50th Anniversary - A place that stays with you.

Perfectly positioned on the banks of idyllic Lake Garda, Gardaland Resort is Italy’s original theme park. It opened in 1975, and it’s mascot, Prezzemolo, a long-eared green dragon, was born the same year. Since then, both Gardaland and the much loved little green dragon have become an inseparable, extraordinary part of Italian culture and family history. How do we honour and celebrate the 50th birthday of a destination that is, has and always will have a place in Italian hearts?

 THE DISRUPTION\

Storytelling with humanity.

Theme park commercials traditionally focus on showcasing the rides through a collection of happy families and their on park experiences. They rarely capture the deep emotional connection people experience and the lasting effect a visit to a place like Gardaland Resort can have. We wanted to challenge this convention and establish Gardaland as a place that stays with you.

We follow the journey of a young girl who grows up visiting Gardaland, forming a deep bond with Prezzemolo. As she becomes a teenager, life pulls her in new directions and she leaves behind the magic of childhood and with that, Prezzemolo and Gardaland. Years later, she returns as an adult with her own daughter. As her child runs ahead, she suddenly spots her chatting with a familiar little dragon. Their eyes meet and in that moment a lifetime of memories come rushing back.

This is the first time Prezzemolo has been brought to life in a real live action world. We collaborated with Blind Pig (part of Absolute Post), Director Yoni Weisberg and Lorenzo De Pretto, the original character creator.

It was a privilege and delicate balance to retain the iconic look of the cartoon character that Italian’s know and love whilst adding a texture, depth of expression and realism to bring the character to life to connect with our girl creating that meaningful friendship.