Wētā Workshop Unleashed

Head of Security, Jeff — a chatty, wise-cracking Orc realised through a sophisticated, life-sized animatronic that can speak Hindi, Mandarin and English — offers a first taste of the imaginative world awaiting ahead. Intergalactic, fantastical and otherworldly cinematic realms soon unfurl, all of it created by Wētā Workshop’s Immersive Experiences team, whose expertise in transforming incredible ideas into fully realised experiences around the world has spanned from the world's largest duty-free shopping complex in Hainan, China to Alif: The Mobility Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Wētā Workshop Unleashed is fun, captivating, educational and, above all, a celebration of creativity. Leather-punching workstations, Operation-style autopsies on fictional creatures, complex storyboards and the ability to control the movements of a five-metre-tall humanoid robot by looking at it are all in the spirit of participation and astonishment.

Yet it is also an exemplar of Wētā Workshop’s expertise not only as a practical effects house but also as a considered and thoughtful storyteller within the immersive arts. In 2021, Wētā Workshop Unleashed took home first place in the Blooloop Innovation Awards’ Storytelling category. In the same year, it was awarded a Themed Entertainment Award (Thea) for Outstanding Achievement.

“Wētā Workshop Unleashed is completely unique — especially within a New Zealand context, where only a handful of experiences like this exist,” says Wētā Workshop Head of Tourism Sam Holdich. “It pushes the boundaries of imagination while giving our international guests a window into the creativity and culture of innovation that define Wētā Workshop. At its heart, Wētā Workshop Unleashed is about sharing and inspiring creativity. It invites people to step behind the curtain, explore impossible worlds, and see how ideas are brought to life. That commitment to hands-on wonder and bold storytelling is what has set Wētā Workshop Unleashed apart over the past five years.”

Wētā Workshop Unleashed opened its doors in unprecedented times, just eight months after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a global pandemic. In March 2020, New Zealand adopted a four-tier level system to manage the outbreak within its borders, with the New Zealand Government announcing that the country’s borders would close to all travellers except returning New Zealand citizens and residents. From December 2020 to early 2022, when these restrictions began to ease, Wētā Workshop Unleashed operated solely within its domestic market.

That it has now welcomes hundreds of visitors every day, with a Google review average of 4.9 stars in Yonder and an NPS score of 81, speaks as much to the strength of its singular proposition — a Willy Wonka-eque labyrinth to inspire future makers — as it does the rich realisation of its vision.

“Over the last five years, Wētā Workshop Unleashed has continued to evolve, driven by a constant desire to push the boundaries of what’s possible,” says Holdich of the experience, which celebrates its fifth anniversary on December 14. “We’ve expanded the experience through live events, special movie screenings, hands-on workshops and fully themed conferences and celebrations. That ongoing innovation keeps the space dynamic and allows guests to encounter Wētā Workshop Unleashed in new and surprising ways, reinforcing its role as a creative hub as much as an immersive attraction.”

In a world where creativity knows no bounds, Wētā Workshop Unleashed is an unforgettable home to some extraordinary inhabitants — a vengeful mythological forest creature with a taste for human flesh, a peace-loving herbivore society threatened by a clan of carnivorous dinosaurs, a colossal extraterrestrial robot — and an enduring testament to the people who make them.