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Universal Studios Hollywood
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio in Universal City, California, and is the original Universal Studios theme park. Woody Woodpecker is the mascot for Universal Studios Hollywood and the rest of the Universal Studios Theme Parks. Its official marketing headline is "The Entertainment Capital of LA," though during the summer it is often advertised as "The Coolest Place in LA." It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios soundstages and sets. It is the first of many fully-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks, along with Universal Studios Orlando, Universal Studios Japan, and the upcoming Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Dubai, and Universal Studios South Korea theme parks.
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From the beginning, Universal has offered tours of its studio. In the silent-film days, Carl Laemmle's tour included a chance to buy fresh produce, since then-rural Universal City was still in part a working farm.
Shortly after MCA took over Universal Pictures in 1962, accountants suggested a tour stop in the studio commissary would increase profits, and in 1964, the modest tour was expanded to include a series of dressing room walk-throughs, peeks at actual production, and later, staged events. This grew over the years into a full-blown theme park - the narrated tram (formerly "Glamortram") tour still runs through the studio's active backlot, but the staged events, stunt demonstrations and high-tech rides overshadow the motion-picture production that once lured fans in Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal City also includes hotels Universal Hilton & Tower's, and the Sheraton Hotels and Resorts), a multi-screen theater, and Universal CityWalk, which offers a collection of shops and restaurants, as well as the Gibson Amphitheatre, a concert venue.
The company has since created Universal parks in other locations: Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan. Universal once owned Port Aventura, Spain, which was sold in 2004.
The attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood are split into two areas on different levels, connected by a series of escalators called the Starway.
- Universal's Animal Actors
- Fear Factor Live!
- Shrek 4-D
- T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
- Waterworld-A Live Sea War Spectacular
- Studio Tour ("Earthquake-The Big One" , "Jaws" , "King Kong" , "Flash Flood" , "The Fast And The Furious: Extreme Close Up" , "The Mummy's Tomb" , and famous movie sets from Universal movies)
- Nickelodeon Blast Zone
- Blues Brothers R&B Revue
- Universal's House of Horrors
- Coke Soak
- Special Effects Stages
- Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride
- Jurassic Park: The Ride
- Backdraft
- Lucy: A Tribute
Universal Studios has a number of costumed characters roaming the park grounds, representing many different genres. Some are portrayals of Hollywood icons, like the Marx Brothers, Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball. Others are based on Universal's vast media library, such as:
- The characters of Walter Lantz (examples include Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda)
- The characters of Hanna Barbera
- Universal's collection of classic monsters (such as Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man)
- Characters from Universal's various film releases (such as Doc Brown, Beetlejuice, Curious George)
To augment its collection, Universal Studios Hollywood has licensed many other popular characters, like those from, Shrek, Nickelodeon shows SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, and heroes and villains from Marvel Comics. Most recently, and in preparation for their future attraction, the Simpsons can now be seen in the park.
Upper Lot:
- The Flintstones Show (1994 - 1997), replaced by Totally Nickelodeon (1997 - 2000), replaced by Rugrats Magic Adventure 3-D (2000 - 2002), replaced by Shrek 4-D
- Beetlejuice's Rock N' Roll Graveyard Revue (1992 - 1999), replaced by Spider-Man Rocks (2002 - 2004), replaced by Fear Factor Live
- Castle Dracula Live Show (1980 - 1983), replaced by Conan the Barbarian (1983 - 1992)
- Back to the Future: The Ride (June 1993 - September 3, 2007), to be replaced by The Simpsons Ride in Summer 2008
- Rocky and Bullwinkle Live (1992 - 1996), The Land Before Time (1997 - 1998), replaced by Coke Soak
- Fivel's Playland (1989 - 1997) and An American Tail (1989 - 1995), both replaced by T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
- Walk-through exhibits of Chicken Run, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas , Van Helsing , and The Mummy
- Wild, Wild West Stunt Show (1980s - 2002)
- The Land of a Thousand Faces (1975-1980)
Lower Lot:
- The World of CineMagic, opened in June 1991 and closed in July 2001, replaced by Special Effects Stages
- E.T. Adventure, opened in June 1992 and closed March 2003, replaced by Revenge of the Mummy (Hollywood)
- The Simpsons Ride (opening June 18, 2008).
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| Universal Orlando Resort | Universal Studios Florida • Islands of Adventure • Universal CityWalk |
| Other parks | Universal Studios Hollywood • Universal Studios Japan • Universal Studios Singapore • Universal Studios Dubai • Universal Studios South Korea |