I worked 4 years in the security department at Universal (mid-1990s) and spent most of that time roaming that entire lot during the graveyard shift. Virtually all those sets on NY Street are relatively new (a huge fire burned much of it to the ground in 2008). I also noticed they've put up more modern-looking facades. As for the Psycho House: I was the only one who'd go up there on dark, rainy nights. Oh, such fun. As for the inside of Psycho House, it's pretty much just a shell, looking much like an empty garage. But a fun video and thanks for bringing back great memories for me!
I worked for a popular TV show from 1995 to 2001 and our offices were on the Universal lot. I would drive around the lot on my golf cart all the time, and look inside everything. I even got to walk inside sound stages to watch filming of big films. It was a great time.
It's awesome, huh!!! My friend worked on a popular tv show also, was bout 2 name that show but then again, might not be the smartest move, edit button hit... he would get us guest passes after hours around midnight, a couple of golf carts, backpack full of beers & other stuff, like the stuff some people might put on a pizza, haaaaa, yes, I'm serious... we ran around the back lot like a playground all night long!!! Those were some of the best nights my friends & i had, pretty hard 2 top!!! Jumping off 2nd stories on2 stunt bags in the western town, walking through the psycho house & crashed airplane, we climbed a fire escape 2 get in2 the Pirates of the Caribbean sound stage that was set to look like a thailand pirate village with caves & a lagoon, man, 2 this day those are some of my fondest memories, those Universal nights... I am eternally grateful I got 2 experience that!!!
I was a VIP tour guide at Universal from 1976 to 79-the lot was much bigger then and things were more in the original areas-Spartacus square and Europe burned down in one of the several fires that have happened since then-The showboat is gone as is the tower of London and the original 6 points Texas-The lot evolves as films are made and many sets have been placed just for the tour-Beavers house was next to Marcus Welby and colonial drive had many places including yhe HARVEY house, Munsters, Animal House etc-it was nice to hear you sound excited about visiting the lot-on the VIP tour we could take our guests off the little trolly and let them do what you did-get up close and personal and take pictures on Beavers Porch or the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew houses etc-That lot was at one time the largest in the world and taking people through it was a privilege since movie history was made there-Frankenstien, Dracula The Mummy and the Wolfman -the original Phantom of the Opera stage I think may also be gone-that had a full sized opera house set with seats and boxes that was used in many films-its sad that Universal has basically reduced their studio to an amusement park but it also serves to keep the history of Hollywood alive-glad you had fun-Warners also has a tour and some of the Hello Dolly set still exists at 20th-the tram tour isn't what it was when they opened in 1965-we had lots more to show people in those days and the tram tour took 4 1/2 hours or more.
Hey...Colonial St. use to be in a entirely different location. Universal needs to get rid of the Who Ville that no one gives a crap about and the Plan crash scene..Universal is waaaay behind the times. We were zipped around the back lot like we were a inconvenience ...Universal Tour isn't what it use to be.
Anthony Richard You are totally correct-its no longer a tour its an extension of the amusement park-they don't have room to expand like Florida here in California-its sad to me since I remember a truly historic 420 acres in 1976-79 when I was a VIP guide-now its a sad artifact and frankly embarrassing with what they present as "film sets"
You are the Mr. Roger's of traveling the US for adults. That's a compliment. I loved watching him as a kid when he would take us to factories where things were made. You take us to Universal Studios where movies were made and make it fun to learn stuff we may otherwise never consider or see. Thanks!
The Wisteria Lane part blew my mind. I just binge-watched Desperate Housewives and never would have made some of those connections from previous filming...
Now with all the retro style channels... I'm amazed at how often the houses were shared by different fictional families ! 😏. Adams Family, Donna Reed Show, Dennis the Menace, the Partridge Family, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, Fathers Knows best, Marcus Welby, Andy Griffith, Leave it Beaver, Gidget, My three Sons, Adam 12, Dragnet, and the list goes on and on. 😓 And I love those huge painted back drop murals.
I remember going to universal in California when I was a little girl. I was obsessed with war of the worlds. I went on a tour on a bus and we drove right past that place on 5:43. It's so cool that you got to see that on foot.
Oh my God, thank you SO much for sharing this. You have thus far gone through two of my favorite places- one being the old Fairmount High School in Indiana, and the second being Mayfield Pl from The 'Burbs, my favorite movie!
I went to S. Cal to visit my cousin back in 82.Went on the Universal City tour.Back then they still had Gilligans Island. It was amazing seeing where they filmed everything.Saw The Beavers house too....
My claim to fame as a guide was that my tram sank in the Red Sea around November '83. I believe the driver was Ray. All ended well--the guests all got free Olypmic outfits and signed release agreements in the tour guide breakroom, which was cleared out to accommodate the wet visitors! 😊
I believe the sarcophagus @11:45 was used in Nancy Drew, "A Haunting We Will Go", and the hollow statue @11:56, and the Bates house, were used in the Hardy Boys pilot, "The Mystery of the Haunted House".
@@ToyotaGuy1971 I only learned about the series lately. It didn't do well. It was during this time that they also added the second window on the ground floor, (front face of the house) I'm designing a shed as a mini replica of the house, and have had to do some intense photo research, as the studio blueprints aren't very accurate when compared to the house they actually built.
@@ToyotaGuy1971 Further research has led me to a bit of a mystery. The house in "Captains and The Kings" had the same porch extensions as "Hardy Boys" but had the second window, as mentioned earlier. There's a photo of the house with the extensions, but unpainted, (no window) with the tower roof removed. I believe that this is when the original facade was totally replaced. (second window added) in prep for the series being filmed Mystery... There's no second window, and unpainted in the Hardy Boys pilot (77). That would mean it was filmed BEFORE "Captains"(76), but sat on the shelf for a bit???? That would also give Hardy Boys the distinction of being the original facade's last film appearance.
Find your roots and stay with it Adam this was amazing! Minimum acceptance from the UA-cam and other social media platforms. Maximum effort and content on your part! Love you bro keep up the great work! from Kenosha! NC
But last time I checked, 20th century fox made home alone. I don't think 20th century fox can use another Studios set for a movie? I mean it looks accurate, but still.
