‘Beetlejuice’ with a dash of ‘Goosebumps’: Introducing Crazy Fun Park

New to the ACTF Shop, horror-comedy series Crazy Fun Park balances childish pranks and gross-out scenes with a sensitive exploration of themes including grief, adolescence and friendship.

Over 10 half-hour episodes, Crazy Fun Park tells the story of Chester, a teenage boy whose life is turned upside down following the death of his best friend Mapplethorpe at an abandoned theme park. Chester discovers that the soul of Mapplethorpe is very much still alive and kicking – so he returns night after night to hang out with his friend and the other undead kids who haunt the fun park.

The PG-rated series explores the evolution of Chester and Mapplethorpe’s friendship as they struggle to keep their bond alive in this new context. Chester is overjoyed at having a second chance to party with his friend, but real-world logistics soon raise their head. Over-protective parents. Falling grades. High school corridors devoid of friends. Bullying. The reality of being a teenager is almost too much to bear. Plus, he still dreams of escaping Asphodel Heights and moving to the city to attend the prestigious creative arts school. Can he just leave his friend behind? Meanwhile, Mapplethorpe finds eternal youth boring without his real friend, particularly as there’s no fun being a prankster without a straight man to riff off. He can’t connect with the other spirits the way he does with his best friend.

This friendship is at the heart of Crazy Fun Park. Young audiences are quickly engaged by the humour, horrific thrills and wish fulfilment of the ghouls having madcap adventures, an aspect which writer/director Nicholas Verso described as being similar to “‘Beetlejuice’ or ‘Drop Dead Fred’ with a dash of ‘Goosebumps’”.

But on a deeper level, the story allowed the creative team to explore themes of friendship, particularly how they evolve as we journey through adolescence, transitioning from childhood to adulthood. We see the characters choosing the parts of their identities they will hold onto, and the parts they will let go of. The series also tackles the difficult subject of grief and how life-changing an experience of loss can be for children and adolescents, giving young viewers tools to explore and process difficult feelings.

Verso was inspired to create Crazy Fun Park for teens and young adults after losing several friends as a teenager: “I never really spoke about it. There was no language for a teenage boy to process grief and what happens when you watch somebody’s life get ripped away from them. I wanted to create a show that dealt with grief and loss as well as the wonderful emotional chaos of adolescence.

“The series touches on some delicate themes, so we wanted to ensure we’re dealing with these in a responsible way. We engaged a grief consultant to work with us through script development as we explored various character reactions to grief and the events happening around them. We know it’s healthy to talk about these things and we wanted to reflect the strong emotions authentically, and perhaps even offer our audience tools to explore and process difficult feelings themselves.”

Want to watch this unique series yourself before sharing with your English, Media Arts or Drama students? Crazy Fun Park is currently streaming on ABC iview and available to download from the ACTF Shop.