In an ongoing collaboration with Warner Bros. Studio Tours, Thinkwell designed and produced the all-new Welcome Center experiences at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, which opened in June. Part of an entirely new building that expands the Tour with retail, parking, and more, celebrates the Studio’s cinematic history and key franchises, including new immersive interactive and media-focused experiences for the two largest Warner Bros. properties, Harry Potter’s Wizarding World and DC Comics.
Visitors begin in an introductory exhibition space that showcases the history and innovation of Warner Bros. and Burbank studios. Guests encounter a satellite view of the studio lot covering the floor, displaying the scale of the Warner Bros. lot and featuring a 14 ft (4.3 m)replica of the iconic WB water tower. Surrounding media exhibits give an introduction to the Studio’s storied history. Guests then enjoy the tour’s new preshow film in a state-of-the-art theater before heading out to discover the secrets of the lot on the tour. Upon return, guests enter into a new immersive finale attraction that brings the blockbuster movies guests love to life, featuring DC Superheroes & Villains and Harry Potter & Fantastic Beasts.
The DC Universe area includes opportunities to bring Wonder Woman’s Golden Lasso to life and scan a surveillance system inside Batman’s Batcave for villains lurking around Gotham. Custom interactives with unique photo ops bring the heroes of DC Comics to life alongside never-before-displayed film artifacts.
Within the new Harry Potter spaces, guests explore a variety of interactive and photo-ready magical encounters. Visitors can link their Wizarding World accounts and be sorted into their house with the Sorting Hat, test their potion-making skills with interactive cauldrons, or pull “live” mandrakes out of pots in the Herbology room. A room dedicated to Fantastic Beasts lets guests connect with a variety of magical creatures through fun photo ops and interactive state-of-the-art media surprises. Guests conclude their time with a “Celebration of Warner Bros.” finale experience with a rotating collection of awards and mementos from the studio archives where guests can pose with an Oscar statuette.
“Thinkwell is proud to have played a vital role in the creation, design, and development of these new experiences at Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood,” says Craig Hanna, Chief Creative Officer at Thinkwell Group. “We are fortunate to have great partners at Warner Bros. who helped continue to push the project to completion last year during the pandemic, and we’re excited to see guests welcomed back to the reopened Tour with these new experiences.”
The Welcome Center expansion creates an entirely new introduction and finale attraction to the Tour with interactive and engaging moments celebrating the Warner Bros. legacy and library. Thinkwell conceived, designed, and produced all media and interactives throughout the new spaces in conjunction with Thinkwell Media and Thinkwell Studio Montréal for the new Welcome Center and finale.