Tony Chavez yourusacityguide.com/ultimate-home-alone-2-filming-locations-how-to-find-all-the-new-york-film-locations a simple google would have shown i was right lol but there is the information i don’t know why they filmed on that lot but they did
Adam, please make these info type videos longer about hollywood tidbits. I could listen to you for hours, I"m totally fucking serious to0 dude. great job
Yes. That was that car that was in that film. I do believe that exactly same car was used in another film. You know that one film with that actor with that face? You are freaking hilarious! GREAT videos. Please do not stop.
The first time I went to Universal, they had a show that was the A team (if that tells you how long ago this was). It wasn't the REAL A team but it was pretty neat if you were a little kid. The back lot was a bit different as well.
I worked on a film on the Universal backlot in 2002. I used to drive the golf cart allll around that lot. I went inside the Psycho house... and got a selfie with Mother... Good Timez!
The plane wreckage is from War of the Worlds. I recognized it even before you said it was from a popular Tom Cruise movie, I've seen it like a hundred times. :D
That metal man that had a rubber spike in the prop room was used in the movie "Tower of London" with Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Vincent Price.... Universal 1939.
If you can swing the price you can do all this on the Universal VIP Experience Tour. I did it and it was worth every penny. They feed you, take you onto sets and stages for hours, and then take you to the park where they jump you to the front of every ride line.
That one you showed close up is a Boeing 747, I can tell from the nose & cockpit design plus the pilots escape hatch on the roof. I've been a fan of commercial planes since I was a kid.
1:30 "AH ah! Callahan: I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" [The bank robber gives up trying to retrieve his shotgun; Callahan picks it up and starts to walk away.] Thief: "Hey! [Callahan turns around] I gots to know!" [Callahan aims his revolver and pulls the trigger, but the gun just clicks on an empty chamber, and he grins, laughs, and walks away.] Bank Robber: "Son of a bitch!"
Actually, that's not the Delta Tau Chi house we all know and love from the movie "Animal House" (it was located adjacent to the Univ of Oregon campus, now torn down), but it was used for the sitcom that spawned from the movie.
Back in 1971 on my Universal Studios Tour the Leave it to Beaver house had a sign out front that read "Marcus Welby, MD" because that house was used in that series.
I have one of the pickets from the front porch railing of the Psycho house. I worked on the backlot in the late 1990's, and the house was being restored. As they were just going to be thrown out anyway, I took one home with me.
8:18 Red Mazda RX-7 and Yellow Toyota Supra from the opening race of 2Fast2Furious, and behind it Romans Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. Looks like Doms 69 Charger in the back, but can't be sure. Probably stunt cars.
at 1:00, I know I've seen that Theater once or twice in a TV Show or movie (couldn't narrow down, though) 2:01, Yep, That's Hill Valley/Kingston Falls from BTTF/Gremlins, respectively 2:43, Isn't that the Shopping Cart from the Jackass posters? 5:05 I'm Genuinely surprised that the Whoville set was erected almost smack-dab on top of the Bates Motel set 5:31 It's the War of the Worlds set, You know, from that Tom Cruise movie 8:41 now I KNOW I've seen that... If I'm not Mistaken it was used in Scream 3 11:19 I swear that gong was used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's opening scene at the club in Shanghai
That giant shopping cart was used in "The Incredible Shrinking Women" with Lily Tomlin so she could appear to be smaller. Not sure if it's been used in other productions since then.. Here's a link to a pic. media.aintitcool.com/coolproduction/ckeditor_assets/pictures/5283/original/isw01.jpg?1327867370
Was that the giant shopping cart used in one of the Jackass movies? A bunch of the guys were piled in there, wearing superhero costumes maybe? And explosions were going off around them.
The gong from Indy, where they hide behind it while getting shot at, was about 6-8 feet diameter and had dragons and a mountain on the face. That gong does look familiar though.
You are a very lucky man. I would love to wander around the backlot. Great video by the way. Your commentary was very entertaining. How were you able to do this? Thanks for posting this.
You don't simply to get to walk around wherever you want like Adam in this video by paying the $300 VIP ticket. Adam was obviously invited by someone from Universal to do this. Very cool nonetheless.
The V.I.P. tour takes you to ALL these spots. And you can walk around just like Adam did. The current cost is around $389. Check out the Universal Studios Hollywood website for more info.
The Cleaver house is a replica built for a Beaver TV Reunion movie. The original is still located in it's original spot (or at least it was still there a few years back). Most of these houses were moved to their current locations in the 1980s.
FYI - that is NOT the original Psycho House. The house you see now is scaled down model that purportedly was built for the Bud Court Bates Motel series. It's been moved a few times. When I worked on the lower Lot, my wife, who worked on the upper Lot told me that the fake Bates House was a "make-out & more" spot for merchandise employees who were on break from their night-time shifts in the Merch Warehouse which is very close by. 9/10ths of what they tell you on the Tram tour is utter BS. The Backlot has had numerous serious fires and so very little of what you saw in 2014 is "original" anything. Still, you do get to see how often things get turned over and re-used for surprisingly different projects and themes. Get an actual employee or long-time director to take you around on a golfcart or watch the underground short "It's UCS for me!" (sound it out) It was made with the collusion of many big star actors & directors during the Seagrams Era, which was an hysterically funny time to be on the backlot.
