Daveland reader Melinda S. noticed that my collection has a huge void of 1980’s photos and generously donated these images to the cause! Her collection included shots from her June 1980 trip to California. Today’s post features her photos from Universal Studios. Melinda’s memories of Disneyland (coming soon!) are more vivid, but what she doesn’t recall is made up for in these vintage shots! As she remembers:
We took this trip somewhere in the middle to end of June 1980. I would have been 9, my sister 5. The Universal Studios tour was neat and being able to pick up the van all by myself was pretty darn cool - I do remember thinking it was still pretty heavy and almost not being able to do it!
Some of Melinda’s images you Universal nutz will have to fill in the data for, as I do not recall what they are from, either.
I really love this overall view of the backlot:
A closeup of the Town Square area that was used in “Back to the Future” and so many other movies:
Compare with my shot from 2004:
While very similar, there appears to have been some movement and rebuilding that occurred over those twenty years, most likely because of having to be rebuilt due to fire(s).
Back to Melinda and 1980! Another backlot view:
A quiet little seaport town. But wait…what’s at the bottom of the frame?
That dastardly shark, Bruce from “Jaws”!
I don't remember meeting the Cyclon, but my sister says she does.
I’m sure Universal was thrilled to have Melinda’s family wearing Disney merchandise! I LOVE it!!
All locked up and no place to go:
Compare with this September 1969 shot from my collection:
Back to 1980 and Melinda enjoying those oversized props.
Here’s another feat of strength from Melinda. As she remembers:
The jail 'bars' were rubbery and really easy to pull apart.
I am going to guess there was some kind of “attraction” at Universal where you could see a snowfall, something Southern California is not known for.
From my collection, the same set in November 1965:
One of the shows Melinda and family went to was a trained animal show:
And another family favorite, the stunt show!
Stay tuned for more from Melinda S.!
See more Universal Studios photos at my main website.
9 comments:
Universal nuts filling in data? (cracks knuckles) I thought you'd never ask.
That GMC van definitely dates the pics as pre-1984. Two of the tires were fixed to the ground with pnuematic lifts so that anyone could stand next to the van and lift it by just giving it a slight tug. Once the A-Team was considered a hit, that GMC van was painted black and silver with the trademark red stripe making it B.A. Baracus's van. Years later it would be replaced by a Knight Industries Two Thousand KITT ( which did not lift off the ground ) but did feature a voice actor behind the scenes talking to whoever sat in the car. Eventually a time machine DeLorean occupied this space before being removed at which time the space was never occupied by a car again and became part of Simpson's Land.
The collapsing bridge was part of the Universal Studios tour and was inevitablty used in every popular TV show that was on a budget, from Six Million Dollar Man, the Bionic Woman, and Quantum Leap. (I'm sure there were more.)
The Dirk Benedict look-a-like next to the Cylon is impressive, not just the jacket but the smug look. You can tell he practiced for this part. Further down I see a chimpanzee in the "Muffit" suit, the robotic dog from the TV show.
That 1969 shot of the stockade shows something I'd never seen before, references to other attractions such as Marineland in Palos Verdes, Busch Gardens, Knotts Berry Farm and the Palm Springs Aerial Tram with Disneyland being intentionally omitted. You'd never see such cross-promotion today, at least not without some kind of paid partnership with them.
The snowfall attraction was where the current Simpson's gift shop now sits, technically it was closer to the back of the Back to the Future ( I mean, Simpsons ) ride building. The theme was Laurel and Hardy, and the borders around the fenced in backdrop showcased pics from their movies where they sat in similar situations, so that you know how excited you were supposed to be. There was a crank on one side of this facade's frame, and as you turned a wire-mesh barrel above the backdrop turned and dropped "snow" for your picture. I seem to recall an endlessly irritating loop of "The Cuckoo Song", otherwise known as the Laurel and Hardy theme. It assured that no one wanted to stand there for more than 20 seconds, just long enough to get a picture then leave before the ear-worm got stuck in your head.
Every time I look at that old west stunt show, or even those original trams ( designed by Disney Imagineer Harper Goff ) all I can think about is Don Adams in the Maxwell Smart movie "The Nude Bomb." One of his shootouts was in that stunt show scene. The movie footage of Smart chasing a chaos agent, both driving tour busses loaded with passengers while shooting at each other, has been used on the overhead monitors for the current tram tours even up to the present day.
Bryan - You are incredible. Thanks for filling in all the gaps!
One additional detail - if you look at Melinda’s overview shot of the backlot, you can see residential Colonial Street in its original location. Find the then-clockless courthouse facade and track right until you find a long building facade intended to look like a row of brownstones (“Brownstone Street”). Behind that you can see a large mansion surrounded by trees, This structure was originally built for the 1927 version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (although not at this exact spot). Colonial Street tracks off to the right and into the trees, eventually making a right-hand turn as it transitions into New England Street. Colonial Street was the home of the Cleaver family through most of Leave It to Beaver and is where about 98% of Malloy & Reed’s domestic calls end up in Adam-12.
Most of the documentation I’ve read shows Colonial Street moving to its present site in 1981, but it looks like some of that movement may already be in progress here. There seems to be an awful lot of bare first and maybe a trailer or vehicle or two occupying the far end of the street. Find the riverboat to the right of the brownstone facade and track upwards to see the area I am describing.
Thanks for this visit to Universal, Dave & Melinda!
Thanks Chuck. I didn't even see the Riverboat until you mentioned it, nor the large mansion surrounded by trees. Thank you! I think the body of water on the extreme right of that same shot was where the McHale's Navy and The Ten Commandments attractions were. The tram would drive along the water's edge where you could see the McHale PT boat docked. Suddenly a periscope would come out of the water and match pace with the tram. It would turn and veer towards you before going underwater at which point a water ripple would head towards the bridge you were driving over. ( Torpedo ) A blast of water would splash on you as it "exploded", just like it did for every tram. After that you'd approach a spot where the road disappeared underwater. The water would part a-la Ten Commandments and you'd drive through to the other side. Later it would become the beach for Tora Bora, the fictional island in Tales of the Gold Monkey, whose 2 story hotel had been built on the opposing beach. Throughout the mid-80s and after the Grumman Goose known as "Cutter's Goose" from that TV show could be seen parked on the beach before this hut, and just after the Ten Commandments water crossing. Today it's known as some kind of King Kong thing. Skull Island I think? Who cares.
In that very last picture with the stunt show there was one thing I regret not mentioning. I've seen a few old west shootout shows but this was the only one to feature an underground tunnel system. To the right of the cowboy in black is a barrel and a wooden frame in the ground, like a ffed station for horses or something. Even further to the right a sign says "Danger Quicksand." One of the cowboys would run over to the box, stand in it and shoot at someone else. Then they'd discover they were in quicksand and would sink out of the audience's view. Everyone had a good laugh but then moments later the same cowboy would emerge from the exceptionally wide barrel on the left ( by the green metal water pump handle ) and spit out water as if they had swam underground to this well to get out.
Wow, thanks for so much great info, Bryan! I'm glad to share my vacation photos from way back with others who will appreciate them. I've learned so much from Dave's photos on his site, and others like Yesterland, Atomic Redhead and so many more, and everyone's comments on blog posts in my research for my scrapbook I am putting together for this trip. So far I've mainly been focused on Disneyland - but I will get to this part of the trip eventually in my scrapbook ;)
I hadn't even noticed those crisp, white new Disney souvenir shirts in the Universal photos. I'm sure we thought nothing of wearing them to Universal at the time. Battlestar Galactica was a weekly viewing experience in our house, so the Cyclon appearance and seeing the chimp in the Muffit suit would have been a treat
Since Bryan mentioned the snow scene and the mechanism above that has jostled a few memories out for me. I remember the mesh cylinder up above, the handle to turn it on a post on the left side of where we were standing, I believe. I wondered why all of the fake snow didn't just fall through the big mesh at the time LOL No stranger to the actual stuff during winter months, it was still a fun thing to see. Years ago while my daughters were dancing and in professional Nutcracker performances I worked backstage and the falling snow mechanism they use for the scenes in those there is quite different.
