Theme Parks & Themed Entertainment

Discoveryland U.S.A. — Part 2

So how come this cool version of the future never made it over to Orlando? Jim Hill explains how too many hotels in France eventually resulted in Disney World getting a downsized Tomorrowland.

Published

23 years ago

August 18, 2002

Jim Hill

Okay. We’ve already talked in detail about WDI’s extra cool plans for turning WDW’s tired old Tomorrowland into a dazzling Discoveryland. So why didn’t this charming Magic Kingdom revamp ever make it off the drawing board?

Two words. Euro Disney.

Ask any senior Disney Company official about how the resort outside of Paris is doing these days and you’ll hear nothing but good things. They’ll go on and on about how the Disneyland Paris theme park now draws more tourists visits annually than the Eiffel Tower (Which – according to the Mouse’s math – now makes the DLP resort the most popular tourist attraction in all of France).

But 9 years ago this month, Disney was singing a very different tune. Why? Because Euro Disney wasn’t even coming close to meeting its financial projections. Oh sure, the theme park was doing great. But – Oy! – those hotels …

When the Euro Disney resort opened in April 1992, the Mouse had six different hotels on property (The Euro Disneyland Hotel, the Newport Bay, the Sequoia Lodge, the Hotel Cheyenne, the Hotel New York and the Hotel Santa Fe). With a total of 5700 rooms to fill.”

But during the resort’s first year of operation, folks who came out to see Euro Disneyland really didn’t seem to want to stay in Mickey’s hotels. They preferred to drive (or take the train) out from Paris for the day, check out the theme park, and then – at closing time – just scurry back into the city.

This meant (particularly during the Fall of 1992) that there were times when the Euro Disney resort had fewer than 20% on its on property rooms occupied. Which – of course – had a disastrous impact on the project’s financial projections.

Now – when pressed nowadays about Euro Disney’s disappointing start – senior Disney officials will insist that it was actually the 1990-1991 recession as well as the lingering effects of the Gulf War that got the resort off on the wrong foot.

Not the Imagineers. Were you to ask a WDI vet (As I did. Just this morning) why the Euro Disney Resort got in financial trouble so fast, here’s the sort of reply you can expect: “The answer’s simple, Jim. We built too many f***ing hotels.”

“I mean, think about it. When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, we had less than 2000 rooms on property. (JRH note: To be exact, The Contemporary Hotel had 1050 rooms; the Polynesian 600 rooms and the Golf Resort 150 rooms. For a total of 1800 on property hotel rooms). And – since the resort was almost 20 miles outside of downtown Orlando and all those other hotels along 192 hadn’t sprung up yet – people really had no choice but to stay in our hotels.”

“And then there’s Disneyland Paris. Where they built twice as many on property hotel rooms as Walt Disney World had on its opening day. Then – to add to the stupidity – they open a high speed rail station right outside the theme park. Which made all the more easier for guests to get away at the end of the day. And then they seriously wondered why no one was staying in their hotels.”

To hear this WDI vet tell it, the real key to Euro Disney’s initial financial problems was the greed of the executives running the Disney Development Company (AKA DDC). [JRH note: For those of you who don’t know, DDC was the unit within the Mouse House that – from 1984 to 1996, anyway – designed and built all of Disney’s on property hotels. FYI: Disney Development no longer exists. It was folded in with WDI in the Spring of 1996 to form one somewhat cohesive business unit.]

“Those greedy p****s didn’t want another Harbor Boulevard or I-Drive (JRH note: By this, the unidentified Imagineer seems to be referring to the large number of cheap hotels & motels that quickly leaped up around the outermost edges of Disney property in Anaheim and Lake Buena Vista) on their hands. With all that money going off property into somebody else’s pocket. Money that rightfully belonged to Mickey.”

“So they built these…huge hotels and opened them all at once for Euro Disney. Never mind that the resort is just 30 kilometers outside of Paris – a place that already has hundreds of the world’s best hotel rooms in it. Never mind that the RER made it ridiculously easy for tourists already staying in Paris to get out to Euro Disneyland. These guys seriously expected all 5000 on property hotel room to be full on opening day and stay that way ’til the end of time. You see what I’m saying, Jim? These guys were thinking with their wallets, not their brains. They were absolutely morons.”