yeah, the fires were a real bummer. taking away the real sets. i remember going thru courthouse square when they were filming back to the future II. wish i had a camera then. i still prefer the old kong to the new one. lol
Yes, Daverat, you're probably the only one commenting on these Universal backlot videos that knows the score about how many buildings and sets there have been moved, rebuilt, or even destroyed. One example would be the original vast soundstage from the 1925 classic Phantom of the Opera, demolished in 2014. Hitchcock shot the interiors of the Psycho house there, with the extreme high angle shot above the staircase looking down. In 1990 a disgruntled, disturbed security guard there torched some of the most legendary buildings and sets, including the street of houses and buildings from To Kill a Mockingbird. I first went to Universal Studios with my family in the late 60's when I was about 13, wanting to see where Psycho was filmed. I do remember that even though it was the original Psycho house, it was too far to get a good look at it from the tram. In '87 I took my own "private tour" there with my girlfriend, just as filmmaker Steven Spielberg did when he was about 16. We deliberately took the final tram tour of the day, patiently loitering there till we could sneak past security, then we hiked down a steep hill and across fields till we could see the Bates Motel in the distance and then the Psycho house on the hill next to it, at sunset. It was thrilling to explore around the motel and then go up the hill to that house and even open the front door (with caution). This was so much better than any patronizing, pricey "VIP" Tour I've seen on any of these YT videos. Of course I now know that the original Psycho house was moved from near the original Singapore Lake location in 1980. But at least the second location wasn't compromised like it is now in it's third location, with the Grinch movie set surrounding and even dwarfing the "Bates Motel" set while the tour tram continues on a street, right past the front porch of the latest "Psycho house" model. To further compromise this classic Hitchcock set, Steven Spielberg's massive set of plane wreckage and destroyed cars and houses from The War of the World's remake is directly next door! In retrospect, our biggest regret on that furtive private tour was that we didn't continue on to the street built especially to represent the town of Maycomb where To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed around 1961, not long after Harper Lee's book won The Nobel Prize for Fiction. To walk down that street and view the Boo Radley house, the tree where Boo put the gifts for Jem and Scout, the Finch house of Atticus, Jem and Scout, and other houses and buildings from that legendary film, 3 years before it was to be destroyed by that security guard sociopath.
Daverat I think Mel Brooks missed out on a sight gag. I woukd have loved to see a knife wielding psycho run out of the Bates house, only to be forced to stop to let a tramload of tourists go by on the access drive at the circumference of the plateau before continuing his pursuit of his prey down the steps.
The studio tour is the best part of Universal Studios. It's really awesome you got to walk around. I've always wanted to do that. I'm glad you gave the older history of the sets too. Unless you get a really awesome guide on your tram, they only talk about what the sets were most recently used for and the tour guide lets the tv's do all the work and I hate it. I like the tour guides who know their stuff and give you an enriching experience. The tours were better before they made videos for the trams.
Elfie, I couldn't agree more. The Backlot Tour is not what it used to be. I've probably been on that attraction about a dozen times, since the early 80s. The last time I was there, our tour guide admitted that he was an actor and that the tour guide gig was a side job to pay the bills. He didn't say it in a "this job sucks" sort of way, but after hearing that it made sense why he wasn't into it for the sake of being a movie buff. I'd much rather have an average Joe off the street as a tour guide, if he's a huge movie buff or better yet, a film historian, than someone who just knows how to perform for an audience.
1:19 New York Street 2:00 Courthouse Square W/clock tower which has been used for storage for many years. It burn down years ago & a lot of stuff was lost but they rebuilt it. There's a family of skunks that lives somewhere in or under the courthouse. I gave them names years ago (when we were shooting "Bruce Almighty") but forgot their names - they're probably all dead by now anyway. 2:48 Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and that looks like "Falls Lake" behind it (near the intersection of "Jimmy Hendrix drive" and Steven Spielburg drive". 2:57 I think they still call that are Whisteria Lane, that's where they shot "The Burbs", "The Munsters"; "Desparate Housewives". 3:49 Mexican Street 3:51 Colonial Street 3:59 Actually the sharks name is "Bruce" (named after Spielburgs lawyer). 4:48 - Those planks actually come out pretty easy - you just yank the sucker down and you can go inside but I wouldn't advise it; not much to see from the inside that you can't see from the outside and that staircase was built around 1960. Don't know if I'd want to test it (even though I ran all the way up those stairs in one of my own videos to get face to face with "mother"). Looks like they've moved stuff around quite a bit since the last time I was there - the "War of the Worlds" set used to be right behind the Psycho house (between Psycho and the old Jurassic Park set). That plane btw is actually a real plane that they tore apart for the movie. 6:57 Sparticus Square (right behind Colonial Street where they shot parts of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and parts of "Fast and Furious 2". 7:20 Mexican Street again & you might notice that a lot of those doors are really small & narrow - that was to make the stars look bigger than they really are. Other doors are wider (to make the female leads look smaller). 7:30 That bridge was used in an episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" it's rigged to collapse when you drive across it but I don't know if it still works. They used to have the tram drive across it; the road drops a foot or two; those planks begin to fall - it's actually a little bit scary when you're on it and the damn things "falling apart" but it's designed to do that.
Our thoughts exactly. Fortunately, nearly six years later and Mr.A.T.Woo has lost that annoying and distracting camp voice and now provides narration using his "normal" albeit occasionally lisp voice caused by a hunk of metal imbedded in his tongue.
This lot was also known (1957-66) as Revue Studios...the home of SO many great TV shows. Universal Pictures TV bought the studios in 1967, combining it with amusement-ride attractions into the first Universal theme park.
Really enjoyed this video Adam. I took the tour in '97 and loved it. Been wanting to go back. When I was there King Kong was still running and they had the Backdraft experience as well as the Back to the Future ride. They had to shut the ride down because some Japanese tourists were video taping it They asked them to leave so the rest of us could experience the ride. Of course I didn't get to see as much of the back lot that you did but it sure did bring back some lovely memories. Thanks!
I am new to your videos (years late sorry), but I do enjoy your commentary and the interesting places you visit. Thanks for sharing this video...….how cool you lucky lucky lucky lucky luck boy!
Bewitched house is in W.Bros studio www.google.com.au/maps/place/Warner+Bros.+Ranch+Blondie+Street/@34.1578367,-118.3438781,94m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2bfd24667e095:0xcae895c05394a0e4!8m2!3d34.157658!4d-118.3436421
On the lots they are only sets and the wires you see are for the film crews. Even when on location, like when they are filming in a real house, the lighting and everything is controlled by the crew.
Chase Petit Yes, the rooms would look real as you walk on the set, but if you look up there would be no ceiling or anything. No real walls and everything is easy to move around. These are all set up in warehouse type areas. Behind the "walls" of each set is warehouse space and where the film crew sets up and works. It's really pretty interesting because as you watch on tv or in a movie it all looks so real.
