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The World of David Walliams: General Discussion

It was clear before the project started that he was a not a squeaky clean person. That should be the criteria someone should meet when a park takes the risk of dedicating a land to them.

Maybe I'm clutching my pearls too hard but even when you ignore everything else, dedicating a kids theme park land to a creator of Little Britain and Come Fly With Me, someone who had already publicly said questionable things before 2018 seems like a bad move.
 
Pharaoh said:
It was clear before the project started that he was a not a squeaky clean person. That should be the criteria someone should meet when a park takes the risk of dedicating a land to them.
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Tbf I think in this day and age, you’d really struggle to find anyone who would meet the criteria of “squeaky clean” - more and more ‘celebrities’ are coming under the microscope.

I would argue that being weary of him because he co-created Little Britain and Come Fly With Me is somewhat null and void when he’s spent many years as a celebrated children’s writer.
 
A bit like Russell Brand, it's not exactly shocking that this sort of stuff is coming out. He's always been close to line of what's acceptable and a bit of a strange character.

It came as a bit of a surprise to me that he went into writing children's books in the first place in all honesty. All aboard the gravy train I guess.

Edit* I'm in no way suggesting or implying either Russell Brand or David Walliams are guilty of any accusations made against them.
 
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By all accounts he hasnt written a single Children's book either. He has a team of ghost writers that do it for him.

Nothing about him is authentic. His comedy sketches were mostly bad imitations of previous comedy gold too with very little originality. In fact I believe several Little Britain sketches were described as pure plagiarism.

Dont find him funny in the slightest.
 
MaxPower said:
A bit like Russell Brand, it's not exactly shocking that this sort of stuff is coming out. He's always been close to line of what's acceptable and a bit of a strange character.
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I know you have the best of intentions with this comment, but it's worth remembering that the criminal proceedings against Russell Brand, for serious sexual offences allegations, are very much live. Comments which could be considered to infer guilt, even if unintentional, could be considered contempt of court, in addition to the usual libel concerns.

Equally, whilst the behaviour that David Walliams has been accused of is distasteful at the least, there hasn't been any suggestion that his actions are criminal, or even equate to the type of behaviour that Brand has been charged with.

As Brand has nothing to do with The World of David Walliams, or even theme parks, it's probably best that he's kept out of the conversation for now.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I know you have the best of intentions with this comment, but it's worth remembering that the criminal proceedings against Russell Brand, for serious sexual offences allegations, are very much live. Comments which could be considered to infer guilt, even if unintentional, could be considered contempt of court, in addition to the usual libel concerns.
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Equally goose, although you have the best intentions, it really does become massively tiresome to constantly have you jump in as if you’re the TST legal advisory… which you’re definitely not.

Honestly, just leave people to make their own decisions when it comes to free speech. Or better yet leave it to the team.
 
Islander said:
Equally goose, although you have the best intentions, it really does become massively tiresome to constantly have you jump in as if you’re the TST legal advisory… which you’re definitely not.

Honestly, just leave people to make their own decisions when it comes to free speech. Or better yet leave it to the team.
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I will take the note on the tiresomeness. I just don't want anyone to end up in a spot of bother over the holiday season. Poster, mod or owner.

However, I would gently point out that "free speech" does not offer a legal defence against the Contempt of Court Act 1981. The "Strict Liability Rule" means that intent is irrelevant; if a post creates a substantial risk of serious prejudice to active proceedings, it is a criminal offence. That applies to forum posts just as much as it does to newspapers.

But you are quite right. It is not my circus, and they are not my monkeys. I shall return to my pond.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
I know you have the best of intentions with this comment, but it's worth remembering that the criminal proceedings against Russell Brand, for serious sexual offences allegations, are very much live.
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For the record, I'm not implying that Russell Brand or Wally are 100% guilty of all accusations as a matter of fact. Innocent until proven guilty and all that...

All im saying is they've both got a bit of a history of questionable antics (Which is well documented). Hopefully that keeps me out of the bird house. On that bombshell, ave a great Christmas all. X
 
I think the whole area should be classed as the towers and they open up a Victorian village area with the 4D cinema becoming a theatre again and they show different types of entertainment. Raj show could be themed to a Victorian sweet shop and the ride could be themed to a history of the Victorian times.
They could easily have 3 Victorian funfair rides in the area and the carousel could easily be themed back.
 
Similar to the discussion that took place in the Horizon topic, just a polite reminder to try not to delve into post after post on the allegations and/or rumours about Walliams in this topic. That also goes for the rights and wrongs of discussing that too.

This topic is first and foremost for discussion about the area and attractions it holds. That's what the majority of people are here to discuss on a forum that's predominately about the theme park industry.

Of course the public's reaction and discussion about those allegations will likely play the biggest part in whatever happens to the area in the future, and it's fine to discuss that to an extent. But I see little need for discussion about specifics and the subsequent legal implications of doing so in what is supposed to be a theme park related topic.

Like anything else on the forum, if you find something is off topic, or something that you feel is unsuitable to discuss, please report the post to allow the team to review it and make an appropriate decision. Stepping into debate and personal arguments about it on the topic only serves to further derail discussion.

Now get back to drinking, eating and being merry. Thank you please 😁
 
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Fact: in the last season, Gangsta Granny the ride had begun to show massive signs of neglect, especially at the final scene. This previously happened with Duel to prepare for its retheming to The Curse at Alton Manor. Perhaps the park has been planning a retheme for this ride and its surrounding area all year, but who knows to be honest.
 
There's a myriad of problems with the ride and the wider area to be honest.

The first is the budget. Instead of completely reimagining the area, World of David Walliams was just shoehorned into the existing area and buildings for seemingly as little money as possible.

The second is the choice of IP. Even ignoring the current allegations, there was plenty of criticism of Walliams' writing style as a children's author even before the area was announced - it was even discussed at length on this very forum. While he was still popular, you could argue that it was reaching its peak, or even starting to decline at the time. If you're going to fork out money for an IP, you should choose something on the up that still has legs in it. To me that's the precise reason for going with the IP in the first place. The IP is what should keep people coming back once the first season hype has died off and provide a springboard for future expansion.

Thirdly is the overselling of the thing in the first place. Calling something "World of" invokes thoughts a large scale, big budget area that's fully immersive. Instead of something fresh, new and novel we were left with a vinyl laden rehash of a long tired and forgotten about area. The rides were either preexisting, fairground quality or hand me downs from elsewhere. The rottting and unused buildings from themes of old were still there, albeit with a lick of paint. It was obvious to long time visitors who had seen the area's previous incarnations that the effort was not there.

You've also got the lack of thought into the area itself too. Cloud Cuckoo Land still had its multiple issues, but it had an indoor play area for the kids and a cafe for the adults with ice cream available too. The theatre had plenty of capacity for shows - even Ice Age despite its cheapness was something. People milled around and spent time in the area because there were things to do for everyone. That sort of setup gave life to the area and encouraged people to spend time in it. Nowadays you do your rides, have a quick look in the shop and gawp at the prices, then wander off elsewhere to get your food, drink and ever rarer entertainment credit elsewhere. Save for the Ents team trying their best when the area first opened, there was very very little to keep you there for any extended period.

I'd generally agree with other comments that Gangster Granny is an OK ride. But that's the problem - it's just...OK. There's no wow factor and little to no rerideability. It's certainly not got the feeling of a "ground breaking" ride, a term which was used in the area's initial press announcement. Once it's done, it's done - and that's evident from the non existent queues that it now gets.

So for what it's worth, I don't think anything recently has hurried any sort of future change to World of David Walliams. My gut feeling is the park knew the writing was on the wall and that there was no future in the place long, long ago.
 
Craig said:
There's a myriad of problems with the ride and the wider area to be honest.

The first is the budget. Instead of completely reimagining the area, World of David Walliams was just shoehorned into the existing area and buildings for seemingly as little money as possible.

The second is the choice of IP. Even ignoring the current allegations, there was plenty of criticism of Walliams' writing style as a children's author even before the area was announced - it was even discussed at length on this very forum. While he was still popular, you could argue that it was reaching its peak, or even starting to decline at the time. If you're going to fork out money for an IP, you should choose something on the up that still has legs in it. To me that's the precise reason for going with the IP in the first place. The IP is what should keep people coming back once the first season hype has died off and provide a springboard for future expansion.

Thirdly is the overselling of the thing in the first place. Calling something "World of" invokes thoughts a large scale, big budget area that's fully immersive. Instead of something fresh, new and novel we were left with a vinyl laden rehash of a long tired and forgotten about area. The rides were either preexisting, fairground quality or hand me downs from elsewhere. The rottting and unused buildings from themes of old were still there, albeit with a lick of paint. It was obvious to long time visitors who had seen the area's previous incarnations that the effort was not there.

You've also got the lack of thought into the area itself too. Cloud Cuckoo Land still had its multiple issues, but it had an indoor play area for the kids and a cafe for the adults with ice cream available too. The theatre had plenty of capacity for shows - even Ice Age despite its cheapness was something. People milled around and spent time in the area because there were things to do for everyone. That sort of setup gave life to the area and encouraged people to spend time in it. Nowadays you do your rides, have a quick look in the shop and gawp at the prices, then wander off elsewhere to get your food, drink and ever rarer entertainment credit elsewhere. Save for the Ents team trying their best when the area first opened, there was very very little to keep you there for any extended period.

I'd generally agree with other comments that Gangster Granny is an OK ride. But that's the problem - it's just...OK. There's no wow factor and little to no rerideability. It's certainly not got the feeling of a "ground breaking" ride, a term which was used in the area's initial press announcement. Once it's done, it's done - and that's evident from the non existent queues that it now gets.

So for what it's worth, I don't think anything recently has hurried any sort of future change to World of David Walliams. My gut feeling is the park knew the writing was on the wall and that there was no future in the place long, long ago.
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I would add that the land isn't a "World of David Walliams" but more "Gangsta Granny Land" as it seems the only book they've used is Gangsta Granny. I think if they have used more of the books, it may have been more of a success.

I don't think they needed to retheme Cloud Cuckoo Land even and could've had Gangsta Granny as a single ride in the area based on what has been done by the park.
 
We talk about David Walliam having controversy and the area being removed.

Must be remembered Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has her own controversy and yet Universal haven't removed Harry Potter have they.

As well as other people and companies.with IPs attached yet have remained

My main point is how is David Walliams any different to other controversial from other IP creators
 
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