SoCal Trip: Universal Studios

12 March 2011

HOLLYWOOD is the historical center of movie studios and movie stars.  We had no interest in acquiring a map and searching out the homes of the stars, but we thought it might be fun to visit a studio lot — specifically, Universal Studios.

Here’s some information I posted in my photo album at the time … source unidentified:

The biggest and busiest movie studio in the world, Universal Studios is situated on more than 420 acres (170 hectares).  In March of 1915, film pioneer Carl Laemmle bought property in North Hollywood, and began to convert what had been a remote chicken ranch into a major film-making mecca.  The more than 15,000 people who attended the opening ceremonies had to hike seven miles (11 km) through the Cahuenga Pass to reach the site.

Laemmle was also the first to instigate the tours of the lots.  The first tour patrons hiked over Universal’s hills to an area known as Six Points, Texas, where they were allowed to cheer and hiss while actors and technicians filmed, at times, as many as six feature films simultaneously.  That was during the era of silent movies.  With the advent of sound into video, the Laemmle tours became impractical … silence on the set had become golden.  In 1964, the tours were begun once more, letting patrons view sets from behind the scenes, and attractions designed to illustrate movie-making technology.

Welcome to Universal!

The tour will take us to the backlot behind and below me.

Loaded into a tram, which was open on either side, we went exploring around the backlots of Universal.  Even though we had only one celebrity sighting, we enjoyed our day.

KITT, the talking car of Knight Rider fame.
(inset shows Edward Mulhare and David Hasselhoff with kitt.)

Ernest Borgnine on the set of Airwolf. 

Taking ET for a ride.

I'm probably one of the few people of our generation who hasn't seen Jaws.

Once inside Battlestar Galactica ...

… We experience a laser show and a close encounter with a cylon.

The parting of the Red Sea ... the mystery revealed.

Anywhere Europe!

Avalanche is all about special effects as the tram goes through the tunnel.

Watch out! We're about to be swept away.

Bomb Run — what looks like a big ocean in the movies is just a small pond on the set.

Me and my friends — Andy Panda and Woody Woodpecker.

Last, but not least, meet Universal’s newest starlet.  Her wide-ranging talent allows her to play roles such as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, and Red Sonja in Conan, the Barbarian!

Interestingly, according to a Wikipedia article I found on the Internet, of the six major film studios, 2009 statistics have Universal in last place with 9.2% of the movie market. 

SoCal Trip: Disneyland

11 March 1985

Disneyland will never be completed.
It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.

Walt Disney

Can anyone go to Southern California and not visit Disneyland?  Of course not.  We were no exception and spent a delightful day at the theme park.  It was a day that frequently brought out the inner child in us.  We didn’t see Mickey and Minnie on that occasion, but made up for that oversight on later trips that took us to Disney World in Florida.

I have a few notes in my photo album that I will share here … I’m afraid I did not indicate the source of the information.

The idea for Disneyland was one that had simmered in Walt’s mind for years before the park became a reality.  He used to tell a story about how, on Saturdays (Daddy’s Day) he would take his two daughters to amusement parks and playgrounds.  He was always disappointed because, “while they were on the merry-go-round riding forty times or something, I’d be sitting there trying to figure out what I could do.”

Walt was a man who was always looking for a new challenge, and he soon set to work on a different kind of amusement park … one where parents and children together could forget their everyday cares and lose themselves in adventure and fantasy.  His “magical little park,” 20 years later, became the Magic Kingdom.  It had no precedent — nowhere in the world at the time could you find the same unique blend of entertainment and information.  The challenge of turning 160 acres (64 hectares) of dusty orange groves into the happiest place on earth was met with unparalleled success, largely because, as Walt often said, “Disneyland is a labor of love.”

“To all who come to this happy place: welcome.  Disneyland is your land.”  These words, delivered by Walt Disney on July 17, 1955, at the opening of Disneyland, convey as much meaning today as they did then.  As Walt intended from the first, “it will give meaning to the pleasure of the children — and pleasure to the experience of adults.”

