Tag: news

California Expands Film Credit, Adds Animation for the First Time

On July 2, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom officially approved the expansion of the state’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program, standing alongside labor representatives, entertainment leaders, and state officials. The program, first started in 2009, offers tax incentives for entertainment companies that choose to film in California. It was enacted as a way to try and counter-act the trend of productions leaving not only Los Angeles, but California as a whole, and has been successful to an extent in bringing productions.

The Hollywood sign in Los Angeles

However, the credit program was far from perfect. In its most recent phase, it offered up to $330 million in a “first come, first serve” basis. Projects that were the quickest to get up and running could get their hands on the tax credit, while those who were slower missed out. This factor created an unfair playing field, with larger more established studios rushing to get their share for readily available projects while smaller studios struggled to catch up. Even worse, there were no separate categories for who could get the tax credits, meaning that animation, which is generally much slower to ramp up than live action, was basically entirely shut out.

Not only that, but as companies found themselves missing out in California, other states and other countries began to offer better and better incentives, which swooped in to sway the companies to go to them. This led to a “production drain” in California that progressively worsened, reaching its peak in the 2020-2024 period. Paired with covid and strike-induced shutdowns, and company cutbacks, and the unemployment rate for entertainment production workers skyrocketed to being one of the worst in decades.

The solution to this problem? The program needed massive changes.

And change it finally has. The process first began on October 27, 2024, when Governor Gavin Newsom suggested a massive overhaul to the Film and Television Tax Credit Program, raising the credit limit to a staggering $750 million per year, more than double the existing limit. If such a change were implemented, it would skyrocket the state’s tax program to be one of the most generous of any state, surpassing New York’s $700 million and only being beaten by Georgia’s limitless credit program.

At the time, the change seemed like a wonderful, but far-fetched dream. California’s budget was tight, and with how bad the state of entertainment was, there was great fear that it was coming too little, too late.

But in 2025, the state legislature began to work with labor unions and entertainment leaders to flesh out the expansion. In June, the legislature passed the expansion with an overwhelming majority. And as of July, the bill is now officially approved.

Newsom poses alongside labor representatives, entertainment leaders, and state officials after the passage of the expansion.

But a mere expansion wasn’t the only new element of the program. Alongside it came further adjustments in regards to how the new funds would be allocated, with animation given explicit allocations to prevent any more shut outs. Not only that, but the expansion will also now work to support the film-making ecosystem as a whole, including post-production, scoring, and VFX, which relies heavily on in-state labor.

These new changes are a much-needed adjustment, making the playing field more fair but also allowing for more productions to get their hands on the tax credits and prevent them from having to move out of state. With hope, the new expansion will also help encourage companies to greenlight new productions by helping with budget shortfalls, and help with reducing the unemployment rates for entertainment production.

Director Pushes Back the Release Date for the ‘Sonic’ Film

This past weekend, director Jeff Fowler announced that the release of the Sonic film to February 14, 2020, three months after the originally planned release date.

The announcement brought relief to the art and animation communities, who had been anxiously searching for updates since the heavily demanded redesign of the Sonic character was announced. Messages of happiness from the communities rounded about social media, all of them positive towards the push back date. Even some memes were made, joking about how people could now take out their “hot date” to see Sonic on Valentine’s Day, noting that the release date now falls on the holiday.

Aside from the jokes and happiness, some artists and animators have pointed out the fact that Paramount actually listened to people’s demands to push back the release day and prevent their artists from being “crunched” and overworked, relating it to how the gaming industry, which is notorious for “crunching” their workers, now has no excuse to do so.

Both the movie and gaming industries have a long history in overworking their animators, arguing that the “crunch” was necessary in order to release games and films in a timely manner. Their claims for necessary “crunching” have previously been met with dissatisfaction, but begrudging acceptance, particularly as the animators did not have the legal protection to stand their ground. With the announcement of the push back, however, the “necessity” falls under great question.

The End of Game of Thrones: How a Good Show Can End Badly

*Warning for major Game of Thrones spoilers down below*

Last night was the series finale of Game of Thrones, which brought the end of both the show and a decade-long era. The eight-season show was both the most expensive ever produced, clocking in at around $10 million an episode, and the most globally popular.

However, even as the show ends with record viewership, the final two seasons left both fans of the books and of the show extremely disappointed. Episode after episode left a stream of complaints and critiques on social media, culminating in an explosion against the final two episodes.

