Salta al contenuto

Marino · Roma · IT

Dal 1981 / Creation Art 2000
Cinecittà World

Cinecittà World · Adventure Land · 2014

Indiana Adventure

An elephant as tall as a three-storey house, with a sixty-metre drop tower on its back.

Story
The Indiana elephant seen in daylight at the park, with palm trees around, the temple structure behind, visitors at the entrance
The elephant today: with palms and visitors
The elephant under construction: sculpted body, the yellow tower of the 60-metre Intamin drop tower with the cabin on top sticks out of its back
The drop tower on the back
The elephant seen from medium distance under construction, palm trees already planted around, side red temple structure with oriental details
The temple area, in progress
The elephant being worked seen front-on from low angle: enormous head, eye being finished, telescopic cranes on the sides with workers on the cherry-pickers
The head being painted, two cranes
Side view of the elephant being worked: 3/4 view with the entire structure visible, fountain at its feet, area buildings in the background
Side view, real dimensions
Finished elephant seen front-on with red ceremonial harness, golden bell, ivory-effect tusks, painted eyes, crane on the left still working on details
The elephant with harness and bell

In the workshop

An elephant as tall
as a three-storey house.

It was so big we had to deliver it in pieces. Every photo from our archive shows a different block out of the workshops: a leg, a hip, a body section, a whole head. Hand-carved expanded polystyrene, every detail of the wrinkled skin worked to the millimetre before fibreglass stiffening. Then the pieces were transported to the park and assembled on site, around the drop-tower load-bearing structure.

  • Piece of the Indiana Adventure elephant sculpted in raw white polystyrene in the Creation Art workshops: leg with detailed skin folds, front view, industrial warehouse in the background with white dust on the floor
  • Body section of the elephant sculpted in polystyrene: wide lateral section with skin folds, undulations and veining, front view, raw white material in the workshop
  • Another piece of the elephant: front view of a block sculpted in white polystyrene with skin folds, curved muscular sections
  • Large body section of the elephant in raw polystyrene, long lateral view, skin folds modelled to the millimetre, workshop shelves in the background
  • Another piece of the elephant in worked polystyrene, three-quarter view with skin folds and segmentation
  • Detail of the elephant's skin sculpted in polystyrene: undulations and folds, hand finishing work
  • Piece of the elephant seen in profile in the workshop: polystyrene sculpting with clean cuts where the piece attaches to the others
  • The entire head of the Indiana Adventure elephant sculpted in raw white polystyrene: forehead dome, skin folds, three-quarter view in the workshop warehouse

Behind the scenes

The scenography does not end
where the attraction begins.

In theme parks, mechanical attractions are usually visible — metal towers, exposed trusswork, engine on display. At Cinecittà World the choice is opposite: mechanical structures stay inside the scenography. The Intamin drop tower of Indiana Adventure isn't a "tower with an elephant next to it": it is an elephant with a tower inside. The visitor first sees the sculpture, then realises it is also the ride.

The monumental Indiana Adventure elephant seen front-on: head, raised trunk, red ceremonial harness, golden bell, faux ivory tusks, finished painted right eye
The Indiana Adventure elephant, head detail.
60 m Intamin drop-tower height above the elephant
3 selectable drop modes at the top · seated, tilted, standing
2014 opening as "Erawan" · today "Indiana"

Tech sheet

All production data
Type
Scenographic drop tower · flagship attraction of themed area
Current name
Indiana
Opening name (2014)
Erawan — three-headed divine elephant of Hindu-Buddhist mythology
Park area
Adventure Land
Opening
24 July 2014 · with the park's opening
Drop tower
Intamin · 60 metres in height · 3 drop modes (seated vertical, tilted forward, standing with inclined seat)
Original narrative concept (2014)
Homage to 1950s adventure kolossals · "temple of the Elephant God Erawan with drop tower on its back"
Current narrative concept
Jungle exploration to reach a lost temple · treasure on top · deadly trap = free fall
Park artistic direction
Dante Ferretti, three-time Academy Award winner
Our role
Scenographic work on the monumental elephant and the surrounding area: modelling the three-storey head with relief ceremonial harness, tusks, painted eyes, wrinkled-skin finish. The photos from our archive of the construction document the work with two simultaneous telescopic cranes on the sculpture. Cinecittà World is in the Creation Art portfolio as a theme park signed by the artistic direction of Dante Ferretti.
Cluster
Part of the Cinecittà World cluster
Second life
Attraction operating since 24 July 2014 · renamed from "Erawan" to "Indiana" without modifying the elephant's scenography · keeps scaring visitors every park open day

Cinecittà World cluster · other park areas

Second life

From Erawan to Indiana,
same sculpture.

The attraction opens on 24 July 2014 with the original name Erawan — the three-headed divine elephant of Hindu-Buddhist mythology, from the narrative concept Dante Ferretti wanted as an homage to 1950s adventure kolossals. In the following years it is renamed Indiana, with new storytelling ("jungle exploration to reach a lost temple").

The name changes but the sculpture does not: the three-storey head with ceremonial harness, the tusks, the painted eyes, the wrinkled skin remain those of our original 2014 construction. It is the proof that a solid scenography outlives changes of narrative concept in parks — the material holds, the story updates.