Theme Parks & Themed Entertainment

Ruminations

If you’re not a regular on the Jim Hill Media message boards, you missed this fine tale of something we all take very much for granted — sugar, and where it comes from. So thanks to Instidude, with additional comments from Roger Colton, here we go…

Published

22 years ago

May 8, 2003

Roger Colton

Yes, here it is, believe it or not. The Sugar Beet Conference Tale.

Everyone has sugar in their pantries at home, but how many people really know where it comes from? There are two basic sources of sugar throughout the world: sugar cane (grown in more tropical areas) and sugar beets. Sugar beets are a “tuber”, or root. They are about the size of an elongated softball and have a similar look as a large yam. As a matter of fact, many Europeans slice and fry these up like a potato. It’s a taste I could do without, however. The US grows both plants, with the market about evenly split. The growing areas for sugar beets is limited to about 1.7 million acres grown in the following areas: Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Idaho, Nebraska/Wyoming/Colorado, and until the last few years, California. Most sugar beet producers are farmer owned co-operatives, with only about three owned by public companies. I happen to work for one of them located in Michigan, Monitor Sugar Company.

Okay, here’s the culprit — the sugar beet in its natural habitat.

The Monitor Sugar Company has been in existence for 102 years at its one location in Bay City, Michigan. It was started by German immigrants who had been working in the lumber yards of Bay City. Up until about 1905, Bay City, Saginaw, and Muskegon, Michigan were the three largest lumbering cities in the country. This disappeared after a series of worker strikes, and the near elimination of forested land in Michigan. Europe has had a thriving sugar beet industry since the mid-1800’s (and still has a very large, government subsidized program), and the Germans realized they could grow beets in this area. The Monitor Sugar Company is the third or fourth largest factory for processing sugar beets in the country (out of a total of about 22 factories still in operation). This one factory processes about 8,000 tons a day of beets, which results in over 2,500,000 pounds of sugar daily. Over the course of the beet processing campaign, which lasts from October thru February, the factory processes 1,200,000 tons of beets, which are grown on about 65,000 acres across Michigan by over 700 growers, and pumps about half a billion dollars into the local economy. These beets are delivered to the factory by rail and lots and lots of trucks, all within a short timespan of 6 weeks in October and November. At about 35 tons/truck, you can see that the traffic is very heavy for a few weeks as 30,000 delivers are made. The bulk of the sugar we produce is sold as “industrial” sugar, and goes into Sara Lee products, Marzetti salad dressings, Keebler products, Pillsbury, etc. We also sell several “store brand” sugars and our own “Big Chief” brand.

Now that I’ve bored you to tears with a little bit about the business of sugar, let me tell you about the conference the industry has, The American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists/Beet Sugar Development Foundation Biennial Conference. This year it was held in San Antonio, the last meeting was in Vancouver, and the next will be in Palm Springs. You get the picture that these are held far away from the areas where beets are grown, and more than anything, its to get to some warmer weather as the processing campaign ends.

This conference has representatives from almost all of the beet sugar producers, suppliers and vendors. The business of sugar beets is very much a “family”, as many of the people in the sugar industry have been in it their whole lives, starting as production workers and working their way up the ranks. Also, the number of suppliers to the industry is limited, so everyone knows each other. I came to be in this industry about 3 years ago, as I left my former employer (a large chemical company) to find something less “corporate”, and that I found. I am a mechanical engineer, but have spent most of my career in environmental compliance/operations. Now I add this because, as I mentioned, sugar is a very “family” – style business. Now the downside of this is that there is not a lot of “progressive” thinking on anything other than getting more sugar out of the beets. The US Chemical industry has been fairly pro-active on reducing environmental impact, so I have been taking on a lot of this challenge in the sugar industry.

Now, the conference itself is a rather remarkable affair. There are several days of rather informative presentations covering agricultural issues, operational issues, and research and development. That’s the business side of it. The other side is the vendors and suppliers “wooing” the various companies with quite expensive meals at various 4-star restaurants around the town. 5 days of conference easily leads to a five pound weight gain. The most amusing part is that the diversity of the sugar beet industry becomes readily apparent during the course of these evenings. Now I am a city boy raised in NJ, Cleveland, Chicago, Buffalo, Columbus, OH. Many of the sugar people have never really left their small towns where they work. So they become very easily swayed by vendors, overwhelmed by exotic food and drinks, and really enjoy themselves at the hospitality suites that the vendors also provide. They are some of the best, nicest people around, but at times, can be slightly overwhelmed by the big-city. Now being the cynical city-boy I am, this doesn’t sway me, and usually ends up frustrating vendors who deal with me (but that’s part of the job I enjoy).

