July 2, 2025 • 30 mins
At Universal, theme parks transport fans into iconic stories and immersive worlds they once only imagined, and in doing so ignite the thrill of being fully alive. In this episode of Seen on the Screen, Jacqueline Coley sits down with Brian Robinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer at Universal Creative, to talk about the making of Universal Epic Universe.
Recorded on-site at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Property, Brian shares his journey from a movie-loving kid in Shreveport, Louisiana to leading the team that envisions, designs, and innovates the iconic attractions, lands and worlds that define Universal Theme Parks globally. He opens up about the emotional power of vulnerability, storytelling, the influence of The Birdcage and Steel Magnolias and explains how his creative process begins with words on a page and ends with a fully immersive experience where you can fly with dragons or lose yourself in a monster's lair. Every detail—from the sound design to hand-carved statues—is crafted to emotionally transform you and pull you deeper into the story. Along the way, he reflects on fatherhood, creative cultures, the unbridled power of optimism, and the audacity of creativity.
From Isle of Berk to Darkmoor, Brian reveals how it all comes together, why creative collaboration is key, and how stories—whether told on screen or designed into the fabric of a land—can connect generations, spark imagination, and leave a lasting emotional impact.
Recorded on-site at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Property, Brian shares his journey from a movie-loving kid in Shreveport, Louisiana to leading the team that envisions, designs, and innovates the iconic attractions, lands and worlds that define Universal Theme Parks globally. He opens up about the emotional power of vulnerability, storytelling, the influence of The Birdcage and Steel Magnolias and explains how his creative process begins with words on a page and ends with a fully immersive experience where you can fly with dragons or lose yourself in a monster's lair. Every detail—from the sound design to hand-carved statues—is crafted to emotionally transform you and pull you deeper into the story. Along the way, he reflects on fatherhood, creative cultures, the unbridled power of optimism, and the audacity of creativity.
From Isle of Berk to Darkmoor, Brian reveals how it all comes together, why creative collaboration is key, and how stories—whether told on screen or designed into the fabric of a land—can connect generations, spark imagination, and leave a lasting emotional impact.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This episode of Seen on the Screen is brought to
you by Peacock Movies. Transport us to new worlds, connect
us to unlimited possibilities, and bring to life our wildest dreams.
With Peacock, It's all possible right from your living room.
Stream hit films from Universal Pictures, Illumination, Focus, Features, DreamWorks, animation,
(00:20):
and more. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Because
the best movies are home on Peacock. I will just
go ahead and say, for those of you that are
going into the Dark Universe section, the monsters are hot.
The monsters are hot, and I just I feel like
that news needs to be put forth. We listen for chocolate. Hello,
(00:46):
I'm Jacqueline Coley. Welcome to a special episode of Scene
on the Screen, brought to you by Make It Universal
and Rotten Tomatoes. While we talk movies with some of
the people behind the scenes at NBC Universal. When entertainment
works best, it's sometimes opens a window into a world
we've never imagined. Other times it shows us a mirror
image of our lives with a heightened sense of home. Today,
(01:08):
we're going to dig into the question what have you
seen on the screen that does that My guest today
is EVP and Chief Creative Officer at Universal Creative, Brian Robinson.
You'll hear about the movie that helped him build his
confidence as a young boy from the South, how his
love of movies led him on a journey from storytelling
to creating immersive experiences, and the balance between emotion and
(01:31):
creativity that went into designing Epic Universe. Brian, welcome to
Sena on the screen. Thank you for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
All Right, Brian, so I want you to tell everyone
where we are, but first of all, give us your
title and what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Brian Robinson, Executive vice President and Chief Creative Officer for
Universal Creative.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And so we are here at Epic Universe at the
new flagship Helios Grand Hotel. It is a Low's property
concept in conjunction with NBC Universal. We're overlooking this incredible,
gorgeous park and this has been I don't know, like
and a labor of love that you have been working
(02:13):
on for literal years and now the park is open.
Folks are there, so I'd love for you to talk
a little bit about the journey to get to Epic Universe.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
It is I think personally. A beautiful journey and one
that I never thought possible. And you know, I used
to write and express myself and then suddenly I'm after
ten years of retail, I end up at DreamWorks in
entertainment and it was this incredible moment in DreamWorks history.
(02:44):
Jeffrey Katzenberg was there, it was making film after film,
but it wanted to find itself in a bigger kind
of vision. It wanted to be a global entertainment brand,
and it needed to have all the different touch points
that fans could find those stories. And so the team
and I started to launch consumer products and television and
gaming and theme parks, and the dream Work brand suddenly
(03:07):
began to express itself in so many different arenas. And
about four and a half years later, I think all
of that work paid off and we were acquired by
Universal and I got to do all of that incredible work.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
At Universal.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
We started translating illumination into all of these different creative
expressions Universal Films, dream Work Films. And about two years
ago I was sitting in a Universal Pictures meeting and
a gentleman named Mark Woodberry, who's the CEO of Universal
Destinations and Experience walked in and I experienced a level
(03:41):
of audacity from a creative standpoint that my heart, my
whole being wanted to be a part of what he
was doing and where he was taking the idea of
what a park could be. And I met him, we
had a few exchanges, and in one of the most
beautiful moments of my career, I was named in the
(04:04):
position two years ago, and it has been one of
the most incredible journeys of my life.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
And I mean, look, the proof is in the work.
I've gotten to see, the park, I've written, the rides,
I've been immersed in these worlds that you literally take
us on a journey to. But before we got there,
you were really just at one point a young, probably anxious,
but really excited film fan who was just like, I
love this. And then you went on the journey to
(04:32):
become the person that can make things like Epic Universe happen.
But talk to me about those first days and that
first sort of spark and love of storytelling, and what
were some of the things that sort of made you say, Okay,
this is what I want to do.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I grew up in a small town Treport, Louisiana, and
what film did for me very early was expose the
world to me all the different expressions of what humans
could be. And it allowed this little kid who didn't
know he wanted to be, didn't understand who he was
at the moment, begin to see in himself the world.
