Universal Studios on Fire (1 Viewer)

[Douglas Monce]

The video vault being destroyed doesn't mean that they have lost any films, however it probably means that most of their video masters have been lost and new masters may have to be made from the original film elements. Don't know if this will effect their video release schedule or not.

I'm sure that Universal will rebuild all of the working sets, IE New York Street, Brownstone Street, Courtyard Square as they are huge revenue generators for the studio.

Universal has one of the last existing backlots. Most of the other studios sold theirs off in the late 60s and 70s. Almost every studio in town goes to Universal when they need a backlot street. Both Spiderman (Sony) and Transformers (Paramount) used Universal's New York street sets.

However tons of history have been lost. Parts of the backlot go back to the silent days.

Doug

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

Also remember though that a lot of the universal backlot was already destroyed in the 1997 fire and already had to be rebuilt once 10 years ago.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Is it inevitable that this should happen every decade?

 

[Ken Chan]

That town square set was on the route of the tram tour. It was dressed for Ghost Whisperer. The tram tour is the primary attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood. The park has reopened, and they are driving past the fire-damaged areas, so the tourists can see them briefly.

They will obviously rebuild the sets, although maybe not exactly. The King Kong attraction that was lost was also on the tram tour route, but I haven't heard what they will do with that.

There was also a completely separate BTTF ride, but that closed back in September, replaced by a new Simpsons ride. Apparently is still running at Universal Studios Japan.

 

[Phil Florian]

No offense to the men and women who work at Universal (and I hope no one was injured) but studios build and tear down sets all the time. As long as no one was hurt this isn't a big deal. At worse this means more people working to rebuild this...again. And the fact that the video storage was burned? They have more than one back up. This isn't a tragedy. Myanmar or China right now, that's a tragedy. This is a typical US news distraction (this took the headlines on the morning news, anyway...). Sad but really it is more work for people and that's about it. I think. Again, if no one was hurt. If someone was, then it sucks royally but if they are opening and selling tickets for people to see it, albeit briefly, this is simply business as usual.

 

[Douglas Monce]

This is very true. That was about a year after the last time I worked at Universal. However that fire, I don't believe, was as extensive as this one. I don't think they lost the WHOLE New York street did they?

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

Well surely its not a tragedy in terms of a natural disaster, however some areas of Universal are like landmarks that show up in films over and over.

The town square that everyone is talking about was where the clock tower was in Back To The Future. But it was also the Court House at the end of the original Psycho. Some of these sets go back to the 20s and 30s. Yes these things can be rebuilt, but it will never be exactly the same.

There may also be some films that will be delayed or have to make other arrangements because these sets are not available. Which may put people out of work. As was said before Ghost Whisperer shoots on the Court House Square set. I don't know if they will have to shut down or if they are almost through for the season.

Doug

 

[Brian W. Ralston]

The court house (clock tower) was spared though. The fire was stopped before getting to that building. Luckily.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

And apparently most of the rest of the square wasn't the version used in the trilogy anyway but a rebuild after the 1990 fire...

 

[Peter in HK]

I'm happy that nobody has been injured.

 

[Radioman970]

Well that's good. Most likely they will rebuild most of those sets. Especially if a current TV show is using them.

I've been murmuring to myself since Sunday..."Save the clock tower! SAVE!! THE CLOCK TOWER!"

Yeah, very good no one got hurt because of this. Amazing how quickly a fire can spread. Welding torch on the roof igniting shingles. They need to bring Smokey the Bear in to train those guys.

 

[Dale MA]

There's a good article over on Back to the Future™ - BTTF.com | Your Daily Jolt of 1.21 Jigowatts! about the Universal backlot fire, I found this part of the report particularly worrying:


Head over to BTTF.com for more information and the rest of the article: BTTF.com | BackTalk: Universal answers questions regarding fire near BTTF sets

 

[WadeM]

That's the funniest comment I've read in a long time! Ha ha ha!

I completely agree.

 

[Adam Sanchez]

I found the original post and your agreement of it very insulting and not to mention in very poor taste.

Jackson's King Kong is a fantastic movie. I feel sorry for you don't have the good taste to realize that.

The people they let on these forums....just wow...

 

[Michael Elliott]

Lighten up. I'm sure they both meant it as a joke. In fact, that same thought was the first thing to pop into my head when I first heard about the fire. It came in my mind as a joke and even though I hate the film I'd never wish for a negative to be destroyed.