Over the course of the five-day conference, you get to talk with old friends, meet new ones, learn more about your business, learn how to improve your factory’s performance, and basically, to quote Roger, “a good time is had by all.”

Well, I hope I haven’t bored you to tears, but after making you wait as long as I have, I figured I would make it worth your while (plus, I didn’t want to work that hard today anyway). If you are interested in finding out more about sugar beets, and Monitor Sugar, visit the company website.

Ok, so how do they make sugar from beets?

You can find specifics on the Monitor Sugar website, or here’s the basics that I usually use to describe it:

1) Slice the beets into cossettes (basically a french fry shape OK, pcschnebs, I’ve edited out the silly name here)
2) Boil the beets to remove the sugars
3) Evaporate the water, leaving the sugar-laden juice, purify, then thicken the juice
4) crystallize the sugar, and centrifuge to separate the sugar from the molasses.
5) Dry, package, and add to coffee.

Pretty basic process that takes huge amounts of energy and big equipment.

Here is my tale of sugar beets…

California also had, and I say had, a good-sized sugar industry once upon a time. Lot’s of towns had processing plants where beets were received by rail primarily and then by truck.

There was Manteca, Tracy, Woodland, and Betteravia. The last was owned and operated by the Union Sugar Company and got beets several times during the year from various locations around the state. Water is always an issue for farming in the state, with many places only viable for farming thanks to imports or pumping. Beets made a good crop while they lasted. In the San Joaquin Valley, beets were harvested in the spring and sent to plants for a few months after. Beets also were grown in the northern Sacramento Valley and in the south in the Imperial Valley.

So why the interest? Well, it has to do with trains. Here’s a few links to images of beets on the move by rail on the Southern Pacific.

http://www.carrtracks.com/spctyind.htm

http://www.carrtracks.com/spwalng3.htm

The plant in Tracy was owned by Holly Sugar. To switch cars at the plant, it obtained a diesel switch engine that was surplus from the Southern Pacific. However, this was not just any locomotive. It was previously SP #1000, the first diesel locomotive owned by the railroad. Various groups have tried to acquire it for preservation, but it still sees occasional use at the plant.

Beets were big business for the Espee, even if they were seasonal. So the railroad took a series of general service gondola cars which had doors on the bottom for easy unloading and modified them by adding extensions onto the sides of the cars to increase their capacity. That was sometime in the mid-50’s. The cars were mostly wood with some steel hardware. They rode on wheels with friction bearings.

Fast forward into the 1990’s.

The sugar beets still move from field to the plants by rail, using the same old wooden cars. As they aged, they became maintenance nightmares, but they still got the job done. Modern freight moves in cars with roller bearings and are pulled by high speed, microprocessor controlled diesel locomotives. Not so the beets. They tended to get older first-generation diesels. In short, it was like a time machine at work as these rolling museum pieces carried beets to meet their fates.

So, fans of this older technology made pilgrimages to watch it in action. Places like South Dos Palos and Sargent saw beets loaded under the watchful eyes and cameras of railroad enthusiasts.

Train crews on the other hand, saw the whole thing in a different light. Old worn out equipment meant long days and nights on the road. Expecting to get home early was sheer fantasy if you got called for one of these jobs. Twelve hours on duty was more the rule than the exception. Couplers failed, brakes failed, and sometimes, the car just failed. Imagine beets everywhere on more than one occasion.

Union Sugar’s Betteravia plant was a major destination for these trains from all over the state. Transferred from the mighty Southern Pacific to the lowly Santa Maria Valley Railroad, these cars soldiered on. SP finally told Union Sugar that if they wanted the beets carried by rail that they would have to buy and maintain the fleet of worn out relics. Carrying the reporting marks of USGX, they did just that for their final years.

Today, the plant at Betteravia is closed and being torn down. Manteca has redeveloped its plant site for other industrial uses. Tracy lingers on, as does Woodland. Holly Sugar bought a fleet of newer steel cars and most of the beets shipped go to their plant at Woodland. What other beets are still grown go by truck.

So that’s the rest of the sugar beet story from my side of the Rockies…

But lest you think it ends there, here is a link to a preserved German railroad that also has a connection to sugar beets!

I’ve never been, but it sure looks interesting. Something to save for that next trip I think. And along those lines, fodder for another column as to why I would go back to Germany!

Don’t say we don’t cover a diverse selection of topics on those boards! More tales in the weeks to come…

But, it would be darn nice of you, if you could show your support and click on the link for his Amazon Honor System Paybox and throw a few million Turkish lira (1 dollar equals 1,595,100 lira) his way to keep him plugging along at the keyboard. To quote Homer Simpson, “Oooooh, how convenient.”

Private Car Service is working on an all-day trip this fall. Details will be posted soon on the Private Car Service web page. Stay tuned!

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: