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After attending MONLOVE’s Scooby-Doo! and The Lost City of Gold family musical in Fort Lauderdale in January 2022 and being mesmerized by the production, NASA and its theme park partner: Delaware North approached MONLOVE to mandate them to tell the story of the Artemis missions, which is to return astronauts to the Moon, to a whole new generation of space explorers. Notably, Artemis will send the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon.
Knowing that Snoopy had been NASA’s safety mascot since the Apollo missions and that Snoopy's adventurous character would be perfect to inspire families, MONLOVE proposed to NASA an innovative idea. They suggested that the best way to convey this incredible story would be through the eyes of the PEANUTS characters. This involved branded puppets going through actual mission training and traveling to the Moon, all while conveying scientific facts.
A 300-seater space at the Kennedy Space Center called the Universe Theatre was quickly identified as the perfect location to create an immersive 280° projection-based environment. This setup would allow the Experience to be presented at least three times a day while maintaining the room’s multifunctional purpose as a conference center and cinema room where astronauts could conduct daily briefings.
MONLOVE wrote the concept, music, story including the scientific facts, then built the characters, props, and video mapping in their facility in Montreal. MONLOVE decided to use a puppet-building technique called “Bunraku,” which places the character in front of a visible puppeteer. This technique has two significant advantages. Firstly, it gives the puppet characters approximately the height of a 5 to 8-year-old child, making it easier for young audiences to relate to them. Secondly, it allowed the Kennedy Space Center to utilize existing broader theme park staff members, trained by MONLOVE for the Experience. This is because the puppeteers do not need to fit inside a puppet suit, but merely manipulate the puppet in front of them.
Additionally, a unique augmented reality pre-show was created. The audience can scan a QR code and go on an egg hunt adventure with their smartphones and tablets, seeking over 25 virtual objects such as the International Space Station, the James Webb telescope, and other celestial objects. Each object triggers a unique musical sound that, when combined with the other 300 participants, creates a pleasant tonal collective musical piece based on the harmonic scales.
The show opened on March 24, 2023, in front of NASA’s top brass and first female launch director, Mrs. Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, who will be overseeing the Artemis launches. Since its opening, over half a million visitors and more have had the chance to see this 28-minute educational experience. It continues to run seven days a week, wowing audiences from all over the world.
A unique blend of entertainment and education Monlove’s ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO! stands as a testament to the power of creative storytelling in inspiring curiosity and passion for science and exploration.
Nomination Title: ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO! An Immersive Educational Experience created by MONLOVE
