Halloween in Japan

WEBVTT

1
00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:12.679
Halloween Whernits is a little different in
Japan than in the US. That's coming

2
00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:19.640
up on today's show from the Hanted
Attraction Network. I'm Philip and this is

3
00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:23.199
our sixty one day Haunted on where
we're counting down to Halloween by celebrating haunted

4
00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:28.199
houses daily via videos, podcasts,
and VAP experiences. Since this podcast is

5
00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.280
only part of this year's Hantathon,
the best way to follow along is by

6
00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:35.280
subscribing to our newsletter where you're get
weekly updates, or by going to our

7
00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:39.439
website at Hanted Attraction Network dot com
and clicking on the hantaed on twenty twenty

8
00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:44.759
three link. Today's episode is a
replay from our sister show called Green Tag

9
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:49.479
Them Parkdin thirty, and in it, I'm discussing my experience at Ayappa Presents

10
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:54.600
Universal Studios Japan. Specifically, we're
going into the details of the Halloween programming

11
00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:59.079
and the IP experiences that they really
bring to life in Japan. So,

12
00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.640
without further ado, here is Scott
and I from Green Tag Team Park in

13
00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:07.719
thirty discussing Halloween at Universal Studios Japan. From our studios in Los Angeles and

14
00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.719
Tampa. This is a Green Tag
Team Park in thirty. I'm Philip,

15
00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.079
and as always I'm joined by Scott
Swinson of Scott Swinson Credited Development. Hello

16
00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:21.280
Scott, Hello Philip, Welcome back
to the United States. You've been You've

17
00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:26.159
been traveling abroad for a while.
Yeah. So between this last recording,

18
00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:27.519
when I was on my way to
the airport and I just got back last

19
00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:32.480
night, I went to Japan,
and then I had a layover in Hong

20
00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.120
Kong, and I went there to
see the Halloween events. Of course,

21
00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.480
yes, of course, And of
course I spent my to hourlayover running to

22
00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.719
taking a taxi to Hong Kong's Land, which was a journey, an odyssey

23
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:49.280
in and of itself. But I
went to Universal for the Ayapa Presents Universal

24
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:55.000
Studios Japan, which was a fantastic
event put together by the Asia Pacific region

25
00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:59.719
there and it had education and it
had tours and whatnot. And what I

26
00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:01.920
did was I really want to talk
about this event on the show. So

27
00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:07.680
of course I took notes as I
do during the presentation, meticulous notes,

28
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.520
and I what I articulously what I
tried to do, And I've created a

29
00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:15.080
spreadsheet with various tabs and yeah,
oh yes, yeah, I know you

30
00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:20.120
really truly. So what I tried
to do then was take the big,

31
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:24.080
big key takeaway moments they mentioned in
the presentation and then make sure that the

32
00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:28.400
next day when I was there and
then the following day when I was there

33
00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:30.800
meeting with the team, that I
made sure to go to those experiences so

34
00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:35.719
I can speak firsthand about, you
know, what they were talking about the

35
00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:39.080
presentation, right, So, so
in other words, here's what they said,

36
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:42.479
here's what they did, Yes,
are they in line? Yeah?

37
00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.199
And then what can we take away
for our audience? So so yeah,

38
00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:53.319
So so basically the presentation, tom
Merman, our old buddy Tom, he

39
00:02:53.439 --> 00:02:57.639
kicked it off and he gave us
some background just kind of underlying the importance

40
00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.719
of USJ. He said that one
in five visit to Japan actually attend USJ,

41
00:03:00.919 --> 00:03:06.319
which really really underscores, you know, that they're a cornerstone for the

42
00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.439
market and underscoring that it's the number
three most visited a theme park in the

43
00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:15.080
world. And he talked about they
have them having three pillars as a management

44
00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:20.120
and creative team, to become the
destination of choice, the employer of choice,

45
00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.840
and to give a return to shareholders. That's kind of basic right,

46
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:30.159
his in his I think in their
view, becoming a destination of choice means

47
00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:37.400
staying culturally relevant to Japanese culture particularly, and for them, their biggest way

48
00:03:37.400 --> 00:03:42.280
to do that is IP overlays.
So of course we know that they just

49
00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:46.919
opened Super Mario there not too long
ago, and it was a huge It's

50
00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:51.800
an enormous expansion. It's the much
larger here than the one in the US.

51
00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:53.599
Right, that's very popular. They
have a lot of IPS there,

52
00:03:54.039 --> 00:04:00.800
and specifically what they want to talk
about in the presentation was not the the

53
00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:05.280
like the permanent eyeps, but what
they call temporary ips, which is,

54
00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:10.960
you know, the temper ips that
they use for their seasonal overlays basically,

55
00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:14.240
and of course since it was Halloween
time they taught, they focused in on

56
00:04:14.919 --> 00:04:19.720
the temporary ips that they utilized for
Halloween. So so so before we get

57
00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.920
before we get too deep in here, I have just a couple of quick

58
00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:29.720
questions because I honestly don't know.
So Universal Universal Studios Japan is that a

59
00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:35.040
is that a licensed Universal Studios or
is it part of uh Universal Studios that

60
00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:39.079
we know here in the States.
It is part of our Universal Yeah,

61
00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:43.279
it is team members from the from
from US will go back and forth.

