Studio Tour

[MayfairProductions]

Now I remember my dad told me once there was a studio tour at Warner Village Studios. But they closed it because of low popularity. I thought It was because naughty people where leaving the train and walking through live sets etc. Still do you think they should add that feature again to give the feel of actually being on set. I know universals' is way better, but i still think people would be interested in finally finding out what goes on over there. Every time we drive past My mum goes i wonder what they do in those soundstages. I spend nearly a hour explaining what they do there. Yeah I know that there both different entitys but what do you think? Cheers Jayme

[0mah]

Well I would be very interested in going through that. I think it would be a nice edition to make it feel more like hollywood a real movie set tour.

[Mad Hatter]

entrance to superman pretty much wiped out a good portion of the tour and the queue area. The end of the tour incorporating the movie magic effects was basically where the entrance and gift shop for superman is. Honestly, the tour was ok but you didnt really see much in the studio lot and the special effects show at the end never really changed (its the sort of thing you only really need to see once). IMHO, its not really of important value to the park, visitors can get up close with characters and parades during the day, get photos, etc which is of more entertainment value, so there isnt a need for the tour really, certainly not in its old form. Id rather see them put the money and space towards a new attraction (come on we all need more coasters!). Edit: Just to add, from reading the last part of your post, you never actually went through the sound stages, the tour just drove between the buildings and that was about it. Only once, and this would have been quite some time ago, did they take you into a sound stage as part of the tour. I cant remember what set they were showing off at the time, but the notion of indoor rain keeps popping up in my head, maybe some of the older members will remember it. But yeah, if you thought you might get to go through the studio backlot, that definately wasnt the case. It was pretty much just driving around the lot, announcer talking about different things, whats happening, a drive through "the costume department" (a building with windows displaying famous movie costumes that you drove past), maybe the odd stage piece or prop, then ending at the movie magic effects tour thing. This was pretty much the only stage you actually got to go through, showed you a little about what they do with backgrounds (memphis belle), sound overdubbing (lethal weapon), then a little blue screen work (superman). But it was always the same and never really included any current projects.

Edited March 29, 2008 by Mad Hatter

[rappa]

I still remember the first time we ever went to movieworld... The studio tour then was actually really great... visiting some stuff around the site, being taken onto a mock up set and all that jazz. Then you headed over to the movie magic section which was done really well too. Sadly over the years production in the studio died down, eventually the tram tour was cut and then the movie magic section got really really tired. The problem with the studios is they are so up and down with work. Like a tour now there wouldn't be much to see but not that long ago there were several MAJOR projects on the go back to back and heaps to see. It's very hard to keep an attraction going when nothing is shooting. Universal get away with it because of all the 'ride' elements in their tour.

[Mad Hatter]

even if they have projects going on, its a little difficult (see unsafe) to get members of the public onto a real active set. Far too many issues to deal with.

[Spotty]

Like having Paris Hilton near candles? We know what happened there last time

[Richard]

It seems to me that all the purported "issues" with having members of the public driven around the studios aren't an issue at Universal Studios in Hollywood, which are is home to major productions year-round. Universal's thrives because they put in effort to make it a theme park attraction. They have a handful of different versions of the tour which allows them to skip out areas of the studio that are inaccessible due to filming commitments. It's an audio-visual experience presented by an entertaining host (a benefit of being in Hollywood is that there's always talent around needing to make ends meet) that is very re-rideable because each tour will be different in some way, and because they update it on a regular basis to reflect the latest and upcoming Universal titles, it's something that can, to some extent, draw people back year after year. The few elements of ours that tried to inject entertainment like the fake set and the costume department were good but more could have been added progressively over the years to actually build it into something enjoyable from start to finish. The reason the special effects show died a miserable death was that evidently no one realised that people won't keep coming back to see the same 15 year-old (read: woefully outdated) special effects. I'd really like to see a revised version brought back, or at least something that is somehow related to the movie-making process because as it stands, what makes Movie World any different from say your average Six Flags park? An interesting side-point relating to some of this is that at Universal Studios you can't walk two steps without hearing about their upcoming features because someone has realised that the few million people that visit the park each year are actually a pretty good captive audience for their products. It's quite clever marketing in two ways: one obviously it'll draw people into cinemas, and second I think it's a really good way to help guests feel the Universal brand around them.

