Theme Parks & Themed Entertainment

Disneyland’s Floral Mickey: Six Days Before Opening

Published

3 years ago

February 7, 2022

According to Kodak (circa 1985. Disneyland’s 30^th anniversary), the Floral Mickey in front of the Main Street Train Station at Disneyland Park is one of the most photographed locations in the world. Only the Taj Mahal & the Eiffel Tower gets more pictures taken on them annually.

Tourists, as they enter that family fun park, typically get in line as soon as they come through the turnstiles. Just so they can then get that “We were there” shot (Especially these days, in our “if-you-don’t-have-pics-it-didn’t-happen” age).

Given how many people get their pictures taken in front of the Floral Mickey, the Horticulture and Resort Enhancement Team at Disneyland Park make sure that they always keep it looking its best.

How Often is The Floral Mickey Replanted Each Year?

This typically involves replanting the Floral Mickey 9 times a year.

This process that is typically done on third shift so that Mickey always looks his best whenever Guests show up at the Park.

How Many Flowers is in The Floral Mickey at Disneyland?

Every time that Floral Mickey gets replanted, between the floral filigrees & flourishes off to the side of Mickey’s face and the annuals that need to be replaced within the actual borders of his massive mouse face, you’re typically talking 9,000 flowers.

To put that in perspective: Every year, the horticultural department at Disneyland Park, in order to maintain that theme park’s 7 total acres of annual beds, has to bring a million flowers in from outside greenhouses. And almost a tenth of those annuals this family fun park buys annually are used just to keep that Floral Mickey looking sharp.

Creating the First Floral Mickey at Disneyland

Were we to jump back some 66 years to less than 6 days before Disneyland Park first opened to the public, the Floral Mickey had yet to be planted.

Which genuinely concerned Joe Fowler. Who was the Park Construction Administrator for Walt’s family fun park. Which is why on July 11, 1955 Joe sent a memo to Jack Evans (who, along with his brother Morgan “Bill” Evans, was handling a lot of Disneyland’s horticultural aspects).

That memo read:

When are you going to plant Mickey Mouse in the entrance? Looks to me like the time is getting pretty late.
Joe fowler – July 11, 1955

***Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved***

Walt Disney’s Original Plan for a Floral Mickey

A Floral Mickey dates as far back as 1953. When Disneylandia was supposed to be built on the other side of Riverside Drive, just across from the Disney Lot in Burbank, the front entrance of Walt’s family fun park was supposed to have had a Floral Mickey.

To Walt’s way of thinking, this floral element was the equivalent of that pie-eyed Mickey you saw surrounded by a sunburst at the start of every technicolor Mickey Mouse cartoon from the 1930s. It was a Disney-specific way of saying “Welcome! You’re in for a good time today”.

Why Wait Until the Last Minute: Problems at Disneyland

Why was this part of the Disneyland project not started ‘til the very last minute? Well, there are a couple of reasons.

Money got very, very tight towards the end of Disneyland’s construction. And one of the areas that got really impacted by this ever-tightening budget was the horticultural aspects of this project.

At the 10^th anniversary party for Disneyland, Walt told the story about how, when money ran out to landscape large sections of Tomorrowland, Bill Evans just had signs & labels made up for the weeds that grew naturally at the construction site. Bill had these signs made up with the full Latin names of each of these weeds. So that when Guests looked at them they’d then think “Oh, these plants must have been deliberately planted like that. What an unusual idea.

But there was another key reason that the Floral Mickey hadn’t been planted in front of the Main Street Train Station by July 11, 1955 (just 6 days before the big live broadcast on ABC of “Dateline Disneyland.” And it’s something that The Walt Disney Company really doesn’t like to talk about.

A turf war broke out at the Disneyland construction site in Anaheim in the Spring of 1955 when it came to who would decide what would get planted where at Walt’s family fun park.

Professional Landscapers: Bill & Jack Evans – and Ruth Shellhorn

To understand what happened here, we have to go back to 1949. Walt purchased a lot on Carolwood Drive in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was here that Disney would build his 1/8^th scale Carolwood Pacific Railway (which included a 90-foot-long stretch of tunnel that took Walt’s guests under his wife Lily’s flowerbeds).

