SHANGHAI Disney Resort on Tuesday opened the world’s first Zootopia land as The Walt Disney Company looks to further tap the growing Chinese travel market.

The new themed land, based on the hugely successful Walt Disney Animation Studios film “Zootopia,” officially opened to the public yesterday, Shanghai Disney Resort announced.

“Our popular Zootopia film continues to delight fans across the globe, especially in China, and we’re excited to give guests at Shanghai Disney Resort the chance to interact with the stories and characters they love in innovative new ways when they visit this spectacular new land,” said Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company.

Zootopia, the eighth themed land inside Shanghai Disneyland, marks the second major expansion of Shanghai Disney Resort. Its construction started in December 2019.

Shanghai Disney Resort opened with six themed lands June 16, 2016. Its seventh land and first major expansion, Disney Pixar Toy Story Land, opened in 2018, which made Shanghai Disneyland the fastest-expanding Disneyland worldwide.

“As long as there is imagination and stories in the world, Shanghai Disney Resort will never be complete,” said Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences.

Shanghai Disneyland has proven to be a huge success, said D’Amaro. “We’re about to close out a record here, having already welcomed more than 13 million guests in 2023,” he said.

At a media sharing session after the opening ceremony Tuesday, Duke Weaselton, the smart-mouthed weasel, made a surprise appearance. Duke represents the cutting edge technology adopted by Walt Disney Imagineering to bring familiar Disney stories and characters to life.

Zootopia will transport guests to a living, breathing mammalian metropolis. While staying true to the style of Zootopia, the new themed land also features distinct local cultural influences, including some Shanghai-inspired surprises to tell instantly recognizable stories that resonate with guests and fans in China.

Walt Disney decided to build the Zootopia land in Shanghai after the film became hugely successful in China, according to Jill Estorino, president and managing director of Disney Parks International.

In China, the film “Zootopia” broke box office records to become the country’s highest-grossing imported animated feature film of all time, a title that it still holds now, according to Walt Disney.

“When we saw how popular the Zootopia film was, how much heart and meaning it had to the Chinese people, we quickly changed our minds and decided to create a very new concept for the land, which was based on the Zootopia,” said Estorino, adding that the original idea was based on Mickey and Minnie.

Executives of Walt Disney said the entertainment giant has always attached importance to the Chinese market.

The opening in Shanghai follows the opening of the world’s first “Frozen”-themed land at Hong Kong Disneyland in November. The new themed lands in Shanghai and Hong Kong are spurring the forthcoming New Year’s travel market in East Asia.

The opening of the two new themed lands has demonstrated Disney’s confidence in the whole tourism market of China as well as the local leisure market in the two cities, said Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Academy.

(SD-Xinhua)