I've been on the Universal Backlot. Most of the buildings are just facades. They have exterior walls, but no innards. The interior shots are filmed on the sound stages.
I was back there in the 70s and 80s several times. Had some friends that worked there. Was very interesting and very exciting. It is an extreme shame almost all of it is gone now... I remember allot of that stuff. The Munsters house changed appearances so many times. I saw it when it was used as a haunted house in Leave it to Beaver. You are correct on the Cleaver house. Right down the street was also Dr. Marcus Welby's house. I have pictures of Jaws on the trailers and Amityville. Pictures of truck loads of New York and LA. police cars being brought on the sets also. The Psycho house was up on a hill top at the time I was there.
+Sammy Lane I was wondering that too but I now think he mentioned his channel and how doing that would give them free exposer which will allow for more tourism as more people will go to that place to try to see all that stuff.
Sammy Lane it's called the VIP experience where you get a private for with a small group and they allow you to walk near the houses and touch them and they take you other places that the regular visitors wouldn't be able to see. A regular ticket is like $130 but the VIP is around a couple hundred dollars I believe.
The very last scene where the water comes raging down the street is where Richard Roundtree in the 1973 movie EARTHQUAKE is racing away on his motorcycle. His characters name was Miles Quade, a evil Knievel-like daredevil performer.
When I walked around that same prop house in the early 90's I came across Doc Browns thought reading gear setting next to some hover boards. I climbed the clock tower and enjoyed the Burbs street.
I worked 4 years in the security department at Universal (mid-1990s) and spent most of that time roaming that entire lot during the graveyard shift. Virtually all those sets on NY Street are relatively new (a huge fire burned much of it to the ground in 2008). I also noticed they've put up more modern-looking facades. As for the Psycho House: I was the only one who'd go up there on dark, rainy nights. Oh, such fun. As for the inside of Psycho House, it's pretty much just a shell, looking much like an empty garage. But a fun video and thanks for bringing back great memories for me!
I worked for a popular TV show from 1995 to 2001 and our offices were on the Universal lot. I would drive around the lot on my golf cart all the time, and look inside everything. I even got to walk inside sound stages to watch filming of big films. It was a great time.
MrUndeadEd what show did you work on?
Maybe Mr Ed
that's so cool.
MrUndeadEd lucky
It's awesome, huh!!! My friend worked on a popular tv show also, was bout 2 name that show but then again, might not be the smartest move, edit button hit... he would get us guest passes after hours around midnight, a couple of golf carts, backpack full of beers & other stuff, like the stuff some people might put on a pizza, haaaaa, yes, I'm serious... we ran around the back lot like a playground all night long!!! Those were some of the best nights my friends & i had, pretty hard 2 top!!! Jumping off 2nd stories on2 stunt bags in the western town, walking through the psycho house & crashed airplane, we climbed a fire escape 2 get in2 the Pirates of the Caribbean sound stage that was set to look like a thailand pirate village with caves & a lagoon, man, 2 this day those are some of my fondest memories, those Universal nights... I am eternally grateful I got 2 experience that!!!
I was a VIP tour guide at Universal from 1976 to 79-the lot was much bigger then and things were more in the original areas-Spartacus square and Europe burned down in one of the several fires that have happened since then-The showboat is gone as is the tower of London and the original 6 points Texas-The lot evolves as films are made and many sets have been placed just for the tour-Beavers house was next to Marcus Welby and colonial drive had many places including yhe HARVEY house, Munsters, Animal House etc-it was nice to hear you sound excited about visiting the lot-on the VIP tour we could take our guests off the little trolly and let them do what you did-get up close and personal and take pictures on Beavers Porch or the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew houses etc-That lot was at one time the largest in the world and taking people through it was a privilege since movie history was made there-Frankenstien, Dracula The Mummy and the Wolfman -the original Phantom of the Opera stage I think may also be gone-that had a full sized opera house set with seats and boxes that was used in many films-its sad that Universal has basically reduced their studio to an amusement park but it also serves to keep the history of Hollywood alive-glad you had fun-Warners also has a tour and some of the Hello Dolly set still exists at 20th-the tram tour isn't what it was when they opened in 1965-we had lots more to show people in those days and the tram tour took 4 1/2 hours or more.
Hey...Colonial St. use to be in a entirely different location. Universal needs to get rid of the Who Ville that no one gives a crap about and the Plan crash scene..Universal is waaaay behind the times. We were zipped around the back lot like we were a inconvenience ...Universal Tour isn't what it use to be.
Anthony Richard You are totally correct-its no longer a tour its an extension of the amusement park-they don't have room to expand like Florida here in California-its sad to me since I remember a truly historic 420 acres in 1976-79 when I was a VIP guide-now its a sad artifact and frankly embarrassing with what they present as "film sets"
original back to the future clock tower burnt down too , that one is a rebuild. why do so many things burn down there?
Yep, it used to be a lot of fun, now, they make you feel like you are a pain in their butt.
@@magiccheeseball, are you talking about in the 2008 fire? the clock tower did not burn down. that block was spared from the fire, actually.
You are the Mr. Roger's of traveling the US for adults. That's a compliment. I loved watching him as a kid when he would take us to factories where things were made. You take us to Universal Studios where movies were made and make it fun to learn stuff we may otherwise never consider or see. Thanks!
The Wisteria Lane part blew my mind. I just binge-watched Desperate Housewives and never would have made some of those connections from previous filming...
Now with all the retro style channels... I'm amazed at how often the houses were shared by different fictional families ! 😏. Adams Family, Donna Reed Show, Dennis the Menace, the Partridge Family, Bewitched, I Dream of Jeanie, Fathers Knows best, Marcus Welby, Andy Griffith, Leave it Beaver, Gidget, My three Sons, Adam 12, Dragnet, and the list goes on and on. 😓 And I love those huge painted back drop murals.
I don't know if anyone mentioned this but the houses shown from 3:00 - 3:37, is Wisteria Lane from desperate housewives.