(05:08):
And so I loved movies. My parents loved movies.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
My brother we got to.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Experience them together, that kind of almost collective family feeling,
and it just set off in me this love of
writing and storytelling and make up and play, and it
just has been beautiful.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It's so funny when I'm walking through the park and
I see the actors playing out these characters. When I'm
looking at the fact that we go through these tunnels
and you literally feel like you're being transported into another world.
It is storytelling, but you don't necessarily put the storytelling
of movie making to the experiential aspect of storytelling. When
you're like walking through a park being like, Okay, where
(05:50):
can I find my next cotton candy? And oh what
do we have yesterday? Yesterday we had butter beer and
our butter You know what I mean. When you're doing that,
you're not thinking about it. But that's a huge part
of it. So I'd love for you to explain a
little bit how storytelling from movies gets married into what
we eventually do here and what you love about that
sort of creative process.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Well, I mean, films create these beautiful stories and worlds
and characters, and the idea that a fan could watch
a film, a story, a world, and then literally be
dropped into the physicality of that world. That is what
theme parks do. Yeah, there's a thousand different creatives who
(06:33):
worked on this park, and every decision, every idea is
designed through their emotion and their feeling. And when you're
walking through it, you don't know, of course it's happened,
but your body does because you are emotionally feeling things
that make you human, or connect you to your best
(06:56):
friends or your family, or let you become a viking,
or finally, all the monsters that the world says are
monsters and somehow you relate to you're looking at them,
and there is emotion and love behind it. It completely
revolutionizes what a park is. It puts the lush gardens, water,
(07:16):
serenity into the center of an idea and then surround
it with portals that emotionally transport you to places you've
never or only imagined in your dreams.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
That is epic universe.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I love that, and I love folks are going to
experience it, and before they do, if they haven't bought
their tickets already, if they're not walking around the park
already right now, I think this is going to give
them a great preview. So let's go ahead and dive
into some of the films that you've seen on the
screen that inspire this journey. All right, Oh, what an
(07:51):
interesting China. It looks like young men playing leapfrog.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The most iconic dinner party with Albert It is birdcase.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Yes, said to perfection by the great Diane Weese. I
hope I did it justice to her. I love that.
You love the very cation. I don't think people realize
when that movie came out, it was kind of a phenomenon, groundbreaking,
you know what I mean, and just having two male
leads and a like an established loving relationship. And yeah,
I'm curious of what your sort of like relationship to
the film is.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Here is the power of film. I grew up in
the South, Southern boy.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I am gay.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I had never seen another gay person in my life.
When this film came out Wow, And that is transformative.
This is what film does. And I walk in and
I watch this film and I feel things that have
been deep inside me for so long. And there it
(08:53):
is joyfully with humor. All of it is discussed. Homophobia, masculinity, racism,
all of it just sits in this ninety minutes of
Wonder and you're laughing the whole time. And the power
of how it cuts across political lines, it brings people
(09:13):
together and.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
All of it. And then you sit.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
There and it is as powerful today in the world
we're living in with the same messages as it was
in nineteen ninety six. And it gave me the confidence
to come out to my parents. It allowed me to
see a much bigger world. It gave me confidence in
who I am. And I will tell you the power
(09:37):
of a film is the confidence in myself that allows
me to sit in this chair, being a part of
this company and talking to you today.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh I love that, and I love that it came
from again not just a great movie, but it wasn't
one steeped in like you know, it wasn't the you know,
the guy at the tragic end of the play. This
is literally like a celebration. And you can't celebrate more
than watching Gene Hackman say We're a family. Listen, that
was a whole moment. Dress he was serving though, Listen.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
He was.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He was the whole show.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Like and and again, it's not like this was. It
was transformative in its simplicity and it's humor, and everyone
could find their place in it.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I think that's what that's the joy of it all,
just joy.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Also, who doesn't love an off the Rails dinner party.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
With China, which is for the ages?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I love it. Still a hit on TikTok as well.
All Right, we're gonna move on to our second quote.
I once had to judge a tidy white contest for
Lambda Kappa Pi. Trust me, I can handle anything.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Let me spray some perfume on my resume. The one
and only Elwood's Legally Blonde Baby.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yes, I know, you'll be signed up for the news
series that they have coming out. This was like one
movie that then became a sequel that then became a
musical that's now about to be a television show. And
it sort of is the same thing we try to
do here with like something like How to Train Your Dragon,
whereas it started as an animated and then we had
several sequels, and then we were doing now the live action,
which is out in theaters right now, and then we
(11:07):
also have this experience in the Park, and all of
them were born from this one story. And I think
when it's a really great story, you can do that
and you can have a different sort of experience with
the film depending on how you experience it.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And I mean ell Woods is so unapologetically herself and
so confident in who she is. I mean, we all
need to be ell Woods every day because she just
shows up. She loves who she is. She's dropped in
situations she should have never been put in, never succeeded in. Yeah,
and she's just like, I'm doing it and I'm doing
(11:41):
it exactly because I know who I am. And you
take that idea, and that's why you have a global
hit on a film, you've got a Broadway show, you've
got a new television series coming out, because the central
idea is she projects the confidence that we all want
to have in ourselves.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, that's like the difference. It's not your get pumped
up song. Maybe that's your get pumped up movies, it's like, well,
Elwoods did it, I can do it.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It's the every day before I open the door to work,
I'm Ellwood's baby.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Let's go, let's get into this.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think legally Bond is interesting because Elle was somebody
who was never the other in her world, and then
she steps into a different world than she becomes the other.
That is kind of the experience here, the Dark Universe
section and the monsters and the dark More section. Whereas
it's like, oh, well, we've seen Frankenstein jumping out of
us at a horror ride, but we haven't seen one
(12:36):
where we're like, is he gonna be okay? You do that?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Why do I care for him?
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
In the world of monsters since nineteen thirty five, the
Bride of Frankenstein and everything monsters have represented in culture,
the writers, the creative directors, the art directors knew that
they had to first develop something that wasn't just about scare.
It was about the emotional plight of monsters.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I know this all starts with a blank page and
maybe some ip, but before we get to that, we
have to have all of these meetings to where we
eventually get to the ride that I did yesterday Monsters Unchained.
