Theme Parks & Themed Entertainment

Ruminations

Roger is back this week with another episode in the series of “Things You Always Wanted To Do, But Never Knew You Could.” So Saddle Up! We’re burning daylight!

Published

22 years ago

August 28, 2003

Roger Colton

Much as this series has been interesting for me to share with you, this particular chapter is not one I have personally experienced. Nor is it one that I am likely to partake of in the future. However, being that I have friends in the “horsey” set, I’m sharing this with you today…

“I grew up a-dreamin’ of bein’ a cowboy,
and Lovin’ the cowboy ways.
Pursuin’ the life of my high-ridin’ heroes,
I burned up my childhood days.
I learned of all the rules of the modern-day drifter,
Don’t you hold on to nothin’ too long.
Just take what you need from the ladies, then leave them,
With the words of a sad country song.
My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin’ dreams.

Cowboys are special with their own brand of misery,
From being alone too long.
You could die from the cold in the arms of a nightmare,
Knowin’ well that your best days are gone.
Pickin’ up hookers instead of my pen,
I let the words of my years fade away.
Old worn-out saddles, and ‘old worn-out memories,
With no one and no place to stay.

My heroes have always been cowboys.
And they still are, it seems.
Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin’ dreams.

Sadly, in search of, but one step in back of,
Themselves and their slow-movin’ dreams.”

“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys” by Sharon M. Vaughn

Cowboys are a part of my heritage. Well, one at least, and he was a vaquero, working on several ranches in Nevada’s Pine Valley (in Eureka County). And I have other cousins who did their time in the saddle out there in the same place over the last few decades.

My great grandfather (Christopher Cameron Walker or Chris) was born in Eureka, Nevada on October 7, 1881. Not long after, his parents moved off to a mining camp called Safford near the Central Pacific along the Humboldt River. As life goes, well… this was pretty bleak. The camp never really amounted to much. Lead silver was the ore, and there wasn’t much of that.

So, when at the age of twelve, his father announced it was time for him to go out into the world and make his own way, it probably did not come as much of a surprise. With little in the way of education and mining in decline, prospects were not what you would call exciting. (Much like looking for work in the Silicon Valley today; once the boom gone bust, most miners would move on to the next camp to try and strike it rich.)

What Chris did find was life on the back of a horse as a vaquero on the ranches up and down the Pine Valley. (Click here for a view of the area today.) Oddly, this part of the Silver State has water that seems to flow year-round, and that leads to good ranching and grazing lands.

As character Slim said in the film, “The Cowboys”, “There ain’t no Sunday’s west of Omaha.” Life on a ranch was pretty much the same, day in and day out. Work had to be done, and that’s what you did. There was no forty-hour workweek, no overtime after eight hours. Your day started at sun up and lasted until you were done.

Chris had one slouch hat, a pair of work boots, jeans, a jacket, gloves and a shirt (maybe three); and that’s what he wore day in, day out. When it got cold, he might wear all of his shirts.

One of the different things he might do during the course of a year on the ranch was to round up the wild mustangs that roamed the area. A buyer would come in from the East and take all the horses he could get. So that meant that guys like Chris would have to go out and do the work. According to an interview recorded in 1965, it would usually go something like this. The vaqueros would chase the wild horses into a box canyon and then get the herd ready to travel to the nearby railroad. It was pretty hard work as the mustangs were an unpredictable lot.

Chris said he was only thrown once from a horse while riding. It wasn’t his horse, but someone else’s and that guy didn’t want to ride it because he had been thrown! Chris was used to horses that didn’t like riders, so he said why not? Landed in a clump of sagebrush to cushion his fall luckily.

For something to do to amuse themselves, the ranch hands would get together a pot, maybe of six bits, and find someone crazy enough to ride a wild horse. Chris used to be one of those who would do it. He said riding was the easy part. Putting the saddle on the wild horse, that was hard work!

In February of 1899, Chris went from the ranch he was working on to Eureka (the big city and county seat) for a Mardi Gras dance. He was hoping to see a young lady and maybe get a dance or two. He and a number of other folks rode the narrow gauge train down from Palisade to Eureka.

After a disappointing evening, Chris rode the train back to Palisade. The tale goes that most everyone else had partied quite a bit and were all asleep back in the coaches. Chris rode up front in the locomotive with the engineer and fireman.

After that trip, Chris decided that the rest of his life on the back of a horse was not for him. So, after another summer and fall on the ranch, he went to the Southern Pacific’s division point offices in Wadsworth to apply for a job. There must have been something that the road foreman saw that he didn’t like because he turned Chris away, saying he was too young. But when he came back the next year, he was hired as a locomotive fireman, and never rode a horse ever again.

Howard Hickson as his web pages so well say is “Director Emeritus of the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko. He retired in 1993 after heading the national award-winning museum for almost twenty-five years.” He’s got a wonderful series of stories as told by another cowboy, Lawrence Jackson, who worked in the area around Elko, also in eastern Nevada from 1921 into the Seventies. His tales are a great look at that life, hard as it was.

