Home

[dagobert]

I just foud this great picture of the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank on LA Times:


Photo by Brian Vander Brug, Los Angeles Times / June 7, 2011

You can clearly see the Michael D. Eisner Building (aka Team Disney Building Burbank, which houses the administration), the Frank Wells Building which houses the Archives, the Roy E. Disney Feature Animation Building, the ABC Headquarters and the Water Tower. The other buildings are soundstages.

Does Disney offer Studio tours? I know that they offer D23 tours, but I couldn't find any other informations.

Here is some additional info: http://studioservices.go.com/disneystudios/

[davewasbaloo]

I have been there a couple of times over the years thanks to contacts, but as far as I am aware, they do not offer tours (except the Adventures By Disney Tour with will also take you Flowers Street in Glendale where imagineering operate).

But this is what I mean when I defend WDSP and even DHS. Look at it, it is a Studio with no big lakes or greenery. WDSP is prettier in many ways (except the Team Disney buildiny, and maybe Animation).

[dagobert]

Thanks for the info, Dave.

I get what you mean, but the themeparks are no real working studios and so I think there should be more greenery and lakes just to open up the spaces. Disney should try to combine edutainment and entertainment to show people how a movie-, TV- and maybe a radio studio works, but also incorporate the Universal way with "Riding the Movies". That's what I would prefere. WDSP, DHS, Universal Orlando and other movie studios themed parks will never be like Universal Studios Hollywood where you can see real soundstages.

Isn't the white building on the far right the hospital where Walt Disney died?

[davewasbaloo]

I believe it is. And the big boxy sound stage towards the top of the studios is the Mary Poppins sound stage...of course it is where Mary Poppins was filmed, but also a lot of the other large feature films too.

[davewasbaloo]

One of the cool things at Universal Studios Hollywood (which is my fav of these types of attractions, though many are sadly disappointed expecting to go to a theme park, which it isn't really) is you can see the Warner Bros. Studios and Walt Disney Studios quite clearly.

[dagobert]

I can't wait to see the Universal Studios Hollywood since it is a real studio. Isn't that park getting the highly awaited new Transformers ride or is it Florida?

Do you know if Warner Bros. offers a studio tour? Many of their sitcoms and shows are still shot in front of a live audience and so it would be cool to see it.

[davewasbaloo]

USH is indeed getting the Transformers ride as well as US Singapore. there are rumours for Florida, but nothing confirmed yet.

WB does indeed do a tour, we haven't done it though - no kids allowed. The one time as an adult we were there without kids, we did not have enough time. As for television show tapings, USH has a booth where you can get tickets to all the studios in the area where they have live shows taped.

Sadly I do not like USH as much as I used to, there used to be many more shows (Conan, the Wild Wild WIld West Stunt Show, the A Team Stunt show were all very cool) and real learning experiences, now they are trying to become more of a theme park with transformers, Mummy Coaster, Jurrasic Park etc. But Waterworld and the Animal Actors Stage are still excellent! And the tram tour there is the main event. You may see real footage, but if not there are still the Psycho House, Wisteria Lane, the place where all the old Monster Movies were made, the Back to the Future/Gremlins Court House (rebuilt after a fire), Jaws, Earthquake, Flashflood, avalanche, falling bridge, King Kong etc. It is very cool.

[dagobert]

Again thanks a lot for the informations.

I'm a fan of the A-Team TV series and it would have been cool to see that show. In one episode the team is doing a tram tour through the studios. It would really be great to see a shooting of a sitcom. A friend of mine did that a few years ago. Although it took four hours for a twenty minutes episode, he enjoyed that a lot. Unfortunately many studios choose not to shoot in fron of an live audience anymore.

It's really sad that Disney doesn't offer a tour while the other studios do. Then we have to see Universal and Warner Bros. and if there is some time left I want to see the Sony Plaza and the Paramount Pictures entrance.

[dagobert]

After looking at the picture again, the Studios look rather small compared to Universal or Warner Bros. next door. The whole place looks more like a big administration complex for a world's leading entertainment company. Where is Disney producing all the ABC series and Disney movies? I know a lot is done at facilities at other studios like Universal and at the Disney owned Golden Oak Ranch.

[davewasbaloo]

You got it, except for animation and one or two soundstages, this is where the accountants, marketing people, execs, editors etc. work. It is a very small lot, and Golden Oak is hardly used any more (though to be fair, USH backlot is not used as much as it once was). It is easier and cheaper often to film on location these days, or rent studio space in Mexico or Canada. Other studios like WB use big airhangers in my village (they are filming Dark Night Rising right now about 1/2 km away from my house), in London (where Harry Potter was filmed) and in Australia (the most famous being the Matrix trilogy).

This is why other than visiting the studios, I do not advise people to seek out Hollywood. The hollywood of their imagination hasn't existed for probably 50 years now. Most US tv shows with an audience are made in New York, a films on location. Not all, but I think it was interesting that you could tell the A Team, Knigh Rider, and Streethawk were all filmed on the same strip of road on the backlot, people were noticing.

When it comes to CGI work in films (which is a lot these days), most of that is done in San Jose and the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California these days (as is Skywalker Sound, who do a lot of the sound editing and effects for films).

[dagobert]

Isn't a Warner Bros. Harry Potter Film Tour coming to London, or near London? I read something about that a few weeks agon in a newspaper?

I know a lot is filmed outside the US today. That's why the Pinewood Studios (James Bond) in England are so successful. I think even some scenes from POTC 4 were filmed there.

At least some sitcoms, like Two and a Half Men or TBBT, are still shot at the Warner Bros Studio Lot.

[davewasbaloo]

Yes, there is an attraction coming to London soon.

WB still tapes sitcoms on sight, as did Paramount (not sure these days). USH is used the most and they rent out their facilities to other studios. I have a dear friend who has been a soundstage scheduler for a number of studios, and some the tails are very interesting. But USH does the most business in California.

[dagobert]

I found a site in the internet where you can get tickets for the shooting of sitcoms, most of them are filmed at WB. I also found the official WB Studio tour website, but it doesn't say anything about seeing a shooting.

Do you know if you can see these soundstages where they film TV series when you do the USH Studio Tour? It would be great to see the set of a famous series.

[davewasbaloo]

No, you go past the sound stages, but never in the in USH (they used to when I was a kid), but you do get to see what is happening on the backlot.

[dagobert]

Thanks for the infos, Dave!! It seems we have to do the WB tour in addition to USH.

Does Disney have a store on the lot that can be visited?