SHREK, MADAGASCAR, ET AL TO GET A THEME PARK

DreamWorks Animation, which once had plans to create a theme park in Dubai, where malls boast such entertainments as ski slopes and ice rinks — a project that fell through — has now agreed to team up with a mall developer in New Jersey to launch a similar theme park at an elaborate mall that has stood virtually vacant since it was built five years ago. Dubbed Xanadu, the developers had taken the optimistic view that if they built it, tenants and customers would come. Alan Marcus, a spokesman for the developer, Triple Five, said that they were confident that with the entertainment additions they have in mind — like the Dubai malls, this one is also expected to include an ice rink and a ski slope as well as a water park and a performing arts theater — the mall can yet become a success.