Jora Vision has created a fully themed world at Sweden’s Kolmården Wildlife Park based on the popular comic book character Bamse.

Taking more than two years to design and build, the 22,000sq m (236,806sq ft) area opened on 1 May.

The Dutch company created all of the designs in the new area, in close collaboration with Kolmården, and also spoke with the makers of a recent film about the character, as well as the IP holders.

A strong and friendly bear, Bamse is popular in Sweden and the comic book has given rise to the common saying, ‘What would Bamse do?’.

The themed area features four attractions, a theatre with a Bamse show, a restaurant, a water play area and shops. “Our goal was to immerse visitors into the world of Bamse and his friends as soon as they pass through the tree trunk shaped entrance to the wooded area,” said Sjors van Roosmalen, creative director at Jora Vision.

A specialist team from Jora Vision worked on-site for over a year to construct the themed area. The theming of the rides was co-ordinated with ride suppliers such as Zierer, Zamperla and Metallbau Emmeln. Jora Entertainment was placed in charge of lighting while Jora Graphics handled the print work, which ranged from various signage to custom designed wall paper for the candy shop.

There are no real animals in the Bamse themed area, and Jora Vision said that this was a new trend in the design of wildlife parks.

“The lines between theme parks and animal parks are fading away,” commented Jan Maarten de Raad, CEO at Jora Vision. “Visitors are no longer happy just ‘looking at animals’. Nowadays theming and storytelling play an important part when looking to meet visitors’ high expectations. Kolmården has been an early adopter of this approach in Europe.”

Jora Vision is currently working on a new animal park in Emmen, the Netherlands, in which themed areas will also play an integral role. The park, Wildlands Adventure Zoo, is scheduled to open in 2016.