(22 April, 2008 -- Hong Kong) Ocean Park Hong Kong and DreamWorks Animation SKG, in a first ever collaboration, will jointly present a Kung Fu Panda themed attraction, which will be a not-to-be-missed highlight at this year’s summer event at the Park. This attraction, themed entirely on DreamWorks’ latest blockbuster animated feature, Kung Fu Panda, will bring to life scenes and icons of the movie for guests to experience in a 3-dimensional, multimedia and interactive kung fu playground. Kung Fu Panda starts showing in local cinemas from 28 June 2008, the same day Ocean Park kicks off its 2008 summer event. Ocean Park is also Looking for Panda, through the Park's latest HKID card promotion, launched specially to celebrate the first anniversary of the arrival of Le Le and Ying Ying, with sizzling prizes including a trip to Sichuan, home of the giant pandas.
Dr. Allan Zeman, Chairman of Ocean Park, and Ms. Terry Lai, Founder Chairman of Kadokawa Intercontinental Group Holdings Ltd., the distributor of the movie in Hong Kong, attended a signing ceremony at the Park today to mark the partnership and collaboration on Kung Fu Panda.
Billed as one of summer's hottest cinematic releases, Kung Fu Panda tells the story of a panda named Po, whose lifelong dream to be a Kung Fu Master comes true, as he embarks on an action-packed kung fu adventure alongside his idols, the legendary Furious Five – Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey.
At today's event, Ms. Terry Lai also presented four local celebrities - Eason Chan, Denise Ho, Jaycee Chan, and Josie Ho - who will be the lead voice-over artists assuming the characters of Po, Tigress, Crane and Viper respectively, in the Cantonese version of Kung Fu Panda. In addition, Jackie Chan and Sam Lee have been chosen for the characters of Monkey and Mantis.
"We are thrilled about our collaboration with DreamWorks, and we simply can’t wait to present the Kung Fu Panda themed attraction at Ocean Park this summer!" said Dr. Zeman. "This attraction will bring the exhilarating Kung Fu Panda scenes, icons and characters to our guests' fingertips, and I guarantee you it will be unlike anything you've ever seen before in Hong Kong, or anywhere else in the world. This summer's Kung Fu Panda themed attraction is the fruit of a landmark collaboration that signifies the vision and passion shared by Ocean Park and DreamWorks, to provide world-class family entertainment of the best quality and originality. And, being one of the only theme parks in the world that is home to four giant pandas, what better platform to present Kung Fu Panda than Ocean Park?"
Specific scenes from the movie have already been chosen to be recreated at the Kung Fu Panda attraction, and some of the kung fu challenges that Po and the Furious Five had to face in the movie will be presented, for guests to test out their own potential of becoming a kung fu master in their own right!
Also approaching on 26 April 2008 is the first anniversary of the arrival of the two young giant pandas, Le Le and Ying Ying, from Wolong, Sichuan. To celebrate this, Ocean Park is launching the Looking for Panda HKID card promotion, which will take effect from this Saturday, 26 April 2008, through to 31 May 2008.
The "panda" Ocean Park is looking for will be HKID card or birth certificate holders whose Chinese names include one or more of the following Chinese characters - “熊”, “盈”, “樂” - or whose English names have one or more of the alphabets contained in the word “P,A,N,D,A”.
These guests will enjoy a 20% discount on daytime admission to Ocean Park, and receive a Lucky Card to enter a prize draw. Ten Lucky Card holders will win a trip for two to Sichuan to visit the pandas’ hometown.
However, the Really Big Prizes await the HKID card or birth certificate holders whose Chinese name includes all of the three Chinese characters - “熊”, “盈”, “樂” - in any sequence, or, whose English surname or given name is the whole word “Panda”. The first 10 persons fulfilling the above criteria must register to receive a $100,000 cash prize, to be shared among a maximum of 10 winners. Most exciting of all, each lucky "panda" will also get a trip for two to Sichuan to visit the pandas' hometown, in addition to a SmartFun Gold Pass, an Ocean Park Panda Keeper Tour (for two), and panda souvenirs.*
Kung Fu Panda starts showing in local cinemas from 28 June 2008, the same day Ocean Park kicks off its 2008 summer event, with Kung Fu Panda attractions, and a lot of Olympics-themed wet’n wild fun. Details will be announced in due course.
* Please refer to the enclosed fact sheet for further details and Terms & Conditions of the Looking for Panda HKID card promotion.
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About Ocean Park
Ocean Park is Hong Kong’s unique homegrown theme park with a heritage of delivering family fun and fond memories. Since its opening in January 1977 as a non-profit organization, Ocean Park has developed itself to be a world-class attraction connecting people with nature, and recognized for its animal husbandry, research and relationship with the community. Over 85 million people have visited Hong Kong's premier park since its inception and Ocean Park has remained committed to offer adults and children experiences that blend entertainment with education and conservation. Part of the proceeds from the Ocean Park admission tickets and some retail items will go to Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong to support its wildlife conservation projects.
