Whether you’ve gone for the first time or you know every stop, set, and spectacle by heart, our signature attraction has made an impact on film fans for generations by taking them on an eye-opening journey behind-the-scenes.
Everyone has their favorite moment from the Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood™, but we’ve picked 7 insider facts along the way that make us love movies and shows – and the magic that goes into them – more and more.
1. Stage 12
Stage 12, built in 1929, is one of the most widely-used stages on the lot for its size and flexibility. It serves as a home for NBC’s The Voice, but it’s so large that it’s used for outdoor sets, too; entire jungles have been built inside for sequences from Jurassic Park and Tropic Thunder!
2. Jurassic Park trailer
The area devoted to the Jurassic Park saga contains the gigantic trailer from The Lost World: Jurassic Park. It may look like tons of metal built to withstand T-rex encounters, but it’s actually made of lightweight wood and plastic PVC piping to make it much easier to transport.
3. Bruce
The shark in Jaws has a name! The filmmakers named the shocking shark “Bruce,” after Steven Spielberg’s lawyer at the time.
4. Plane Crash
That plane wreckage used in the War of the Worlds was an actual Boeing 747 airplane, purchased from a Mojave Desert junkyard and carefully dismantled to look like disaster had struck.
5. Flash Flood
The flash flood that comes rushing down Old Mexico toward the tram is 10,000 gallons of recycled water that gets reused for each special effect.
6. Western Sets
Take a look at the Western sets and you’ll notice the doorways are smaller than usual. This was a trick used to make the heroic cowboys like John Wayne as grand and impressive as possible in classic Westerns like Rooster Cogburn — hey, even the best actors could use some extra help looking taller!
7. Hitchcock’s Office
If you can’t remember the number for legendary director Alfred Hitchcock’s personal office – that’s Bungalow 5195, for superfans – you can recognize it by his iconic silhouette, made famous on the show “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” which remains on the door to commemorate its history.
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