When a movie becomes a massive box office blockbuster, it’s usually only a matter of time before it ends up in a theme park. This was just as true in the early days as it is now, as Jaws, a movie seen by many as the first summer blockbuster, has had a home at Universal Studios Hollywood for decades as part of the iconic Backlot Tour.
When the small version of Amity Island was built for the tour, it originally included the actual boat, the Orca, that was used in the famously troubled production. In the new documentary Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (available next month with a Hulu or Disney+ subscription) Steven Spielberg revealed that he used to enter the boat just to sit and remember the difficult production, and sometimes he would cry. Spielberg said…
When they brought one of the boats all the way back from Martha’s Vineyard and shipped the boat, the Orca, to the Universal backlot and put it in the water right next to the Jaws ride, I used to get on my electric cart, without telling anybody, and I would sneak behind the trams so nobody could see me and I’d just sneak on board the boat and i would sit in the cabin in that little leatherette booth and I would just sit there and sometimes cry.
The story of the filming of Jaws is one of the most famous in Hollywood history. The production on Martha’s Vineyard took a great deal longer and cost a great deal more than was ever intended. Spielberg revealed elsewhere in the documentary that he had a panic attack during production and had nightmares for years afterward as a result.
The accomplished director says he “had nothing to cry about.” The movie was the biggest hit in the history of film, clearly all the hard work was worth it. Still, the experience clearly took a toll on him. He simply wasn’t able to move on from it. It seems that spending time back on board the Orca helped a great deal. Speilberg continued…
I had nothing to cry about, the film was this phenomenon, and I’m sitting here shedding tears because I’m not able to divest myself of the experience. The boat helped me to begin to forget. That Orca was my therapeutic companion for several years after Jaws came out.
It’s unclear just how long Steven Spielberg visited the Orca. I now have to wonder if he might have been sitting on the ship the first time I ever rode the Studio Tour. It’s heartbreaking to think that he might have been there, struggling with the emotional weight of the film that would ultimately start him on the path as one of the most successful directors of all time.
Eventually, the Orca on the Studio Tour deteriorated to the point that it needed to be removed. A replica now sits in its place. On my next trip through the Studio tour i'll be looking at that replica and thinking about the original boat. It turns out it held even more history than we knew.
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