Bill and Jack Evans

Because Lillian insisted that, to avoid annoying their new neighbors in Holmby Hills, Walt had to hide as much of his backyard steam train set-up away from prying eyes as possible. He then hired the Evans & Reeves nursery in West Los Angeles to come landscape his property. And Walt was supposedly so pleased with the work that Bill Evans and his brother Jack had done that, when the Disneyland project finally got funded in 1954, Disney reached out to the Evans again and invited them to come on out to Anaheim and turn 160 acres of what used to be orange groves & walnut trees into a highly themed, beautifully landscaped family fun park.

The only problem here was the Evans weren’t professionally trained landscapers.

Bill had gone to Stanford University in the 1920s to study engineering. More to the point, while they had done plantings at the homes of some of the biggest stars in Hollywood – Greta Garbo, Clark Gable & Elizabeth Taylor among them – Bill & Jack had never done anything of this size before. I mean, this wasn’t going to be some sort of elaborate backyard garden at a private home. Disneyland was going to be this vast commercial enterprise that thousands of people would enter every day. The daily wear & tear on this family fun park’s ornamental trees & flower beds was going to be extraordinary.

Finally realizing that, while Walt obviously personally liked Bill & Jack, the Evans were kind of in over their heads when it came to the Disneyland project.

Walt then reached to Walter Becket (the architect that Disney had originally consulted when he was first thinking of building Disneylandia). This was the late Winter / early Spring of 1955 (roughly 5 months out from the grand opening of Disneyland) and asked if Beckett had a landscape architect that he could recommend. Someone who had enough professional experience to tackle a horticultural project of this size.

Introducing Ruth Shellhorn

Walter immediately recommended Ruth Shellhorn. Shellhorn was a Los Angeles native who had attended Oregon State University’s School of Landscape Architecture before she then continued with her studies at Cornell. In the early 1950s, Ruth had been the landscape architect for a string of Bullock’s shopping plazas, where she combined elements of park planning with the suburban mall. In short, Shellhorn had done projects of size before like Disneyland Park which had to accommodate the movement of thousands of people every day.

Given that there was something of a ticking clock here (More importantly, given that it was absolutely crucial that Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise ride be surrounded by this deep, thick, totally authentic-looking forest full of exotic plants when this Adventureland attraction opened in July of 1955), a command decision was made:

Ruth would concentrate on completing Disneyland’s entrance (which obviously included that Floral Mickey), Main Street U.S.A., the area around the Hub and Sleeping Beauty Castle as well as the entrance to Tomorrowland. Bill & Jack will then concentrate on completing Adventureland’s Jungle Cruise as well as the planting which was already underway in & around Frontierland.

Landscaping Troubles

The problem here was Ruth Shellhorn was a late arrival to the Disneyland Project. More to the point, she was a professional when it came to the world of landscape architecture. Which is why, Shellhorn handed down orders out in the field to the guys who were driving the bulldozers around that Anaheim construction site, Ruth then expected those orders to be followed.

Now the onsite construction team, they’d been following the order of the Evans up until this time. And then suddenly there was this new woman there asking them to regrade things that had supposedly been completed weeks earlier. As a direct result, there was a certain amount of carping & complaining coming from the Disneyland construction team. And initially things didn’t get done as quickly as Shellhorn would have liked.

So Ruth went to Walt and then Walt lowered the boom at the Disneyland construction site.

He made it exceedingly clear that, from here-on in, Shellhorn’s orders while she was out on the field were to be followed to the letter. Because it was crucial that Disneyland Park make its previously announced July 17^th opening date.

Butting Heads with Walt

The problem was, as Disneyland’s opening date kept getting closer & closer and the budget for this ambitious project got tighter & tighter, Ruth’s follow-my-orders-precisely attitude began to butt heads with Walt’s far more casual attitude. After all, Disney had dreamed up this whole project. And when he was at the construction site and see something that he didn’t like, Walt would then ask workers in the field to pull up survey stakes and shift a walkway 10 feet to the left. Or ask for a tree to be ripped out so that it then wouldn’t block the view of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

This often put Ruth Shellhorn at odds with Walt. I mean, Shellhorn understood that in the end, it’s the client’s wishes that need to be followed. But so many of these sorts of decisions, especially during the final weeks of construction on Disneyland, were made on the fly out in the field – with Ruth learning well after the fact. Which then meant that she needed to adjust all of her carefully crafted landscaping plans for this family fun park at the very last minute. Which was aggravating & stressful.