Many fans wonder: what went wrong? It could be argued that the directors and writers of the show gained too much liberty once the show passed the point where the books have (hopefully temporarily) stopped. The writers and directors were only given a vague idea of where the author George R.R. Martin wanted to go, and had to fill in the rest while wrapping everything up by season eight. With such a colossal and complex plot to wrap up with little idea of where to go, it becomes easy to cut too many corners and create a disappointing ending.

Another argument for what went wrong can be timing. As the show progressed, the seasons got shorter, while the episodes stayed the same length. The show was attempting to eliminate major antagonists like Cersei Lannister and the Night King too quickly in order to wrap up on a planned schedule, which left fans feeling disappointed, and with the sense that wins against the villains were undeserved. It took four seasons to kill Tywin Lannister. It took six to uproot the Boltons from power and take back Winterfell. All of the sudden the Night King, who had been an important antagonist since season 2, is defeated in one single battle? And Cersei, who had been a mastermind of manipulation to maintain power, is killed by falling rocks? The wins feel completely undeserved.

Finally, and possibly the most important argument of where the show could have gone wrong, was the progression of character arcs. Before season 6, the show had the complex and already establish character arcs to work with, which allowed for incredibly interesting characters that attracted viewers. They may have diverged at certain major points, but the characters still acted how they most likely would have in the books.

Once they went beyond that point, they progressively lost sight of those character arcs. They held on pretty well for the sixth season, started getting shaky for the seventh season, and completely threw the characters away for the final season. Jaime Lannister, who had grown so much throughout the seasons, all the sudden was back to being a selfish person only interested in Cersei. All character development was thrown out just before his death, causing outrage among viewers.

The more notorious case, however, is Daenerys Targaryen. The beloved Mother of Dragons fell quickly into madness, becoming everything she tried to avoid. Which is all fine and well, if it had been properly fleshed out. Rather, her sudden fall to madness was crammed in two episodes, culminating in the final snap and turn to destruction. It was a slap in the face, both for the character and for the viewers. Perhaps if there had been more episodes the develop the madness arc, then there would not have been such an issue as there was. But because it was shoved in the span of a few episodes, it didn’t feel like a deserved fate for Daenerys.

The show overall left a bitter taste in the mouths of many disappointed fans. There have been petitions to change the final season (which is not going to happen), and constant criticisms flowing through social media. People have likened the show’s end to that of How I Met Your Mother and Lost, both of which had very disappointing endings.

James Charles Has Yet Another Controversy

This week has been a big week for Youtube controversies, especially centering around beauty guru James Charles. The 19 year old has come under fire for trying to pressure straight/questioning men into hooking up with him, causing him to lose a record 400,000 subscribers in less than 24 hours- and is still losing more.

The controversy began over a series of caught Coachella pictures of James Charles with aspiring model Gage Gomez, which has led to a fling of odd and “immature” social media behavior by James Charles, and an online battle around the beauty guru community.

The battle has led James Charles’ mentor, Youtuber Tati Westbrook, to come out with a video exposing the 19 year old. She revealed stories of his behavior trying to manipulate straight men, and how she had warned him to get help before such behavior ruined his career.

One story in particular, which took place at Westbrook’s birthday dinner, reveals that James Charles tried manipulating the waiter, and describing the graphically sexual things he wanted to do to the waiter, in front of her friends and family. When she tried to call out his behavior, he simply responded with “I don’t care, I’m a celebrity”.

Westbrook also called out James Charles for trying to manipulate and exploit straight men, then turn around and play himself out to be the victim. She claims that she is fed up with his behavior, after trying to help him “grow out” of his behavior for the last few years.

Reactions from observers are negative, with many saying it’s time to “cancel” James Charles, especially as this controversy isn’t the first for the beauty guru.

Some Highlights from the 2019 Met Gala

Today in New York was the 2019 Met Gala, an event that is not only the place to dress in creative outfits fitting each year’s theme, but also where funds are raised for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Fashion Institute. The Gala also marks the opening of the annual fashion exhibit, last year having been “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination”.

This year, celebrities had outfits designed based on their interpretation of “Camp: Notes on Fashion”.

Lady Gaga: Tonight, the host donned four different outfits on the carpet, beginning with a large billowing pink dress.

Gaga’s 1st outfit
Gaga’s 2nd outfit of the carpet.
Gaga’s 3rd look of the carpet-once again in pink.
Gaga’s 4th and final look, stripped down and black.

Cardi B wore a red dress that flowed out to a large circular trail tipped with feathers. The dress reportedly took 2,000 hours to make.

Cardi B in a dress designed by Thom Browne

Billy Porter, dressed in gold, came down the carpet carried by six shirtless men in a form reminiscent of the Egyptian Sun God Ra.

Billy Porter riding atop his carrier down the carpet.

Lizzo joined the gala dressed head-to-toe in pink, notably matching the pink carpet. What really caught people’s attention was the unveiling of her neon pink hair, after having recently appeared at the GLAAD’s in neon green.

Lizzo showing off her stunningly bright pink look.

Zendaya got to live the fairy tale life for a moment, wearing a replica of the original Disney’s Cinderella dress. She even came with her own Fairy Godmother.

Zendaya posing with the Fairy God Mother, who is pointing a smoking wand at her.

‘Sonic’ Director Agrees to Change Design of Sonic

Earlier this week, the first trailer for the new live-action Sonic was released, leading to a wave of criticism from the internet. The model of Sonic that appeared in the trailer was thought to be much worse than what had been seen in teaser posters, with the classic hedgehog looking like a weird fuzzy nightmare with human teeth.

The new trailer led to floods of memes, particularly surrounding the actor Jim Carrey, who is set to play the antagonist Eggman, saying that he will “carry the whole movie”. It also led to many artists editing the Sonic design to appear much more like his classic model from the games, leading to questions of how one artist can make a better design for a character in seemingly a few hours, when a company spent years making a monstrous design.

Well, the level of criticism seemed to reach the director, who understood what he needed to do loud and clear. Yesterday via Twitter Jeff Fowler announced that they would be changing the Sonic model to make him appear more like his classic features, which he imagines would appease fans and critics.

The announcement comes just six months before the supposed release date of the film, which excites some, but worries others, particularly artists. The media industry is rife with exploitation for artists, especially as these artists cannot unionize and advocate for themselves. The idea that they would have to change the main character’s model in just six months, with no announced push-back date, leaves the very great and dangerous possibility that these artists will be forced to work overtime for little pay in order to fix the design.

It’s not as though the artists can protest for better work conditions, either. With the media industry being so competitive, these artists can face harsh punishment for pushing back, or even get fired, and be replaced by someone willing to work the hard hours. It leaves the artists in a classic position of either doing what they’re forced to, or find themselves without a job.

The announcement to change the Sonic model comes only a week after developers and artists expose the exploitative work conditions in trying to quickly crunch out new content for the popular game Fortnite.

Blackpink Plays at Coachella

This past weekend, Kpop girl band Blackpink played at the first weekend of Coachella, becoming the first Kpop group to play at the musical event. They played a total of 13 songs, and became number one trending on Twitter, drawing thousands of Tweets by fans.

The quartet was given prime line-up for Coachella, appearing on the main stage Day One. They will also perform again this upcoming weekend, the 2nd weekend of Coachella. This performance will also be their first performance in the United States, although they have announced a full US tour for later this year

Blackpink, which is comprised of Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose, first debuted in 2016 with their hit single “Boombayah”, and blew up to the highest performing female Kpop group with their mega-hit “Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du” just last year. The group comes from YG Entertainment, a key company in the Kpop industry that has recently come under fire for the Seungri scandal.

The band was personally invited to the line-up by the head of Coachella, and joined alt-rock Hyukoh, avant-garde Jambinai, and Japanese electro-funk trio Perfume, drawing lots of attention from fans.

Why I’m Not Excited to See ‘The Rise of Skywalker’

Yesterday morning, Lucasfilms released the newest trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The trailer has brought about quite a bit of excitement for the film, which is expected to be released December 20 of this year. I can’t say I fall into this same boat.

My disinterest in the newest episode, which will wrap up the new sequel trilogy, isn’t because the jedi is a woman, or there is “too much diversity”, whatever that means. It’s more the fact of just how disappointing the trilogy has been up until this point. The new trilogy, when first announced, had so much potential to be good and unique, and actually bring something new to the Star Wars series, but fell short on so many points.