Yes!
Yep..recognized them right away. :)
Amanda Wilber its so true
Yep!
Well gosh, why didn't he say so?
I remember going to universal in California when I was a little girl. I was obsessed with war of the worlds. I went on a tour on a bus and we drove right past that place on 5:43. It's so cool that you got to see that on foot.
Hit me up
I've seen the Hollywood backlot through your eyes and enjoyed the running monologue.
Another bucket list item, gone.Thanks Woo
A lot of those egyptian things were from Night at the museum
That movie theater looks like the one that would end up being used in Once Upon a time in Hollywood
Yeah I was thinking the same thing lol
Purple rain too
Thank you, I really enjoyed this and the way you presented it.
One time when I was there I saw Travis Barker from Blink-182 just casually walking around in the old west area haha
HELLO FROM 2022! youtube auto played this video ! Such a fun time to go back and watch a old video from Adam
Just FYI... the plane wreck is from War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise...
I wish there was a law that would shut people up that think they have to express their opinion on everything they see or hear. How about that?
IMPORTANT INFORMATION 🤦🏽♀️
@Ganda Gandara good point
"I'm just rambling incoherently" LOL Love it...
Back to the Future, my love.
Viewing this in the year of the 30th anniversary of BTTF. 👍
+kelseymorgan94 Today is October 21st 2015. The date they traveled to in the future.
Can't believe you found the famous paperclip that Sarah Conner used to escape in Terminator 2, amazing!
I enjoy all of your video's Adam the Woo !!! Thank you for posting them ❤
The spot at the end where the water rushes in. Lady gagas Judas music video was shot there. She stood in the middle and got washed away by the water.
He will later ban for life by Universal studio
Oh my God, thank you SO much for sharing this. You have thus far gone through two of my favorite places- one being the old Fairmount High School in Indiana, and the second being Mayfield Pl from The 'Burbs, my favorite movie!
0:40 that looks like the ghostbusters garage :P
I went to S. Cal to visit my cousin back in 82.Went on the Universal City tour.Back then they still had Gilligans Island. It was amazing seeing where they filmed everything.Saw The Beavers house too....
awesome, i freaking love the Burbs!
Art your house is on fire..............and your wifes home.
MY WIFE IS HOME!
Lol
My claim to fame as a guide was that my tram sank in the Red Sea around November '83. I believe the driver was Ray. All ended well--the guests all got free Olypmic outfits and signed release agreements in the tour guide breakroom, which was cleared out to accommodate the wet visitors! 😊
I believe the sarcophagus @11:45 was used in Nancy Drew, "A Haunting We Will Go", and the hollow statue @11:56, and the Bates house, were used in the Hardy Boys pilot, "The Mystery of the Haunted House".
Yes. The Bates house still had the porch extensions that were added for the mini series "Captains and the Kings" (1976)
@@kurtbarlow9402 Cool, I didn't know about that.
@@ToyotaGuy1971
I only learned about the series lately. It didn't do well. It was during this time that they also added the second window on the ground floor, (front face of the house)
I'm designing a shed as a mini replica of the house, and have had to do some intense photo research, as the studio blueprints aren't very accurate when compared to the house they actually built.
@@ToyotaGuy1971
Further research has led me to a bit of a mystery.
The house in "Captains and The Kings" had the same porch extensions as "Hardy
Boys" but had the second window, as mentioned earlier.
There's a photo of the house with the extensions, but unpainted, (no window) with the tower roof removed.
I believe that this is when the original facade was totally replaced. (second window added) in prep for the series being filmed
Mystery...
There's no second window, and unpainted in the Hardy Boys pilot (77). That would mean it was filmed BEFORE "Captains"(76), but sat on the shelf for a bit????
That would also give Hardy Boys the distinction of being the original facade's last film appearance.
@@kurtbarlow9402 That *is* a mystery. Well, could it be it was still in post production and editing during that time? Seem plausible?
Find your roots and stay with it Adam this was amazing! Minimum acceptance from the UA-cam and other social media platforms. Maximum effort and content on your part! Love you bro keep up the great work! from Kenosha! NC
I wish they hadn't torn down the Psycho house & hotel at Universal in Orlando. I know they were remakes, but it was still cool to see them.
***** They did replace it with the new Harry Potter section, which looks cool
jenisedai Not as cool as Jaws
Drac39 Agree to disagree? Inside The Magic did a series of videos giving an inside peek at the new section, and it looks pretty cool.
Thessarabian I was just at Hollywood universal studios. I loved the back lots. very interesting.
Wow. They tore down 'Pyscho' house? It was a remake?
Use to know a guy that use to say Woo, Woo, Woo. We use to call him the Wooster. 😆. Great video 📹👏👍.
1:03 home alone trapped in new york ya ya classic thats where his aunt and uncles house was where he layed the traps out
But last time I checked, 20th century fox made home alone. I don't think 20th century fox can use another Studios set for a movie? I mean it looks accurate, but still.
Tony Chavez yourusacityguide.com/ultimate-home-alone-2-filming-locations-how-to-find-all-the-new-york-film-locations a simple google would have shown i was right lol but there is the information i don’t know why they filmed on that lot but they did
Abandoned with Bizzy its not the house of Bruce Almighty?
@@olivivita lol good call im sure its also used as that too !!
Adam, please make these info type videos longer about hollywood tidbits. I could listen to you for hours, I"m totally fucking serious to0 dude. great job
Yes. That was that car that was in that film. I do believe that exactly same car was used in another film. You know that one film with that actor with that face?
You are freaking hilarious! GREAT videos. Please do not stop.
The first time I went to Universal, they had a show that was the A team (if that tells you how long ago this was). It wasn't the REAL A team but it was pretty neat if you were a little kid. The back lot was a bit different as well.
2:44 Big shopping cart had me laughing uncontrollably. I guess it was the way it was said.
im pretty sure its the one used in jackass
I worked on a film on the Universal backlot in 2002. I used to drive the golf cart allll around that lot. I went inside the Psycho house... and got a selfie with Mother... Good Timez!
