Justin's Japan: A Trip to Universal Studios Hollywood
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02) for Shukan NY Seikatsu. Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005.For more of his articles, click here.
Whilevisiting Universal Studios Japan in Osaka during its inaugural year in 2001, Iwas struck by the global appeal that the movies have on us all. A recent tripto Universal Studios Hollywood (USH) stirred the same feelings, but I was alsoreminded of the relationship between Japan and some of the world’s biggestentertainment franchises.
The park’s newest attraction is JurassicWorld: The Ride, which opened earlier this summer and stars Chris Pratt andmany of the dinosaurs from the previous two films. This USHexclusive is an update of the original “Jurassic Park” ride and 1993 film,which was so popular at the time of its release that “Weird Al” Yankovicrecorded a Japanese version of his parody song that same year.
Then there’sthe Transformers. First launched by toymakers Hasbro and Takara with ToeiAnimation producing the original 1984 animated series, the iconic OptimusPrime, Megatron and Bumblebee were reimagined for a new generation in theMichael Bay-directed live-action films, culminating in Transformers: The Ride 3D,a dynamic, motion-based indoor battle to save the world from the Decepticonswith special effects by Industrial Light & Magic, putting you on the frontline of the action.
Finally, there’s the world-famous Studio Tour, servingas the park’s namesake since 1964. Offering an instant course in 100 years offilm history, this ride-within-a-ride’s centerpiece is King Kong 360 3D, asignature attraction created under the direction of Peter Jackson and WetaDigital that combinesthrilling visceral effects with cutting edge rotational projection, climaxingwith a titanic battle between a 25’ tall Kong and a 35’ tall voracious dinosaur(not Godzilla, but that movie drops next year).
For more information, visit www.universalstudioshollywood.com.
Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment since 2005. For more of his stories, visit http://jetaany.org/magazine.