According to confidential reports prepared for senior Disney officials in the Fall of 1992, had the Euro Disney resort actually opened with just on property two hotels – instead of six – the project would have probably begun turning a profit by mid-1994. (JRH Note: This might explain why – in an effort to contain cost – the Walt Disney Company ordered that Euro Disney’s largest hotel, the 1098 room Newport Bay Club, be closed for business during the winter of 1992.) But with those four additional hotels and all their empty rooms dragging the resort down, Euro Disney sank deeper and deeper into debt …

So where does WDW’s Discoveryland factor into all this? Well, faced with an overly ambitious project that was suddenly hemorrhaging red ink, Disney CEO Michael Eisner proclaimed “No new ambitious projects.” From here on in, anything that Disney built – be it theme parks or hotels – would have to be modest in scale with a moderate price tag.

Well, you can well imagine how this news went over at WDI. Here these guys had just finished work on the most beautiful Magic Kingdom that Imagineering had ever built. And the Imagineers were itching to take all those lessons that they’d learned while working on Euro Disneyland and apply them on the company’s stateside theme parks. Then here comes Eisner’s announcement: “No more ambitious projects for the parks.”

This news devastated the “Tomorrowland 2055” team. Given the Walt Disney Company’s new financial constraints, there was just no way that this proposed $100 million redo of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland was ever going to get off the ground now. So that project floundered for years, as the Imagineers struggled to find a way to work within WDI’s newly restrictive financial parameters. The end result was the New New Tomorrowland – which officially opened to the public at the Anaheim theme park in May 1998. Which (and I’m being really polite here) remains a work-in-progress.

Whereas Walt Disney World’s plans for a new Tomorrowland … Well, faced with a rapidly shrinking budget, the Imagineers in Florida treated this Magic Kingdom redo as if it were a triage situation. As in: The most critical of patients get immediate attention, while those who are really not in such bad shape are allowed to wait a while ’til they’re finally taken care of …

The first order of business was deciding which concepts stayed and which went. And probably the very first thing to get pitched was … the Astronomers Club. Why? Because it was a restaurant. To be specific, it was a proposed replacement for a restaurant that was already doing pretty good business. Its only flaw was that it was a bit of an eyesore. The Imagineers eventually decided that they could live with an ugly fast food place if it ultimately left them with more money to build rides.

Because that – ultimately – was the real top priority to the Imagineers in Florida: Making sure that this revamped version of WDW’s Tomorrowland had a few new rides. A couple of new shows to freshen up this side of the Magic Kingdom.

Keeping “From Time to Time” as part of the plan was really a no brainer. I mean, this retrofit of the old Circlevision 360 theater was relatively economical. After all, the film for the show – having already been created by Theme Park Productions for Disneyland Paris’ “Visionarium” show – was already in the can. So all WDI needed to do was build two new AA figures, redecorate the pre-show area and – POOF! – WDW’s version of “From Time to Time” was good to go.

Whereas “Alien Encounter” … The Imagineers knew – from the get go – that the installation of this new sensory thriller was going to be hideously expensive. But there was also the very strong possibility that “AE” could become a new franchise attraction for the other Disney theme parks. The sort of show that – once it had finally been debugged – could easily be dropped into any of the other Magic Kingdoms around the world. So – in spite of “Alien Encounter”‘s extremely high price tag, the Imagineers still opted to leave it in the mix for WDW’s New Tomorrowland.

Speaking of which … You may have noticed that – in the middle of this part of the article – I stopped calling the revamped version of WDW’s Tomorrowland as “Discoveryland” and just began referring to this redone section of Florida’s Magic Kingdom as “New Tomorrowland.” And there’s a reason for that. Figuring that they’d be able to save a few thousand dollars on signage for this area, the Imagineers opted to ditch “Discoveryland” and just stick with the old moniker.

In dropping the “Discoveryland” name, that also meant that WDI was free to abandon Discoveryland’s elaborate color scheme. All that burnished copper and green sea foam. What the Imagineers opted to do instead was something that would be much easier & less expensive to build. Which was to overlay show elements & new facades on top of the pre-existing Tomorrowland structures that gave the area a Buck Rogers-ish feel. The far off future circa 1930.

The end result … Well, it ain’t half bad. I – for one – find WDW’s New Tomorrowland to be very witty. I love the little details (The robotic newsboy. The pneumatic tube that supposedly zooms your package across the galaxy. The malfunctioning electric palm tree. All the neon. And – best of all – Sonny Eclipse!) that really help put you in that Buck Roger-ish environment. “The Future That Never Was.”

