I don’t know about you, but I love having a piece of my fantasy come true — which is why I loved being at Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.

Like many fans of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, I was devastated when the 74-year-old announced that The Wind Rises would be his last feature film. But last week, he gave everyone — including the Japanese tourism industry — a reason to cheer when it was reported he would be building a nature retreat for children.

Famous for acclaimed films such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and The Castle Of Cagliostro, Miyazaki chose the remote island of Kumejima off Okinawa to realise his vision, pumping in ¥300 million (S$3.5 million) of his own money into the project, which will be completed in 2018. According to reports, Miyazaki will also be using as much local material as possible for the retreat, which will be built by local companies in support of the Made In Kumejima initiative.

The undertaking of his retreat is classic Miyazaki. The animator’s works often focus on children and the natural world, and he has even released a drawing of what his nature retreat would look like.

FROM STAR WARS TO MARIO BROTHERS

Miyazaki’s project comes in the wake of other high-profile projects that are expected to build upon the affections of die-hard fans. The Star Wars franchise, of course, takes the crown for causing the most intense case of spontaneous mass hyperventilation when Disney (which now owns Lucasfilm) announced plans last month to create not one but two Star Wars theme parks in California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Walt Disney World.

Every bit of information, from the size of the park (about 5.5ha each) to the attractions, has been breathlessly analysed. Artist Tom Hodges, who worked at Lucasfilm for the Clone Wars comics, also sketched his take on what the parks would look like. Disney head Bob Iger assured fans they’ll be getting a Millennium Falcon ride and a Creature Cantina, based on the Mos Eisley Cantina.

No date has been set for these just yet, but another compelling movie universe awaits next year when The Hunger Games theme park opens in Dubai.

Movie studio Lionsgate has tied up with Dubai Parks and Resorts to construct a Lionsgate zone in Motiongate Dubai, which opens in October next year. We shudder to think if there might be an arena where kids go all Battle Royale on each other.

A friendlier world can be experienced in the town of Springfield. Yes, that very town from The Simpsons opened last May at Universal Studios Hollywood.

It’s larger than the first Springfield in Universal Studios Florida, and series creator Matt Groening and his writers have weighed in to create amazing details that lifelong fans of the 26-year-old series will lap up — one can have donuts from Lard Lad Donuts and Duff beer from Moe’s Tavern, or check out Spider-Pig’s hoof prints on the ceiling of the restaurant Cletus, Chicken Shack. The writers even named many of the dishes on the menus.

Universal isn’t stopping there. In May, Universal Parks and Resorts inked a deal with Japanese gaming giant Nintendo to create “spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and world”, said the official release, so we’re expecting to see fan faves such as the Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda appearing.

HELLO, NEIGHBOUR

While we have Universal Studios Singapore here, it looks like Malaysia is shaping up to be the dream destination for movie, animation or gaming buffs. Gaming giant Ubisoft made game players weep with joy everywhere when it announced on Monday it was launching a “next generation” theme park in Kuala Lumpur. The maker of hits such as Assassin’s Creed and Raving Rabbids revealed that the 10,000sqm indoor complex will include attractions built around its games and characters. Ubisoft senior vice-president Jean de Rivieres said: “Together, we are creating a place where every guest is a player, every ride is a playground, every visit is a game.” You’ll have to wait until 2020 though.

There’s always 20th Century Fox’s theme park in Genting Highlands, which is projected to open by next year, to look forward to. An estimated 25 rides and attractions will be available, based on movies such as Ice Age, Planet Of The Apes and Alien Vs Predator. Also opening next year is the Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) in Ipoh. It’s Malaysia’s (and Asia’s) first animation theme park and the star attraction is likely to be the DreamWorks Adventure Zone, where visitors will get to mingle with characters such as Mr Peabody and Sherman, the Croods family and Casper The Friendly Ghost. It will also house the tallest drop tower in Malaysia called the Megamind Tower.

Still, three theme parks are nothing compared to China’s. It has been reported that the country will have a whopping 60 theme parks opening in the next five years including both a Disneyland and a Dreamworks Centre in Shanghai , a Universal Studios outside Beijing and a Six Flags in Tianjin.

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

While it’s clear that theme park developers anticipate hungry fans who can’t get enough of their favourite shows or games, not every project is successful — or even realised to begin with.

Take the case of that Game Of Thrones idea in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its mayor, Andro Vlahusic, had high hopes the hit HBO show would do for Dubrovnik (which stood in for the television series’ King’s Landing setting) what The Lord Of The Rings has done for New Zealand. He had announced plans for a theme park on the island of Lokrum and announced he even got HBO’s approval to use the original Iron Throne and costumes. He also said the theme park will open to coincide with the fifth season of the series. Well, it didn’t.

There’s also The Marvel Experience, a touring indoor interactive complex which sounded awesome in theory where you get to be a S.H.I.E.L.D agent alongside The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor. It ended up abruptly cancelling its summer tour and no reason was given. Maybe none were needed, though. Reviews for the complex, which opened in December, were scathing. Visitors complained it was “overrated”, had “pathetic ‘experiences’” and was “a waste of time, money and sanity”.

I think there’s a lesson to be learnt here: You can’t possibly cheat fan boys and girls with a substandard product or experience. There is a difference between getting your mind blown and blowing your money. I can bet my bottom dollar which camp Miyazaki’s project will fall under.