Ground has been broken on Malaysia’s first animation theme park project in Perak – a RM450 million (US$138m, €100m, £83m) collaboration between integrated tourism destination specialist the Sanderson Group and property developer Perak Corporation Berhad.

Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) Perak is expected to open by the end of 2015, boasting over 40 rides and attractions as well as a variety of themed food & beverage and retail outlets throughout the 52-acre site.

It will feature six different zones – Animation Square, Fantasy Forest, Live Action, Space Zone, DreamWorks and the Lakeside Zone – to form an animation-based fantasy environment.

The DreamWorks zone will bring the film studio’s properties such as Mr Peabody & Sherman and Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Additional zones will showcase other animation characters created specifically for the park by some of the best creative artists, designers and animators from Australia and Asia.

MAPS will also be home to a car stunt show and expects to be the only ‘live broadcast’ theme park in Malaysia, with real-time streams shown throughout the park and online of live shows, rides and attractions.

There are also plans to include hotels, serviced apartments, a waterpark and a street mall to MAPS during the second phase of development.

The theme park forms part of Malaysia’s major tourism push to attract 36 million visitors by 2020, also reflected by recently announced plans for a major eco-resort on the island of Langkawi.

Perak – with its strategic location at the heart of Peninsular Malaysia, and on the highway linking Kuala Lumpur to Penang – was an ideal choice for the MAPS project, which is expected to draw more visitors to the wider area.

“Although Perak’s is the most visited state in Malaysia by domestic tourists (attracting 5.85m visitors last year), most tend to visit the state for only a short stay without spending the night,” says Datuk Aminuddin chief executive of Perak State Development Corporation.

“Thus, the development of MAPS will help Perak realise its full potential as one of Malaysia’s top tourist destinations.”

MAPS – which is being officially endorsed by the Perak State Government and Malaysia’s Tourism Ministry – was officially launched last weekend.

The project marks the inaugural investment in Malaysia for the Australian Sanderson Group – an integrated tourism destination specialist – and follows its recent signing of a memorandum of understanding to develop another theme park in Malaysia’s Rawang region.