Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour gets mega-makeover
By: VALERIE KUKLENSKI - Associated Press | ∞
UNIVERSAL CITY -- In recent years, riders familiar with the backlot Studio Tour at Universal Studios Hollywood may have thought they could take over for their tram guide, chatting away about the Little Europe set and feigning fear of the "Jaws" shark and collapsing bridge.
But the tour has added some horsepower, getting its biggest revamp in more than a decade.
The centerpiece is a fiery mechanized stunt sequence from "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." Its one of a half-dozen new or improved elements in the tram tour that debuted this summer.
"I don't think there's ever been that many elements that were done at once," Thierre Coup, the Orlando, Fla.-based creative director of Universal Creative, said while showing off the "Fast & Furious: Extreme Close-Up" project.
All the attractions on the tour must be impressive and durable.
Universal Studios Hollywood creative director John Murdy said research indicates that nearly every guest at the theme park rides the tram down the hill to hundreds of acres of sound stages, false-fronted buildings and production bungalows.
The tram ride is the park's oldest attraction, opening in 1964 as the first ticketed public access to the studio lot. But it was ready for another facelift.
"Fast & Furious: Extreme Close-Up" is the hottest new feature. It's designed to show visitors the pre-visualization, or "pre-vis," process by which filmmakers use computer models and mechanics to plan lighting and camera placement for the best stunt results and fewest takes.
As the tram approaches the outdoor stage, tram monitors show sequences from "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," the third in the series of street-racing movies. Riders then find themselves in the middle of a scene, with revving cars being strafed from a low-flying helicopter until bullets trigger explosions in nearby fuel tanks.
On the way to the action, visitors pass what those in the movie business call "picture cars," noteworthy vehicles seen on camera, sometimes with a star behind the wheel.
The display includes the famed DeLorean from "Back to the Future" as well as the Bluesmobile from "The Blues Brothers" movie, the Ferrari from the "Magnum P.I." television show, a Dusenberg used in "The Mummy" movie and even a 1932 Ford Model A seen in Marx Brothers movies.
The 80-foot drenching plunge on "Jurassic Park: The Ride" is "not everybody's cup of tea," Murdy said. So the park has perked up its "Jurassic Park" tram experience with the addition of four "spitter" dinosaurs that pop out from the bushes, growl, fan out their hoods and spray water as tram cars go by.
The 1970s version of King Kong still shakes things up in the New York City scene inside one of the sound stages. But Peter Jackson's remake of the great ape story is the focus when the tram later rolls into the magically dividing pond formerly known on the lot as the Red Sea.
Tram riders now get a look at Skull Island -- the home of King Kong -- as it appeared in Jackson's 2005 blockbuster.
To make the scene even more realistic, the studio built a state-of-the-art weather station that gauges temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction at the pond and controls some 140 fog nozzles to generate just the right amount of misty air around the eerie scene.
"For the life of me, I can't figure out why we ever had the Red Sea to begin with," Murdy said, noting "The Ten Commandments" was a Paramount production, and the only film ever to use that backlot location -- Mel Brooks' "History of the World, Part I" -- was released by 20th Century Fox.
In another change, actress and sassy Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg has been cast to host the video presentation seen on flat screens inside the tram.
She has taken over from an assortment of Hollywood notables, including Steven Spielberg, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Her narration lends family friendly insights and anecdotes to the attraction.
If You Go ...
GETTING THERE: Universal Studios is located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, north of downtown Los Angeles. Take the 101 Freeway and exit at Universal Studios Boulevard.
GENERAL INFORMATION: Call 1(800) UNIVERSAL.
ON THE NET: http://www.universalstudios.com
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