I Can’t Be the Only Disney Adult Who Thinks About This Wild Conspiracy Theory in the Middle of the Night

The theme park rivalry between Disney and Universal truly does have it all. Cutting-edge attractions, some of the world’s most famous intellectual properties, gorgeously themed lands… and corporate espionage?

Over my 30+ years as a theme park fan, I’ve been fascinated by unbuilt attractions, lands that might have been, and hotels that never saw the light of day. However, there’s arguably no theme park urban legend (conspiracy theory?) that piques my interest more than the story of Michael Eisner and the Paramount meeting.

So, let’s start at the beginning… literally close to the beginning of Hollywood. In 1915, Carl Laemmle — the founder of the then-new Universal Studios — began offering tours of his sprawling silent film studio lot. For a nickel, tourists could watch films being produced from bleachers and enjoy an included boxed lunch with chicken. The tour was offered for about 15 years before being discontinued in 1930, as the advent of sound films made filming in front of crowds untenable.

Fast forward to 1964, after Southern California (thanks in no small part to the 1955 opening of Disneyland), Universal reintroduced the tour, this time featuring guests being driven around the lot in ostentatious vehicles known as Glamour Trams. The tour was an immediate hit, and over the next decade and a half, it became a must-see tourist attraction and set the wheels in motion for Universal’s lot to become the home of the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.

By the early 1980s, Universal’s tour had expanded to include Disney-level themed elements, including an encounter with Jaws. In fact, Universal was so confident in its theme park abilities that the company began conceptual planning to build a park in the quickly-expanding theme park Mecca of Orlando, Florida.

Thinking they would need another studio to partner with, Universal presented these plans in full, complete with sketches and park layouts, to Paramount Pictures. Allegedly present at this meeting? Then-Paramount executive Michael Eisner.

Yes, that Michael Eisner.

Suffice to say, when Michael Eisner arrived at Disney as the company’s new CEO several years later, he immediately green-lit the theme park that would become Disney’s MGM Studios. Allegedly, the initial plans for MGM (now Hollywood Studios) were so similar to Universal’s plans — including a tram tour — that the company was convinced Eisner had “ripped them off.”

Initially, Universal was unsure whether to proceed with its plans for Florida until film director Steven Spielberg urged them to move forward. Spielberg had been inspired by the large King Kong animatronic, designed by Disney legend Bob Gurr, which was added to the Hollywood Tram Tour around that period. In addition, Spielberg pushed the company to develop a ride based on Back to the Future (which he had produced) that could rival Star Tours, which was based on the space opera films created by Spielberg’s friend and sometimes collaborator George Lucas.

Throughout the late 1980s, both Disney and Universal built their Studios parks in Orlando, with the former’s MGM Studios opening in 1989 while the latter’s park opened in 1990. In the nearly 40 years since, both parks — Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios Florida — have become two of the most visited parks in the world, home to groundbreaking attractions that have become iconic for each company.

All of which was because Michael Eisner took Universal’s plans in his mind from Paramount to Disney… allegedly. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on unique moments in Disney history.

The 5 Abandoned Disney Decade Projects I WISH Had Been Built

 

Do you believe this conspiracy theory? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments (1)