General information
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CountryUnited Kingdom
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CategoryManufacturer
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StatusOperating
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Year closed2012
Products
Description
Tussauds Studios was the development division of the Tussauds Group, producing most the group's new attractions and developments from the mid-90s onwards. It was renamed Merlin Studios after the company's acquisition by Merlin Entertainments and subsequently restructured as Merlin Magic Making.
History
The Tussauds Group had grown from a wax figure exhibition in London (Madame Tussauds London) into a large portfolio of parks and attractions. Their development division, Tussauds Studios, originally began as the design studio to produce the themed sets for the company's wax figure exhibitions in approximately the late 1970s, separate to the main wax figure production studio.
The Design studio quickly grew to also produce effects and animatronics. In 1987, the studio completed its first dark ride with the opening of The 5th Dimension at Chessington World of Adventures, after which it returned to focus on the Group's non- theme park attractions.
In the early to mid 1990s, Tussauds Studios expanded and moved to its present day head office in Acton, London, merged with the wax figure studio. It again became involved in theme parks and was the design studio behind most the Tussauds Group's subsequent themed attractions. Its in-house animatronic engineering department was closed in 1996. The studio eventually evolved into the Group's central development team by the late 1990s.
The Tussauds Group was acquired by Merlin Entertainments in 2007, seeing the organisation renamed Merlin Studios. At this point, its in-house AV department was closed. The organisation continued until a restructuring in around 2012, when it was rebranded Merlin Magic Making.