Best of all, this low budget take on Tomorrow has proven to be quite flexible. In 1998, when the Imagineers were thinking about building an attraction around “Toy Story”‘s Buzz Lightyear, they didn’t have to wonder: “Will this new ride fit easily within the theming and the storyline that we’ve already laid down for WDW’s Tomorrowland?” They just knew that the Buck Roger-ish environment and Buzz Lightyear would go hand in hand.

But – when all was said and done – when Florida’s Imagineers opted to go with “New Tomorrowland” rather than “Discoveryland,” there were still a few casualties. We’ve already mentioned the Astronomers Club. But the “Flying Saucer” ride got cut too.

Given what it would have cost to gut WDW’s “Carousel of Progress” and install a revised version of that Disneyland favorite, WDI opted to go with a cheaper fix: Which was to bring in noted humorist Jean Shepherd to redo the attraction’s narration and revamp the look of the theater-go-round’s final scene. Presto Chango! The tired old “Carousel of Progress” was now “Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress” – a somewhat less tired take on the old show which was now (allegedly) serves a tribute to the company’s founder.

Well, Disney World vets have noticed that – over the last year or so – the hours of operation for WDW’s “Carousel of Progress” have progressively grown shorter and shorter. So what’s going on? Well, the Mouse has been testing the public’s resolve. To see if Disneyana fans would really pitch a fit if this relic from the 1964 New York Worlds Fair were to suddenly close for good.

And the reason for that is … Do you remember the “Flying Saucers”? Well, keep in mind that – come 2005 – Disneyland’s 50th anniversary is coming up. And the Walt Disney Company wants to celebrate this monumentous event on a global scale. So they’ll be staging tributes to the world’s first theme park at all of their other theme parks around the world that year.

And what better way would there be for Walt Disney World to pay tribute to its predecessor than by recreating one of Disneyland’s classic attractions?

Yep. Remember, you heard it here first. Provided that the budget can finally be approved, look for the “Carousel of Progress” to stop spinning sometime in late 2003 / early 2004 (No exact close date has been selected yet). Then look for the “Flying Saucers” to land at Lake Buena Vista just in time for help kick off Disneyland’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration – which starts in January 2005.

Which I think will be a pretty neat addition to the line-up of attractions at WDW’s New Tomorrowland (Though I have to admit that I will miss this version of the “Carousel of Progress” with all of its sly tributes to Jean Shephard’s films & stories. Don’t believe me? The next time you take in this attraction, check out the son’s room in the 1940s sequence. Lying on the bed is a Red Ryder BB gun [With a compass in the stock, no less!]. Just like in Shepherd’s much beloved holiday film, “A Christmas Story”). But – still – I can’t help but wonder what this part of the Magic Kingdom would have ended up looking like if the Imagineers had actually gone forward with “Discoveryland.”

Which is why – whenever I visit this theme park – I invariably find myself in the Plaza Pavilion. As I grab a table down by the water and start munching on my pizza, I can’t help but think: “Now what would this restaurant have really looked like it had had a giant telescope sticking out in the middle of it?”

Television & Shows

The Untold Story of Super Soap Weekend at Disney-MGM Studios: How Daytime TV Took Over the Parks

Published

3 weeks ago

April 24, 2025

Jim Hill

Super Soap Weekends at Disney-MGM Studios

A long time ago in a galaxy that … Well, to be honest, wasn’t all that far away. This was down in Florida after all. But if you traveled to the WDW Resort, you could then experience “Star Wars Weekends.” Which ran seasonally at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Disney World from 1997 to 2015.

Mind you, what most folks don’t remember is the annual event that effectively plowed the road for “Star Wars Weekends.” Which was “Super Soap Weekend.” That seasonal offering — which allowed ABC soap fans to get up-close with their favorite performers from “All My Children,” “General Hospital,” “One Life to Live” and “Port Charles” — debuted at that same theme park the year previous (1996).

So how did this weekend-long celebration of daytime drama (which drew tens of thousands of people to Orlando every Fall for 15 years straight) come to be?

Michael Eisner’s Daytime TV Origins and a Theme Park Vision

Super Soap Weekend was the brainchild of then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner. His career in media began with short stints at NBC and CBS, but it truly took off in 1964 when he joined ABC as the assistant to Leonard Goldberg, who was the network’s national programming director at the time.