On the falling bridge - didn't the tram go over it and it was supposed to be an earthquake happening? I remember looking back at the bridge - or maybe we were approaching it? - and seeing the pieces move to reset for the next time.
Dave's photo in the stocks was bugging me until I finally realized that there are two left feet in the stocks in his LOL! Also, the wear and tear on the edges of the wood pieces between the two time periods is quite impressive.
Those are great pics Melinda. So weird that we live those moments as a child then 40 years later it's "the good old days". I didn't even notice the DL t-shirts until now. Wow, unobservant me.
The falling bridge and the earthquake attraction were two different areas, but only a short distance between each other. Perhaps you meant an earthquake was the cause? Maybe. I seem to recall the bus driver and tour guide as two different roles and at once point the guide says something like "Now this bridge over here on the left..." and the driver turns into it "....is condemned." Then the tour guide apologizes and says her driver just leaps before acting and he'll have us backed out of the condemned bridge in a minute. Then she says "Apparently flex busses don't work like that, we can't back up so we have no choice but to go forward. Everyone hold your breath!" and as you cross the condemned bridge it drops down a foot or two thanks to pneumatics.
The Earthquake attraction was a tunnel that went into a show building that looked like a subway and as far as I know, it's still there and in operation some 45 years later. That THAT Irwin Allen! Likewise, I remember driving away from the bridge and you'd see the sides of it rising back up into place at which time the tour guide would say "Don't be surprised folks, it's made out of... Holly... Wood."
Ugh, two left feet. I missed that. I was too focused on the dirt and paint wear. In the background of that second stockade pic from 1969 you can almost see the restaurant on the left in the background. What most people remember about that place is that it had a corrugated metal roof over the outdoor dining area, and the roof angled down into the pond in front of it. Water sprayed on top of the roof via an irrigation system causing it to always "rain" as you sat outside and looked at the lake. Inside that small dining area lake were two scale model battleships about 4-5 feet long. The would fire back and forth at each other, the barrels lighting up, the speakers playing a loud boom, the the water around the ships would pop and splash up as if the shell hit the water. You could enjoy your lunch on a sunny day outside, in the "rain", watching model battleships lob imaginary ammunition back and forth at each other.
Thanks for sharing those pictures Melinda. Such good memories. In one of my rooms at home I still have a framed caricature sketch of me from 1981, sitting in a director's chair, dressed like Indiana Jones. ...because for most of 1981, I went to school dressed as Indiana Jones. Don't judge.
Holy frak! Intellectually I knew Muffit was played by a chimpanzee, but I don't think I ever fully processed the fact until I saw this picture with the suit's head off. For my money, the OG Cylons were some of the scariest villains in the history of sci-fi TV/movies. Thanks to Dave and Melinda for the time machine ride!
Melinda, Dave, Chuck and Bryan, thanks for the photos, memories and infill info.
I had forgotten the snow effect stop until just now. I remember the flakes were a shredded plastic film, not unlike the material put over your clothes when the dry cleaner is done, only white in color.
I visited only once, maybe 1969 or 1970. I remember that "Ironsides" set was a featured stop, I was surprised to see how small it was inside compared to how it looked on the TV.
JG
thanks for the clarifiation on the earth quake and bridge parts of the tour, Fifthrider. Good to know some of the things I 'think' I remember are at least partially accurate, and not have to spend hours looking for info to figure it all out.
A famed archeologist explorer is a decent role model, I would say. I'm sure you weren't the only one. ;) There are certainly worse characters out there to spend your childhood emulating!
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