How does that process work out? How do you decide
what to include and then eventually do all of that
and then I don't know, script it, light it and
make it happen and build it.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I mean here it is. We were born out of
a film company. Yeah, and so the storytelling that is
entrenched inside of Universal and what it means to actually
complete full story arcs is what you're experiencing today. The
blank page, which we call blue sky. It's the moment
where you figure out whether through cannon, through culture, through
(13:49):
speaking with people the thing they want to experience most.
From the moment you walk in, there are full scripts
of your entire journey from land to Q to Show one,
Show two, and then every scene in an attraction, whether
it is a coaster, a dark ride, a carousel that
(14:12):
enlists and envelops you into a full story.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Every ride has speakers because they're talking to you, like
they're telling you things, they're they're they're like letting you
know that, like this twist, this is like part of it.
I think that is so powerful.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
How Igor is a storyteller is a freak the best
way possible of like who let him drive.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Well, you did great.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
No notes, the sweat can stop, and I was like, OK.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
What's coming here for a park creative? No notes? I
think like your entire year is nothing but notes. I'm
going to need your help if you don't mind handing
me our second popcorn. Yes, thank you so much, lovely helper.
These are going to be trivia questions, and these ones
are all going to be true or false. The Eatonton
(14:58):
family home featured in the nineteen eighty nine film Steel Magnolia's,
was converted into a bed and breakfast in two thousand
and three.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Okay, sixty miles from my childhood home.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yes true? Oh I love that one.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yes, you're right true. The house sits at three twenty
Jefferson Street in Nakadosius, Louisiana, originally built in eighteen thirties,
and it was transformed into the Steel Magnolia House Bend
and Breakfast in two thousand and three. I've not stayed here,
but I would.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Both my parents went to college in Nacodish really all
the time. Reestee that film.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
That film's like it's a little bit of the bird
Cage in the sense of like how they use humor
to like expand the whole arc of life, community, family, death,
all of it, and you're just enthralled by it.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
I did appreciate also, is it gave the world a
preview into a Southern family tradition. Two of which a
daughter being apps making her wedding everyone else's problem.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
That is a secunder tradition.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
And number two a groom's cake, which is a.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Realmdilla baby blood red let's go.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
But the groom's cake. I realized when I got older,
that's not a normal thing for other people. That is
a very Southern thing, and I like later people are like, yeah,
that was like a weird thing that I found in
that movie. I was like, No, that's like an everyday
paper where I grew up.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
When I got engaged, I had an armadilla cake.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Oh you did. Somebody knew how to make it. She
had the counter space. I'm just kidding this. It was snakes.
She couldn't do. That was where she didn't have the
counter spafe. No, I love steel Magnolia's. One of the
things I think is huge in that movie is you
see community. Community was such I know, a huge part
of the creative process of Epic Universe because it had
(16:37):
to be, because you can't have the experience I had
in the park without it being that way. I've met
some of the park's people, I know how they feel,
but I feel you guys made community, even with people
who had never been to a park before. How did
you make that a part of the creative process.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
It's the basis of that blank sheet of paper. Yeah,
you know, people tell you what they want, and fans
have such love for what we do and their biggest dreams, aspirations,
wishes all are the basis of Blue Sky in the
beginning of designs. They tell you what the wish fulfillment is,
and they tell you what they want to experience, and
(17:15):
that I think shows up in every single detail and
aspiration of this entire park.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And then for you is there like a park Steel
Magnolia connection too for you, which I think is crazy
because those are just not two movies I would put together,
or a movie I would not necessarily put with theme parks.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But it is for you, oh, one hundred percent. Shreveport, Louisiana.
One hour away is Nakedish. Two hours away is Dallas, Texas.
So we went to the big city of Dallas, Texas
every year and six Flags with my mom on a
school trip. Was the first coaster experience I have had
in my life. And it's that like for all the
(17:51):
parents out there or aunts and uncles, when you are
convincing your kid, which was me, that you have enough
confidence to go on this coaster, which was the Shockwave.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It has two loops, like it is like buried in
my brain.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, but to this day I can feel my mom
like loving me and how much she believes in me
and getting me ready for this coaster. I have eight
year old twins and I got to do the same
with my son on Veloca Coaster.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I'll show you a picture of his face.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I had the dad don't die arm the whole time
on the coaster, like hanging on to him.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
This is good parenting. I'm digging it. So have they
been to.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Epic of course?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
The favorite world, okay, which has a lot of history
because of dream Works, was Burke. And you know, they've
watched all the films with me, They've heard all the
stories and they kind of know what I do. And
to watch them portal into that and to see two
eight year old stand on the edge of Burke and
then all the dragons they're everywhere.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Really, it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
And so that's one of those very emotional moments where
my life and my purpose and my kids just smashed together,
and uh, it's pretty beautiful.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I love that. All right, let's dive into our next
trivia questions. Let's go true Falls in Burk, the Viking
village from How To Train Your Dragon brought to life
at Universal Epic Universe. All the statues were hand carved
on site. True or false. True, that's insane because, by
the way, these are not statues. These are like full benches.
(19:28):
These are like huge structures. Y'all could have just made
those in a warehouse and bourbank and ship them, but
you wanted to do them here, explain how, who and
who did them?
Speaker 3 (19:37):
By the way, too, Wait, this is artistry at its
best and pure creativity. The first film hired an Alaskan
chainsaw artist to hand carve, live with the chainsaw, these
gorgeous dragon benches that were part of Burk. And so
we re engage that artist, which we do around every
(19:57):
aspect of the park and all thirty benches throughout the
park he chainsaw designed, and then all of the statues
are hand carved within the world and when you go there,
you feel you're in Burk and that's what we have
to do. There's no misstep from what people see in
film and what their total expectation of what they're going
(20:19):
to see when they enter a park.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I really will say the devil is in the details.
I'm curious what your favorite little detail that's in Burke is.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Okay, the moment you walk into Burke, you've portled and
you see Burke and in the distance you see Mead
Hall and the giant mountain spiraling at the very top
of the mountain is a dragon house and it just
puts the level of detail in all its aspect and
(20:49):
glory in that one moment, and I just love it.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah. I we even talk about the food, but let
me just go ahead and say the details on the menus,
like the mushroom soup, the pineapple and banana frozen yogurt confectionery,
which is all sugar, exactly what it should be in
a theme park, but it's themed off of Donkey Kong.
