Universal Studios Hollywood - Backlot
Park Lake (1950s - present)
Aerial View of Park Lake, 1973 (From "Inside Universal Studios")
This man-made lake on the backlot is believed to have been constructed in the early 1950s. It's one of three bodies of water on the backlot (Falls Lake and Jaws Lake (formerly Singapore Lake) are the others) and consists of two separate lake areas - the main Park Lake and, the other side of the Sweet Charity Bridge (added in 1969), the Black Lagoon.
The lake was used in The Mississippi Gambler (1953) starring Tyrone Power and also appeared in McHales Navy, Gilligan's Island, Creature from the Black Lagoon and Dawn of the Dead.
Around Park Lake
Apartment Complex
The Black Lagoon
PHOTOS COMING SOON
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- Psycho II (1982) (swamp where murder victims were found)
- Wierd Science (1985)
- Psycho III (1986) (swamp)
Boragora
Gorilla / Gorilla Huts (? to 1973)
This mysterious attraction in the early 1970s consisted of a mechanical gorilla in a tree carrying a human arm. It hung out in Tarzan's jungle, just beyond the Red Sea, around some grass huts.
The two photos show different stages (one with human arm, one without) and the Gorilla is in different poses. Does anyone know which one came first? In the bottom right photo of the huts (from 1973, there is no Gorilla - had he been removed by then?)
If you have any more information, please contact us!
King Kong Model Ship
From April 2006, the Parting of the Red Sea has been taken over to be simply a way of viewing a model ship and scaled-down backdrops from King Kong.
The "Bigature"
of the S.S. Venture approaching Skull Island, as featured
in Peter Jackson's King Kong and now just in front
of the bridge over the Red Sea.
With help from the Oscar®-winning artisans of New Zealand's Weta Workshop Ltd., Studio Tour guests will experience an update of a classic film technique as they pass within a few feet of "King Kong's" S.S. Venture tramp steamer, an exact replica of the film's “bigature” prop.
“Bigatures” are large-scale, highly-detailed miniatures which can be filmed at close range and manipulated in ways not possible with full-size props, digital generation or the more commonly used miniatures. This big-miniature offers the ultimate in realism when combined with traditional and digital effects.
With the movie-making elements properly staged, Studio Tour guests will experience a scene lifted from the blockbuster. Set against a panoramic backdrop of the primordial environs of Skull Island, they will observe the S.S. Venture as it navigates through a dense marine fog. The moment will be further punctuated by the deafening, primal roar of “The Eighth Wonder of the World”, Kong.
Behind the scenes, high tech equipment is working to ensure flawless scenic execution. To precisely interpret unpredictable weather climate and output consistent and realistic fog, the creative team at Universal Studios Hollywood created breakthrough technology, linking an atomized water system to a newly installed, on-site weather station. By accurately reading the relative humidity in the air, the creative team was effectively able to produce a high pressure fog system and attain the desired special effect: an impenetrable fog obscured island and a true sense of realism.
Universal Studios Hollywood Press Release, April
2006
Parting the Red Sea (1973 - present)
View across Park Lake to the Riverboat after the opening of The Red Sea in 1973
(From "Inside Universal Studios", 1978)
The attraction aimed to recreate the epic biblical moment in The Ten Commandments where Moses parts the waters of the Red Sea.
The tour guide points out the fact that Park Lake beside the tram has been used in numerous films and TV series (e.g. Creature from the Black Lagoon, McHale's Navy) before preparing us for wet feet as we drive through the lake. The guests count down and the waters magically part in front of us. (well, quite noisily actually, revealing an aged rusty metal mechanism).
At it's best,
the effect is very impressive - water cascades past the tram as it
sinks below the level of the lake. However, usually the metal plates
holding the water back are fairly obvious, and also quite rusty to
look at.
The effect was accomplished in Cecil B DeMille's silent The
Ten Commandments (1923) by using a block of blue gelatine melting,
projected in reverse.
And
they say the camera never lies…
The mechanism
was originally a timed effect - the tram only had a certain number
of seconds to cross the lake before the mechanism closed up again.
Needless to say a tram was trapped once as the lake filled back up
again. There are now two safety systems to stop this happening again
- the tour guide has to manually push a button to signal all is clear,
and there are infra-red sensors which can detect if the tram is clear
of the water.
There is still a possibility of some excitement with the Red Sea as
the tram roadway sometimes does not drain fully, leaving some guests
with wet feet. The tour guide will ask you to lift bags off the floor
of the tram for a good reason!
Seen on Screen
The Parting of the Red Sea effect can be seen in...
- The Nude Bomb (1980)
- The History of the World Part I (1981)
Sequence of stills from Mel Brooks' History
of the World Part I featuring
the Red Sea
Riverboat
Park Lake in 1968 (from "Inside Universal Studios", 1968)
The Riverboat pictured during production of The Mississippi Gambler, 1953
(From "Inside Universal Studios", 1973)
The Riverboat in June 1982 (photo by Judy & Frank)
Snow Cottage
Submarine Attack
A Land Mine in the Red Sea
(From Viewmaster 5360 series, 1987)
Sweet Charity Bridge
The area behind the King Kong Model Ship was the filming location for The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The bridge that's now too dangerous to cross was built for Sweet Charity.
This bridge was added to Park Lake in 1968 for the production of Sweet Charity. It's appeared in a number of productions, but is now unfortunately a crumbling concrete shell of it's former self, behind the Kong 'bigature' model ship set. It was built before the Red Sea effect was added to the tour, so the area was very different then.
The rear of the
King Kong ship model backdrop is now hiding the now
stripped-down Sweet Charity bridge that crosses the Red Sea. (Photo
April 11 2006)
Seen on Screen
- The Mississippi Gambler (1953) (Riverboat)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) (The Amazon)
- McHales Navy (1962 - 1966) (The Pacific Ocean!)
- Gilligan's Island (1964 - 1967)
- Sweet Charity (1969)
- The Blues Brothers (1980)
- The Nude Bomb (1980)
- The History of the World Part I (1981)
- Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982 - 1983)
- Dawn of the Dead (?2004)
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