Yet, something in the mystique of the American West idolized the life and labors of the “cowboy”. Making that cattle round up and drive to the railhead is the stuff of legends, right? Who am I to disagree?

It’s been the stuff of pulp novels, western movies — features and serials, television shows, popular music, etc… Icons of American popular culture, and as popular around the world as they are here at home.

So are you one of these folks who wants to ride the open range? Or are you someone who has watched “City Slickers” and got all the horseback riding you’ll ever need vicariously? Jack Palance not withstanding, there certainly are all kinds of opportunities out there to fulfill any fantasy of life on the range.

To start with, let me offer some media of note:

Musically, I’m all for the “Riders In The Sky” who may be best known for their work on “Toy Story 2” with “Woody’s Round-Up”. Having enjoyed both their CD’s and a live performance, they get my vote for western music.

Or if you’re another fan of the Blues Brothers as am I, “Oh, we got both kinds. We got Country, and Western.”

Texas Bix Bender offers words of wisdom from the trail. My favorite book so far is “Don’t Squat With Yer Spurs On” and “Never Ask A Man The Size Of His Spread—A Cowgirl’s Guide To Life.”

Too Slim’s Mercantile< https://www.ridersinthesky.com/securehtm/fr3tsm.htm> has all the goods any armchair cowboy will ever need.

When it comes to movies, I favor a couple that told it pretty much like it was. Romantic it was not. Dull, tedious and just plain boring, day in, day out is more like it. If you had little or no schooling, this was the kind of career you probably would end up in.

That said, “The Cowboys” with John Wayne carries a good look at the reality of that life. The new Kevin Costner film, “Open Range” may be another fine looking piece from the actor/director, but it’s a bit too much fluff for me.

“The Misfits” was a fine tale of some of the cowboys that Arthur Miller met one summer in Nevada while waiting for a divorce. PBS offered a great look behind the scenes with this effort from its “Great Performances” series. In the days when people were just discovering the wild mustangs, they weren’t the cause they would become. They were just horses waiting to rounded up, much as they had been almost seventy years before. But Miller did understand. As he put it, “What intrigued me about Nevada was that the people were so little and the landscape was so enormous.”

PBS offered a fine look as 21st Century folks tried their hand at what life might have been like on the Montana prairies in the 1880’s. Frontier House put a good cross-section of families back in time for six months. Modern conveniences like shampoo and soap don’t exist. The luxury of a bath wasn’t an everyday thing. And meals weren’t just something you popped into the microwave. Keeping the family fed was an all day chore from sunrise to sundown and then some!

Now for the romantic side of the coin, the television series “Bonanza” was the fanciful tale of a ranch in Nevada. From 1959 to 1974, folks tuned it each week to watch the adventures of the Cartwright family. Set between the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe and the mountains that held Virginia City and the Comstock Lode, there wasn’t a lot of realism in the stories. Yet, it’s a show that has lots of fans, even today. Here’s one of the better fan sites you’ll find on the Web. Some episodes were filmed on location at Lake Tahoe on the north shore. Sets used became part of the Ponderosa Ranch theme park (not far from what was once a logging camp). Folks from all over the world have come to enjoy the place that their favorite TV western called home. (What is it with the Germans and their fascination for this place? Got me!)

But if you’re looking to step out and see the trail for yourself, there are plenty of places ready to handle it. Check out this Google search for some suggestions. The top of the list offers duderanches.com with a state by state list of places to tempt you.

Another good search is for trail drives. If you’re looking to do the “City Slicker’s” bit, give the Gray Rocks Ranch a try. This is a 22,000-acre working ranch in southeastern Wyoming that offers all kinds of activities. Events are limited to four to six guests and offer deluxe accommodations. It’s not all work and no play, but it’s a good bet you’ll spend plenty of time on the back of a horse, if that’s what you’re looking for! Although the web pages don’t show it for this year, they did have cattle drives in 1999 and 2000. Drop them a note to see if they’re planning one for this year!

As I said up front, I’m not likely to join one of these efforts soon. Nor will you find me riding the mechanical bull anywhere, or even sitting in the stands watching a rodeo. I can appreciate what might entice folks to do so, but it’s just not for me.

So that brings to a close this chapter of “Things You Always Wanted To Do, But Didn’t Think You Could”! I’ll be on the lookout for more experiences to share with you again. And if you have any suggestions, drop me a note and I’ll look into them. Heck! If they’re interesting enough, I might just go try it myself!

Next week? A look at a ranch of a different sort, and what it is with pot roast. Stay tuned…

Thanks again to everyone who has shown their appreciation for these efforts by using Roger’s Amazon Honor System Paybox. There’s nothing better than knowing we make you smile now and then.

Television & Shows

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

Published

1 week 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: