The family-friendly Circus Circus in Las Vegas will soon offer another attraction for kids: an interactive exhibit themed after the animator who created the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon characters.
The Chuck Jones Experience opens in October in the 3,770-room resort’s Skyrise Tower near its Adventuredome.
The experience is an offshoot of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity in Orange County, Calif., which will remain open.
The Chuck Jones venues honor the vision of Jones, who died in 2002. The master animator’s official biography says Jones made more than 300 animated films and won three Academy Awards as a director and an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement.
During what is remembered as the Golden Age of animation, his creations included Pepe Le Pew, and he helped bring to life legendary Warner Bros. characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig.
This is the first Chuck Jones Experience and the organizers hope to someday open more elsewhere in the country and are also contemplating a traveling exhibition.
The Las Vegas attraction, which opens in October, is being developed by Jones’ grandson Craig Kausen, Jones’ daughter Linda Jones Clough and some Chuck Jones fans who believe in his concept of promoting creativity, the experience said in announcing the exhibition.
“My grandfather said that if you provide the right materials and an environment of love, creative magic will come out of young people,” Kausen said in a statement. “The Chuck Jones Experience will provide kids, and animation fans of all ages, with an extraordinary place to not only learn about the art of animation, but to discover the creativity and magic that’s inside us all.”
“We are honored to become home to such a fascinating interactive attraction,” Don Thrasher, president and chief operating officer of Circus Circus, said in a statement. “This experience is unlike anything else in Las Vegas and it is certain to create hours of fun and enlightenment for guests of all ages.”
The Experience will include a classroom where creative art projects will be guided by animation and arts teachers; the Chuck Jones Theatre, designed to simulate a 1930s-style movie theater; a re-creation of Jones’ studio; a room with 3-D characters and information on how characters are developed; and displays of Jones’ fine art work and animation pieces.
There’s also an “Acme Workshop” where visitors can create sound effects and voice-overs for a Chuck Jones cartoon; as well as a gift shop.
The nearly 10,000-square-foot permanent destination, which is being developed at an undisclosed cost, didn’t displace anything as it’s located in what had been unused back-of-the-house space at the hotel.
Admission is expected to be $15 to $20, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.