Originally Posted By Dabob2 I remember the prop plaza very well. I also remember being told by the guides (and this happened on more than one tour, so I tend to believe it) that the giant props were neither from The Incredible Shrinking Man, nor the Incredible Shrinking Woman (which wasn't even made yet), but from the then-recent TV series Land of the Giants.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>I also remember being told by the guides...<< Ah, the oh-so-knowledgeable Universal Tour Guides! They will say whatever the day's script calls for, I guess. So Incredible Shrinking Man props become Land of the Giants props, which then become Incredible Shrinking Woman props. 'Cause it's not about giving the public a good show that is entertaining even though accurate-- it's all about synergy and promotion. Sad that Universal does that...
Originally Posted By Dabob2 How are you sure they were ISM props and not LOTG props? Perhaps they were in fact LOTG - or both? I remember not only the giant phone, but giant scissors and other household items like a camera... even a gun. And a giant hand. LOTG needed giant props just about every week. In fact, here's a quick link to the Irwin Allen News Network - ol' Irwin (or descendants) is claiming that phone for LOTG. <a href="http://www.iann.net/Giants/behindscenes/props/giant_telephone/giantphone_007.htm" target="_blank">http://www.iann.net/Giants/beh..._007.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Here's another that claims it for LOTG AND ISW... presumably it could have been temporarily removed and reused for ISW rather than them building another - in which case claiming it for ISW would be correct also. <a href="http://www.iann.net/giants/behindscenes/props/giant_telephone/giantphone_009.htm" target="_blank">http://www.iann.net/giants/beh..._009.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 And here's a link that claims the giant camera for LOTG - and even gives an episode name ("Framed.") <a href="http://www.iann.net/giants/behindscenes/props/giant_camera/giantcamera_003.htm" target="_blank">http://www.iann.net/giants/beh..._003.htm</a>
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Here's a different Irwin Allen site that also claims the camera for LOTG episode "Framed." <a href="http://www.irwinallengallery.com/giants/props/camera/giantcamera_004.jpg.php" target="_blank">http://www.irwinallengallery.c....jpg.php</a> And here's the giant gun, complete with an actor from... wait for it... Land of the Giants. <a href="http://www.irwinallengallery.com/giants/props/gun/giantgun_002.jpg.php" target="_blank">http://www.irwinallengallery.c....jpg.php</a> Still so sure the guides were giving faulty info?
Originally Posted By leobloom I find it less likely that the props from a 1957 B-movie ("Shrinking Man") would've held up for several decades. Seems more likely that the late-1960s TV show could have introduced the props, and possibly even been constructed with the idea that they'd be displayed in Prop Plaza. Does anyone know when tours started including the Prop Plaza area? How about that swarmy tone, Doug?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox I remember Prop Plaza as part of the tram tour before LotG was on the air, at least by a year or two, maybe more. So those oversized household items like the telephone were originally used for Incredible Shrinking Man.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 It's quite possible. But if they were subsequently used for LOTG, it wouldn't have been "inaccurate" to say they were LOTG props. We know from the Irwin Allen sites they were definitely used for LOTG - they may or may not have been in ISM. BTW the tram tour opened in 1964, and LOTG went on air in 1968. I couldn't find when prop plaza opened, but I know it wasn't 1964, right at the beginning. So it wasn't that long after the tour opened in general that LOTG went on the air.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Ahem. Obviously, there were props from Land of the Giants, as there are items that don't appear in Incredible Shrinking Man. Conversely, virtually none of these items appear in Incredible Shrinking Woman. The LotG props could very well have included items from ISM. And since ISM wasn't available on home video at the time (think about it), there was no reason to hype the movie. The TV series, yes. And later, ISW. The Uni Tour Guides that I have heard over the years (and I LOVE the tram tour) have been a very mixed bag. Some were so clueless that if it wasn't for the script, they would have nothing to say about anything. A very few over the years seemed to have a genuine knowledge about the backlot and studio history. All I had intended to comment on was the way that synergy and hype have always been given precedence at the Tram Tour. That's all.
Originally Posted By juicer Was the Prop Plaza the area where we walked through Lucille Ball's dressing room?
Originally Posted By brotherdave Not sure if this helps with any referencing or not, but my family visited USH in August 1969, and the giant props were already on display then as we have home movies of them from that trip. Land of the Giants was currently in production and on the air for its second season then, which makes me suspicious that they weren't used in Land of the Giants. My guess is that these were originally from the Incredible Shrinking Man, as DlandDug had thought, though it's possible that they may have also been used in Land of the Giants, especially for earlier episodes. Also LOTG was a 20th Century Fox production, not Universal. Not sure if they filmed the show or segments of the show at USH or not, though it could have been. I suppose that they could have also rented the props to Fox for the show on an "as needed" basis. My guess is that the props were originally created for ISM.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Ahem. Obviously, there were props from Land of the Giants, as there are items that don't appear in Incredible Shrinking Man. Conversely, virtually none of these items appear in Incredible Shrinking Woman. The LotG props could very well have included items from ISM. And since ISM wasn't available on home video at the time (think about it), there was no reason to hype the movie. The TV series, yes. And later, ISW.> Ahem ahem. If the Irwin Allen site is correct, the giant phone, at least, was later reused for ISW. I was skeptical about that claim myself, knowing that I saw it years before ISW came out, but if they did in fact reuse that prop for ISW, then it would be perfectly correct for a guide to call it a prop for ISW. The uni tour used to show you all kinds of things (particularly exteriors) that were used on movies and identified them as such long before home video came out and there was no reason to hype some long-ago (even then) Lana Turner movie. I remember as a small kid hearing something identified as being from some movie I'd never seen and my parents nodding in recognition while I scratched my head. If anything, movies were still seen as "more glamorous," and they'd identify some house as being from a Lana Turner movie in the 40's even though you know (if you think about it now) that it must have been used in some then-current TV series at some point. An exterior created FOR TV, like the Munsters - yeah, they ID'd that as the Munsters house. But a house used in a Lana Turner movie, and then later on Mannix - always ID's as from the movie, at least in the late 60's. A very possible scenario (as I said in #29) is that a couple of those props were made for ISM (though I've yet to see any reference showing this), re-used for LOTG along with other of the props made for LOTG, and then at least the big phone reused still later for ISW. But come on, Dug, #22 clearly implies that you felt the guides (or the script they were given) were somehow remiss in describing them as LOTG props.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I was at Uni in the early to mid 70s...maybe 75 or 76...and the prop plaza was still there. I vividly remember "lifting" the van ala the Bionic Man. I think there was a stage coach with a moving "background" that made it look like we were moving while standing still. I also remember climging up onto a massive chair...and of course seeing the telephone.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper We have two massive expansions coming and people are talking about props. SMH
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper No...some people like to talk about the things the thread is about.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Oh, I forgot. Threads NEVER morph into talking about other things. Hell, at least this thing is related (i.e. something at Uni Hollywood). Compared to many threads, that's coherent as the day is long!
