Back to the Future DeLorean | Universal Studios Hollywood

On a 2004 vacation to California, the entire trip was filled with visits to theme parks like Disneyland, Six Flags, Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios Hollywood. At Universal Studios Hollywood one of the highlights was seeing the DeLorean on display in front of the Back to the Future ride - an attraction that has since been replaced by the Simpsons.  

California Edits (Again)

Five years ago this summer I found myself in California enjoying the beach, Disneyland, and countless other attractions. Now here I am on the cusp of returning in just over a week, and the trip is going to have an entirely different flavor. No doubt, it's going to be a lot of fun and a great adventure.

With my thoughts focused on my Indio, California road trip, I decided to review the edits from my 2004 California post. With several of them being uploaded in sub-par quality back in 2007, and the resolution far worse than what's now available on YouTube, I decided to re-upload 3 of my original travel edits. The updated clips have been rendered to a higher quality with some filters to clean them up. They're still old digital files so there's only so much I can do, but they do look better than how they were.

The 3 clips include Newport Beach, Day at Disneyland, and Disney's California Adventure. The edits themselves are exactly the same, and they do bring back a lot of memories watching them again. They're energetic, well timed, and thorough edits of each location if I do say so myself.  I can't wait to get back!

Disneyland Ticket

Date:

May 2004

Associated Posts:

• California Edits Entry
• California Video Playlist

Story:

For a small ticket that sat in my pocket for most of the trip, it's nice to have something tangible to remember the experience. The Tower of Terror had just opened in Disney's California Adventure Park, which is why it was featured on our tickets along with billboards, commercials, and print ads. Just a little token from the Happiest Place on Earth.

California Edits (2004)

In May 2004, at the end of my second year in university, I left on vacation with my friend Andrea and her family on a 10 day trip to Los Angeles. It was a true tourist affair with visits to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, Newport Beach, and Hollywood & Highland. For a poor film student at the time it was a trip beyond my means, but one that played to my every interest.

I'm always fascinated how a few days of a good vacation, in retrospect, can still seem so fresh and relevant. Being in Hollywood felt surreal. My last memories of the location were from elementary school when I travelled there with my own family. Those distant memories were triggered in 2004, and the new experiences being captured came at the height of my film student optimism. LA and Hollywood seemed as stereotypical as I had hoped they would be. Although my own realistic plan wasn't to run off to southern California, I was incredibly keen to get swept up in the possibility.

The theme parks, the coasters, the busy sidewalks, the glaring sun and the cool ocean were all captured on my little Sony D8. Just watching the videos over again triggers clear visions of what it was like, what I was thinking and the little side stories that still find there way into random conversations. I even held onto my Disneyland ticket as a reminder of the experience. At 20 years old, I can clearly say that it was the last of my family vacations; Just along for the ride, not worried about making plans or a schedule, generally just looked after - and it wasn't even my family.

All the footage I shot has now been cut down into little clips over the last few years so that I could share them on my blog. There are a few postcards, some new revisions, and specific cuts for several Disneyland attractions. I shot a lot and I tried to make the most of it.

Five years ago this month and it seems like another world. I know I'll be back there again, but until that happens I'm happy I have the edits. Quite simply, for a college kid dreaming about making movies, this trip sure hit the spot.

Scroll through the playlist to watch the clips.

Videos in the Playlist: Hollywood & Highland, Newport Beach, Day at Disneyland, Splash Mountain, Mark Twain Riverboat, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, Disney's California Adventure, Disney's Electrical Parade, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Backlot, and Flying Montage

The Complete California Playlist

Jungle Cruise at Disneyland

Sure it'd be nice to pretend that I took a weekend excursion to the jungles of Africa and Asia, but it's doubtful that story would hold up once you saw the animatronic elephants, tigers and hippos. Oh well, I guess that's why there's Disneyland.  Here is the brief edit of the jungle cruise from our 2004 trip.

Universal Studios Hollywood Fire

You've likely heard about it by now, but if you haven't, there was a significant fire at Universal Studios Hollywood on Sunday June 1, 2008. It reportedly destroyed 3 city blocks of the backlot, including portions of the famous courthouse location from Back to the Future and the famous animatronic King Kong exhibit. There are several conflicting reports about the courthouse, but it now seems that it was the square in front of it that was destroyed, and the courthouse building itself was only partially damaged but is still standing. The Universal park website shows the extent of the backlot effected (see the map). On top of this, somewhere between forty to fifty thousand film reels were burnt in one of the studios' vaults.

No doubt all this damage has taken it's toll on the theme park, but Universal Studios is still remaining open with some obvious revisions to the tram tour.

I guess what strikes me most about all this is that these portions that were destroyed were some of the quintessential Universal landmarks. They've been the scenes used to advertise the park for years and now they're in shambles. The news footage looks just like the blockbusters you'd expect to be shot there. It's quite sad.

Here is my video of Universal Studios that I shot in 2004. It includes the New York portions of the backlot, the Back to the Future scene and the animatronic King Kong which are now either seriously damaged or completely gone.

For more news on the Universal fire click here.

Disneyland Edits 2004

I thought it might not be a bad idea to revisit some old footage and edit together shorter scenes of different attractions at Disneyland that I shot in 2004. I'm always looking for little editing exercises for myself, and there was a lot of footage to work with here. Previously, I just made a Disneyland postcard with a brief overview of everything. As my quest to get viewership continues, it seems that things like this get attention.  In the end, they were just fun to put together.

Best of the Postcards

A small sampling of the postcard edits I did over the last year, featuring Las Vegas 2005, Disneyland 2004, and Niagara Falls 2000.

Tinseltown

It's a somewhat euphoric experience being in the capital of the entertainment industry. Here's an edit I made on Hollywood Boulevard in 2004.

California Adventure Postcard

This is my recent edit of the Disney's California from footage I shot in 2004.

Newport Beach Edit 2004

Here's a new edit. I'm starting to run out of old vacation footage, but to say the least, all these little clips I've been putting together have been great editing exercises. I made this video from the footage I shot on an afternoon at Newport Beach in Orange County (on vacation with a friend and her family in 2004). As summer starts to fade away, the thought of going to the beach and escaping another Saskatchewan winter is sounding better and better. I guess the video will have to do for now. 

Universal Studios Hollywood: Video Postcard

I ended up editing a new video postcard and thought it would be nice to share it before school starts.  This is old footage of Universal Studios Hollywood (originally shot in 2004) but the edit is new. Check out 'My Travel Edits' tag to see more of my video postcards, or check my YouTube channel. Anyway, here's one more send up to the end of summer. I'll pretend that heading back to film classes will be just as exciting as this.