Muslim superheroes take on theme parks

James Calderwood, Foreign Correspondent

• Last Updated: February 08. 2009 9:30AM UAE / February 8. 2009 5:30AM GMT

KUWAIT CITY // An amusement park featuring characters from the Middle East’s most popular comic book will open in Kuwait this month as part of an expansion plan in the area.

The 99 Village is the first step of a plan to open or rebrand at least six amusement parks in six years in a partnership between the comic’s owner, Teshkeel Media Company, and Kuwait’s United Entertainment and Tourism Company (UETC), which already operates five parks in the Gulf.

Teshkeel has expanded aggressively since The 99 comic launched in Sept 2006, based on the success of the story about international superheroes whose powers are based on the 99 names of Allah.

In November it announced a 26-part animation show with Endemol, an international Dutch television firm, which is scheduled to begin in Ramadan 2010.

“It’s amazing that they’re putting together a theme park in such a short time,” said Abdelrahman Mohamed, a long-time comic book fan from the UAE. “It’s the same in Dubai with the Marvel theme park, but it took them 60 years.” Marvel is home to such superheroes as Spiderman and the Hulk.

UETC had noticed The 99 when the company opened the theme park three months ago. The park’s developer asked Teshkeel to get involved and it agreed. In return for a slice of the parks, UETC can rename the rides after the comic’s teenage Muslim superheroes.

The Roman Chariot train-ride will become Jabbar’s Chariot Riders after the Saudi strongman. The aeroplane ride will be named after Rafie, the Turkish-Jordanian character who can fly. The large swinging Viking ship will be known as Journey of the Noor Stones, the magic rocks that gave The 99 their powers.

“When we were approached they said the parks are doing OK, but if we had a theme it would be better. There was no unifying experience,” said Naif al Mutawa, the comic’s Kuwaiti creator.

“We rebranded and re-themed the park,” which sits on 30,000 square metres and has 19 rides. The entire refitting will cost around US$1 million (Dh3.67m). Planners hope to attract about 300,000 people a year, about 50 per cent of that during Eid al Fitr, after Ramadan.

The park’s walls will be covered with stickers of The 99. Flags, banners, light boxes and men in superhero costumes will try to create a Disney atmosphere in the dusty outskirts of Kuwait City. More than 20 men are preparing the park to open under The 99 banner on Kuwait’s national day, Feb 25.

“This project is needed in Kuwait, where 50 per cent of the population are young,” said Adel Hassan Omoor, the chairman of UETC. Mr Omoor said he is using this park to test the public’s reaction, but negotiations to rebrand more are under way.

“We will open indoor projects soon,” he said.

After Kuwait, “we’re looking at the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi, Bahrain and Oman,” Mr al Mutawa said.

The 99’s growth is the result of strong branding. The Middle East lacks the comic-reading masses of the West; only about one million comics are sold a year. But the brand is prized. Nestlé pays Teshkeel to use The 99’s heroes on its water bottles and newspapers print their stories every week.

“A lot of young people are not into comic books, but they are aware. We don’t have that sense of mainstream comic book culture in the region,” said Mr Mohamed, the comic fan. “You won’t find a lot of people into reading books. We’re mostly into video games or hanging out.”

But there are some fans and it is growing in popularity, he said. The success of such recent films as Iron Man and Batman has increased their appeal. Grittier graphic novels are also gaining fans because of films such as 300 and Sin City.

Although there are no solid plans to open a park in the UAE yet, Mr al Mutawa said he spoke with Dubailand so much “that they’ve become good friends of mine”.

If The 99 Village does branch into Dubailand, the competition will be tough. Marvel, Universal Studios, Six Flags and DreamWorks all have plans to build parks in the UAE.

The number of projects that will reach completion in light of the global economic downturn remains to be seen, but Mr al Mutawa is grateful for their ambitious plans anyway.

“I’ve got Dubailand to thank for the deals I’ve got,” he said. “We would not have got a theme park but for the frenzy they created.”



jcalderwood@thenational.ae