DreamWorks Animation's Shrek-Inspired Visit to Santa

A visit to Santa at the local mall is getting an overhaul this Christmas, with some help from DreamWorks Animation and its biggest star, Shrek. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s independent film studio is bringing DreamWorks DreamPlace to eight U.S. malls starting on Nov. 6. The attraction, DreamWorks executives say, will allow parents and kids to personalize their visit to the North Pole and do away with the lines and crowds. “We worked very, very hard to make sure that this was really aesthetically pleasing,” says Paul Kurzawa, DreamWorks Animation’s head of retail development and entertainment, on a tour of a prototype in Los Angeles.

DreamWorks DreamPlace is a modern take on Santa’s village—a 2,000-square-foot Bavarian-style cottage decked out in Christmas ornaments and covered with LED screens that depict an animated Shrek greeting visitors from a window. Technology will make the visit a more engaging experience. The letter to Santa has been replaced by an online wish list that works like a wedding registry. Instead of standing in long lines, families will book appointments for a virtual sleigh ride to the North Pole. Six semitrailer trucks will be required to deliver each of the cottages to the various malls; the structures can be changed for different holidays, such as Halloween.