Eisner quickly advanced through the ranks. By 1971, he had become Vice President of Daytime Programming at ABC. That meant he was on the scene when One Life to Live joined the lineup in July 1968 and when All My Children made its debut in January 1970. Even after being promoted to Senior Vice President of Prime Time Programming in 1976, Eisner stayed close to the daytime division and often recruited standout soap talent for ABC’s primetime shows.

Fast forward nearly two decades to July 31, 1995. The Walt Disney Company announced that it would acquire ABC/Cap Cities in a $19 billion deal. Although the acquisition wasn’t finalized until February 1996, Eisner was already thinking ahead. He wanted to use the stars of All My Children, One Life to Live, and General Hospital to draw people to Disney’s theme parks.

He had seen how individual soap stars were drawing huge mall crowds across America since the late 1970s. Now he wanted to bring dozens of them together for something much bigger.

Super Soap Weekend Takes Over Disney-MGM Studios

The very first Super Soap Weekend was announced in June 1996, just a few months after the ABC deal closed. The event was scheduled for October 19 and 20 at Disney-MGM Studios and was a massive success.

The weekend featured panel discussions, autograph sessions, and photo opportunities with the stars of ABC’s daytime dramas. Thousands of fans packed the park for the chance to meet their favorite actors. Due to the overwhelming response, the event became an annual tradition and was eventually moved to Veterans Day weekend each November to better accommodate attendees.

Longtime fans like Nancy Stadler, her mom Mary, and their close friend Angela Ragno returned year after year, making the event a personal tradition and building lifelong memories.

West Coast Events and the ABC Soap Opera Bistro

Disney even tried to recreate the event out west. Two Super Soap Weekends were held at Disneyland Resort, one in April 2002 and another in June 2003.

At Disney’s California Adventure, Eisner also introduced the ABC Soap Opera Bistro, a themed dining experience that opened in February 2001. Guests could dine inside recreated sets from shows like General Hospital and All My Children, including Kelly’s Diner and the Chandler Mansion. The Bistro closed in November 2002, but for fans, it offered a rare opportunity to step into the world of their favorite soaps.

SOAPnet, Port Charles, and the Expansion of Daytime TV at Disney

Eisner’s enthusiasm for soaps extended beyond the parks. In January 2000, he launched SOAPnet, a cable channel dedicated to prime time replays of ABC’s daytime dramas.

During his time at Disney, General Hospital also received a spin-off series titled Port Charles, which aired from June 1997 to October 2003. The show leaned into supernatural plotlines and was another example of Eisner’s commitment to evolving and expanding the soap genre.

The Final Curtain for Super Soap Weekend

In September 2005, Eisner stepped down after 21 years as head of The Walt Disney Company. Bob Iger, who had previously served as President of ABC and Chief Operating Officer of ABC/Cap Cities, took over as CEO. While Iger had deep ABC credentials, he didn’t share Eisner’s passion for daytime television.

In the fall of 2008, Disney hosted the final Super Soap Weekend at what was then still called Disney-MGM Studios. That same year, the park was rebranded as Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney began shifting away from television-focused experiences.

Within the next five years, the rest of Eisner’s soap legacy faded. One Life to Live was canceled in January 2012. SOAPnet was rebranded as Disney Junior in February 2013. Later that year, All My Children ended its 41-year run on ABC.

Only General Hospital remains on the network today, the last standing soap from the golden age of ABC Daytime.

A New Chapter for Daytime TV and Super Soap Fans

The soap genre may have faded from its former glory, but it’s not gone. On February 24, 2025, CBS premiered a brand-new daytime drama called Beyond the Gates, marking the first new soap launch in years.

Meanwhile, All My Children alum Kelly Ripa has been actively working on a revival. In September 2024, she mentioned a holiday-themed movie set in Pine Valley that would bring back many original cast members. The project was in development for Lifetime, though its current status is unclear.

And what about Super Soap? Fans like Nancy and Angela still hope Disney will bring it back. Even if it only featured the cast of General Hospital, it would be a welcome return for longtime viewers who miss that one weekend a year where the magic of Disney collided with the drama of daytime TV.

If you want to hear firsthand what it was like to be part of Super Soap Weekend, be sure to listen to our I Want That Too podcast interview with actor Colin Egglesfield. He shares behind-the-scenes memories from his days as Josh Madden on All My Children and what it meant to be part of one of the most unique fan events in Disney park history.

