Super Grand Prix: from the roller coaster to the big screen

To mark the 50th anniversary of Europa-Park, Michael Mack is moving from rides to cinema with Super Grand Prix. Here he talks about his challenge: uniting storytelling, cinema and family spirit to invent the European entertainment of tomorrow.

Fifty years after the creation of Europa-Park, the Mack family is opening a new playground: cinema. With Super Grand Prixa fast and furious animated film, Michael Mack transforms the frenzy of the roller coaster into a family adventure. The film follows Ed, an intrepid little mouse, and his friends embarked on a race across Europe where friendship, courage and surpassing oneself combine. Behind the story, an industrial and symbolic issue: proving that a European studio can compete with the American entertainment giants. Hello Michael?

Europa-Park already tells stories through its attractions. What more does cinema allow you to tell?
Michael Mack: Europa-Park is much more than a leisure park. It is the culmination of eight generations of entrepreneurs, artisans and storytellers. My grandfather and father transformed our wheelwright’s workshop, founded in 1780, into one of the largest roller coaster manufacturers in the world. For my part, my passion is storytelling. I founded MACK Magic to extend this legacy into other formats – films, books, series, virtual reality. An attraction transmits an emotion, an atmosphere; cinema allows you to tell a complete story, deepen the characters and create an emotional connection which then makes the park experience even more immersive.

How was the idea of Super Grand Prix ?
Our roots are fairground, and the origins of cinema are too. The first animated images were fairground attractions. In a sense, then, we are returning to the source. Producing a film is not easy for a park operator, but it is a daring bet, as was the creation of Europa-Park. We wanted to celebrate this anniversary by telling a story about courage, friendship, family and dreams. A film tribute to my father and our common passion: to make people dream.

In Super Grand Prix plays on speed and adrenaline.
Of course because it’s part of our DNA. The film had to convey this energy and frenzy specific to the park. Some action scenes were even designed to be transposed into attractions. This is already the case in our flight simulator Voletarium and in the new interactive attraction EDventure Grand Prix.

Disney and Universal start from cinema to create parks. You do the opposite. For what ?
Because our history naturally requires it. We started with the park, but the logic is the same: create strong narrative universes. Rather than buying licenses, we prefer to develop our own characters and our own stories. It’s more demanding, but more durable. Everything remains in our hands, from the roller coaster to the big screen.

How to avoid the film being perceived as an advertisement?
We have done everything so that Super Grand Prix stands by itself. Many spectators were expecting a 90-minute spot and discovered a real film, with a story and emotions. We find our themes there – fairground tradition, European passion, family transmission – but the plot does not take place in the park. It is a tribute to our spirit, not a showcase.

How to compete with giants like Disney or Pixar?
By remaining true to our identity. We come from a European narrative tradition, that of tales and legends. Our characters – Ed & Edda, Nachtkrabb, Olli or Olivia – are part of the emotional memory of generations of visitors. We also collaborate with European artists like Volker Bertelmann, Oscar-winning composer. This blend of German engineering and European artistic sensitivity is our difference.

An attraction lasts three minutes, a film two hours. How did you work on the dramaturgy?
We started with a simple question: what emotion do we want to convey? We then worked with international screenwriters to build a solid and moving story. The idea was to maintain the intensity of an attraction, but over the duration of a feature film.

Investing in a film is risky compared to a very profitable park. Why do it?
Because this is not an isolated project. Super Grand Prix is part of a global strategy: creating our own intellectual properties, our own universes. Cinema gives us an international reach, where the park remains local. It’s a way to diversify our activities while keeping our DNA.

Will it be followed by other projects?
Absolutely. Super Grand Prix is just the beginning. There is already a video game, attractions, a VR experience, shows. Our universe Rulantica became a successful book series. And our first animated series, Dino Matesinspired by a character from the park, is coming to television soon.
Our ambition is not to compete with Hollywood, but to build, step by step, a European model of entertainment, anchored in our culture and open to the world. As our family motto says: “The wide world is my field.”

The story: Edda dreams of becoming a car racing champion. As the Super Grand Prix approaches, she seizes the opportunity to meet her idol Ed, a legendary driver. It was then that she decided to take her destiny into her own hands and do the impossible: start and win the biggest race of her life!
Super Grand Prix has been in theaters since October 8