The biggest problem I saw was just how copy-paste the story line for both Episodes 7 and 8 were. Episode 7, which which kicked off the new trilogy, was mostly taken straight from Episode 4, with a sprinkling of Episodes 5 and 6 in there. It was unoriginal, but the production value and potential that existed in each of characters made it forgivable.

Episode 8, however, was unforgivable. It was literally Episode 5 in reverse, with an attempt at an original plot line that had ultimately no purpose other than to build a half-baked “romantic” relationship between Finn and Rose. It was an unnecessary waste of an entire hour.

The other unforgivable aspect was how they turned Rey into a Mary Sue. For those of you who don’t know what that is, a Mary Sue is pretty much a basic female character that is insanely overly powerful, and is instantly an expert at whatever they do. Rey, who had the potential to become a really good jedi, was wasted as she practically became a master jedi in about two weeks, rather than the months and even years Luke spent training. The jedi, canonically throughout both the original and the prequel series, spend years mastering their jedi capabilities, but apparently that’s not actually necessary cause Rey is suddenly just became a master. It ignores everything that’s been established about the jedi until that point.

Episode 8 as a whole was a pain to watch, and the series is bad for wasting so much potential by being unoriginal in order to “appeal” to people and make money. And its not like it’s because they can’t make original plot lines that are good. They 100 percent can, and did, with Rogue One. It’s just pure laziness. They simply want to push out “canon” content that will make immediate money, and don’t quite care how its done.

Marvel Announces New Filipino Superhero

Today Marvel revealed an exclusive cover featuring the new superhero Wave from the Philippines, who will join the Agents of Atlas team in the upcoming crossover War of Realms: New Agents of Atlas.

Director and comic writer Greg Pak first revealed Wave on Twitter back in February, and then posted a first photo of what she looks like March 8. Artist Mico Suayan, who did the new cover for “War of Realms” Issue 1, revealed earlier today that he based the image of Wave on the new cover off of Filipina actress Nadine Lustre, sparking rumors of whether or not she will portray her in possible future adaptations.

Wave, whose alter-ego is Pearl Pangan, wields two long swords based off the Filipino kampilan, the weapons of the ancient hero Lapu-Lapu. She is part of a new set of Asian superheroes that will appear in the new storyline, which will be set in Asia.

The new issue will be released in May, though preorders for the comic have been opened up. The reveal has drawn overwhelmingly positive reactions from fans, particularly from the Filipino community.

Government Crackdowns on Chinese Pop

Chinese-Pop, despite its popularity within China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, is rarely though of in the rest of the world. The genre lies continually in the shadows of the longstanding J-Pop, and the now booming K-Pop industries, although it has in recent years drawn more attention.

C-Pop has drawn an increasing amount of attention in recent years as it has come under the eye of government scrutiny for its “moral divergence”. The government, under Xi Jinping’s regime, has pushed for a return to more traditional Confucian morals, which argues a loyalty to hierarchy, and is used as a rejection of Western influence, and has recently turned its attention towards “cleansing” Chinese popular culture.

Back in January of 2018, the Chinese media regulator came out with an edict that said Chinese TV shows “should not feature actors with tattoos (or depict) hip hop culture, sub-culture and immoral culture,” in essence bringing the growing heyday of Chinese hip hop to a grinding halt. Hip Hop, which originated in the urban black population in the US, is a prime target for the “moral straightening” program that the Chinese government is aiming to implement, as it exists as the epitome of Western influence

Another, more recent possible act by the government, was the blurring of men’s pierced ears in January 2019. Both actors and C-Pop singers alike are now appearing on TV with blurred earlobes, which almost immediately drew criticisms from fans. The fans argued that the blurring of earrings, which was never explicitly implemented by the government (although most likely heavily suggested) reinforced the traditional, outdated standards of beauty for men and women.

In the regions outside of the major cities, the move to blur the earrings for the most part seems to have support, as traditional beliefs of hierarchy and gender still dominate. Men wearing earrings, to the rural population, was seen as “degrading” to the social status and strength of men.

The government is suspected with having a heavy hand in the decision to blur the earrings, as it would be another feature of the “moral straightening” of Chinese pop culture, and would function as a rejection again of Western culture.

The EU Passes Controversial Article 13

Yesterday, the EU passed a sweeping and wide-range set of copyright protection laws, most of which were rather uncontroversial. One article of the laws, known as Article 13, however, has come under major fire by not just the global populace, but also tech companies, and social media artists for posing the dangerous impact of severely limiting how media is shared.

The article states that companies like Youtube, Facebook, and Spotify will have to keep track of material that are believed to be “copywritten”, or at least against the compliance of an incredibly vague description of what counts as copyright. Certain services such as Wikipedia are exempt from these laws, as they are non-profits that do not benefit from the purposed violating material.

The new article poses a threat to vibrant internet cultures such as memes, which use unlicensed images as part of the culture. The new article would severely hurt such sub-cultures in the European Union, especially if bots, which cannot detect context, are used to track the violating material.

Another group under threat are European streamers, who may get striked or even shut down for streaming what games they are playing. It could cut the amount of streamers out, as these streamers would be afraid to display their games for fear of getting copyright striked.

Another blow the article poses would be to many tech companies, who argue that it would be a limit to free speech, and lead to possible censorship, which has drawn the harshest criticism. The article will also crush smaller news sites and other smaller companies, as they would have to pay to use information and snippets of information just to create news in a method known as the “link tax”. Only larger companies would be able to afford this “link tax” further crushing free speech and encouraging censorship.

There is still much uncertainty about how the article will even be applied, however, especially as it only applies to those within the EU. VPN poses a great challenge to the application of the article, as those with VPN can simply change their region base and gain access to the censored content, completely circumventing the article. Also, it would be just about impossible to catch every single thing that may violate copyright law, especially as different regions interact with one another.

The article, along with the rest of the laws, are not set to go into full effect for two years. There are already calls to overturn the passing of Article 13 by the European populace, who can implement a referendum to do away with Article 13.

Korean Pop Singer Seungri Calls it Quits After Sex Scandal Charges

Korean singer and actor Seung-ri, known by his stage name V.I. in Japan, was charged recently with providing prostitutes in a sex ring late last week. Despite denying these charges, the 28-year-old announced his retirement from Kpop in order to protect Big Bang and his company YG Entertainment.

The charges, which could lead to a three year prison sentence, came after a police raid of a nightclub in Seoul, one that Seung-ri, who’s real name is Lee Seung-hyun, controls. As a result, YG shares collapsed by a whopping 14 % the next morning.

The police raid, and the new charge, comes after a nightclub assault committed by him in January. Police began investigating into allegations such as supplying drugs to patrons, and giving drug-addled drinks to women to have sex with. The allegations don’t just extend back a few weeks, however. Text messages in 2015 between Seung-ri and three others discussed supplying prostitutes to potential investors to encourage them to invest in his club.

Although Seung-ri made claims that the text messages were fabricated by the journalist that exposed them, but that didn’t stop concerts in Osaka, Japan, and Jakarta, Indonesia from getting cancelled for Big Bang.

Korean Media has also exposed that YG has been throwing out shredded information, although the company denies that none of the information is related to the case.

The allegations at the moment come at a time when Seung-ri was both set to star in a sitcom produced by both YG and Netflix, and was a few weeks from going on leave to perform his mandatory military service. This leave will be postponed while the investigation goes on.

Despite the seriousness of these allegations, some staunch fans still avidly support Seung-ri, actively denying the allegations and getting aggressive towards the investigation, insisting that any and all victims were simply lying. Such fanaticism is both interesting and harmful, as it would make any victims feel unsafe speaking out, and would put Seung-ri on a pedestal. Perhaps the defensiveness comes from Big Bang’s legacy, which is both widespread among old-age Kpop fans and extremely positive, as members are known for being very kind. The allegations starkly contrast the reputation of the band, and threaten the legacy of it as well. Such threats trigger fans to get defensive, even if these allegations prove to be true (which at this rate, most likely are).

Now, it’s important to note, while Seung-ri may be the face of this scandal, he is merely alleged to be part of a high-scale and very large ring that involves both politicians and conglomerates in a class-A scandal that seems to deeply involved with nightclubs in Gangnam. Even as the police investigate into the ring, they are also enmeshed in the scandal, with some high-ranking positioned officials having been paid off to not look into the politicians and conglomerates. This relationship is not a one-time occurrence, either. It seems to be entrenched in South Korean politics, which has somewhat of a record for corrupt and closed-door practices, particularly in dealing with business. So, it’ll be interesting to see how the case develops, especially with the police being in a position as both the justice-bringers and as part of the corruption.