History

The Super Bowl & Disney: The Untold Story Behind ‘I’m Going to Disneyland!’

Published

3 months ago

February 6, 2025

Jim Hill

One of the highlights of the Super Bowl isn’t just the game itself—it’s the moment when the winning quarterback turns to the camera and exclaims, “I’m going to Disney World!” This now-iconic phrase has been a staple of post-game celebrations for decades. But where did this tradition begin? Surprisingly, it didn’t originate in a stadium but at a dinner table in 1987, in a conversation involving Michael Eisner, George Lucas, and aviation pioneers Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager.

The Unlikely Beginning of a Marketing Sensation

To understand the origins of this campaign, we have to go back to December 1986, when the Rutan Voyager became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. Pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed the nine-day journey on December 23, 1986, flying over 26,000 miles before landing at Edwards Air Force Base. Their historic achievement earned them national recognition, and just days later, President Ronald Reagan awarded them the Presidential Citizen Medal at the White House.

Meanwhile, Disney was gearing up for the grand opening of Star Tours at Disneyland, set for January 12, 1987. Following its usual playbook of associating major theme park attractions with real-world pioneers, Disney’s PR team invited astronauts Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton to the launch event. But in a twist, they also invited Rutan and Yeager, who were still making headlines.

A Dinner Conversation That Changed Advertising Forever

After the Star Tours opening ceremony, a private dinner was held with Disney CEO Michael Eisner, George Lucas, and Eisner’s wife, Jane. During the meal, Eisner asked Rutan and Yeager, “You just made history. You traveled non-stop around the planet on a plane without ever refueling. How are you ever going to top that, career-wise? What are you two gonna do next?”

Without hesitation, Jeana Yeager replied, “Well, after being cramped inside that tiny plane for nine days, I’m just glad to be anywhere else. And even though you folks were nice enough to fly us here, invite us to your party… Well, as soon as we finish eating, I’m gonna go over to the Park and ride some rides. I’m going to Disneyland.”

Jane Eisner immediately recognized the power of Yeager’s statement. On the car ride home, she turned to Michael and said, “That’s a great slogan. I think you should use that to promote the theme parks.” Like many husbands, Michael initially dismissed the idea, but Jane persisted. Eventually, Eisner relented and pitched it to his team.

The Super Bowl Connection

With Super Bowl XXI just around the corner, Disney’s PR team saw an opportunity. The game was set for January 25, 1987, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena—just miles from Disney Studios. What if they convinced the winning quarterback to say, “I’m going to Disneyland” live on-air?

Disney quickly struck a deal with both quarterbacks—Phil Simms of the New York Giants and John Elway of the Denver Broncos—offering each $75,000 to deliver the line if their team won. Simms led the Giants to victory, making history as the first athlete to say, “I’m going to Disney World!” on national television.

A Marketing Triumph

That year’s Super Bowl had the second-highest viewership in television history, with 87 million people watching Simms say the famous line. The next day, Disney turned the clip into a national commercial, cementing the phrase as a marketing goldmine.

Since then, “I’m going to Disneyland” (or Disney World, depending on the commercial) has been a staple of championship celebrations, spanning the NFL, NBA, and even the Olympics. What started as a casual remark at dinner became one of the most successful advertising campaigns in history.

A Lasting Legacy

Jane Eisner’s keen instinct and Disney’s ability to act quickly on a great idea created a tradition that continues to captivate audiences. The “I’m going to Disneyland” campaign remains a testament to the power of spontaneous inspiration and smart marketing, proving that sometimes, the best ideas come from the most unexpected places.

To learn more about Disney’s ties to the world of sports, check out I Want That Too: A Disney History and Consumer Product Podcast.

Television & Shows

How the Creators of South Park Tricked A-List Celebrities to Roast Universal – “Your Studio & You”

Published

4 months ago

January 12, 2025

Jim Hill

Universal Studios has a rich and storied history, but few moments are as peculiar—and as hilariously cutting—as the creation of Your Studio & You. This 14-minute parody film, commissioned in 1995 to celebrate Universal’s new ownership under Seagram’s, brings together an all-star cast, biting humor, and the unmistakable comedic fingerprints of Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

Long before South Park debuted on Comedy Central in 1997, Stone and Parker were already carving out a reputation for their irreverent style, and Your Studio & You perfectly encapsulates their knack for turning even the most corporate project into something delightfully subversive.