[mickey_079]

Mad Hatter... do you mean the tour where they did the sound effects and that? Because I don't think Jaymee was talking about that. He was talking about well... a backlot tour I think. Or am I wrong? I love the backlot tours (especially Universal Hollywood) and they always give a special feel to the place. Although, I must admit, Disney Hollywood Studios backlot was well... I dunno, not up to Disney expectations.

[friendsarama]

I miss the Movieworld Studio tour too. I never went on it the last few years it was in operation purely because they never bothered updating it which was just laziness I feel. I think though with the current Movieworld thinking which seems to be more detail focused, I would like to see them give it a go again. I think the key difference here is that Movie World never really had the "studio tour" portion of Universal studios in Hollywood. If you're comparing apples with apples, you really would be comparing the Universal Effect Sound Stages instead of the studio tour as that essentially is what made up the biggest part of the Movieworld tour. Apart from in the really early years where you did do a 10 minute loop of the studios (basically looking at posters on buildings) and the occasional 'sound stage' (most notably the Batman Forever 'Riddler's Lair'), the Movieworld 'tour' was essentially the Superman Blue Screen effect, the Lethal Weapon Sound Stage, and the Memphis Bell set. This is much more in line with the Universal Studios Effects stages where they show you all this stuff, except that there, they change the theme extremely regularaly. I know everytime I've been it's been different (the last one was Heroes and Bourne related). I can't envision it costing a huge amount to change these over every now and again, especially since the show basically remains the same, just with the exception of the theme. But I guess the rights could be expensive. I think Movieworld has a better chance of successfully capturing this market over a 'studio tour' as I think the big selling point of the Universal Studio tour is the permanent outdoor sets, which is something Movieworld has little of. Having said all that however, I've been to Universal Studios in Hollywood quite a number of times, and I've never actually bothered doing the Universal Effects Sound Stages purely because I was scarred from the Movieworld experiences which I had done more times that I chose to remember. Whereas the studio tour I do at least twice every visit, because if all else fails, you're at least in for a good laugh. Mickey C

[taronga]

I agree, it would be great if they brought back the studio tour. But it would only work if they copied the Universal Studios tour (with show/ride elements and permanent outdoor sets).

[mac_attack]

and as a part of the tour they 1. walk you threw the superman subway and you can take as many pictures as you want and then show you the launch pad and the room where the hydraulic thing is. 2. turn off the special effects on the scooby doo and show you the track. 3. walk you threw the wild west. and 4 this will never happen

[Rollercoaster13]

and as a part of the tour they 1. walk you threw the superman subway and you can take as many pictures as you want and then show you the launch pad and the room where the hydraulic thing is. 2. turn off the special effects on the scooby doo and show you the track. 3. walk you threw the wild west. and 4 this will never happen

1. Movieworld don't allow pictures of things like this, this happened with one of the membrs here who worked as a maintenance guy, he took pics of it and got into trouble 2. What about the people on the ride? 3. How will they do that 4. I know

[mac_attack]

this could be before the park opens? or when it closes that would be interesting.

[Rollercoaster13]

this could be before the park opens? or when it closes that would be interesting.

I thought the tours always run in park hours unless you mean private

[billyb67]

I was sure Movieworld used to have a this type of tour but loads of people convince me otherwise that they never had one and I must be thinking of an american park... so they did have one right ? Wish they would bring it back and update it somewhat

[taronga]

If they can do a new studio tour, maybe they could use the PA facades as permanent street-sets since the new show won't require them. (If they don't get destroyed)

[MickeyD]

^ Oh U can bet they will get destroyed - I don't think they will last much beyond being torn down!! They have been practically been held together with sticky tape for quite some time now!