Behind the Scenes at Universal Studios Hollywood

The next day, we visited Universal Studios Hollywood, one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use that also doubles as a theme park.

As the “entertainment capital of LA,” this is another iconic California destination. But it had a different vibe from Disneyland. This one enticed the “TV-producer-wanna-be” side of me (and I did become one after university grad).

Since this trip was from many, many years ago, the Universal Studios I am describing is quite different from what you may know of it now. So many things have changed since then, but it’s always good to go down memory lane.

Some of my favourite American movies and TV shows in the late 70s and early 80s were celebrated in the various rides and attractions of Universal Studios circa 1990s (feels like I am talking about ancient times…hahaha), and once again, once I entered its gates, I became an eight-year-old girl.

Most of these attractions are no longer there, and some have been replaced by new ones based on more recent movies. But back in the early 90s, these were the craze (man, I am definitely giving away my age, but that’s okay).

• The Shark from the movie, Jaws

At the time of our visit, what was displayed was already a replica of “Bruce,” the mechanical shark used in the movie, Jaws. Nevertheless, I posed for a shot, pretending I was being bitten.

• “K.I.T.T.”

The talking car from the TV show, Knight Rider that starred David Hasselhoff was parked there and was available for visitors to sit in and ask questions. It was like the old-fashioned version of today’s Siri or Alexa, but in a vehicle form. For the geeks, the car’s name stood for “Knight Industries Two Thousand.” (Wow, it sounded very “futuristic” back then).

• The Studio Tour

This is the signature attraction of this theme park and the most interesting for us, future TV producers (my friend and I worked together at the broadcast network). We were driven through the Front Lot and the Back Lot of the studio to catch a glimpse of TV and movie sets, props, and the special effects used to create some scenes. In some sections, there were demonstrations (a flash flood, an earthquake, the “Jaws” attack, a collapsing bridge, King Kong on a rampage, among others).

• Backdraft

This attraction was based on the movie with the same title directed by Ron Howard and released in 1991. It featured three parts. The first one was a video presentation of Mr. Howard himself describing what a backdraft is and how they recreated it in the movie. The second part was another video featuring the stars of the movie who talked about the difficulties they went through during the filming to make the scenes as realistic as possible. The last part, which was the finale, was a two-minute showcase where we were exposed to a terrifying display of fire and flames as a make-shift warehouse became an inferno. It made us feel we were really trapped inside a burning building.

• Miami Vice Action Spectacular

This special effects and pyrotechnics live show was based on the then-popular action TV series starring Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, two police detectives working undercover in Miami. It’s basically a stunt show featuring the two heroes as they raided a smugglers’ hideout. There were stunts in a break-neck pace, a water chase scene, and high-tech gunfights and blastings, as the heroes exhibited their skills while maneuvering jet skis and a speedboat on the water.

• The E.T. Adventure

This was based on the popular 80s film, E.T, Extra Terrestrial, and the ride was a recreation of the iconic bicycle scene at the end of the movie. We got on a bike with E.T. riding with us in a basket and just like in the movie, we tried to help him get back to his home planet, while at the same time avoiding obstacles – police officers with torches, lurching cars, and mysterious space-suit clad figures.

The highlight of the ride was the soaring “flight” above the city and across the moon. But unlike in the movie, this bike actually made it to E.T.’s home planet, and we dropped him off to join his little friends. At the end of the ride, we got a personalized “thank you” from E.T. himself and it was then when we understood why we were asked to audio record our names at the start of the ride.

We also watched several shows on stage – a live animal training show, a musical show featuring cartoon characters, and a puppet show. Then we toured an exhibition on movie props, movie costumes, movie stills, movie set photos, and memorabilia. There were interactive video displays of “behind-the-scene” imagery and sections where we could “play” with items such as set drawings, animatronic dolls, miniature sets, prosthetic props, and others. The rest of the time was for souvenir shopping.