Matt Stone & Trey Parker Before South Park

Stone & Parker were already known out in Hollywood as funny guys. Thanks largely to “The Spirit of Christmas,” which was this video greeting card that they’d crafted for a Fox executive – who then distributed this infamously funny thing (which had Our Lord Jesus Christ & Santa Claus literally duking it out for the holiday affections of Cartman, Kenny, Stan & Kyle) to friends & family.

This was the early 1990s. No internet. Each copy of “The Spirit of Christmas” was made on VHS tape and then mailed. Went viral the old-fashioned way. It’s rumored that George Clooney made over 300 copies of “The Spirit of Christmas” and passed these VHS taps along to friends and family.

Things didn’t move as fast as they do today. “The Spirit of Christmas” still became a sensation out West.

Zucker Brothers

Matt & Trey also had other supporters in the entertainment industry. Among them David Zucker, who was one of the members of ZAZ (i.e., Zucker Abrahams Zucker), the talented trio that made “Airplane!” in 1980, “Top Secret!” in 1984 and the three “Naked Gun” movies.

The original “Naked Gun” in 1988
“Naked Gun 2 & 1/2 : The Smell of Fear” in 1991
and “Naked Gun 33 & a 1/3: The Final Insult” in 1994

All five of these parody films had been made for Paramount Pictures. But in the Late Winter / Early Spring of 1995, Universal had persuaded the Zucker Brothers to come over and set up shop in a bungalow on their lower lot. With the hope that – at some point further on down the line – David & his brother Jerry would start making funny films for Universal.

Zucker Brothers featured in "Your Studio and You"

And it’s during this same window of time (We’re now talking April of 1995) that news breaks that Seagrams (Yep, the adult beverage company. Who – at the time – was making an absolute fortune on the sales of wine coolers) was about to buy a majority stake in MCAUniversal. We’re talking control of 80% of that company’s stock. Which would effectively make Seagrams the new owners of Universal Studios.

Edgar Bronfman

And Edgar Bronfman – the owner of Seagrams – knew that Universal had had a tough time with its previous owners – which had been the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. of Japan. Matsushita had bought MCA back in November of 1990 for $7.5 billion but had never really understood the entertainment industry.

This is why – after repeatedly butting heads with Lew Wasserman & Sidney Sheinberg (i.e., the heads of Universal Studios & the Universal theme park respectively) when it came to creative control of this company – Matsushita decided to wash it hands of the entire enterprise. Agreeing to sell their holdings in MCA to Seagrams for $5.7 billion (effectively taking a nearly $2 billion loss on this investment).

And Bronfman … He knew that some bad feeling had developed between Hollywood’s creative community and the Japanese owners of Universal. The thinking was that executives at Matsushita Electric had just not gotten what it took to make movies & TV shows.

And Edgar? Right from the get-go, he wanted to show that Seagrams was NOT going to be Matsushita Electric Redux. Bronfman was looking for a way to send a clear message to Hollywood’s creative community that Universal’s new owners got it. That they were willing to work with Hollywood to make the best possible movies & TV shows at Universal.

And how did Edgar decide to get this message across? By making a funny movie.

Zucker Commissions Trey Parker for “Your Studio & You”

Mind you, Bronfman himself didn’t make this film. The owner of Seagrams reached out to David Zucker. Who – after initially agreeing to produce this introduction-to-Universal film – then farmed out the production of the actual project to Trey Parker. Who – just two days before shooting was supposed to star on the Universal Lot – persuaded Matt Stone to come help him on this project.

Which brings us to “Your Studio and You.” Which is a parody of an educational film from the 1950s, right down to being shot in black & white and featuring a very generic soundtrack.

Now what’s amazing about watching “Your Studio and You” today is that this 14-minute-long film features some of the biggest names working in Hollywood back in the mid-1990s. We’re talking about people like recent Golden Globe winner Demi Moore, Sylvester Stallone, Michael J. Fox and Angela Lansbury. Not to mention two of the most powerful men in all of Hollywood, Steven Spielberg & Jeffrey Katzenberg.

And what’s especially interesting about watch “Your Studio and You” is that – as you watch these performers go through their paces in this motion pictures (which – most of the time – involves doing some innocuous task while holding a Seagram’s wine cooler) – you often get the feeling that this star is not in on the gag.