And in Mead Hall they have you know, steaks and
potatoes like just like the Vikings would eat and so like. Again,
(21:14):
that was my favorite detail was all the food that
was paired to the individual areas, including the bloody red
velvet cake oh that you put in Dark Universe because
they're like, you know, I feel like that's also steal
megalia is coated.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Armadillo cake. But it goes back to your point of
like details, Like, it's not just the attractions that make
parks so incredible, It is all the storytelling that goes
into food innovations, into retail, and you just every where
you look and everything you experience is meant to just
completely take you somewhere.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So normally when you're walking into park, there's that section
of the park before you get into any themed section
that is sort of just like the park, and it
doesn't have a name. It's just sort of usually this
kind of analogous air that gets you to where you're going.
Like this is where you go to to get to
the Harry Potter section at Universal Studio here that is
(22:09):
themed and it's called Celestial. And even though it's just
the place that you kind of congregate and maybe get
some of your details and things done before you get there,
y'all put like themed things into that too.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
It was designed as a land. Wow, the first land
you actually portal into is Celestial Park and all of
the storytelling, all of the ideas that make it immersive,
from the Celestians who inhabit it to the food. It's
all designed to immerse you from the beginning and it
has its full incredible story, the whole ideas that Celestial
(22:43):
has existed through time and the portals that are here
today are only in this moment. There's been portals that
have opened up across the arc of time, and little
hidden ideas showcase what portals may have been here in
the past. Stardust racers are because Celestians learned how to
harness comments and they're racing through the sky. And that
(23:04):
feeling of this feels so different than any park I've
ever been to.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
It's not a pass through.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
It is an experience in and of itself. Yeah, people
are not expecting how emotional this park is. They're not
expecting it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, And I will say it has the range of emotions.
So I'll give you one that I want to tell
people for because it's like there are there are scares,
there are thrills, there are really like heartfelt and I
think prophetic moments about childhood and motherhood and parenthood and whatever.
But I will just go ahead and say, for those
of you that are going into the Dark Universe section,
monsters are hot. The monsters are hot, and I just
(23:43):
I feel like that news needs to be put forth.
We literally chocolate. The monsters are hot. That's all I
will say. They're definitely thrilling and they're like jump out
at you, but in a very like you know, Bellagosi
was hot when he was doing and Dracula, and I
think y'all called back to those roots. Do you know
what I'm saying?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Like, Hey, we welcome all and we want to inspire
all those emotions.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I know that. I know that. Listen, at some point
between Blue Sky and what I walked into, somebody was
like make the monsters hot, and I just want to
let them know they achieved it.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Whoo making somebody proud right now And maybe I'm bleushing,
but hey, I love it.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
And now that I've officially embarrassed myself with that, we
will continue to do so. If you'll take this back
from me before you and if you'll grab this glood,
yes we're going to dive into it. And now you
can while you're blushing, I will now be blushing as
I get these questions wrong.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I Jesus Christ, that's Jason Bourne. Is it the born identity,
the born ultimatum or the born legacy? Girl?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I hope it is the ultimatum because I can't remember, okay,
because I was like the born first what he didn't
know what he was doing? And the born legacy is
ren first. It is Renner. Sorry, Reddord, So I'm ovid,
I go.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I'm gonna tell you that was impressive.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Thank you that was down there. Appreciate We're gonna stay
in that lest I.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Feel like a tech nerd said that. Jesus, that's Jason Warren.
Somebody staring at a computer.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Okay, ready, yes, Although we sisters are supposed to be invisible, Oh,
God has nevertheless given us eyes and ears.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
This one is Ruth Paul's drag race with priests. That
is conclave. That is ISABELLASLINI reading those queens for filth.
Thank you and Burger.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Okay you ready for another?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice
I am willing to make. Is it Gladiator two, the
first Purge or Shrek?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
It should be the first purge? But that is Lord
Farquoy rocking the original fab for those that know what
that means, we will keep it PG here. But Lord
Farquhah doing his thing, lift goal two liftgal movies in
a row.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Listen, I tell you what that film just gives.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
It does honestly about to give again vibe. But can
I just go ahead and say I believe that John
Lithgow as Lord Farquah walked so that John Lithgow as
a sassy pope could run. That is my movie canon.
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
I want to watch every movie with you and just
hear your synopsis at the end, because this is exactly
what they should be.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Lots of the marketing people, they get me unfiltered anyway.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Okay, you killed it.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Thank you. Here we'll set these ones down. I appreciate
you before we get out of here.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Oh you thought you were done. I know you've got
more tricks.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I do have more tricks. Favorite movie snack.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Corn bucket, dump in the Reese's pieces, shake it salty
peanut butter.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I'm with you on that.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
I do halopinos in the popcorn bucket.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
This is the deal. So I don't eat a lot
of popcorns, so I'll buy the bucket, but I only
get a small bag, and I shake it in the
small bag.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Pickled halapinos might be one of the greatest gifts humanity.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
They kind of are a last show that you binged.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Uh Shit's Creek fourth time. I think one of the
most iconic series there are.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
You just watch it over.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
It's just unraveling, unveiling, unraveling.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
That's probably a better thing. I'm watching The Pit and
people think that I'm crazy because it relaxes me.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I enjoyed the Pit. I found it.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
I did. I was like, nothing about this stresses me out.
It's fake blood. And Noah Wiley, I know he's going
to be alright at the end.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Favorite actor right now of the moment, Cynthia Rivo, I mean,
let's go Broadway, Wicked.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
We're coming again.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
She's at the Hollywood Bowl right now.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
She's fabulous.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I believe Jesus Christ superstar because she can do what
she wants. Go to a movie theater alone, yes or no.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Alone for the first forty three years of my life
with my kids, last seven but I'm an alone I again.
Escapism It's just let go.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
But you're never alone in the movie theater and that's kind.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Of the well, that's it. Well, that's the double edged sword.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, Like I kind of like this, Ysten. I do
favorite classic universal film.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
The Tara, the Ah, the oh my god, nineteen ninety three,
Jurassic Park, like of all of it right there, baby,
the best of filmmaking right there in that little jar.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
What's your all time favorite theme park ride or attraction.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
That makes me too emotional?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Well, I can't this whole park, and then you know,
you know what, I'll give you the answer that set
everything into motion. It has to be shockwave with my mom,
Like imagine her in Truvi's Boufont riding the shockwave with
me that she got on with y and so that
what it did is the emotion that I'm here today
(29:03):
and what's all over this place?
Speaker 1 (29:04):
I dig that. Oh that's so good. Of course you would, mister.
I ask everyone to bring a motion to everything they do,
and then I make an incredible park behind it. Would
take it back to there as the last word, my mom, Brian,
this was so great. I cannot begin to say enough
how incredible what you and the team here have created.
I cannot wait for more folks to experience it. You've
(29:26):
got to come here, come now. I'm telling you you
will not I think have a parking experience like this.
So thank you and all the team for making it.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Thank you, And I just have to say to you,
you have so many people right now watching you do
this and the fact that you love this park and
it is.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Making them the happiest team in the world. So thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Oh well, thank you all for making it happen, and
thank you for being here. Yeah.
This episode of Seen on the Screen is brought to
you by Peacock Movies. Transport us to new worlds, connect
us to unlimited possibilities, and bring to life our wildest dreams.
With Peacock, It's all possible right from your living room.
Stream hit films from Universal Pictures, Illumination, Focus, Features, DreamWorks, animation,
(00:20):
and more. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Because
the best movies are home on Peacock. I will just
go ahead and say, for those of you that are
going into the Dark Universe section, the monsters are hot.
The monsters are hot, and I just I feel like
that news needs to be put forth. We listen for chocolate. Hello,
(00:46):
I'm Jacqueline Coley. Welcome to a special episode of Scene
on the Screen, brought to you by Make It Universal
and Rotten Tomatoes. While we talk movies with some of
the people behind the scenes at NBC Universal. When entertainment
works best, it's sometimes opens a window into a world
we've never imagined. Other times it shows us a mirror
image of our lives with a heightened sense of home. Today,
(01:08):
we're going to dig into the question what have you
seen on the screen that does that My guest today
is EVP and Chief Creative Officer at Universal Creative, Brian Robinson.
You'll hear about the movie that helped him build his
confidence as a young boy from the South, how his
love of movies led him on a journey from storytelling
to creating immersive experiences, and the balance between emotion and
(01:31):
creativity that went into designing Epic Universe. Brian, welcome to
Sena on the screen. Thank you for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
All Right, Brian, so I want you to tell everyone
where we are, but first of all, give us your
title and what you do.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Brian Robinson, Executive vice President and Chief Creative Officer for
Universal Creative.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
And so we are here at Epic Universe at the
new flagship Helios Grand Hotel. It is a Low's property
concept in conjunction with NBC Universal. We're overlooking this incredible,
gorgeous park and this has been I don't know, like
and a labor of love that you have been working
(02:13):
on for literal years and now the park is open.
Folks are there, so I'd love for you to talk
a little bit about the journey to get to Epic Universe.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
It is I think personally. A beautiful journey and one
that I never thought possible. And you know, I used
to write and express myself and then suddenly I'm after
ten years of retail, I end up at DreamWorks in
entertainment and it was this incredible moment in DreamWorks history.
(02:44):
Jeffrey Katzenberg was there, it was making film after film,
but it wanted to find itself in a bigger kind
of vision. It wanted to be a global entertainment brand,
and it needed to have all the different touch points
that fans could find those stories. And so the team
and I started to launch consumer products and television and
gaming and theme parks, and the dream Work brand suddenly
(03:07):
began to express itself in so many different arenas. And
about four and a half years later, I think all
of that work paid off and we were acquired by
Universal and I got to do all of that incredible work.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
At Universal.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
We started translating illumination into all of these different creative
expressions Universal Films, dream Work Films. And about two years
ago I was sitting in a Universal Pictures meeting and
a gentleman named Mark Woodberry, who's the CEO of Universal
Destinations and Experience walked in and I experienced a level
(03:41):
of audacity from a creative standpoint that my heart, my
whole being wanted to be a part of what he
was doing and where he was taking the idea of
what a park could be. And I met him, we
had a few exchanges, and in one of the most
beautiful moments of my career, I was named in the
(04:04):
position two years ago, and it has been one of
the most incredible journeys of my life.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
And I mean, look, the proof is in the work.
I've gotten to see, the park, I've written, the rides,
I've been immersed in these worlds that you literally take
us on a journey to. But before we got there,
you were really just at one point a young, probably anxious,
but really excited film fan who was just like, I
love this. And then you went on the journey to
(04:32):
become the person that can make things like Epic Universe happen.
But talk to me about those first days and that
first sort of spark and love of storytelling, and what
were some of the things that sort of made you say, Okay,
this is what I want to do.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
I grew up in a small town Treport, Louisiana, and
what film did for me very early was expose the
world to me all the different expressions of what humans
could be. And it allowed this little kid who didn't
know he wanted to be, didn't understand who he was
at the moment, begin to see in himself the world.
(05:08):
And so I loved movies. My parents loved movies.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
My brother we got to.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Experience them together, that kind of almost collective family feeling,
and it just set off in me this love of
writing and storytelling and make up and play, and it
just has been beautiful.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
It's so funny when I'm walking through the park and
I see the actors playing out these characters. When I'm
looking at the fact that we go through these tunnels
and you literally feel like you're being transported into another world.
It is storytelling, but you don't necessarily put the storytelling
of movie making to the experiential aspect of storytelling. When
you're like walking through a park being like, Okay, where
(05:50):
can I find my next cotton candy? And oh what
do we have yesterday? Yesterday we had butter beer and
our butter You know what I mean. When you're doing that,
you're not thinking about it. But that's a huge part
of it. So I'd love for you to explain a
little bit how storytelling from movies gets married into what
we eventually do here and what you love about that
sort of creative process.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Well, I mean, films create these beautiful stories and worlds
and characters, and the idea that a fan could watch
a film, a story, a world, and then literally be
dropped into the physicality of that world. That is what
theme parks do. Yeah, there's a thousand different creatives who
(06:33):
worked on this park, and every decision, every idea is
designed through their emotion and their feeling. And when you're
walking through it, you don't know, of course it's happened,
but your body does because you are emotionally feeling things
that make you human, or connect you to your best
(06:56):
friends or your family, or let you become a viking,
or finally, all the monsters that the world says are
monsters and somehow you relate to you're looking at them,
and there is emotion and love behind it. It completely
revolutionizes what a park is. It puts the lush gardens, water,
(07:16):
serenity into the center of an idea and then surround
it with portals that emotionally transport you to places you've
never or only imagined in your dreams.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
That is epic universe.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
I love that, and I love folks are going to
experience it, and before they do, if they haven't bought
their tickets already, if they're not walking around the park
already right now, I think this is going to give
them a great preview. So let's go ahead and dive
into some of the films that you've seen on the
screen that inspire this journey. All right, Oh, what an
(07:51):
interesting China. It looks like young men playing leapfrog.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The most iconic dinner party with Albert It is birdcase.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
Yes, said to perfection by the great Diane Weese. I
hope I did it justice to her. I love that.
You love the very cation. I don't think people realize
when that movie came out, it was kind of a phenomenon, groundbreaking,
you know what I mean, and just having two male
leads and a like an established loving relationship. And yeah,
I'm curious of what your sort of like relationship to
the film is.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Here is the power of film. I grew up in
the South, Southern boy.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
I am gay.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I had never seen another gay person in my life.
When this film came out Wow, And that is transformative.
This is what film does. And I walk in and
I watch this film and I feel things that have
been deep inside me for so long. And there it
(08:53):
is joyfully with humor. All of it is discussed. Homophobia, masculinity, racism,
all of it just sits in this ninety minutes of
Wonder and you're laughing the whole time. And the power
of how it cuts across political lines, it brings people
(09:13):
together and.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
All of it. And then you sit.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
There and it is as powerful today in the world
we're living in with the same messages as it was
in nineteen ninety six. And it gave me the confidence
to come out to my parents. It allowed me to
see a much bigger world. It gave me confidence in
who I am. And I will tell you the power
(09:37):
of a film is the confidence in myself that allows
me to sit in this chair, being a part of
this company and talking to you today.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Oh I love that, and I love that it came
from again not just a great movie, but it wasn't
one steeped in like you know, it wasn't the you know,
the guy at the tragic end of the play. This
is literally like a celebration. And you can't celebrate more
than watching Gene Hackman say We're a family. Listen, that
was a whole moment. Dress he was serving though, Listen.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
He was.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He was the whole show.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
Like and and again, it's not like this was. It
was transformative in its simplicity and it's humor, and everyone
could find their place in it.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
I think that's what that's the joy of it all,
just joy.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Also, who doesn't love an off the Rails dinner party.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
With China, which is for the ages?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
I love it. Still a hit on TikTok as well.
All Right, we're gonna move on to our second quote.
I once had to judge a tidy white contest for
Lambda Kappa Pi. Trust me, I can handle anything.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Let me spray some perfume on my resume. The one
and only Elwood's Legally Blonde Baby.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yes, I know, you'll be signed up for the news
series that they have coming out. This was like one
movie that then became a sequel that then became a
musical that's now about to be a television show. And
it sort of is the same thing we try to
do here with like something like How to Train Your Dragon,
whereas it started as an animated and then we had
several sequels, and then we were doing now the live action,
which is out in theaters right now, and then we
(11:07):
also have this experience in the Park, and all of
them were born from this one story. And I think
when it's a really great story, you can do that
and you can have a different sort of experience with
the film depending on how you experience it.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
One hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And I mean ell Woods is so unapologetically herself and
so confident in who she is. I mean, we all
need to be ell Woods every day because she just
shows up. She loves who she is. She's dropped in
situations she should have never been put in, never succeeded in. Yeah,
and she's just like, I'm doing it and I'm doing
(11:41):
it exactly because I know who I am. And you
take that idea, and that's why you have a global
hit on a film, you've got a Broadway show, you've
got a new television series coming out, because the central
idea is she projects the confidence that we all want
to have in ourselves.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah, that's like the difference. It's not your get pumped
up song. Maybe that's your get pumped up movies, it's like, well,
Elwoods did it, I can do it.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Love it.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It's the every day before I open the door to work,
I'm Ellwood's baby.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Let's go, let's get into this.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
I think legally Bond is interesting because Elle was somebody
who was never the other in her world, and then
she steps into a different world than she becomes the other.
That is kind of the experience here, the Dark Universe
section and the monsters and the dark More section. Whereas
it's like, oh, well, we've seen Frankenstein jumping out of
us at a horror ride, but we haven't seen one
(12:36):
where we're like, is he gonna be okay? You do that?
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Why do I care for him?
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:42):
In the world of monsters since nineteen thirty five, the
Bride of Frankenstein and everything monsters have represented in culture,
the writers, the creative directors, the art directors knew that
they had to first develop something that wasn't just about scare.
It was about the emotional plight of monsters.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
I know this all starts with a blank page and
maybe some ip, but before we get to that, we
have to have all of these meetings to where we
eventually get to the ride that I did yesterday Monsters Unchained.
How does that process work out? How do you decide
what to include and then eventually do all of that
and then I don't know, script it, light it and
make it happen and build it.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I mean here it is. We were born out of
a film company. Yeah, and so the storytelling that is
entrenched inside of Universal and what it means to actually
complete full story arcs is what you're experiencing today. The
blank page, which we call blue sky. It's the moment
where you figure out whether through cannon, through culture, through
(13:49):
speaking with people the thing they want to experience most.
From the moment you walk in, there are full scripts
of your entire journey from land to Q to Show one,
Show two, and then every scene in an attraction, whether
it is a coaster, a dark ride, a carousel that
(14:12):
enlists and envelops you into a full story.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Every ride has speakers because they're talking to you, like
they're telling you things, they're they're they're like letting you
know that, like this twist, this is like part of it.
I think that is so powerful.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
How Igor is a storyteller is a freak the best
way possible of like who let him drive.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Well, you did great.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
No notes, the sweat can stop, and I was like, OK.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
What's coming here for a park creative? No notes? I
think like your entire year is nothing but notes. I'm
going to need your help if you don't mind handing
me our second popcorn. Yes, thank you so much, lovely helper.
These are going to be trivia questions, and these ones
are all going to be true or false. The Eatonton
(14:58):
family home featured in the nineteen eighty nine film Steel Magnolia's,
was converted into a bed and breakfast in two thousand
and three.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Okay, sixty miles from my childhood home.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yes true? Oh I love that one.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yes, you're right true. The house sits at three twenty
Jefferson Street in Nakadosius, Louisiana, originally built in eighteen thirties,
and it was transformed into the Steel Magnolia House Bend
and Breakfast in two thousand and three. I've not stayed here,
but I would.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Both my parents went to college in Nacodish really all
the time. Reestee that film.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
That film's like it's a little bit of the bird
Cage in the sense of like how they use humor
to like expand the whole arc of life, community, family, death,
all of it, and you're just enthralled by it.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
I did appreciate also, is it gave the world a
preview into a Southern family tradition. Two of which a
daughter being apps making her wedding everyone else's problem.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
That is a secunder tradition.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
And number two a groom's cake, which is a.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Realmdilla baby blood red let's go.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
But the groom's cake. I realized when I got older,
that's not a normal thing for other people. That is
a very Southern thing, and I like later people are like, yeah,
that was like a weird thing that I found in
that movie. I was like, No, that's like an everyday
paper where I grew up.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
When I got engaged, I had an armadilla cake.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Oh you did. Somebody knew how to make it. She
had the counter space. I'm just kidding this. It was snakes.
She couldn't do. That was where she didn't have the
counter spafe. No, I love steel Magnolia's. One of the
things I think is huge in that movie is you
see community. Community was such I know, a huge part
of the creative process of Epic Universe because it had
(16:37):
to be, because you can't have the experience I had
in the park without it being that way. I've met
some of the park's people, I know how they feel,
but I feel you guys made community, even with people
who had never been to a park before. How did
you make that a part of the creative process.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
It's the basis of that blank sheet of paper. Yeah,
you know, people tell you what they want, and fans
have such love for what we do and their biggest dreams, aspirations,
wishes all are the basis of Blue Sky in the
beginning of designs. They tell you what the wish fulfillment is,
and they tell you what they want to experience, and
(17:15):
that I think shows up in every single detail and
aspiration of this entire park.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
And then for you is there like a park Steel
Magnolia connection too for you, which I think is crazy
because those are just not two movies I would put together,
or a movie I would not necessarily put with theme parks.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
But it is for you, oh, one hundred percent. Shreveport, Louisiana.
One hour away is Nakedish. Two hours away is Dallas, Texas.
So we went to the big city of Dallas, Texas
every year and six Flags with my mom on a
school trip. Was the first coaster experience I have had
in my life. And it's that like for all the
(17:51):
parents out there or aunts and uncles, when you are
convincing your kid, which was me, that you have enough
confidence to go on this coaster, which was the Shockwave.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
It has two loops, like it is like buried in
my brain.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, but to this day I can feel my mom
like loving me and how much she believes in me
and getting me ready for this coaster. I have eight
year old twins and I got to do the same
with my son on Veloca Coaster.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
I'll show you a picture of his face.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I had the dad don't die arm the whole time
on the coaster, like hanging on to him.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
This is good parenting. I'm digging it. So have they
been to.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Epic of course?
Speaker 3 (18:34):
The favorite world, okay, which has a lot of history
because of dream Works, was Burke. And you know, they've
watched all the films with me, They've heard all the
stories and they kind of know what I do. And
to watch them portal into that and to see two
eight year old stand on the edge of Burke and
then all the dragons they're everywhere.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Really, it's incredible.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
And so that's one of those very emotional moments where
my life and my purpose and my kids just smashed together,
and uh, it's pretty beautiful.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I love that. All right, let's dive into our next
trivia questions. Let's go true Falls in Burk, the Viking
village from How To Train Your Dragon brought to life
at Universal Epic Universe. All the statues were hand carved
on site. True or false. True, that's insane because, by
the way, these are not statues. These are like full benches.
(19:28):
These are like huge structures. Y'all could have just made
those in a warehouse and bourbank and ship them, but
you wanted to do them here, explain how, who and
who did them?
Speaker 3 (19:37):
By the way, too, Wait, this is artistry at its
best and pure creativity. The first film hired an Alaskan
chainsaw artist to hand carve, live with the chainsaw, these
gorgeous dragon benches that were part of Burk. And so
we re engage that artist, which we do around every
(19:57):
aspect of the park and all thirty benches throughout the
park he chainsaw designed, and then all of the statues
are hand carved within the world and when you go there,
you feel you're in Burk and that's what we have
to do. There's no misstep from what people see in
film and what their total expectation of what they're going
(20:19):
to see when they enter a park.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I really will say the devil is in the details.
I'm curious what your favorite little detail that's in Burke is.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Okay, the moment you walk into Burke, you've portled and
you see Burke and in the distance you see Mead
Hall and the giant mountain spiraling at the very top
of the mountain is a dragon house and it just
puts the level of detail in all its aspect and
(20:49):
glory in that one moment, and I just love it.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah. I we even talk about the food, but let
me just go ahead and say the details on the menus,
like the mushroom soup, the pineapple and banana frozen yogurt confectionery,
which is all sugar, exactly what it should be in
a theme park, but it's themed off of Donkey Kong.
And in Mead Hall they have you know, steaks and
potatoes like just like the Vikings would eat and so like. Again,
(21:14):
that was my favorite detail was all the food that
was paired to the individual areas, including the bloody red
velvet cake oh that you put in Dark Universe because
they're like, you know, I feel like that's also steal
megalia is coated.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Armadillo cake. But it goes back to your point of
like details, Like, it's not just the attractions that make
parks so incredible, It is all the storytelling that goes
into food innovations, into retail, and you just every where
you look and everything you experience is meant to just
completely take you somewhere.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
So normally when you're walking into park, there's that section
of the park before you get into any themed section
that is sort of just like the park, and it
doesn't have a name. It's just sort of usually this
kind of analogous air that gets you to where you're going.
