The first power rangers film was filmed there along with a good chunk of mmpr s2 the titanic experience building showed up in return of the green ranger.
There’s lots of documentary channels centered on theme parks on RUclips but this one is criminally underrated. Such great content! Looking forward to more!
I've shot a bunch of TV shows and movies in this studio, I remember accidentally walking onto the set of Alien Covenant one day and thinking to myself "strewth, we're shooting some weird shit today" and then a very mean looking fella asked me what I was doing there and escorted me out, it's still a pretty magical place in those studios!
I was so excited when it first opened and was one of the first to visit. It was a huge disappointment and I expected them to add more rides/expand, but they never did. I ended up back there as an extra when they made Shang-Chi. Brought back a lot of memories.
For sure, I waited years for the promised theme park to open, lived 20kms away and have never heard of the Titanic experience. I do remember going there and seeing a prop display thing with no cool stuff and thinking it was a pretty dud theme park. I would have been right onto the Titanic ride, I really like that style ride and used to travel to Gold Coast to go on the Batman ride. Did they ever actually advertise in Sydney, it doesn't sound like it. In fact I think I am still annoyed they moved the Easter Show, it had so much more character there.
To clarify, The Simpsons was not a ride. It was a motion capture showcase; they chose a member of the public (I was lucky enough to do it when I visited) and they'd give you a type of harness to wear. The 'Australian kid' character on the screen behind you, would move based on your own movement. Homer would then walk in and challenge you to a dance-off. I have the video on NTSC Video8, but I've been unable to digitise it. The other interesting part was that they showed an alternative 'Bart vs Australia' episode, in which Homer blows Australia up.
It was ridiculously over priced at $200 AUD for a family day pass which is why it failed, but it's not abandoned it has just gone back to being a normal movie studio, Star Wars, The Matrix and the Return Superman were made there. The studio section is closed to the public but there still a thriving entertainment area.
Great review! As a local I have always regretted not catching this park while it was still around. Any chance of a video on Manly Fun Pier? May have closed to early to have good material.
The park really should have survived longer than what it did, though it was small it did have some great experiences. This year we are looking to do some more Australian Theme Park based history like this one so we will have a look at Manly Fun Pier for sure and see if there's enough information for a good video. - Luke
Wonderland was always very popular. The reason it closed was because the owners sold the park to a company who promised expansion but ended up closing it for money.
I worked there. Bit of info, the Simpson's attraction was closed down the day Matt Groening came to Sydney to see it. He hated it and said that's not how Simpson's was made.
I remember going to Fox Studios when I was a kid. We did the Titanic experience. I must say that it is something I will never forget. It was awesome. They deserved the awards for it.
I was the longest standing employee of this extraordinary experience. Makes me so sad to see what transpired. Got my 3 yr pin, from build to bye bye. Had the privilege of working with an amazing array of characters that I'm proud to say because my friends and family to this day. Thankyou fox, as hard as it was to say goodbye, many happy days were spent there.xx
I did twelve months from beginning. Great memories of the whole experience. Feel very blessed being a part of Australia moving forward in a big way. Awesome move Rupert
Man sydney was such a wonderous place for a kid back then. Fox backlot, Imax, Segaworld, the aquarium, Techno City, Luna Park, Wonderland. Channel V had jabba doing live shows out of the sanity at moore park. Social Media was a mistake.
So true!... I got out of Sydney 10 years ago and thank god I did! Every time I return on a business trip or to visit friends, I can’t believe just how it has changed for the worse! I can’t wait to get back home, virtually within minutes of arriving lol
I’ve worked at Fox Studios since 1999 on the movies that are made there. I can confirm it was always set up to fail after 2 years so that Fox could repurpose the sound stages for movies. The Matrix Reloaded-Revolutions was being shot as the backload started closing to the public, and that production immediately took over the space. No coincidence it was totally planned.
@@brettjones4733 And if it flopped, Fox gets all of the sound stages without having to share them with the public, that’s roughly a 30% increase in lot size without having to pay anything extra. What gets me is that it’s supposed to be Commonwealth public land & now federation buildings on the lot are totally inaccessible to the general public for many generations to come.
And now there's a new theme park. It's called 21 century fox world in Malaysia but DISNEY BLOCK IT AND THEY WANT TO SUE MALAYSIA CAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO BUILD RIGHT NEXT TO CASINO???
Em Radford I know this makes me so upset titanic, babe and the simpsons were like my favourite things to watch as a 6 year old I’m like sitting here crying because the only way I can remember it is through photo albums, if I had a time machine I’d go back to fox studios theme park for the day and get a photo kissing Edward scissor hands
wonderland was down the road, was it? must be a fake aussie accent because wonderland was literally the opposite side of sydney and over an hr drive on a good day or half a days travel away on public transport. also unless ur a kenyan power walker the location was unreachable on foot and a $20 taxi ride from sydney cbd
opposite side of sydney? well considering most people live in western sydney it was actually in the exact right place. it was just opposite to you. if you put it anywhere in sydney it will still be far away for a lot of people. stupidist comment ive ever read
FOX tried again to open another park under the name 20th Century Fox World Malaysia in Genting, Malaysia but it got cancelled last minute when Disney bought over 21st Century Fox.
Big Buck's to but there’s a potential for Fox World Dubai to proceed because Dubai Parks & Resorts is looking for a brand/studio to open the 5th theme park. The park in Malaysia totally got scraped last minute after Disney found out the new upcoming Fox World theme park is located next to a casino. A little bit disappointed bcs the park is already half way completed and was on scheduled to open in 2019 🤧
Good News.... sorta...! The Malaysian theme park is *not* completely cancelled. When Disney and FOX lost the lawsuit against the property owner. FOX has started another approved lawsuit the the same company due to the theme park being at too much for a finish state to demolish. So for now, it is unknown if the theme park will close or open. I hope FOX wins the lawsuit.
Amir Afiq Very interested to see what becomes of this almost-completed Malaysian park... Sounds like either Disney / Fox will work out a deal with Genting, or an actual theme park company will swoop in and remove all IP references and it will become some sort of "generic Hollywood" park.
Thanks for the kind words! It's a shame that the park was so short-lived, the Titanic attraction deserved so many more guests than it ended up receiving! - Luke
Wow, thanks for the flashback. My first job out of school while a studing at Uni was at Sega World. When that closed down I got a job at Fox Studios before it even opened. I hated it so much that a week after getting the job and about a week before it opened I just stopped turning up to work. Aside from the Titanic experience it was a pretty terrible excuse for a theme park.
Wow The Titanic Experience looked awesome, those are the types of attractions that Universal studio's Florida used to have but are now closing down in favour of either VR experiences or Roller Coasters, personally I would like to see a return to the good old family attractions like Jaws, Kongfrontation and the Titanic one in your video.
Apart from the Titanic attraction the place had nothing to offer. It was a folly by 20th CF & done on the cheap compared to Disney. You could go in at 9am & be done by 10:30am & be poorer for the privilege. It took me 3 days to go around Disneyland properly, admittedly the crowds had a part in that. But it was mega, not just part of a clause in a contract.
@@phurphy Basically if you've noticed its called 'Entertainment quarter', so the part opened to the public is separate from the fox lot itself,. The part with all the studios and sound stages are owned by fox (or Disney now ) so their not connected. recently the public part was bought by some guy for $70 million, i think he might put apartments or something. i know all this cause i actually work at the cinema there... hope this helped
I remember going there as a kid and watched them filming Channel V, just near the entrance. "Jabba" was filming and would smoke darts between songs and ad breaks, and would keep the lit cigarette on the concrete floor while filming
It's interesting how popular the whole "movie studio backlot" theme was for a while there. It didn't seem to matter whether there was an actual working backlot there or not. These days even the surviving parks with that theme seem to be moving away from it: there are certainly still movie-themed attractions but less of the "behind the scenes" conceit, which only ever really worked in a couple of places.
It was an interesting era for Theme Parks for sure, and probably a cheap one too where highly themed lands could be replaced by big tan "soundstages". Most of the interest in these parks seem to fall when things like DVD Extras started showing us "behind the scenes" on films, and the allure and mystery of movie making was wiped away. - Luke
The Fox Studios were used to stage the 2012 reboot of Young Talent Time and immediately proved inadequate for a production like YTT. Perhaps the choice of the studio was part of the TV network's attempt to sabotage the rebooted YTT so it would not survive beyond its initial 13-edition run because the network did not want to be saddled with what promised to be a hit TV show. As was proven from 1971 to 1988, a show like Young Talent Time needs a a PROPER TV studio with plenty of floor space for props and set design. The studios of Station ATV-Melbourne were perfect for the original YTT but these Fox studios..... RUBBISH!
Incredible here in Mexico with the props Fox sent, they first opened a theme park too, in Rosarito (the actual Titanic film Location) but also for lack of visitors they closed it and now is also a filming studios just like there in Australia
In 2012 a revived Young Talent Time was produced here in one of the studio spaces. The producers certainly could've done far better than to choose this place. There is another element to the failure of this place that has been overlooked, and that is the STIGMA of Rupert "Sleaze King" Murdoch's involvement in owning all or even part of the Fox enterprises.
I lived in Sydney when the theme park still existed. The Titanic Experience was extremely well done. Channel V was broadcast from there. Saw a free show by The Dandy Warhols one freezing Friday night. The movie theatre was awesome and the place was always busy. I moved from Sydney in 2005. I had some great experiences at Fox Studios.
I was a performer in “Lights Camera Chaos” playing Leonardo Di Kangaroo.... surely people have video of this somewhere but it’s impossible to find any footage.
In all of my research for the video I could find almost nothing about that show, no footage, no pictures nothing. You might be able to finally answer this question for me Brett, what was the show? Were you guys in full fur costumes, face characters, what did you do? - Luke
ReviewTyme the stage show was called “Lights Camera Chaos” produced by Bazmark Productions.. Baz Lurhman.. the show is based on a director creating a musical called “Space - The Musical”... a kangaroo going into space. The director is called “Eric Von Roo”.. Lead role is “Leonardo Di Kangaroo”.. I played Leonardo.. other cast members were “Carmen Cockatoo”, a Koloa named “Baby Jane”, 3 Emu Showgirls “Joyce... I cant remember the other 2 showgirl names right at this point, I’d have to listen to the soundtrack again. Then there were also the film crew, Camera Man, Clapper, Boom as well as the host and the surprise guest audience member who was actually a cast member “Kylie Biggins”. I also played the role of Clapper (the clapper board). The Emu Showgirls were cast members on Stilts. Eric, Leonardo, Carmen and Baby Jane were all suit characters.. the film crew and host were human characters as well as Kylie Biggins. The show was approx. 25 mins long. The Emu Showgirls were played by male cast members as well as female. Towards the end of the Backlot when profit was down and the company was looking to cut costs, 3 Showgirls became 2 Showgirls only, so we lost one character there, as well as Baby Jane being scrapped, so they had to make adjustments to the script and soundtrack... only minor thou. The show was performed 3 times a day during peak times (school holidays), and off peak was twice a day. I know one of my fellow cast members secretly filmed one of the shows... the producers were strict on “no filming policy” by audiences, as all shows are. So I know one of the cast members have the show but I don’t know who and where they are. Also back in those days we didn’t have access to the technology we have today, with all mobile phones having cameras to film nowadays. I still remember most of the choreography of the show... I still listen to it from time to time and get up and do the choreography. I absolutely loved the show and they were the best days of my life. I scratched up 293 shows, would’ve made it to over 300 had I not been hit by a car and ended up in hospital with a head injury 2 weeks before we closed down. That was the hardest part, not getting to do a final show and being told of the closure on the news whilst resting at home. Then after that, being notified by my stage manager on the phone that the park would be closing and we were all to loose our favourite job. The last known whereabouts of the Leonardo Di Kangaroo suit character costume was when I was at Luna Park one day and I was shocked to see someone wearing MY costume.. Leonardo was walking around Luna Park. I’m assuming the person inside that Suit character had no idea where the suit come from and the history of that costume.
I was there. The staff would allot the visitors to either experience a first class ride or a third class ride. Being Asian, I thought to myself that I would be sent to the third class ride and indeed that was the case. I bought a Simpsons T Shirt and a cap there.
Wonderland Sydney was NOT just down the road. Where do you keep getting the idea that Wonderland was in Eastern Sydney. As for the Fox theme park it was ALWAYS going to be closed and always designed to fail.
I went on the Titanic ride and it was absolutely excellent, but the rest of the park was indeed underwhelming. It’s a bit of a shame that all of those beautiful old Easter show buildings are now inaccessible to the public.
Just like all american film studios get a heap of money from a local government, Pay no tax and then walk away with all the profits leaving a mess for someone else to clean up. Although it was an amazing time in Sydney with heaps of attractions and the Olympics in 2000.
I visited this park a couple of times. Once about 6 months after it opened, and again just before it closed. The writing was already on the wall the first time I visited. So I documented it extensively on video. The most interesting thing there was probably the history of Australian television with many re-created sets from a variety of old/contemporary shows. You could also watch them shooting Farscape too, back when that was in production there. Might have to dig out the camera tapes. Edit: There was also a James Bond ride that is not mentioned in this video
It's such a shame that this park didn't even open with a chance at success. I only saw one mention of the James Bond ride in all my research and interviews about the park and apparently it was owned by a separate private company who leased a spot of land for it right outside the gates to the backlot. If you ever get the chance to digitise that footage we would love to see it! - Luke
I was in the show and worked in the backlot doing street theatre as well. If anyone has any footage of the lights camera chaos shows you should def upload that
the James Bond ride was a film, and not part of the theme park. You had to pay an extra ticket to get in. I didn't do it because I thought it was a massive rip off, after the $40 ticket.
Incredible how a park make a ride based on a tragedy, you know, one that kill 1500. The line between representing a how a movie was made and a real terrible event is almost invisible.
It's funny how after Disney with MGM at the helm and Universal start their movie parks, Paramount, Fox and other companies never can get off the ground. It's a shame, I wish they would try again with a fresh start and not right after 911.
There have been a few attempts of other movie companies lately such as MotionGate and Fox Studios Malaysia but most of these haven't been as successful as they would have hoped (Or in the case of Fox Studios, looks like it will never even open). - Luke
Great video! I live in New Zealand and was lucky enough to visit the studio park in the short time that it was open. Being a huge Titanic fan I just had to go to visit the Titanic Experience. It was absolutely stunning. It would be great if it could be rebuilt in one of the Titanic museums around the world (eg Orlando.) I visited the park on a week day and I was struck by the lack of visitors (There seemed to be more staff than guests.) and I was surprised by the high cost of entry considering the lack of attractions on the site. As you say in the video, it was no surprise that it closed. Sadly, I visited the week after they started painting the Star Wars Phantom Menace sets so the studios public viewing walkway was curtained off. Doh!
It's such a shame the park made so many mistakes that lead to its ultimate downfall and the loss of the amazing Titanic Attraction. With some more foresight and attractions, I could honestly see the park still being opened today. - Luke
A little annoyed I didn’t get here now, as I was working at the Sydney 2000 olympics and was in the area at the time. It seems like a missed opportunity and makes me wonder what else I should be exploring in my hometown of melbourne, before well it dissapears.
Carribean Gardens & Market is dead too... Thanks to Covid-19. Had a classic Jungle Cruise ride that was great. You also missed Luna Park having two rollercoasters, Big Dipper then Metropolis as well as Scenic Railway, instead of just the one.
I was 13 when I went to Fox Studios. I went once when it was just opened and again when it became almost a ghost town. I still have the tag from a Fox Studios hip bag and my original entry ticket (also two 2000 Sydney Olympic Games tickets) in a photo book but it's currently sealed in a box in a locked up storage box in a warehouse :( I also had a sneaky picture of the shirts from Romeo + Juliet in the museum part. My Dad may have more pictures though. He took pics of days out with me a lot as a kid, I'm a child of divorce and Dad had visitation weekends :(
@@TheRealFry2024 Yeah I saw an article pop up on my phone on that only a few months ago when the announcement for the filming of the new Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes movie was happening at the Sydney studio. It was only a matter of time that another name change was imminent once Disney bought out Fox! They also changed the company name from 20th Century Fox Television to just '20th Television'.
@@lmaree200886 Lazy Disney rebranding. Disney stole 20th Television from the original 20th Television which did syndication after they shutdown that division. same with ABC Signature. They also made 20th Century Fox World into Genting Skyworlds and Fox Star Studios into Star Studios. I could go on but there is like a lot of rebranding. Disney did it to avoid confusion with FOX Corporation.
I went there for the Titanic experience and wasn’t disappointed. It was pretty awesome. The rest of the exhibits there were good too. Glad I got to experience it.
Great video, I had no idea this was ever even a thing. It's sad how many parks we've had close or never built here. It makes me wonder if that's why Disney keeps holding off on committing to Australia because they see a chain of failures.
They didn't do much marketing of this. I lived close by and never knew it existed. As it was suggested ...built to fail. The old showground was a fabulous park built for the Royal Easter Show and they leased it to Murdock who cut it to pieces and ruined the character of the place.
I was there once on holiday. I took photos with Simpsons decoration and bought a Simpsons T Shirt and cap there. The Titanic experience was lacklustre.
This was really interesting but is there any chance you might one day film what's left of the abandoned park? I'd love to see what's left of it from the inside 👍
Have you ever watched The Voice Australia, Chris & Julia's Sunday Night Takeaway, Shark Tank and many more tv shows, there's your view inside Fox Studios today, it's still a working studio making movies and tv every day, they just shut the theme park area and expanded the movie studios by re-purposing some of the theme park buildings into Fox studio production..
@@ReviewTyme A few years ago my work hired a space there to conduct some market research, so I got to spend an entire weekend there - you bet I "wandered off" so I could have a look around! For the most part a lot of the shopfronts and theming remain in tact. It was very cool. But also sad it didnt stay as a park. I was lucky enough to go at the time too.
We actually had plans to attend the opening of that park this year before all the lawsuits happened! We may explore the very interesting history of the park though once we get some closure on the craziness happening around it at the moment! - Luke
The high cost of a ticket probably was a good indicator that they never intended it to draw big crowds. They just wanted the land. If you look at the size of movie studios in Hollywood that area is about right for a studio.
One thing you didn't mention is that the Bent Street public area had a number of billboards commemorating key Australian films (The Story of the Kelly Gang, The Sentimental Bloke, For the Term of his Natural Life, Dad and Dave, Jedda, Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee). I remember one placed above Channel V headquarters, and a couple at the car park. These were in place until at least 2010, but they are gone now.
I live 20kms away, Love movie theme parks and was in my late teens early 20's when this opened and still didn't know it existed. I was even excited when we heard it was going to be a theme park and dissappointed the promised theme park never happened. Either this was a massive failure in marketing or it was deliberate.
I experienced the “Titanic experience” at a young age, around 10 or 11 years old. Only a few years later, myself and my mother revisited the “park” a number of times to be apart of the audience for Channel V, which at the time was hosted by Osher Günsberg (previously known as Andrew G). Interesting times…
I’m Australian and I didn’t even know that this existed...
Same...
Same as me
Yep same. News to me too.
The first power rangers film was filmed there along with a good chunk of mmpr s2 the titanic experience building showed up in return of the green ranger.
Jeffrey Piatt even though the power rangers film was filmed in 1995?
There’s lots of documentary channels centered on theme parks on RUclips but this one is criminally underrated. Such great content! Looking forward to more!
I've shot a bunch of TV shows and movies in this studio, I remember accidentally walking onto the set of Alien Covenant one day and thinking to myself "strewth, we're shooting some weird shit today" and then a very mean looking fella asked me what I was doing there and escorted me out, it's still a pretty magical place in those studios!
I loved the Titanci experience. I was so exciting as a kid.
Wish this stayed around! Some of these attractions sound really fun!
I was so excited when it first opened and was one of the first to visit. It was a huge disappointment and I expected them to add more rides/expand, but they never did. I ended up back there as an extra when they made Shang-Chi. Brought back a lot of memories.
So Fox acquired public land in the centre of the city by creating a theme park predestined to fail. Well played, Murdoch.
For sure, I waited years for the promised theme park to open, lived 20kms away and have never heard of the Titanic experience. I do remember going there and seeing a prop display thing with no cool stuff and thinking it was a pretty dud theme park. I would have been right onto the Titanic ride, I really like that style ride and used to travel to Gold Coast to go on the Batman ride. Did they ever actually advertise in Sydney, it doesn't sound like it. In fact I think I am still annoyed they moved the Easter Show, it had so much more character there.
To clarify, The Simpsons was not a ride. It was a motion capture showcase; they chose a member of the public (I was lucky enough to do it when I visited) and they'd give you a type of harness to wear. The 'Australian kid' character on the screen behind you, would move based on your own movement. Homer would then walk in and challenge you to a dance-off. I have the video on NTSC Video8, but I've been unable to digitise it.
The other interesting part was that they showed an alternative 'Bart vs Australia' episode, in which Homer blows Australia up.
I remember going on that titanic ride as a school kid... and seeing the prop guns from Baz Luhrman's 'Romeo + Juliet'. They were pretty slick.
If this was still open today, it would be easily the best theme park in Australia. Maybe even one of the best in the world.
I remember going there when it was the Easter Show ground. Homebush just doesn’t have the same sense of nostalgia. At least for me.
nice piece - we shot 2 hour long broadcast specials on the opening
This channel deserves more subs
It was ridiculously over priced at $200 AUD for a family day pass which is why it failed, but it's not abandoned it has just gone back to being a normal movie studio, Star Wars, The Matrix and the Return Superman were made there. The studio section is closed to the public but there still a thriving entertainment area.
So they actually had the Titanic Experience like in Rick and Morty??? LOL
TheBestRUclipsChannelEverTimesInfinity exactly what I thought 😂😂
This is a shame. I really would love to go to something like this
This would take off if they relaunched it today. Sydney needs a theme park. What a shame they don't do a relaunch.
Ya deserve way more subs!! Your videos are awesome! Keep up the great work
I legit live around the corner and it’s like a plaza now. Has an equestrian centre, restaurants and a movie cinema.
Great review! As a local I have always regretted not catching this park while it was still around. Any chance of a video on Manly Fun Pier? May have closed to early to have good material.
The park really should have survived longer than what it did, though it was small it did have some great experiences. This year we are looking to do some more Australian Theme Park based history like this one so we will have a look at Manly Fun Pier for sure and see if there's enough information for a good video. - Luke
Nice one
This park should be reopned before the Developers grab it !...
This could potentially be Disneyland Sydney one day...
Considering the Disney-Fox merger is almost finished, we can all agree that Disney is an official Monopoly
This is an epic video!
I can't remember wen i went but it was empty n i dont remember doing any of the experiences, must've been towards the end idk
TBH you didn't miss out on much, kids.
Wonderland down the road and the far superior Warner Bros Movie World interstate.
The wonderland didn't fare too well either.
Wonderland was always very popular. The reason it closed was because the owners sold the park to a company who promised expansion but ended up closing it for money.
Is this the one in moore park???
Yep that’s the one! - Luke
Wtf no way.... it looks so different now
Will there one day be a 911 ride and a famous 911 movie
Bp oil exploring experience?
I worked there. Bit of info, the Simpson's attraction was closed down the day Matt Groening came to Sydney to see it. He hated it and said that's not how Simpson's was made.
Haha as if that is true.
Matt Gaying was always a dkhead to Australia that Australia Shitsons episode as an example to that.
ba sillah Bit upset are we?
@@basillah7650 i guess you're not a big fan of knifey/spooney?
That's so funny. I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking, this looks sketchy and weird. Not surprised he wasn't happy with the quality.
I remember going to Fox Studios when I was a kid. We did the Titanic experience. I must say that it is something I will never forget. It was awesome. They deserved the awards for it.
I’m jealous. Titanic Experience looked amazing
I did it as well and I agree it was amazing!
Were you 1st or 3rd class.....seems a weird ride of 2 different experiences, I would want to do both for the money!
Garry COX I think I was lower class. We had to run through the bowels of the ship. Water EVERYWHERE
same here!
I was the longest standing employee of this extraordinary experience. Makes me so sad to see what transpired. Got my 3 yr pin, from build to bye bye. Had the privilege of working with an amazing array of characters that I'm proud to say because my friends and family to this day. Thankyou fox, as hard as it was to say goodbye, many happy days were spent there.xx
I did twelve months from beginning. Great memories of the whole experience. Feel very blessed being a part of Australia moving forward in a big way. Awesome move Rupert
Man sydney was such a wonderous place for a kid back then. Fox backlot, Imax, Segaworld, the aquarium, Techno City, Luna Park, Wonderland. Channel V had jabba doing live shows out of the sanity at moore park. Social Media was a mistake.
And a monorail!
Remember the Zerts restaurant? We had so many cool things to do in Sydney when we were kids.
well said
Segaworld! I'd love to see a video on that.
So true!...
I got out of Sydney 10 years ago and thank god I did!
Every time I return on a business trip or to visit friends, I can’t believe just how it has changed for the worse!
I can’t wait to get back home, virtually within minutes of arriving lol
I’ve worked at Fox Studios since 1999 on the movies that are made there. I can confirm it was always set up to fail after 2 years so that Fox could repurpose the sound stages for movies. The Matrix Reloaded-Revolutions was being shot as the backload started closing to the public, and that production immediately took over the space. No coincidence it was totally planned.
Exactly right, it was always meant to fail , I ran my business at fox from 98 to 2020 and when i went on the soft launch I knew it would flop .
@@brettjones4733 And if it flopped, Fox gets all of the sound stages without having to share them with the public, that’s roughly a 30% increase in lot size without having to pay anything extra. What gets me is that it’s supposed to be Commonwealth public land & now federation buildings on the lot are totally inaccessible to the general public for many generations to come.
@@sunsetgarage755
Exactly , and they got a 99 year lease on it 😡
Going on that Titanic ride as a 10 year old, was the scariest thing I had ever done!! I still wont go on a curse. Thanx Fox Studios!!!
My bitch ass lil cuz cried on that shit and we're still gammin on him for that to this day.
bet you shit your pants eh. dont worry, your heart will go on :P
This may sound really weird but I swear I died on the actual titanic in a past life
@@emoechelon19xx LMAOOOO
Cruises are overrated anyways :)
The fact that I’m an Aussie and didn’t know this existed is sad. I wish it had of been successful and was open today..
Really? I went there several times when it was open.
Do you live in Sydney?
And now there's a new theme park. It's called 21 century fox world in Malaysia but DISNEY BLOCK IT AND THEY WANT TO SUE MALAYSIA CAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO BUILD RIGHT NEXT TO CASINO???
Em Radford I know this makes me so upset titanic, babe and the simpsons were like my favourite things to watch as a 6 year old I’m like sitting here crying because the only way I can remember it is through photo albums, if I had a time machine I’d go back to fox studios theme park for the day and get a photo kissing Edward scissor hands
I saw it. But unfortunately I did not get in as it was closed.
I'm a Sydneysider and didn't know it existed!
wonderland was down the road, was it? must be a fake aussie accent because wonderland was literally the opposite side of sydney and over an hr drive on a good day or half a days travel away on public transport. also unless ur a kenyan power walker the location was unreachable on foot and a $20 taxi ride from sydney cbd
And upwards of $100 taxi/uber fare.
opposite side of sydney? well considering most people live in western sydney it was actually in the exact right place. it was just opposite to you. if you put it anywhere in sydney it will still be far away for a lot of people. stupidist comment ive ever read
olkasbrix The dude’s from Australia genius
The point was you could go to either for the day, and we’re more likely to go to Wonderland
FOX tried again to open another park under the name 20th Century Fox World Malaysia in Genting, Malaysia but it got cancelled last minute when Disney bought over 21st Century Fox.
Amir Afiq Including Dubai
Big Buck's to but there’s a potential for Fox World Dubai to proceed because Dubai Parks & Resorts is looking for a brand/studio to open the 5th theme park.
The park in Malaysia totally got scraped last minute after Disney found out the new upcoming Fox World theme park is located next to a casino.
A little bit disappointed bcs the park is already half way completed and was on scheduled to open in 2019 🤧
Good News.... sorta...! The Malaysian theme park is *not* completely cancelled. When Disney and FOX lost the lawsuit against the property owner. FOX has started another approved lawsuit the the same company due to the theme park being at too much for a finish state to demolish.
So for now, it is unknown if the theme park will close or open. I hope FOX wins the lawsuit.
Amir Afiq
Very interested to see what becomes of this almost-completed Malaysian park...
Sounds like either Disney / Fox will work out a deal with Genting, or an actual theme park company will swoop in and remove all IP references and it will become some sort of "generic Hollywood" park.
They now call it Genting Skyworlds. But it could have been "20th Century Studios World" Instead.
Wonder if in a 100 years there’ll be 9/11 the experience...
I don't think it'll take that long.
There is. It's Called MH370 down under.
In hundred yes theyll be a human experience lol
We've been making video games about WWII for decades now so probably won't even take that long.
This exists ^ there are a few games in fact @@klikitzsmith8416
Wow that was extremely well done! I’ve heard of The titanic attraction but I had never seen the associated park.
Thanks for the kind words! It's a shame that the park was so short-lived, the Titanic attraction deserved so many more guests than it ended up receiving! - Luke
Wow, thanks for the flashback. My first job out of school while a studing at Uni was at Sega World. When that closed down I got a job at Fox Studios before it even opened. I hated it so much that a week after getting the job and about a week before it opened I just stopped turning up to work. Aside from the Titanic experience it was a pretty terrible excuse for a theme park.
Wow The Titanic Experience looked awesome, those are the types of attractions that Universal studio's Florida used to have but are now closing down in favour of either VR experiences or Roller Coasters, personally I would like to see a return to the good old family attractions like Jaws, Kongfrontation and the Titanic one in your video.
LOL Yeah Moore Park and Eastern Creek are "just down the road from each other"
Please
Yeah, the M4... sort of
@@mryan89 gee your clutching at straws on that one
@@MrThedwp haha yeah. Well once they finish Westconnex they will be connected... by a fairly long road.
MrThedwp on the scale of Australia, they sure are.
@@JasperJanssen yet in the scale of Sydney they're really not
Apart from the Titanic attraction the place had nothing to offer.
It was a folly by 20th CF & done on the cheap compared to Disney.
You could go in at 9am & be done by 10:30am & be poorer for the privilege.
It took me 3 days to go around Disneyland properly, admittedly the crowds had a part in that.
But it was mega, not just part of a clause in a contract.
If it was still open, technically it would've been Disneyland but in Australia and it's just stuff from 20th Century Studios.
My dad worked here as a stage mechanic when I was a kid and it was the best place, used to go all the time!
I wonder now that Disney owns Fox will they do something with the property?
Hopefully develop it into a mini Disneyland, that would be sweet!
Is it still owned by Fox though?
@@phurphy Basically if you've noticed its called 'Entertainment quarter', so the part opened to the public is separate from the fox lot itself,. The part with all the studios and sound stages are owned by fox (or Disney now ) so their not connected. recently the public part was bought by some guy for $70 million, i think he might put apartments or something. i know all this cause i actually work at the cinema there... hope this helped
Lion Heart thanks!
Continue to reent the sound stages to American movies subsidised by Aust dollars I expect.
I remember going there as a kid and watched them filming Channel V, just near the entrance. "Jabba" was filming and would smoke darts between songs and ad breaks, and would keep the lit cigarette on the concrete floor while filming
It's interesting how popular the whole "movie studio backlot" theme was for a while there. It didn't seem to matter whether there was an actual working backlot there or not. These days even the surviving parks with that theme seem to be moving away from it: there are certainly still movie-themed attractions but less of the "behind the scenes" conceit, which only ever really worked in a couple of places.
It was an interesting era for Theme Parks for sure, and probably a cheap one too where highly themed lands could be replaced by big tan "soundstages". Most of the interest in these parks seem to fall when things like DVD Extras started showing us "behind the scenes" on films, and the allure and mystery of movie making was wiped away. - Luke
I have nothing but great memories of visiting this park! The titanic “ride” was epic!
The Fox Studios were used to stage the 2012 reboot of Young Talent Time and immediately proved inadequate for a production like YTT. Perhaps the choice of the studio was part of the TV network's attempt to sabotage the rebooted YTT so it would not survive beyond its initial 13-edition run because the network did not want to be saddled with what promised to be a hit TV show. As was proven from 1971 to 1988, a show like Young Talent Time needs a a PROPER TV studio with plenty of floor space for props and set design. The studios of Station ATV-Melbourne were perfect for the original YTT but these Fox studios..... RUBBISH!
I just thought this was the Venue for Mardi Gras parties.
Incredible here in Mexico with the props Fox sent, they first opened a theme park too, in Rosarito (the actual Titanic film Location) but also for lack of visitors they closed it and now is also a filming studios just like there in Australia
the best thing would have been if it was left as the site for the Royal Easter Show
Damn that titanic thing seemed pretty fun though
Yeah I went on the Titanic Experience once and got the death outcome!!
No public transport and everywhere you can park your car that's was the problem!
Wonderland was at Eastern creek no just down the road from Moore Park
i did this and *completely* forgot about it. like 100% no idea
Good on you. It probably means that you have a life now and that you are too busy living it.
In 2012 a revived Young Talent Time was produced here in one of the studio spaces. The producers certainly could've done far better than to choose this place. There is another element to the failure of this place that has been overlooked, and that is the STIGMA of Rupert "Sleaze King" Murdoch's involvement in owning all or even part of the Fox enterprises.
I lived in Sydney when the theme park still existed. The Titanic Experience was extremely well done. Channel V was broadcast from there. Saw a free show by The Dandy Warhols one freezing Friday night. The movie theatre was awesome and the place was always busy. I moved from Sydney in 2005. I had some great experiences at Fox Studios.
It's called Disney Studios Australia now.
I was a performer in “Lights Camera Chaos” playing Leonardo Di Kangaroo.... surely people have video of this somewhere but it’s impossible to find any footage.
Hopefully somebody watching this video can help! - Dom
In all of my research for the video I could find almost nothing about that show, no footage, no pictures nothing. You might be able to finally answer this question for me Brett, what was the show? Were you guys in full fur costumes, face characters, what did you do? - Luke
ReviewTyme the stage show was called “Lights Camera Chaos” produced by Bazmark Productions.. Baz Lurhman.. the show is based on a director creating a musical called “Space - The Musical”... a kangaroo going into space. The director is called “Eric Von Roo”.. Lead role is “Leonardo Di Kangaroo”.. I played Leonardo.. other cast members were “Carmen Cockatoo”, a Koloa named “Baby Jane”, 3 Emu Showgirls “Joyce... I cant remember the other 2 showgirl names right at this point, I’d have to listen to the soundtrack again. Then there were also the film crew, Camera Man, Clapper, Boom as well as the host and the surprise guest audience member who was actually a cast member “Kylie Biggins”.
I also played the role of Clapper (the clapper board). The Emu Showgirls were cast members on Stilts. Eric, Leonardo, Carmen and Baby Jane were all suit characters.. the film crew and host were human characters as well as Kylie Biggins. The show was approx. 25 mins long. The Emu Showgirls were played by male cast members as well as female. Towards the end of the Backlot when profit was down and the company was looking to cut costs, 3 Showgirls became 2 Showgirls only, so we lost one character there, as well as Baby Jane being scrapped, so they had to make adjustments to the script and soundtrack... only minor thou.
The show was performed 3 times a day during peak times (school holidays), and off peak was twice a day.
I know one of my fellow cast members secretly filmed one of the shows... the producers were strict on “no filming policy” by audiences, as all shows are. So I know one of the cast members have the show but I don’t know who and where they are. Also back in those days we didn’t have access to the technology we have today, with all mobile phones having cameras to film nowadays. I still remember most of the choreography of the show... I still listen to it from time to time and get up and do the choreography. I absolutely loved the show and they were the best days of my life. I scratched up 293 shows, would’ve made it to over 300 had I not been hit by a car and ended up in hospital with a head injury 2 weeks before we closed down. That was the hardest part, not getting to do a final show and being told of the closure on the news whilst resting at home. Then after that, being notified by my stage manager on the phone that the park would be closing and we were all to loose our favourite job.
The last known whereabouts of the Leonardo Di Kangaroo suit character costume was when I was at Luna Park one day and I was shocked to see someone wearing MY costume.. Leonardo was walking around Luna Park. I’m assuming the person inside that Suit character had no idea where the suit come from and the history of that costume.
I’ve got a lot of pictures, behind the scenes, the costumes, the stage (after the closure), the rehearsals... but sadly no video.
ReviewTyme oh, and I still have the script of the show.
I was there. The staff would allot the visitors to either experience a first class ride or a third class ride. Being Asian, I thought to myself that I would be sent to the third class ride and indeed that was the case. I bought a Simpsons T Shirt and a cap there.
Wonderland Sydney was NOT just down the road. Where do you keep getting the idea that Wonderland was in Eastern Sydney. As for the Fox theme park it was ALWAYS going to be closed and always designed to fail.
I went on the Titanic ride and it was absolutely excellent, but the rest of the park was indeed underwhelming. It’s a bit of a shame that all of those beautiful old Easter show buildings are now inaccessible to the public.
If it has FOX written on it, then I'm glad it's bankrupt.
Just like all american film studios get a heap of money from a local government, Pay no tax and then walk away with all the profits leaving a mess for someone else to clean up. Although it was an amazing time in Sydney with heaps of attractions and the Olympics in 2000.
I visited this park a couple of times. Once about 6 months after it opened, and again just before it closed. The writing was already on the wall the first time I visited. So I documented it extensively on video. The most interesting thing there was probably the history of Australian television with many re-created sets from a variety of old/contemporary shows. You could also watch them shooting Farscape too, back when that was in production there. Might have to dig out the camera tapes. Edit: There was also a James Bond ride that is not mentioned in this video
It's such a shame that this park didn't even open with a chance at success. I only saw one mention of the James Bond ride in all my research and interviews about the park and apparently it was owned by a separate private company who leased a spot of land for it right outside the gates to the backlot. If you ever get the chance to digitise that footage we would love to see it! - Luke
@@ReviewTyme Yes, actually I think you're right about that James Bond ride! I will chase you up when I get to review the camera tapes
I was in the show and worked in the backlot doing street theatre as well. If anyone has any footage of the lights camera chaos shows you should def upload that
the James Bond ride was a film, and not part of the theme park. You had to pay an extra ticket to get in. I didn't do it because I thought it was a massive rip off, after the $40 ticket.
There are many Australians who are less than keen to fund anything attached to Murdoch and News Corp...
Never went there had no interest. It should have remained as the Royal Easter Show.....
Seems like a scam to me - open a shitty theme park, close it down and steal the land from the Australian public.
I went to it in 2000 for my birthday. It was awesome.
Incredible how a park make a ride based on a tragedy, you know, one that kill 1500. The line between representing a how a movie was made and a real terrible event is almost invisible.
Dude, chill out.
Any chance on a video about Sega World which was in the Sydney CBD?
My parents took there in 2000, there was not much to see. Glad I went before it vanished.
It's funny how after Disney with MGM at the helm and Universal start their movie parks, Paramount, Fox and other companies never can get off the ground. It's a shame, I wish they would try again with a fresh start and not right after 911.
There have been a few attempts of other movie companies lately such as MotionGate and Fox Studios Malaysia but most of these haven't been as successful as they would have hoped (Or in the case of Fox Studios, looks like it will never even open). - Luke
It's kind of fucked up that they turned a real life disaster into a theme park ride!
Great video! I live in New Zealand and was lucky enough to visit the studio park in the short time that it was open. Being a huge Titanic fan I just had to go to visit the Titanic Experience. It was absolutely stunning. It would be great if it could be rebuilt in one of the Titanic museums around the world (eg Orlando.)
I visited the park on a week day and I was struck by the lack of visitors (There seemed to be more staff than guests.) and I was surprised by the high cost of entry considering the lack of attractions on the site. As you say in the video, it was no surprise that it closed.
Sadly, I visited the week after they started painting the Star Wars Phantom Menace sets so the studios public viewing walkway was curtained off. Doh!
