Fox Studios Backlot
Location: Driver Avenue, Moore Park
Fox Studios Backlot was a miniature version of the movie-themed amusement parks that the big Hollywood film studios do so well. The Backlot and adjoining film studios were created in conjunction with the Bent Street Shopping precinct, which was a major part of the re-development of the Sydney Showground at Moore Park which took place after the Sydney Royal Show moved to its current site within the Homebush Olympic Park precint.
The Fox Studios Backlot opened on 7 November 1999 with great fanfare and a limited number of excellent movie-themed attractions. The major showcase was the Titanic: The Experience, a $26 million walk through attraction that rode on the back of the success of the James Cameron movie, Titanic, which had recently blitzed everything else at the Box Office worldwide and become the number two movie international box office of all-time. Technifex, based in Valencia, California, put together the magnificent attraction which included hundreds of props from the movie, many of which were shipped from their studio in Baja, Mexico, along with the 20-metre long model used in the filming of Titanic. It was restored for this attraction and displayed in the entrance as visitors waited to board the ship.
Visitors were split into two groups as they wandered through the queue. Those who went to the left experienced what it was like to be a first-class passenger and those to the right experienced what life was like in steerage aboard the Titanic. Regardless of which section of the ship you toured, everyone started off in the same spot - a third-class lounge aboard the ship. The entire third-class lounge was on the largest simulator motion base that had ever been built at the time, holding 150 people per show. As the iceberg struck the ship, the entire room would tilt and shake and water started rushing through the walls which buckled right before your eyes.
Technifex took several trips to Fox Studios in Baja to take measurements and photographs to ensure that every single room was designed with the same attention to detail used in the film. Even sets like the gym were recreated perfectly, using all the props that came directly from the movie. The famous Renault car where Jack and Rose got to know each other better was there, complete with a handprint in the rear window. Even a giant piano that is being shipped slid across the floor, hitting the wall and barely missing guests near the exit. Amomg the other attractions supporting Titanic: The Experience was an interactive show based on The Simpsons, and a recreation of the set from the movie 'Babe'.
Titanic: The Experience won a Thea Award for outstanding achievement in 2000, but it saw nowhere near the number of visitors it deserved. Though it took just under three years to put together, it was only open to the public for two years before it - along with the rest of the Fox Studios Backlot - was closed down. Most of the props and memorabillia from Titanic went back to Mexico, other props were auctioned off in 2003, ensuring that this short-lived theme park could never be revived at a later date.
Fox Studios did not close, but incorporated Fox Studios Backlot into its own studio backlot, and is now closed to the public. The main street is now an outdoor film location, the Simpsons stage has become the Trackdown recording studios, the Titanic Experience building is now the 2nd largest sound stage in Australia, and the Lights Camera Chaos Theatre still exists as a venue with audience seating but no technical equipment or sets. The shopping area is now called the Entertainment Quarter.
The reason given for the closure of Sydney's Fox Studios Backlot was the sharp loss in international tourism after the 9/11 terrorist attack. Many observers at the time said they were not surprised that it only lasted two years because the site was too small to house a movie theme park, having too few attractions and no room for expansion. They point out it would also have been subject to council restrictions due to its location in a residential area, a factor that would have ruled out a lot of rides. Others wonder why it didn't take over the Australia's Wonderland site, which already had theme park infrastructure, room for expansion and was located in Sydney's west, the part of the city from which Sydney theme parks draw their biggest audience (what they forget is that another two years would pass before Australia's Wonderland would close and the site would become available).
The Backlot was created in conjunction with the Bent Street Shopping precinct; the NSW government imposed a requirement on the developers that a certain percentage of the old Showgrounds site must remain open for public use for a minimum period of 2 years. That the Backlot ended up being a major part of the required public access space, and it was closed soon after the initial public access space requirement expired has not gone unnoticed by the more cynical observers and commentators on the internet. One such commentator stated "I don't think Fox were looking for a theme park, they were merely satisfying the government's development demands for the minimum amount of time. I am led to believe that the reason why the entry end of the Backlot (near the old Simpsons stage and Babe set) is still open but without any businesses is to satisfy the requirements for the public space area." View article. Another suggested it was not by accident that the park was initially named Fox Studios Backlot and not Fox Movie World, or something similar.