ICE Arrests 21 Savage

This morning, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, detained and is in the processes of deporting grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage in Atlanta. In their report, they reveal that the rapper, who was presumed to be American, was actually from England. The rapper, who’s real name is Shayaabin Abraham-Joseph came to the the US legally as a minor in 2005. However, once his visa expired in 2006, he continued to stay, never renewing it in the process.

The report shocked many 21 Savage fans, who associate the rapper strongly with the Georgia rap scene. In fact, the “21” in his name is in reference to a gang located in Decatur, Georgia. He now currently sits in a detention center in Georgia, awaiting trial before an immigration court.

The most interesting part about this revelation is the fact that this hadn’t been discovered before. Fans tend to go to stalker levels of information diving in order to find out everything they possibly can on a celebrity they follow. It’s surprising that no one looked further than his teenage years, or just followed the assumption that he was born in Atlanta, where he started his career.

Another surprising factor is that his immigration status didn’t come up during his felony drug charges in 2014. Felony charges done by immigrants, whether legal or non-legal, in the US gets the immigrant automatically deported, and they cannot appeal. Once they are deported, they are not allowed to even return to the US, even for vacation. The fact that all throughout his trial his status as an immigrant never came up. He was tried as a full US citizen.

How 21 Savage was able to keep his status a secret, especially being such a public figure, is rather intriguing. As the case stands, there is no certainty on whether or not he will get deported, even with a past felony charge putting him in a disadvantaged spot to begin with. It will be interesting to see how the events unroll.

Ariana Grande and the “Tiny BBQ Grill” Incident

Two days ago, singer Ariana Grande posted a tattoo she had gotten on her hand promoting her new song “7 rings” in Japanese, spelled out 七つの指輪. However, instead of having the whole phrase tattooed onto her hand, she was in too much pain to finish it, and instead shortened it to just read 七
輪. While it technically can also mean “7 rings”, in colloquial Japanese, it really means “small barbecue grill”.

Japanese speakers, and those fluent in Japanese, were quick to notice, and make fun of it. All over twitter people were calling Grande out, and some even went so far as to tattoo dumb phrases onto their hand and say it was something else (my personal favorite is someone who wrote “I wanna die” on their hand).

Grande didn’t seem to take this in offense, however, defending herself by saying she actually enjoys tiny barbecue grills, and that she was aware of the incorrect grammar. She also said that since the area was prone to flaking, if she really missed the tattoo, then she would suffer through the pain and get the correct version the next time around.

However, as of this morning, she had the tattoo altered (with licodaine shots), with a message on instagram saying that she would “miss her tiny grill”. It seems the online mockery did get to her. Japanese twitter is still making fun of the mistake however, most likely a result of being tired of having white celebrities use their language for the sake of “aesthetic”. Which would make sense, since it is kind of strange to use a language for aesthetic.

Strange and Unusual Incidents at Universal

Having already spoken about strange incidents that occurred at Disneyland park, I felt that it would only be fair if I also spoke about strange events that occurred at one of LA’s other big parks, Universal Studios. This amusement park is about ten years younger than Disney, but has had a surprisingly little amount of incidents within the Hollywood location. This may be a result of the fact that the park focuses more on attractions than actual rides, but that wouldn’t entirely explain the low amount of incidents. I’ll try to focus on the strange ones, but it seems stranger to me just how few incidents there were.

Universal Fat-Shaming

Now, Harry Potter World has been open for a number of years in both the Orlando and the Hollywood location. However, it is only very recently that one of Hollywood attractions, a ride that occurs inside the Hogwarts castle, has started to come under fire by some plus-sized people, who complain that the ride was too small for them. The seats on this ride, which are standard engineered to only hold up to a certain weight (as the attraction flips the rider both onto their back and stomach), could not seat these people, leading to a few videos on Youtube. This is not an easily solvable issue, as the seat can only be adjusted so much before it can no longer be safely compatible with both plus-sized and extremely thin people.

Backlot Fires

There have been 9 backlot fires throughout Universal Studio’s history. Most notably, however, is the most recent fire, which demolished the original King Kong portion of the studio tours, as well as several other sections of the tour. It made the news for the amount of damage it caused (though no one was hurt), leading to the rebuilding and developing of the whole section.

Runaway Railway

In 2016, one of the Studio Backlot tour trams ran into a sign that was protruding from a railway section. No one died, and those injured were quickly taken care of on the scene. How the sign poked out is unknown.