So how did Matt & Trey get away with this? Simple. There was never actually a script for “Your Studio and You.”

Filming “Your Studio & You” at Universal Studios Hollywood

Mind you, David Zucker would always insist that there was. Especially when he’d phone up celebrities on the Universal Lot and say “Hey, I’m sending over a couple of college kids later today. They’re working with me on a new parody film. It’s something that we’re doing for the new owners of Universal. I need just a half hour of your time. We’re shooting something special for the party we’ll be holding when the Seagrams people first arrive at the Studio. Absolutely. You’ll definitely get an invite to that party. So can I count on you to help these kids out? Beautiful. They’ll be over there later this morning.”

And then Matt & Trey would show up and say “… Dang, Miss Lansbury. We’re sorry. We must have left our copy of the ‘Your Studio and You’ script back in our office. Which is clear on the other side of the Lot. So – rather than waste your time – why don’t we do this instead? Follow us over to the Psycho House. Where we’re then going to get footage of you painting the front porch on Mother Bates’ house while you say ‘Gosh, with all of the wonderful improvements going on around here, everyone is going to want to work at Universal.’ Oh, and can we also get you to wear this button on the front of your blazer which reads ‘Universal is A-OK’ ? “

And over & over again, the biggest names who were working for Universal at that time took part in the production of “Your Studio & You” because A) David Zucker vouched for Matt Stone & Trey Parker and B) this was something that was being made for the new owners of Universal. And it’s just natural to want to get in good with the new boss.

Steven Spielberg, Jeffery Katzenberg, and Jaws

But no one at Universal anticipated that “Your Studio & You” would wind up being as sharp edged as the finished product turned out to be. I mean, it’s one thing to bite the hand that feeds you. But “Your Studio & You” ? It doesn’t just bite the hand. It takes the hand off at the wrist.

It’s a brutally funny film. With one of the meanest moments reserved for Steven Spielberg, who plays a driver on the Universal Studio Tour who’s trying to persuade a tram full of bored tourists (one of whom is played by Jeffery Katzenberg) that the “Shark Attack” scene down by Jaws Lagoon is actually exciting.

Spielberg actually says lines like “ … Whoa, whoa. What is going on here? Ladies and gentlemen, this never happens. Look out! It’s a shark! Whoa, that is one big scary shark.”

Mind you, as footage of this mechanical shark repeatedly coming up out of the water is shown, “Your Studio & You” ‘s off-screen narrator (who is voiced by Trey Parker says):

“But what about tomorrow? If we don’t keep in step with the times, things that were once neat and thrilling can become old and stupid.”

“Your Studio & You” Reception

This film was supposed to be shown only once at the welcoming party for Seagrams executive on the Universal Lot. And I’m told that – when Edgar Bronfman saw the finished product at that party – he reportedly turned to David Zucker and said “ … That’s a little more mean-spirited that I think it needed to be.”

And with that, “Your Studio & You” was supposed to go back into the Universal vault, never to be seen again. But when “South Park” debuted on Comedy Central in August of 1997 and then became a sensation for its biting humor, there was suddenly a lot of interest in what else Matt & Trey had done. Which is why copies of “The Spirit of Christmas” began to circulate. And – over time – copies of “Your Studio & You” began to bubble up.

Which – as Stone & Parker have repeatedly pointed out – was just not supposed to happen. Largely because none of the celebrities who appeared in “Your Studio & You” had never signed releases for Universal’s legal department. Because – again – this was for a movie that was only going to be shown once at a private function on the Universal Lot.

Matt mentioned (as part of a career retrospective at the Paley Center in LA back in 2000) that “ … they wouldn’t even let us keep a copy of the finished film.”

It’s a funny but brutal movie. And worth taking a look at today especially if you’re a theme park history buff because it shows Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Jurassic Park: The Ride” still under construction on the Lower Lot. That attraction would finally open to the public in June of 1996.

“Your Studio & You” became a lot easier to see after Seagrams sold off its share of Universal to Vivendi in 2000. Copies began propagating online after that. Though Universal Legal will periodically make an effort to get the latest copy of “Your Studio & You” taken off the Internet because – again – none of the performers who appear on camera ever signed the proper releases and/or were paid for their efforts.

That said, if you’re up for a mean-spirited laugh, “Your Studio & You” is well worth 14 minutes of your time. That said, once you watch this thing, be warned: