Moscow: “Mickey Mishka” instead of “Mickey Mouse”

Russia is following the Olympian motto “bigger, faster, wider.” After a number of failed starts, the largest amusement park in the world is to finally get underway in the northwest of Moscow. The “Park of Wonders” is to be built on 340-hectare large premises—three times the size of Disneyland USA. Drafts for the project were done by Surab Zereteli, the Russian-Georgian sculptor, painter, and President of the Russian Academy of the Arts.  The park is to be financed with private investments. Since Russia’s President Vladimir Putin made a visit to the academy in mid-February, the probability that the massive project will actually begin has grown. According to “Isvestia,” Zereteli’s presentation of the amusement park to Putin found approval. Zereteli says that because Russia has plenty of its own heroes and fairy tales, there will be no Mickey Mouse at the new park. The Park of Wonders is to be built within seven years. (eap)