62
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.680
But there is a team based there
in Japan, and I'd say the team

63
00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:49.480
is kind of mixed, right,
there's a there's a core team that is

64
00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:54.879
Japanese, but they but kind of
they have rotating folks from the other parts

65
00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:58.680
come in. And then the other
question I had was when you stay when

66
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:02.079
you say they want to stay culturally
relevant with but they and the way to

67
00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:06.560
do that is with intellectual properties.
Are the majority of these intellectual properties Japanese

68
00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:13.199
focused or are they just popular in
Japan? So I think they are both

69
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:18.959
those things because honestly, all the
examples that they shared were all all anime.

70
00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.399
Okay, good, good, That's
what I just wanted to clarify that

71
00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:27.079
real quick, because you know,
I know that if if I'm questioning,

72
00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:30.399
and I have a little bit of
insight into this stuff, but if I'm

73
00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:31.480
a questioning, I just want to
make sure that we're being clear with our

74
00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.399
listeners as well. So that's great. I'm glad to hear that. I'm

75
00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:36.839
glad to hear that because I didn't
I know that in some countries, for

76
00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:42.000
example, all of their intellectual properties, all the intellectual properties that are so

77
00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:46.160
cool and popular come from other countries. Yeah, And I just was I

78
00:05:46.279 --> 00:05:48.800
was curious to see if that was
if that was the case here, but

79
00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:53.160
clearly not if it comes from anime. And of course you know Mario and

80
00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:55.639
that sort of stuff. So that's
that's great. Yeah, so cool,

81
00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:58.839
right, I just wanted to clariff
that's right. Clarification I would say that

82
00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:03.079
I think the permanent stuff is is
definitely you know, Harry Potter is not

83
00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:08.639
there whatever, But all the temporary
stuff is either from anime or from local

84
00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:12.120
artists. Like there's a song that
was composed this year that's from a local

85
00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:15.560
pop singer that's very popular in Japan. So they So, I think his

86
00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:20.360
point is valid in that that they
have trying to be a destination of choice

87
00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:25.279
for locals and for visitors. And
if you're visiting Japan, you know you

88
00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.839
want local you know, you're visiting
Chan for Japan, You're not visiting Chan

89
00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.240
for America, right, So and
I think so, I think that's that's

90
00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:38.759
very smart them. They and then
they they gave a presentation called Unlocking the

91
00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.839
Power of IP and Entertainment Programs,
and it was presented by Dan Mitchell and

92
00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:46.160
Dan Peiz from the Creative team there. They didn't say anything that our listeners

93
00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:51.319
would not be familiar with in terms
of the overarching view. Right. They

94
00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:56.560
talked about how it's cheaper just like
we do. It's cheaper and potentially more

95
00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.000
beneficial to do temporary installations, which
we've talked about out. They talk about

96
00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.759
adaptive reuse is what they call it, which is what we would call utilizing

97
00:07:03.800 --> 00:07:10.759
your assets. You know, they
talked about the balancing new ips versus established

98
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.800
ones because the new ones can be
cheaper, but it's hard to work with

99
00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:16.839
them. Potentially they've never done something. Establish stuff is more expensive. And

100
00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.160
they just talked about it being helping
driving attendants for shoulder seasons. They didn't

101
00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:25.439
use the term shoulder season, that's
my term. And then you know,

102
00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:30.759
they also talked about it helping to
basically suck crowds away, you know,

103
00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:36.079
during peak times into so everything we've
talked about so right, yeah, right,

104
00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:40.920
So it's interesting because you know,
you mentioned you mentioned the term shoulder

105
00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:44.839
season or lower attendance periods, and
I can remember I just had a very

106
00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:51.759
long discussion with one of my clients
about the way Halloween events actually started in

107
00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:56.000
theme works, and that was to
cover the shoulder season between summer and Christmas,

108
00:07:56.360 --> 00:08:00.000
but that shoulder season really no longer
exists. Halloween has become such an

109
00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.199
integral part of it, and utilizing
these temporary ips, as you say,

110
00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.920
seems to be a smart way because
you just know you're going to do a

111
00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:13.399
pop quote unquote a pop up ip
for Halloween and potentially for Christmas or the

112
00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:20.720
winter season as well. So it
seems like the idea of Laura attendance period

113
00:08:20.920 --> 00:08:24.360
that's no longer the Halloween season in
most cases. Is that still true?

114
00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:26.560
Is that still true in the Japanese
market as well. That's a great point.