The plane wreckage is from War of the Worlds. I recognized it even before you said it was from a popular Tom Cruise movie, I've seen it like a hundred times. :D
Same lol
I would love to see this someday. My love for the movies...this would be a dream.
That was the Leave it to Beaver house... They used to identify it as such 20
years ago but not now...
That metal man that had a rubber spike in the prop room was used in the movie "Tower of London" with Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Vincent Price.... Universal 1939.
3:00, that's the Colonial Street where Tom Hanks "The 'Burbs" where filmed. Awesome!
i thought the same
It’s not like he straight up says it in the video or anything...
"Hey Ray... Sleep tight"
@@josemonje780 great movie..... watch it at least once a year
@@vikkinicholson2300 Its very good and underrated
I enjoyed seeing the Universal Studios Backlot. 😄❤👍
i like his narration ! He actually says out loud what I'm thinking inside...
If you can swing the price you can do all this on the Universal VIP Experience Tour. I did it and it was worth every penny. They feed you, take you onto sets and stages for hours, and then take you to the park where they jump you to the front of every ride line.
The Burbs! It's Walter's house! :O
OMG ITS YOU!
Suck off jellish sucker.
I now want to go there too. And not stuck on tour tram but free to explore like you did. Fun video.
I watch Parenthood. I can't believe you were able to walk around the set like that unsupervised. By the way that crashed plane was super creepy.
When i did the VIP tour, a security guard was here when we visit STAGE44 (Parenthood).
57LorN Same here. It was such an amazing experience
That one you showed close up is a Boeing 747, I can tell from the nose & cockpit design plus the pilots escape hatch on the roof. I've been a fan of commercial planes since I was a kid.
1:30
"AH ah! Callahan: I know what you're thinking: "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"
[The bank robber gives up trying to retrieve his shotgun; Callahan picks it up and starts to walk away.]
Thief: "Hey! [Callahan turns around] I gots to know!"
[Callahan aims his revolver and pulls the trigger, but the gun just clicks on an empty chamber, and he grins, laughs, and walks away.]
Bank Robber: "Son of a bitch!"
Actually, that's not the Delta Tau Chi house we all know and love from the movie "Animal House" (it was located adjacent to the Univ of Oregon campus, now torn down), but it was used for the sitcom that spawned from the movie.
1:07 everybody hates Chris stairs?!
Back in 1971 on my Universal Studios Tour the Leave it to Beaver house had a sign out front that read "Marcus Welby, MD" because that house was used in that series.
man I felt sick by the end of this video...so much camera movement and out of focus stuff
GREAT WALKING AROUND THE UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD BACKLOT !!
this guy is doing my head in i had to turn down the sound on my laptop
I’m not sure about Leave It To Beaver, but it was also the house from My Three Sons
Also used in the Marcus Welby MD tv series
3:00 so glad to see Wisteria lane from Desperate Housewives ❤❤
I have one of the pickets from the front porch railing of the Psycho house. I worked on the backlot in the late 1990's, and the house was being restored. As they were just going to be thrown out anyway, I took one home with me.
I could swear the shopping trolley at 2:46 is from Jackass the Movie.. if so, very cool!
even the black eye peas and lmfao videos
That's what I thought
That entire street of houses was also used as Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives.
8:18 Red Mazda RX-7 and Yellow Toyota Supra from the opening race of 2Fast2Furious, and behind it Romans Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. Looks like Doms 69 Charger in the back, but can't be sure. Probably stunt cars.
i was tryin to get a good look at the cars but adam cut filming 10 secs too soon
That's not doms charger. That's bandits trans am
classiccarguy97 How in the hell could you spot that? Have you been there? Impressive.
behind each car was a poster of what movie it was in, so yes you were right
It was doms charger
My favorite lot to work on.
Id do anything if 40 Acres lot was still up and had all the old Andy Griffith Show sets :(
One of my favorite shows EVER!
Same :) My folks had me watching it growing up.
QueenCersei Lannister mine too!!!!!!!!!! now I watch it on my own with no regrets.. lol
Yes. I even have a Facebook tribute page with 11,000+ members haha
What's the name of the facebook page? Or please provide a link. I'd like to check it out. Thanks!
I do recognize those lots. I appreciate these tours of places not all can have access to.
at 1:00, I know I've seen that Theater once or twice in a TV Show or movie (couldn't narrow down, though)
2:01, Yep, That's Hill Valley/Kingston Falls from BTTF/Gremlins, respectively
2:43, Isn't that the Shopping Cart from the Jackass posters?
5:05 I'm Genuinely surprised that the Whoville set was erected almost smack-dab on top of the Bates Motel set
5:31 It's the War of the Worlds set, You know, from that Tom Cruise movie
8:41 now I KNOW I've seen that... If I'm not Mistaken it was used in Scream 3
11:19 I swear that gong was used in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's opening scene at the club in Shanghai
That giant shopping cart was used in "The Incredible Shrinking Women" with Lily Tomlin so she could appear to be smaller. Not sure if it's been used in other productions since then.. Here's a link to a pic. media.aintitcool.com/coolproduction/ckeditor_assets/pictures/5283/original/isw01.jpg?1327867370
Was that the giant shopping cart used in one of the Jackass movies? A bunch of the guys were piled in there, wearing superhero costumes maybe? And explosions were going off around them.
Yes that is the cart from jackass
The gong from Indy, where they hide behind it while getting shot at, was about 6-8 feet diameter and had dragons and a mountain on the face.
That gong does look familiar though.
I knew it was from Gremlins!!
Wow! Just woooow!!! It's so surreal and amazing looking at the places where all our favourite films were made 😮
You are a very lucky man. I would love to wander around the backlot. Great video by the way. Your commentary was very entertaining. How were you able to do this? Thanks for posting this.
Yeah, how did he get back there ???
+Alison Dawson buy the $300 universals ticket, we walk around there all the time
he's a 'back-lot' guy...
You don't simply to get to walk around wherever you want like Adam in this video by paying the $300 VIP ticket. Adam was obviously invited by someone from Universal to do this. Very cool nonetheless.