Like this is where you go to to get to
the Harry Potter section at Universal Studio here that is
(22:09):
themed and it's called Celestial. And even though it's just
the place that you kind of congregate and maybe get
some of your details and things done before you get there,
y'all put like themed things into that too.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
It was designed as a land. Wow, the first land
you actually portal into is Celestial Park and all of
the storytelling, all of the ideas that make it immersive,
from the Celestians who inhabit it to the food. It's
all designed to immerse you from the beginning and it
has its full incredible story, the whole ideas that Celestial
(22:43):
has existed through time and the portals that are here
today are only in this moment. There's been portals that
have opened up across the arc of time, and little
hidden ideas showcase what portals may have been here in
the past. Stardust racers are because Celestians learned how to
harness comments and they're racing through the sky. And that
(23:04):
feeling of this feels so different than any park I've
ever been to.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
It's not a pass through.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
It is an experience in and of itself. Yeah, people
are not expecting how emotional this park is. They're not
expecting it.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, And I will say it has the range of emotions.
So I'll give you one that I want to tell
people for because it's like there are there are scares,
there are thrills, there are really like heartfelt and I
think prophetic moments about childhood and motherhood and parenthood and whatever.
But I will just go ahead and say, for those
of you that are going into the Dark Universe section,
monsters are hot. The monsters are hot, and I just
(23:43):
I feel like that news needs to be put forth.
We literally chocolate. The monsters are hot. That's all I
will say. They're definitely thrilling and they're like jump out
at you, but in a very like you know, Bellagosi
was hot when he was doing and Dracula, and I
think y'all called back to those roots. Do you know
what I'm saying?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Like, Hey, we welcome all and we want to inspire
all those emotions.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I know that. I know that. Listen, at some point
between Blue Sky and what I walked into, somebody was
like make the monsters hot, and I just want to
let them know they achieved it.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Whoo making somebody proud right now And maybe I'm bleushing,
but hey, I love it.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
And now that I've officially embarrassed myself with that, we
will continue to do so. If you'll take this back
from me before you and if you'll grab this glood,
yes we're going to dive into it. And now you
can while you're blushing, I will now be blushing as
I get these questions wrong.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I Jesus Christ, that's Jason Bourne. Is it the born identity,
the born ultimatum or the born legacy? Girl?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
I hope it is the ultimatum because I can't remember, okay,
because I was like the born first what he didn't
know what he was doing? And the born legacy is
ren first. It is Renner. Sorry, Reddord, So I'm ovid,
I go.
Speaker 2 (25:04):
I'm gonna tell you that was impressive.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
Thank you that was down there. Appreciate We're gonna stay
in that lest I.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Feel like a tech nerd said that. Jesus, that's Jason Warren.
Somebody staring at a computer.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
Okay, ready, yes, Although we sisters are supposed to be invisible, Oh,
God has nevertheless given us eyes and ears.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
This one is Ruth Paul's drag race with priests. That
is conclave. That is ISABELLASLINI reading those queens for filth.
Thank you and Burger.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Okay you ready for another?
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice
I am willing to make. Is it Gladiator two, the
first Purge or Shrek?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
It should be the first purge? But that is Lord
Farquoy rocking the original fab for those that know what
that means, we will keep it PG here. But Lord
Farquhah doing his thing, lift goal two liftgal movies in
a row.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Listen, I tell you what that film just gives.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
It does honestly about to give again vibe. But can
I just go ahead and say I believe that John
Lithgow as Lord Farquah walked so that John Lithgow as
a sassy pope could run. That is my movie canon.
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
I want to watch every movie with you and just
hear your synopsis at the end, because this is exactly
what they should be.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Lots of the marketing people, they get me unfiltered anyway.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Okay, you killed it.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Thank you. Here we'll set these ones down. I appreciate
you before we get out of here.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
Oh you thought you were done. I know you've got
more tricks.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
I do have more tricks. Favorite movie snack.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
Corn bucket, dump in the Reese's pieces, shake it salty
peanut butter.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
I'm with you on that.
Speaker 3 (27:05):
I do halopinos in the popcorn bucket.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
This is the deal. So I don't eat a lot
of popcorns, so I'll buy the bucket, but I only
get a small bag, and I shake it in the
small bag.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Pickled halapinos might be one of the greatest gifts humanity.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
They kind of are a last show that you binged.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Uh Shit's Creek fourth time. I think one of the
most iconic series there are.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
You just watch it over.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
It's just unraveling, unveiling, unraveling.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
That's probably a better thing. I'm watching The Pit and
people think that I'm crazy because it relaxes me.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I enjoyed the Pit. I found it.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
I did. I was like, nothing about this stresses me out.
It's fake blood. And Noah Wiley, I know he's going
to be alright at the end.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Favorite actor right now of the moment, Cynthia Rivo, I mean,
let's go Broadway, Wicked.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
We're coming again.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
She's at the Hollywood Bowl right now.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
She's fabulous.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
I believe Jesus Christ superstar because she can do what
she wants. Go to a movie theater alone, yes or no.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Alone for the first forty three years of my life
with my kids, last seven but I'm an alone I again.
Escapism It's just let go.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
But you're never alone in the movie theater and that's kind.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Of the well, that's it. Well, that's the double edged sword.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Yeah, Like I kind of like this, Ysten. I do
favorite classic universal film.
Speaker 3 (28:23):
The Tara, the Ah, the oh my god, nineteen ninety three,
Jurassic Park, like of all of it right there, baby,
the best of filmmaking right there in that little jar.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
What's your all time favorite theme park ride or attraction.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
That makes me too emotional?
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Well, I can't this whole park, and then you know,
you know what, I'll give you the answer that set
everything into motion. It has to be shockwave with my mom,
Like imagine her in Truvi's Boufont riding the shockwave with
me that she got on with y and so that
what it did is the emotion that I'm here today
(29:03):
and what's all over this place?
Speaker 1 (29:04):
I dig that. Oh that's so good. Of course you would, mister.
I ask everyone to bring a motion to everything they do,
and then I make an incredible park behind it. Would
take it back to there as the last word, my mom, Brian,
this was so great. I cannot begin to say enough
how incredible what you and the team here have created.
I cannot wait for more folks to experience it. You've
(29:26):
got to come here, come now. I'm telling you you
will not I think have a parking experience like this.
So thank you and all the team for making it.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Thank you, And I just have to say to you,
you have so many people right now watching you do
this and the fact that you love this park and
it is.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Making them the happiest team in the world. So thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Oh well, thank you all for making it happen, and
thank you for being here. Yeah.
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