115
00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.159
And I asked several members of the
creative team and they didn't give me

116
00:08:31.200 --> 00:08:35.879
an answer, so I don't have
an official answer, or at least they

117
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.480
didn't want to go on the record
give me an answer. I also couldn't

118
00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:45.120
even get from them an on the
record answer about what percentage of their folks

119
00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:50.559
attending Halloween or annual passes versus visitors
versus international guests. They would not tell

120
00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:54.639
me any of that. What I
can say from my experience there at the

121
00:08:54.679 --> 00:09:03.399
event is that this almost seems like
it is developmentally several years behind the US

122
00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:09.279
Halloween events in that I sense that
this is still something to fill a shoulder

123
00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:13.960
season. That is, it has
yet to come into its own in the

124
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:22.480
way that Universal Studios Orlando is its
own entity. I don't think that it

125
00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:26.799
has gotten to that point yet.
So it feels it just feels developmentally behind

126
00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:33.960
in that way. Like the creative
direction for the event as a whole is

127
00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:37.519
definitely lacking, and some of the
spaces are you know, just a lot

128
00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.320
of the Clearly they're focused on the
IP and making the IP integrate into event.

129
00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:46.639
They're less focused on We're creating an
event in and of its own that

130
00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.639
people are coming for. It's more
like we're doing something to encourage people to

131
00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:54.039
visit, and that thing is IP
and it happens during quote unquote Horrorites,

132
00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:00.879
But honestly, as someone visiting would
I would not even know that it was

133
00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:05.759
horrorites. There are not there's not
signage, there's not banners on the streets,

134
00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:11.919
there's not a cohesive design anywhere.
I mean, there's barely a map,

135
00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:16.080
right, I mean, it's really
it's really like, come for our

136
00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:22.639
parade featuring Pokemon, and come for
our Halloween Pokemon dance party featuring DJ Gangar

137
00:10:22.279 --> 00:10:26.840
and also come for the ju Jitsu
Kaizen experience. Oh, by the way,

138
00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.840
these are for Halloween. That makes
sense, not really so yeah,

139
00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:39.519
so what I'm hearing is unlike unlike
Universal Orlando Halloween Hornites, which is almost

140
00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.519
well no, not almost, is
now a brand unto itself, as we

141
00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:46.559
are seeing in the in the Vegas
installation. You know, it is a

142
00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:52.080
brand on too itself. This is
still to your point, at the point

143
00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.840
of its development where it's let's throw
them throw some Halloween things into our park

144
00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:01.480
mix and see how this how this
stands as opposed to diving into all things

145
00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:05.200
Halloween, which you know it may
it kind of makes sense really because Halloween

146
00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:11.480
is significantly more of an American holiday
slash celebration anyway. So if they are

147
00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:18.279
trying to remain culturally culturally valid and
connected to the to the local culture,

148
00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:20.919
then to be able to say,
you know, here's this, this,

149
00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:26.480
and this, which are all Japanese
in origin and Japanese in popularity, and

150
00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:30.639
by the way, we'll we'll wrap
it into that sort of Halloween thing that

151
00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:35.960
goes along with Yeah, it could
also it could also be. But yet

152
00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:43.799
I think to your point it basically
they're not utilizing the brand of Halloween Hornites

153
00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:46.679
almost at all to your point,
and I think to your point, it

154
00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:48.639
could be. It could be again
they would not answer me when I asked,

155
00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:56.759
So it could be that it's because
they're unaware of uh, you know,

156
00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:01.120
of of what what it could be, you know, or whatever.

157
00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:03.480
Or it could be it's not popular
in the Japanese market, or it could

158
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:09.399
also be that, which is what
I personally think the reason is because again

159
00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:13.759
there there may be like a decade
behind the US parks. I think that

160
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:18.000
it's not a separately ticketed event.
So therefore you don't you almost like don't

161
00:12:18.080 --> 00:12:22.399
need to make it a thing.
Like if they were to transition into charging

162
00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:28.440
for this thing, then there would
be a reason to call this thing horror

163
00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.679
Nites, and you would have to
come up with reasons for people to attend,

164
00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:35.120
and you would need to program those
things right, And if you look

165
00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:37.639
back at our history here in the
US, that's kind of what happened,

166
00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:41.600
right whenever Halloween exactly, you know
what I mean. So that's what I

167
00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:46.000
mean, Like they're developmentally behind,
like and maybe they'll never do that because

168
00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.000
of the culture. Maybe they'll never
make it. I would maybe it's not

169
00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:50.480
right for the market, maybe there's
not that much draw for it. But

170
00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.519
but yeah, this is this is
no different than many many, many parks

171
00:12:54.559 --> 00:12:58.360
went through here in the States where
it was okay, let's add let's add

172
00:12:58.440 --> 00:13:03.279
some trigger treating stuff, and then
let's add some and it developed into Halloween.

173
00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:07.000
Now, in many, many cases, if it's going to be scary

174
00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:11.200
or more accurately, if it's going
to be outside of the family friendly theme

175
00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:18.120
park brand, then it's going to
be a separate admission tape. So and

176
00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:20.399
I know that when we made that
decision at Bush years ago, which was

177
00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.399
you know, it's been twenty four
years since since Hollow Scream started in Bush

178
00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:33.519
Tampa, and it's that decision twenty
four years ago was a tough discussion to

179
00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:35.559
have. It was, you know, do we have enough? Do we

180
00:13:35.639 --> 00:13:39.360
have? Are we willing to brand
this as its own separate entity? And

181
00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:43.600
the only thing that kicked it over
the edge was actually having the idea of

182
00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:48.440
this is Holo Scream at Bush Gardens. Now it later transitioned into Bush Gardens

183
00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.120
Hollow Scream, but the idea was
so that we wouldn't undermine the daytime brand.

184
00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:58.600
We would make it a separate admission
price so that people couldn't accidentally stumble

185
00:13:58.679 --> 00:14:03.360
into something that was too much for
them. But it sounds like what they're

186
00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:09.080
doing at at Universal Studios Japan is
they're doing stuff that is is so much

187
00:14:09.159 --> 00:14:11.639
in line with their day product that
they don't really have to worry about that

188
00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:16.279
and and they may eventually, you
know, discover, hey, here's an

189
00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:20.679
opportunity to get a second gate,
as many parks did here in the in

190
00:14:20.759 --> 00:14:24.879
the States. Yes, but I
don't know, it's just it's just interesting

191
00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.960
to me to see how how they
handle the same, the same, potentially

192
00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:33.720
the same event in different cultures.
I agree, And who knows, you

193
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:35.960
know, they wouldn't tell me,
They wouldn't give me an answer either way.

194
00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:41.919
So it might be a market mismatch, or it might be that they're

195
00:14:41.000 --> 00:14:45.720
just unaware, you know, of
you know, speaking to the creative team,

196
00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:48.759
it became clear to me that not
a lot of them had visited other

197
00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:56.000
events or really you know, even
knew what happens at the other Universal parks,

198
00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.720
you know. So so it could
be that, you know, it's

199
00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:01.519
like the idea of a second gate
is so foreign, or you know,

200
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:05.000
it could just not you know,
or or they're not sure it would work,

201
00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:07.840
or you know whatever. I don't
know, but but it's just it.

202
00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:11.159
It doesn't lean into that. And
to your point about the offerings being

203
00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:16.399
integrated, So the houses are open
almost the entire day, it's not like

204
00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:18.879
it's not like they open at night, you know, at six pm.

205
00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:24.399
They're open from like ten am to
nine thirty pm the closing time. And

206
00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:28.480
then the only thing that is timed
is the scare zones. They open at

207
00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:33.320
dark, and there's an announcement that
plays for like the hour beforehand, like

208
00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:37.120
every like fifteen minutes that is warning
people that the streets are going to fill

209
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:41.120
up in these areas and they'll be
startling effects and you know you might get

210
00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.360
scared and blah blah blah. So
it like prepares people, and then the

211
00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:48.440
scare zones come in for basically the
last two to three hours of the event.

212
00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:58.159
So so all the Halloween offerings are
available for the entire for every day,

213
00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:00.120
like they're just normally. It's just
like Christmas, right, they're just

214
00:16:00.159 --> 00:16:06.879
normally available and open. They're not
they're not so anyway pop ups within the

215
00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:10.759
brand. Yeah. So, so
the examples that they gave during their presentation

216
00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:14.440
about IP I thought I would go
through some of them and just give some

217
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:19.639
takeaways. Uh so the one that
I thought was actually the most impressive,

218
00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:26.039
and to me is like, again, these are things that it's so impressive.

219
00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:27.720
I'm not sure it would work in
the US because of the you know,

220
00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:32.559
the cost and how how how much
of a lift it is, and

221
00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:36.639
it's something that was only lightly touched
on during the presentation, but when I

222
00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:41.600
experienced it myself, I was almost
flabbergasted. So so this is the Jujitsu

223
00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:47.200
Kaisen experience, which happens in the
four D theater. Ju Jitsu Kaizen is

224
00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:53.519
a relatively new but wildly popular anime
series and it's kind of an action horror

225
00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.360
anime series. I love it,
of course, because it's horror and anime

226
00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:59.879
and action and whatnot. So I
love it. But it's relatively new,

227
00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:07.480
only in season. They're currently airing
season two, and it's very it's relatively

228
00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:10.480
adult, so it's not for kids
because it's you know, a lot of

229
00:17:10.519 --> 00:17:15.440
fighting and blood and demons and everything. And what they did was they designed

230
00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:19.720
an experience for their forty theater,
which usually has a Shrek and the best

231
00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:25.359
way I can explain it is that
they basically wrote an original, full length

232
00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:30.640
episode that you watch in the forty
theater, an episode that is animated for

233
00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:37.200
four D, and that is using
the actual voice actors from the anime series,

234
00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:41.359
and that fits with the script and
not only fits with the anime series,

235
00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:48.599
but it's almost like a canon episode
that is like added into the series.

236
00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:55.880
So it's almost like it's like here
having like something like The Last of

237
00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.000
Us where they made an episode that
you can only watch at Halloween horrorites,

238
00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:07.319
but that contains information that's part of
the series, right, So yeah,

239
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:11.480
yeah, it's completely and this is
they do this every year with a different

240
00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:15.279
series. So they had Detective Conan
one time, and it was a whole

241
00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:21.799
case that you you know, that
had had information that actually was referenced later

242
00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:23.799
in the anime series in it,
so it became part of canon. I

243
00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.720
mean, it is this is something
I'm not even sure. It's like I

244
00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:32.359
was flabbergasted at the depth of this, of getting the voice actors, writing

245
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.200
the script, you know, coming
up with a whole episode, making it

246
00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:37.319
four D, you know, which
is a separate animation studio to make it

247
00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:44.880
four D for forty three. It
was yeah, like well, and this

248
00:18:45.079 --> 00:18:47.480
is the kind of thing, This
is the kind of thing that you're right,

249
00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:51.519
is very very expensive to do here
in the States. However, with

250
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:56.680
an up and coming with an up
and coming IP, you know, you

251
00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:03.319
have the ability to get a hold
of of the voice actors or the company

252
00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:07.680
who owns the IP, who owns
the brand is far more willing to make

253
00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:15.160
their their writers or their animators or
their voiceover actors available to you because they're

254
00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:18.400
still looking at it as investment in
long term success. So yeah, this

255
00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:23.880
is something that you couldn't do with
you know, a long long standing i

256
00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:27.839
P, which is more expensive to
begin with. But I would guess that

257
00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:30.880
this is not only a pop up
for Universal to test it and see how

258
00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:34.559
it works with their market. It's
also a pop up for the people who

259
00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:40.240
own the who own the i P
outright and to say, is this something

260
00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:44.000
we can do perhaps full time?
I mean, it almost sounds like it

261
00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:48.720
almost sounds like an audition for a
long term agreement, or perhaps even an

262
00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:53.559
agreement with some other some other park, or or even doing their own live

263
00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:57.839
engagement interaction stuff. But it sounds
great. I love the idea of making

264
00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:02.160
it sort of this is this is
season one point five, right, this

265
00:20:02.279 --> 00:20:07.599
is season you know two point three, because it's it's tied into it's tied

266
00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:12.119
into the show bible of the whole
you know, story arc, and yet

267
00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:17.759
and yet unique to them. So
there's a lot of advantages to this.

268
00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:21.599
There is, there's a lot of
advantage and it gets even better there are

269
00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:23.279
easter eggs. Keep in mind,
this was all in Japanese, so I'm,

270
00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:26.079
you know, at best, my
translation is rocky at best. But

271
00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:33.039
what I do know is that they're
it gets better because they were easter eggs

272
00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:34.920
in it. So like at the
end of the episode, after the characters

273
00:20:34.960 --> 00:20:41.680
have had their battle and succeeded their
teacher, because it's it's three school kids

274
00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:45.000
that you're following, they're the main
protagonists, and their teacher is showing up

275
00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:48.680
and he's like basically, they're like, oh, well, let's go to

276
00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:51.240
Universal Studios Japan. And they talk
about how they're going to go to University

277
00:20:51.240 --> 00:20:55.759
Sities Japan and like ride rides,
which is great and it's integrated into the

278
00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:59.480
story. And then they're basically like, what's our reward and he's like,

279
00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:04.160
let's go to usj And I'm like
wow, And then they also he basically

280
00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:07.640
he was like I was just there
and he had like a thing of popcorn.

281
00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:11.200
He like throws popcorn that you can
buy out on the street, like

282
00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:14.480
the popcorn that like the chocolate popcorn
that you can buy at the event,

283
00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:19.160
he like throws at you in the
forty theater. Love it, absolutely Love

284
00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:23.119
that. Yeah, that's the see
that's the kind of integration of of of

285
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:30.640
merchandise, culinary guest experience that that
is is just so so impactful. It's

286
00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:37.079
it's sort of like back in the
earliest days of Muppet Vision at Universal I'm

287
00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:41.920
sorry, at Disney Studios, Disney
Hollywood Studios. They there was one point

288
00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:45.000
in time where they actually broke through
the wall of the theater and looked out

289
00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:49.200
into the park. I loved that
sort of seamlessness. And that sounds like

290
00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.000
this sounds a lot like that's the
kind of thing that they're that they're aiming

291
00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:55.079
for. However, they've done it
in such a way that it's not going

292
00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:56.599
to age out quite as quite as
quick well, and they've done it for

293
00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:02.200
just a what two month run,
you know, with an external ip and

294
00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:07.960
what another level steps it up in
even if possible and even an extra level.

295
00:22:07.559 --> 00:22:11.920
Right outside of the forty theater,
you can buy in the exclusive popcorn

296
00:22:11.960 --> 00:22:15.359
bucket, like with the guy who
throws the popcorn at you, like in

297
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:19.079
that scene, like it's his popcorn
bucket. You can get outside the theater

298
00:22:19.640 --> 00:22:25.119
and you can buy school uniforms,
the uniforms that they were wearing in the

299
00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:29.880
episode, out in the merch store. It like, this is excellent.

300
00:22:29.960 --> 00:22:33.000
This is a plus temporary IP integration. I just kept thinking, this is

301
00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:36.839
a month and a half that they
did all this work for a month and

302
00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:40.720
a half, a thing that's going
to just play. I mean, yeah,

303
00:22:40.920 --> 00:22:44.000
kudos, kudos, But well,
but if it's going to if it's

304
00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:48.400
going to help anchor the IP in
people's brains so that it's going to make

305
00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:51.319
it so that season two, season
three, season four, season fifty,

306
00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:53.960
season sixty continues to be there.
You know, it's it's a great It

307
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:57.599
seems like a great investment in time
and an effort, and it also makes

308
00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.960
it you know, not only no, not only is it good for the

309
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:03.880
for the long term of the brand, but also it's it's a great sort

310
00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:08.160
of short term makes it cutting edge
for the park. Yep. So yeah,

311
00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:12.359
and everything you just said they did
talk about in the presentation when they

312
00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.000
went through like kind of you know
that, So I think they're on the

313
00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:18.400
same page. They have a few
other ones I want to get through quickly.

314
00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:23.640
Not as much time on these,
but they do a Sadoku Satoku,

315
00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:27.319
which is the Japanese version of The
Ring. They do an overlay of that

316
00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:33.279
on their version of Space Mountain.
They're like Space Odyssey ride. They do

317
00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:37.480
overlay on this one. It's not
nearly as immersive. There's really just some

318
00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:41.039
you know, some some some story
and screen changes here and there, and

319
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:45.720
then as they're riding through you see
see some overlays of that. They still

320
00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:51.400
are doing their Biohazard Maze, which
is from Resident Evil, and you can

321
00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:53.839
it's the same one that they had
I think and they think deybuted it in

322
00:23:53.880 --> 00:23:57.519
twenty eighteen or nineteen one. It's
still there and you can choose the two

323
00:23:57.599 --> 00:24:00.240
routes of the main characters and it's
very you know, it's just like the

324
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:06.559
Last of Us. It's a game
IP maze integration. However, the big

325
00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.599
thing for this year was they're doing
a Chucky Maze, but they're just like,

326
00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:15.400
we are here and it's kind of
for you know, because Chucky has

327
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:18.519
a new series on Sci Fi,
so that's kind of why there's a lot

328
00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:22.039
of push for Chucky. But they're
they're doing it as kind of like the

329
00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:27.160
Child of Chucky, and it's an
original storyline just written just for this Maze

330
00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:33.559
of kind of how Chucky's son is
like rebelling because he doesn't want to kill

331
00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:36.599
people, and he like tries to
kill his dad and then like, you

332
00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:38.200
know, you can't kill Chucky and
so he like comes back. It's like

333
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:41.519
this whole fight between like father and
son type of thing that's happening throughout the

334
00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:47.119
Maze and Chuck. You know,
Chucky's sun Is speaks in Japanese because he's

335
00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:52.920
Japanese in this story. But they
did use the original voice actor for Chucky

336
00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:57.640
in the Maze, and they had
I mean, they used Brandy. So

337
00:24:57.960 --> 00:25:03.839
basically all the fabrication right is original, but it's made to look like it

338
00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:08.880
fits within the universe of it.
So that's that's another I guess we don't

339
00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:11.039
we don't do it that way in
the parks, but it's it's an if

340
00:25:11.079 --> 00:25:15.839
you can get the IP holder to
agree to something like that and you and

341
00:25:15.960 --> 00:25:18.400
you have the capacity to to work
on things like that. It is interesting.

342
00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:22.160
The only CABT I'm going to add
to that is they added a forty

343
00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:26.000
element into that maze, which I
don't think helps the story at all.

344
00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.920
Like there's no narrative reason for the
forty element, and it definitely takes away

345
00:25:30.359 --> 00:25:34.079
from from the Chucky element. But
the Chucky stuff is good as in,

346
00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:37.279
like, it makes sense, it
follows a narrative, it makes sense.

347
00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:42.279
It does look on brand for Chucky. Chucky looks like Chucky his son,

348
00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:47.359
you know, looks. I mean, so those pieces fit so well,

349
00:25:47.400 --> 00:25:49.240
that's no, that's that's great.
Well, you know, and what's interesting

350
00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:53.119
is when you say, you know, use like utilizing the original voice actors.

351
00:25:55.079 --> 00:25:59.119
I've I've one of the ips that
I've been involved with a couple of

352
00:25:59.240 --> 00:26:03.079
times is the the Sesame Street eyps
and getting you know, getting a lot

353
00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:07.319
of even when we're doing new shows, you have to work it into the

354
00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:11.319
budget because with those ips, you
cannot allow these characters to appear without utilizing

355
00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:18.000
the actual approved current voices or voice
actors. And there's a couple of different

356
00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.240
ways around that. It's it's usually
it is done in larger productions. Larger

357
00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:27.599
we'll call them full time productions.
It is done with a full script and

358
00:26:27.640 --> 00:26:30.839
a new recording session, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But

359
00:26:30.960 --> 00:26:36.680
there are times that, like for
smaller inserts, for shorter periods of time,

360
00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:44.640
they can get bits and pieces of
character lines and and and dialogue from

361
00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:49.400
others, from other scripts, other
shows, et cetera, edit them together

362
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:52.079
in such a way to create a
unique piece. Now, yes, the

363
00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:57.079
actors do still get their residuals for
those because they're being utilized again and in

364
00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:00.000
a different way. But you don't
have to have to pay the cost of

365
00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:07.480
or the full recording session. You
don't have to bring in the studio technicians.

366
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.279
It's basically just an editing situation and
some royalties. So there's a bunch

367
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.559
of different ways to get around that. I'm not sure how they did it

368
00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:15.799
here. I'm assuming, based on
what you've told me, because of the

369
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:22.200
robust storyline, that it did require
its own separate recording session was but the

370
00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:27.000
idea again once again, IP holders
love it when you use their original voices

371
00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:33.640
because again just reinforces the reality of
their brand and the last element that they

372
00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:38.279
gave an example of that I visited
myself was the Halloween Pokemon Dance Party,

373
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:44.039
And essentially this is just what it
sounds. It's actually fairly long. It's

374
00:27:44.079 --> 00:27:45.839
like a thirty minute stage show that
is a dance party, and it follows

375
00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:52.079
the classic Pokemon beats, like Pikachu's
having a dance party. The Japanese version,

376
00:27:52.079 --> 00:27:53.119
a team Rocket breaks in and tries
to take it over, and they

377
00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:56.680
summon Gangar, and then Gangar is
like, no, we should actually party

378
00:27:56.759 --> 00:28:00.319
with them, and then Pikachu's like, you can party with us too,

379
00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:04.079
and it's a happy ending. But
what's interesting about is they work directly with

380
00:28:04.119 --> 00:28:07.960
the Pokemon company to kind of come
up with the storyline for it, so

381
00:28:07.079 --> 00:28:11.400
it's a storyline that happens throughout it, and also to choose characters, and

382
00:28:11.480 --> 00:28:15.680
they made original costumes for them.
So Gangar is featured because he's the Halloween

383
00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:19.200
Pokemon, right, but it's like
a DJ Gangar, right, and like

384
00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:25.480
there's a DJ Pokemon Pikachu. So
then there's extensions of these characters. So

385
00:28:25.880 --> 00:28:32.640
you can go their dining experience that's
right next door is you can get meals

386
00:28:32.759 --> 00:28:36.759
that feature DJ Gangar and DJ Pikachu. Right. You can buy them as

387
00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:40.119
plushies, so there are extensions of
these characters, but these are original costumes

388
00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:45.880
that were made for this Halloween stage
show that's there at USJ. So it's

389
00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:49.640
it's very similar to the ju Jitsu
Kaisen thing, but it's using Pokemon and

390
00:28:49.720 --> 00:28:56.880
you know, just customizing the characters
to fit that. Yes, and the

391
00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:00.519
last thing I want to mention,
which because I would be remiss if I

392
00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:03.119
did not mention, this is a
big piece of their overall event. This

393
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:04.960
has nothing to do with the IP
or any of that, but a big

394
00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:11.160
piece of the overall event and usj's
philosophy is crowd engagement, and that came

395
00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:17.039
up in my observations over and over
and over again, and it basically is

396
00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:21.200
they're using choreography to engage guests.
And as far as I can tell,

397
00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:26.319
this is a very uniquely Apac region
thing, because I don't I've never really

398
00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:30.519
seen this in the US parks.
Basically a big part of this, of

399
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.640
all the seasonal activations, and not
just say this part, but also at

400
00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:38.880
Hong Kong and around the other Asian
region is like special dances. So there

401
00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:44.839
are dances that Universal has developed and
there's like online guides that they've released and

402
00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:49.640
their characters try and teach you how
to do the dance. So the big