The V.I.P. tour takes you to ALL these spots. And you can walk around just like Adam did. The current cost is around $389. Check out the Universal Studios Hollywood website for more info.
The Cleaver house is a replica built for a Beaver TV Reunion movie. The original is still located in it's original spot (or at least it was still there a few years back). Most of these houses were moved to their current locations in the 1980s.
FYI - that is NOT the original Psycho House. The house you see now is scaled down model that purportedly was built for the Bud Court Bates Motel series. It's been moved a few times. When I worked on the lower Lot, my wife, who worked on the upper Lot told me that the fake Bates House was a "make-out & more" spot for merchandise employees who were on break from their night-time shifts in the Merch Warehouse which is very close by. 9/10ths of what they tell you on the Tram tour is utter BS. The Backlot has had numerous serious fires and so very little of what you saw in 2014 is "original" anything. Still, you do get to see how often things get turned over and re-used for surprisingly different projects and themes. Get an actual employee or long-time director to take you around on a golfcart or watch the underground short "It's UCS for me!" (sound it out) It was made with the collusion of many big star actors & directors during the Seagrams Era, which was an hysterically funny time to be on the backlot.
yeah, the fires were a real bummer. taking away the real sets. i remember going thru courthouse square when they were filming back to the future II. wish i had a camera then. i still prefer the old kong to the new one. lol
Yes, Daverat, you're probably the only one commenting on these Universal backlot videos that knows the score about how many buildings and sets there have been moved, rebuilt, or even destroyed. One example would be the original vast soundstage from the 1925 classic Phantom of the Opera, demolished in 2014. Hitchcock shot the interiors of the Psycho house there, with the extreme high angle shot above the staircase looking down. In 1990 a disgruntled, disturbed security guard there torched some of the most legendary buildings and sets, including the street of houses and buildings from To Kill a Mockingbird. I first went to Universal Studios with my family in the late 60's when I was about 13, wanting to see where Psycho was filmed. I do remember that even though it was the original Psycho house, it was too far to get a good look at it from the tram. In '87 I took my own "private tour" there with my girlfriend, just as filmmaker Steven Spielberg did when he was about 16. We deliberately took the final tram tour of the day, patiently loitering there till we could sneak past security, then we hiked down a steep hill and across fields till we could see the Bates Motel in the distance and then the Psycho house on the hill next to it, at sunset. It was thrilling to explore around the motel and then go up the hill to that house and even open the front door (with caution). This was so much better than any patronizing, pricey "VIP" Tour I've seen on any of these YT videos. Of course I now know that the original Psycho house was moved from near the original Singapore Lake location in 1980. But at least the second location wasn't compromised like it is now in it's third location, with the Grinch movie set surrounding and even dwarfing the "Bates Motel" set while the tour tram continues on a street, right past the front porch of the latest "Psycho house" model. To further compromise this classic Hitchcock set, Steven Spielberg's massive set of plane wreckage and destroyed cars and houses from The War of the World's remake is directly next door! In retrospect, our biggest regret on that furtive private tour was that we didn't continue on to the street built especially to represent the town of Maycomb where To Kill a Mockingbird was filmed around 1961, not long after Harper Lee's book won The Nobel Prize for Fiction. To walk down that street and view the Boo Radley house, the tree where Boo put the gifts for Jem and Scout, the Finch house of Atticus, Jem and Scout, and other houses and buildings from that legendary film, 3 years before it was to be destroyed by that security guard sociopath.
Daverat
I think Mel Brooks missed out on a sight gag. I woukd have loved to see a knife wielding psycho run out of the Bates house, only to be forced to stop to let a tramload of tourists go by on the access drive at the circumference of the plateau before continuing his pursuit of his prey down the steps.
Thanks for your back lot History lesson/
the leave it to Beaver House was also used as the "Marcus Welby MD" outside house shot
You should do the lost boys filming location
YES!! Omg! I hope he does!
Great visit - we went last year and had a fun time. Thanks a bunch!
The studio tour is the best part of Universal Studios. It's really awesome you got to walk around. I've always wanted to do that. I'm glad you gave the older history of the sets too. Unless you get a really awesome guide on your tram, they only talk about what the sets were most recently used for and the tour guide lets the tv's do all the work and I hate it. I like the tour guides who know their stuff and give you an enriching experience. The tours were better before they made videos for the trams.
Elfie, I couldn't agree more. The Backlot Tour is not what it used to be. I've probably been on that attraction about a dozen times, since the early 80s. The last time I was there, our tour guide admitted that he was an actor and that the tour guide gig was a side job to pay the bills. He didn't say it in a "this job sucks" sort of way, but after hearing that it made sense why he wasn't into it for the sake of being a movie buff. I'd much rather have an average Joe off the street as a tour guide, if he's a huge movie buff or better yet, a film historian, than someone who just knows how to perform for an audience.
I first went on their tour in the late 60's. then it was Universal, no theme park then
1:19 New York Street
2:00 Courthouse Square W/clock tower which has been used for storage for many years. It burn down years ago & a lot of stuff was lost but they rebuilt it. There's a family of skunks that lives somewhere in or under the courthouse. I gave them names years ago (when we were shooting "Bruce Almighty") but forgot their names - they're probably all dead by now anyway.
2:48 Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and that looks like "Falls Lake" behind it (near the intersection of "Jimmy Hendrix drive" and Steven Spielburg drive".
2:57 I think they still call that are Whisteria Lane, that's where they shot "The Burbs", "The Munsters"; "Desparate Housewives".
3:49 Mexican Street
3:51 Colonial Street
3:59 Actually the sharks name is "Bruce" (named after Spielburgs lawyer).
4:48 - Those planks actually come out pretty easy - you just yank the sucker down and you can go inside but I wouldn't advise it; not much to see from the inside that you can't see from the outside and that staircase was built around 1960. Don't know if I'd want to test it (even though I ran all the way up those stairs in one of my own videos to get face to face with "mother").
Looks like they've moved stuff around quite a bit since the last time I was there - the "War of the Worlds" set used to be right behind the Psycho house (between Psycho and the old Jurassic Park set). That plane btw is actually a real plane that they tore apart for the movie.
6:57 Sparticus Square (right behind Colonial Street where they shot parts of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and parts of "Fast and Furious 2".
7:20 Mexican Street again & you might notice that a lot of those doors are really small & narrow - that was to make the stars look bigger than they really are. Other doors are wider (to make the female leads look smaller).
7:30 That bridge was used in an episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man" it's rigged to collapse when you drive across it but I don't know if it still works. They used to have the tram drive across it; the road drops a foot or two; those planks begin to fall - it's actually a little bit scary when you're on it and the damn things "falling apart" but it's designed to do that.
The camp voice affectations grated on me and spoiled an otherwise interesting video.
Amen. So obnoxious.
yucking it up. yuck
Our thoughts exactly. Fortunately, nearly six years later and Mr.A.T.Woo has lost that annoying and distracting camp voice and now provides narration using his "normal" albeit occasionally lisp voice caused by a hunk of metal imbedded in his tongue.
Ya. No matter how interested I am in his subject, I had to mute him halfway through to finish watching the video
Geez...... the goofy antics.... couldn’t finish something I was really interested in watching.
This lot was also known (1957-66) as Revue Studios...the home of SO many great TV shows. Universal Pictures TV bought the studios in 1967, combining it with amusement-ride attractions into the first Universal theme park.
Really enjoyed this video Adam. I took the tour in '97 and loved it. Been wanting to go back. When I was there King Kong was still running and they had the Backdraft experience as well as the Back to the Future ride. They had to shut the ride down because some Japanese tourists were video taping it They asked them to leave so the rest of us could experience the ride. Of course I didn't get to see as much of the back lot that you did but it sure did bring back some lovely memories. Thanks!
Nora Dennis Go back the next chance you get Nora! Life is short, go have some fun this summer :)
I intend to take my niece and nephew who live in Bakersfield the next time I go. :)
I am new to your videos (years late sorry), but I do enjoy your commentary and the interesting places you visit. Thanks for sharing this video...….how cool you lucky lucky lucky lucky luck boy!
neat stuff seeing the Bewitched House, Beavers House aka Marcus Welby's house...all the same...and 13 13 Mockingbird lane....Cool!
GasserGlass I didn't see the Bewitched house.
Bewitched house is in W.Bros studio www.google.com.au/maps/place/Warner+Bros.+Ranch+Blondie+Street/@34.1578367,-118.3438781,94m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c2bfd24667e095:0xcae895c05394a0e4!8m2!3d34.157658!4d-118.3436421
Amazing...still looks like Wisteria Lane....oh, and that blue house was NEVER in Animal House-it was in Delta House, the spinoff TV show
Never realized Bree Van de Kamp's home on Wisteria Lane was the Leave it to Beaver house!
At 6:33 Sits the Chevy Monte Carlo from The Fast & The Furious Tokyo Drift.
A lot of fun there the great blog the backlot thank you Adam the woo p
6:30 I think that was from Spiel Bergs war of the worlds
Just astounding !
12:18 now we know why California has a water shortage :P
that water is actually recycled and used again
+Sergio Gonzalez ive been on the tour and remember the tour guide telling us the same thing. Thewater is recycled and reused
LOL
haha yep
The house in between the Animal House and the Munster house, was the house used as the Simmons place, in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.
Omg he's on wisteria Lane😲😲😲🍎♥️
This is phenomenal. Why does this not have more views! Adam has the ultimate backstage pass...how did he get in there!?
This question probably has a simple answer, but is there anything inside those homes or is it just wires, lumber, etc?
On the lots they are only sets and the wires you see are for the film crews. Even when on location, like when they are filming in a real house, the lighting and everything is controlled by the crew.
So if I could go inside, it would be just a bunch of wires? A huge empty space?
Chase Petit Yes, the rooms would look real as you walk on the set, but if you look up there would be no ceiling or anything. No real walls and everything is easy to move around. These are all set up in warehouse type areas. Behind the "walls" of each set is warehouse space and where the film crew sets up and works. It's really pretty interesting because as you watch on tv or in a movie it all looks so real.
I've been on the Universal Backlot. Most of the buildings are just facades. They have exterior walls, but no innards. The interior shots are filmed on the sound stages.
I got to do the vip backlot tour a couple years ago, probably my favorite park experience of all time.I need to go back soon, Awesome video!
The Shopping cart from "Jackass The Movie" :D!!
I was back there in the 70s and 80s several times. Had some friends that worked there. Was very interesting and very exciting. It is an extreme shame almost all of it is gone now... I remember allot of that stuff. The Munsters house changed appearances so many times. I saw it when it was used as a haunted house in Leave it to Beaver. You are correct on the Cleaver house. Right down the street was also Dr. Marcus Welby's house. I have pictures of Jaws on the trailers and Amityville. Pictures of truck loads of New York and LA. police cars being brought on the sets also. The Psycho house was up on a hill top at the time I was there.
Those dead passengers must have left their duffel bag
The Back to the Future set was first used in the original Twilight Zone episode "Where is Everybody?" in October of 1959.
Alright..just how in the fucking hell did you manage to get in the Props Department area of Universal Studios??That is pretty sweet!
+Sammy Lane I was wondering that too but I now think he mentioned his channel and how doing that would give them free exposer which will allow for more tourism as more people will go to that place to try to see all that stuff.
Sammy Lane it's called the VIP experience where you get a private for with a small group and they allow you to walk near the houses and touch them and they take you other places that the regular visitors wouldn't be able to see. A regular ticket is like $130 but the VIP is around a couple hundred dollars I believe.
The very last scene where the water comes raging down the street is where Richard Roundtree in the 1973 movie EARTHQUAKE is racing away on his motorcycle. His characters name was Miles Quade, a evil Knievel-like daredevil performer.
I'm sure the buildings in 1:01 to 1:06 are from one of the home alone movies.
My favorite Woo video to date !
some of the houses showed was used in an episode of twd. haha
Witch
ones??
When I walked around that same prop house in the early 90's I came across Doc Browns thought reading gear setting next to some hover boards. I climbed the clock tower and enjoyed the Burbs street.