Angry Birds Catapulting Soon To A Theme Park Near You
March 23, 2012
Around this time last year, Conan O'Brien dedicated a special segment in his late night talk show to what he called "Finland's greatest contribution to mankind." He was, of course, talking about Angry Birds, the viral video game created by the Finland-based company Rovio Entertainment. In the segment, which you can watch below, Conan paid tribute to the game by giving a hilarious demonstration of a life-sized Angry Birds setup. Half a year later, some theme park organizers in China built their own giant Angry Birds structures. As you might have inferred, this Chinese Angry Birds theme park was in no way authorized by Rovio. But last December, Rovio announced that it had sanctioned an actual Angry Birds theme park to be built in Finland, natch. And now, plans for more theme parks in the U.K., the U.S. and even China have been hatched.
Like the theme park opening in a month in Särkänniemi Adventure Park in Tampere, Finland, the additional theme parks will be developed inside already existing theme parks. This theme-park-within-a-theme-park concept is a practical move that even the biggest of brands adopt. Think The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando Resort. The Angry Birds mini theme parks will make use of Lappset's line of licensed playground set pieces inspired by the game, including the stylized slingshots and formidable fortresses featured in the video below. Thankfully, these don't involve catapulting theme park patrons to destroy green-skinned pigs. If you do get to visit and want to do what you've been doing on your iPhone or iPad, you can do so by checking out the Angry Birds-themed arcade games included in the parks.
These upcoming parks and other tactics by Rovio for brand growth opportunities outside the Angry Birds digital games themselves further cement the company's vision towards becoming the next Disney. Even as it continuously expands the Angry Birds franchise with the recent release of the latest addition to the series, Angry Birds Space, as well as with updates for the original Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio, Rovio is gradually establishing a reputation as a prime entertainment company. From being a small red bird in mobile gaming, Rovio has been evolving into a Mighty Eagle of trans-media entertainment, thanks in no small part to those avian suicide warriors and their porcine arch-rivals.