On the other hand, the Evans, who were already familiar with Walt’s ways after having landscaped the Disney family home in Holmby Hills in late 1949 / early 1950, just rolled with the punches. Whatever Walt asked them to do at the Disneyland construction site, Bill & Jack did – no questions asked.

Mind you, when the Evans missed deadlines (They spent so much time concentrating on making Adventureland look like the best jungle north of Costa Rica that Bill & Jack neglected Frontierland), Shellhorn picked up the slack. In the final ten days of construction, she created landscapes designs for three different areas in Frontierland. Ruth even got down in the dirt herself to help with the planting of seedlings.

The Floral Mickey Ready for Disneyland’s Opening Day

Shellhorn’s very hands-on attitude even extended to Disneyland’s Floral Mickey. Ruth had put a lot of advance thought into this project. She’d put together a palette of bright seasonal annuals that would then really make this massive mouse’s face pop with color, such as dwarf pink phlox for Mickey’s tongue.

By the way, after Joe Fowler’s memo to Jack Evans on July 11^th … Bill supposed built & then installed the framework for Mickey’s face in that hillside directly below the Main Street Train Station on July 13^th. Ruth then directed the planting of those thousands of colorful annuals into the framework that formed the floral Mickey on July 15^th. And two days later, at the very start of “Dateline Disneyland,” Art Linkletter stood in front of that Floral Mickey and welcomed television viewers around the globe to Walt’s family fun park.

Opening Day Aftermath

Yes, because things were done so close to deadline, things got stressful. Perhaps too stressful. Just two weeks after Disneyland Park opened, Jack Evans suffered a massive heart attack. He never returned to the field after that. He stayed back at the Evans & Reaves Nursery and mostly handled paperwork from there on in. But even that proved to be too much for Jack. After another cardiac episode, he passed away in 1958.

Perhaps unfairly, the fact that the horticultural aspect of the Disneyland project had gotten so stressful towards the end of its construction was placed at the feet of Ruth Shellhorn. One might argue that, because the construction teams in Anaheim had initially been so tough of her, Shellhorn then had to push back. Be as tough as they were.

Bill Evans, Disney Legend (1992)

Walt felt just terrible about what happened to Jack. He wound up throwing a lot of work Bill’s way. So much so that Evans would eventually go on design the landscape of Disney’s theme parks for the next half a century. I mean, even though Bill officially retired from the Mouse House in 1975, the Company kept calling him back to consult on every theme park they built after that. Right up until Hong Kong Disneyland (which would open in September of 2005). Bill died three years prior to the opening of that theme park at the age of 92.

From the planning of Disneyland to consulting in the planning for Hong Kong Disneyland, expected to open three years from now, has died. He was 92.

Ruth Shellhorn

As for Ruth Shellhorn, the talented landscape architect who’d come in at virtually the last minute and helped Disneyland Park to open on time, she wasn’t invited to stay on the project. Ruth moved on to other things.

Mind you, Shellhorn’s involvement in the creation of Disneyland is acknowledged. In certain spots. You just have to know where to look for them. There’s that “Disneyland – World of Flowers” book (which was published back in 1965 as part of that theme park’s tencennial).

In the foreword that Disney personally wrote for this hardcover, Walt said:

In giving credit for the landscaping at the Park, it is impossible to mention all who have contributed. Special plaudits are due to Ruth Patricia Shellhorn for her design of the formal Victorian plan for Main Street, the Town Square, and the Plaza. The trees and shrubs she selected in the spring of 1955 are still used today.
Walt disney, 1965

Which includes that Floral Mickey right below the Main Street Train Station. Which, again, only got planted just days before Walt’s family fun park first opened to the public and then went on to become one of the most photographed things in the world.

Not bad for something that was thrown together at the very last moment.

Just keep that in mind when you start a book report that’s due on Monday morning on Sunday night.

Television & Shows

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

Published

24 hours 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

3 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: