Manufacturers throughout world give a hand and arm to Universal
By Susan G. Strother

Universal Studios Florida has scoured the country and one or two areas outside it - to find the exhibit equipment it needs for the $600 million theme park it plans to open May 1.

Peter Alexander, Universal's vice president for rides and shows, helped design many of the attractions that will be within the Orlando park and has visited many of the vendors.

The mechanical arm in the King Kong Kongfrontation ride is being built in Utah, Alexander said, while the water sprites in the E.T. attraction are under construction in Vermont.

E.T.'s star-bound bike ride will be built in Switzerland, as will a Hanna- Barbera ride, Gorilla costumes are being sewn in England, and the score for a Phantom of the Opera show will be recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra.

"I've logged a lot of Delta frequent-flier miles," Alexander said. He was on hand last week when the curtain roser for a preview of a skit from the movie The Fly, which is part of the live show at the park's Phantom of the Opera attraction.

Much of the equipment being made for Universal involves the use of computers. The 200-pound. 5-foot-tall fly from the 20th Century Fox movie, for example, is programmed to creep out of its pod and onto the stage.

Two Los Angeles companies created the Fly, according to Richard Crane. the show's producer. Apogee Productions, a special-effects house. made the "teleportation pods" from which the creature emerges.

Creative Productions built the fly and gave it the microchip brain that atlows it to follow along scripted moves.

The preview Thursday, however, revealed some kinks in the system.

The Fly's arms didn't move as expected and the smoke pouring out of the pod was so thin that the audience could see workers open the trap door to insert the creature.

"The fact that the stuff works at all is a miracle," Alexander said.

The Phantom show is intended to give viewers an idea of the special skills involved in horror makeup. Rick Baker, who won an Academy Award for his make- up work in An American Werewolf in London, is a consultant on the show. Crane said.

In American Werewolf, Baker studied the facial-bone structure of both man and dog to transform the actor into a werewolf. In the past, camera tricks had been used to dissolve the actor's face into that of a werewolf.

Baker, however, created a mechanical head and used rods and cables to push the bone structure from the face to depict the painful transition from man to beast.

"It was quite a sequence," Crane said.

Baker also did the makeup in more recent movies, Harry and the Hendersons and Gorillas in the Mist.

The Phantom show will begin with visitors walking into an entry area. where they can view original horror artifacts, including the mask that Lon Chaney wore in Phantom of the Opera and the body of the Regan, the possessed youngster, in The Exorcist.

Visitors also will see the Phantom, who will burst through a mirror, amble up to Opera Box No. 5 and disappear before the audience. Crane said the latter stunt is particularly difficult because the Phantom, a real actor, disappears while standing within five feet of the nearest visitor.

The Phantom show is expected to be operational by March and then will undergo two months of rehearsals before the May opening, Crane said. In addition to ushers, five or six other people will be used in the Phantom, including several actors and two puppeteers.

One actor will wear a 55 pound gorilla suit designed by Baker. The suit is covered in human hair with each strand inserted individually.

Tapes of the Phantom and other shows within the park will be delivered to director Steven Spielberg. a Universal consultant, for any suggestions, Alexander said.

Alexander is among Universal's inner circle, and worked closety on the park's design with both Spielberg and MCA Inc. President Sidney Sheinberg. Alexander helped develop the theme for each of the attractions.

Sheinberg did offer some pointers, however. He was particularly interested in the Jaws exhibit because it had been under his tenure as head of the studio that the Jaws movie series has garnered great success.

"He [Sheinberg] comes up to me with that cigar in his mouth. and says, 'In every shark picture, the shark blows up in the end,'" Alexander said. "So, I found someone who could make a shark blow up every 60 seconds."