appearance last year.
“Sometimes you hit these things and all the pieces fall into place, and
sometimes it’s more difficult,” he said. “Spider-man made a great
BIG difference. A lot of people came out to see Spider-man. I’m just guessing
he did 500 autographs.”
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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