And now … onto images from our day at Disneyland.

30 years … over 240,000,000 guests have visited Disneyland.

We stopped by yesterday to get the lay of the land.

Main Street USA is billed as everyone’s hometown. 
I’ve never been on a Main Street where I could mingle with Pinocchio and Cinderella!

Journey Into Primeval Times by Train
Diplodocus feeding its young. 

Journey Into Primeval Times by Train
triceratops with hatchlings.

… Adventure … romance … mystery … tropical rivers flowing into the unknown … 
We’re heading to adventureland.

Hyenas and a Rhino have these adventurers up a tree — Jungle Cruise.

Taking a shower or just having fun — Jungle Cruise.

Columbia is a replica of the first American ship to circumnavigate the world (1787-1790).

The Mark Twain is a replica of a Mississippi sternwheel steam packet.

Traveling the Rivers of America on the Mark Twain.

An Indian burial ground in Frontierland.

Crossing over to Tom Sawyer Island.

Exploring Tom Sawyer Island.

Teeter-Totter Rock — a nice spot from which to watch the Mark Twain go by.

Tomorrowland offers a submarine voyage and underwater sights ...

... such as sea turtles ...

... and a shark in the clutches of a giant octopus.

The entrance to Fantasyland is through Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

Bestowing the kiss that will awaken the princess.

Left: King Arthur’s Carousel — fun for kids of all ages. 
Right: The Sword in the stone just won’t budge!

No thanks, wicked queen; I'm smarter than snow white!

Dopey has the right idea, but happy's hanging on to him by his coattail.

It’s a Small World represents international unity.

All together now ... "It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears ...
it’s a small world after all …”

This might be the only way I ever get to the Taj mahal!

We were indeed in the Happiest Place on Earth.  What fun!

SoCal Trip: Spruce Goose

10 March 1985

After our time aboard the Queen Mary, we spent time getting to know the Spruce Goose, more formally — the H-4 Hercules.  At the time, the plane was on display in a giant white dome in Long Beach.

The Spruce Goose and Queen Mary ... when they were both in Long Beach.
February 11, 1982: The Spruce Goose being prepared for the final move into her new home.
Howard Hughes’ spruce goose arrived safely after a five-mile (8 km) ocean voyage by barge.
[scanned from postcard]

Spruce Goose with Howard Hughes at the controls.

At 400,000 pounds (181,437 kg), the Spruce Goose is the biggest aircraft the world has ever seen.  It’s 320-foot (98 m) wingspan is longer than a football field.  It has a tail broader than a Boeing 727, and it is taller than an eight-storey building.  It took the world’s largest self-propelled crane to lift her when she was moved to Long Beach.  The Goose was once housed in the world’s largest self-sustaining aluminum dome.

(Click the size-comparison chart of the Spruce Goose to see a larger version.  For more information about the Goose, click here.)

Howard Hughes, an American aviator, engineer, industrialist, film producer, director, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people in the world, convinced President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that giant air transports were essential to winning the war.  At a time when Liberty ships were being summarily sunk by German u-boats, Hughes claimed that a fleet of flying boats would overfly them.  He won a contract to build a single aircraft.  Undaunted when Congress prohibited him from using any strategic materials, Hughes designed a mammoth structure that would be built from laminated birch and would carry 750 combat-ready troops … or two Sherman tanks … or seven amphibious tractors with 156 troops … or eight helicopters.

Collage of photographs from the brochure we picked up at the exhibit.

On November 2, 1947, Hughes made history flying the world’s largest ever airplane at an altitude of 70 feet (21 m), and for a distance of over one mile.  That was the one and only time the Spruce Goose flew.

[scanned from postcard]

After Disney’s decision in 1990 to discontinue the dome exhibit where the Spruce Goose was housed, the Hughes Flying Boat was transferred to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, located in McMinnville, Oregon.