It's such a shame the park made so many mistakes that lead to its ultimate downfall and the loss of the amazing Titanic Attraction. With some more foresight and attractions, I could honestly see the park still being opened today. - Luke
A little annoyed I didn’t get here now, as I was working at the Sydney 2000 olympics and was in the area at the time. It seems like a missed opportunity and makes me wonder what else I should be exploring in my hometown of melbourne, before well it dissapears.
You missed Wobbies World. It's gone now. LOL
Carribean Gardens & Market is dead too... Thanks to Covid-19. Had a classic Jungle Cruise ride that was great.
You also missed Luna Park having two rollercoasters, Big Dipper then Metropolis as well as Scenic Railway, instead of just the one.
@@GrumpSkull at least Gumbya Park is still around, and is actually much better now.
I was 13 when I went to Fox Studios. I went once when it was just opened and again when it became almost a ghost town. I still have the tag from a Fox Studios hip bag and my original entry ticket (also two 2000 Sydney Olympic Games tickets) in a photo book but it's currently sealed in a box in a locked up storage box in a warehouse :( I also had a sneaky picture of the shirts from Romeo + Juliet in the museum part. My Dad may have more pictures though. He took pics of days out with me a lot as a kid, I'm a child of divorce and Dad had visitation weekends :(
Disney changed it to Disney Studios Australia.
@@TheRealFry2024 Yeah I saw an article pop up on my phone on that only a few months ago when the announcement for the filming of the new Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes movie was happening at the Sydney studio. It was only a matter of time that another name change was imminent once Disney bought out Fox! They also changed the company name from 20th Century Fox Television to just '20th Television'.
@@lmaree200886 Lazy Disney rebranding. Disney stole 20th Television from the original 20th Television which did syndication after they shutdown that division. same with ABC Signature. They also made 20th Century Fox World into Genting Skyworlds and Fox Star Studios into Star Studios. I could go on but there is like a lot of rebranding. Disney did it to avoid confusion with FOX Corporation.
Thanks for this video. Im a sydneysider and have been at those gates before and had no idea about this part of Australian history.
Really? How old are you? If you were born after 1999 you didn't exist when this was opened!
@@lmaree200886 1992... Calm down lol
I went there for the Titanic experience and wasn’t disappointed. It was pretty awesome. The rest of the exhibits there were good too. Glad I got to experience it.
Sounded boring from the start
Great video, I had no idea this was ever even a thing. It's sad how many parks we've had close or never built here. It makes me wonder if that's why Disney keeps holding off on committing to Australia because they see a chain of failures.
NotCroutons Disney I don’t understand though - that would be huge here!
I use to like going down there in the early 2000's to see Channel V do their live shows
Perfect for a real estate scam..and no questions
Yep I went there, was really good
This seems quite interesting. I wonder if they could do better now
The main problem was the lack of land for a park and the competition from Movie World which is just plain better.
They didn't do much marketing of this. I lived close by and never knew it existed. As it was suggested ...built to fail. The old showground was a fabulous park built for the Royal Easter Show and they leased it to Murdock who cut it to pieces and ruined the character of the place.
Robert Ireland same, we went to Australia wonderland often, never heard about the place at all
Did you do a vid on Sega World in Darling Harbour? That didn't last very long either.
We are currently in the researching phase for a video about Sega World, it should be coming in the next few months so stay tuned! - Luke
@@ReviewTyme will do!
I was there once on holiday. I took photos with Simpsons decoration and bought a Simpsons T Shirt and cap there. The Titanic experience was lacklustre.
All that money only for two years? What a waste. Another white elephant!
A child died on the backlot when it was opened. Some heavy metal security fencing fell on him. You'd be able to Google it.
This was really interesting but is there any chance you might one day film what's left of the abandoned park? I'd love to see what's left of it from the inside 👍
I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to ask Fox Studio if we’re allowed in the old park area. We will sus it out! - Dom
Have you ever watched The Voice Australia, Chris & Julia's Sunday Night Takeaway, Shark Tank and many more tv shows, there's your view inside Fox Studios today, it's still a working studio making movies and tv every day, they just shut the theme park area and expanded the movie studios by re-purposing some of the theme park buildings into Fox studio production..
@@ReviewTyme A few years ago my work hired a space there to conduct some market research, so I got to spend an entire weekend there - you bet I "wandered off" so I could have a look around! For the most part a lot of the shopfronts and theming remain in tact. It was very cool. But also sad it didnt stay as a park. I was lucky enough to go at the time too.
@@ReviewTyme Disney changed it to Disney Studios Australia in October.
Wow I didn’t even realise this was a thing. But Moore Park is a difficult place to get to by public transport and parking isn’t cheap.
Make video about Getting 20 Fox century fox theme park plz
We actually had plans to attend the opening of that park this year before all the lawsuits happened! We may explore the very interesting history of the park though once we get some closure on the craziness happening around it at the moment! - Luke
The high cost of a ticket probably was a good indicator that they never intended it to draw big crowds. They just wanted the land. If you look at the size of movie studios in Hollywood that area is about right for a studio.
One thing you didn't mention is that the Bent Street public area had a number of billboards commemorating key Australian films (The Story of the Kelly Gang, The Sentimental Bloke, For the Term of his Natural Life, Dad and Dave, Jedda, Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee). I remember one placed above Channel V headquarters, and a couple at the car park.
These were in place until at least 2010, but they are gone now.
I live 20kms away, Love movie theme parks and was in my late teens early 20's when this opened and still didn't know it existed. I was even excited when we heard it was going to be a theme park and dissappointed the promised theme park never happened. Either this was a massive failure in marketing or it was deliberate.
I experienced the “Titanic experience” at a young age, around 10 or 11 years old. Only a few years later, myself and my mother revisited the “park” a number of times to be apart of the audience for Channel V, which at the time was hosted by Osher Günsberg (previously known as Andrew G). Interesting times…