403
00:29:49.720 --> 00:29:55.960
thing this year was in the scare
zones, every like half hour or whatever,

404
00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:00.680
they're all this characters like stop what
they're doing, they stop scaring it

405
00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:03.799
and they start dancing to this song, and if you know the dances,

406
00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:07.279
they will like pull you into the
dance area and like dance with you if

407
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:11.640
you know the choreography. And they
do this for the whole duration of the

408
00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:14.720
song and they just go back afterwards, they just go back to their normal

409
00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:19.039
secar acting thing. But it happens
like park wide everywhere, and every year

410
00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:25.279
they have a song custom developed for
Halloween, and this year it's Show by

411
00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:30.559
Ado and it plays like everywhere,
not just in this but it plays in

412
00:30:32.359 --> 00:30:36.440
the Pokemon Dance Show, it plays
in their other Halloween nighttime dance show.

413
00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:40.079
Like it just they just shove it
everywhere they can and really try and teach

414
00:30:40.119 --> 00:30:41.240
the guests how to do it.
And it's the same with their No Limit.

415
00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:47.319
There's a part in the No Limit
Parade where they all just the parade

416
00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:52.480
just stops and the guests are invited
into the parade route to dance with the

417
00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:56.440
characters using the choreography that they were
were teaching you on the way over,

418
00:30:57.119 --> 00:31:02.880
and then the guests are told to
leave and they all exit the parade route

419
00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:07.480
and the parade continues, which is
a logistical feat that would be utterly possible

420
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:11.359
in the US. It would be
logistical nightmare. So it's funny. I

421
00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:15.559
have I have experimented with this.
I did experiment with this several years ago

422
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:19.000
for a summer event at a at
a at a zoo actually, and we

423
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:25.240
did do We did do well.
We at the time, we did YouTube

424
00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:29.920
videos because TikTok was not as popular
as it is now, to try to

425
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:33.839
help teach the basic dance and get
everybody to come out, and it did

426
00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:37.880
it. We had less success with
it than one might than than obviously they're

427
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:40.720
having there. So I think it
is a cultural thing. It's also something

428
00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:44.440
that I think is unique to incorporate
in a Halloween event. I think it

429
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:48.079
would. I think it might stumble
and fall here, although with the with

430
00:31:48.160 --> 00:31:52.759
the growing popularity of TikTok dance videos, I could be wrong. I don't

431
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:56.960
know, but it's clear. It's
clear that it's a cultural thing and works

432
00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:01.599
very very well for them. Another
thing that works very very well for us

433
00:32:01.720 --> 00:32:05.400
is making certain that we try to
stay on our time limit. I mean,

434
00:32:05.480 --> 00:32:07.000
we ain't called Theme Park in thirty
for nothing, and we are out

435
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:12.039
of time for another week. So
on behalf of Philipernandez with Gantum Lighting and

436
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:15.839
the Haunted Attraction Network and myself Scott
Swinson with Scott Swinson Creative Development. Thank

437
00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:21.720
you so very very much for tuning
in yet again for another episode of Green

438
00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:24.680
Tag Theme Park in thirty and we
will see you next week. Today's episode

439
00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:30.319
was produced and edited by me Philip
Hernandez, with post production by David Swape

440
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:35.160
and original music composed by Chris Thomas. We're counting down to Halloween with daily

441
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:38.279
podcasts, videos, and events in
our sixty one day Hantathon. Follow along

442
00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:42.680
at the link in our show notes. Our Hantathon is made possible through generous

443
00:32:42.680 --> 00:32:46.119
support from Gantum Lighty and Controls.
Gantum illuminates attractions worldwide with the world's smallest

444
00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:51.960
intelligent spotlights. See what you're missing
with a free demo. Sign up at

445
00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:58.119
dantum dot com slash demo. That's
Gantum dot com slash demo. Our Hauntathon

446
00:32:58.359 --> 00:33:02.079
team includes Daryl Plunky, Emily Luis
Rua, Megan Spells, Gavin Burns and

447
00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:08.079
omni Adventures. And our content partners
for this year include Attractions Magazine, Creepy

448
00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:14.400
Kingdom, Freaks of Jgen, hont
Topic Radio, Kevin Heinbach News TV,

449
00:33:14.839 --> 00:33:19.920
Omniadventures, Scare Track, Sharp Productions, That Halloween Podcast, The Horror of

450
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:23.519
Being, Emily, The Scare Factor, and This Weekend with Nick Pealiochini.

451
00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:28.039
The best way you can support us
this Halloween season is by sharing our Haunted

452
00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:30.160
on with someone you think we'll enjoy
it, and to follow along to our

453
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:35.839
Haunted on, sign up for our
weekly newsletter at hant Attraction Network dot com.

454
00:33:36.519 --> 00:33:39.759
We'll catch you back here tomorrow and
every day until Halloween. Until next

455
00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:45.599
time, say scary. This is
a Haunted Attraction Network