Los Angeles - Universal Studios

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introduced exactly a quarter of a century ago 55 million people have been taken around the 40 acre/16 hectare film studio, the biggest in the world, for a glimpse behind the scenes of film making. You can see King Kong, almost 33ft/10m tall, as well as the shark from the film "Jaws", fitted with internal mechanism. You also pass by sets where special effects conjure up, for example, the skills of Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling, or the secrets of making a bicycle appear to fly through the air.

Natural catastrophes take place before the onlooker's very eyes: avalanches in the Alps and (since the autumn of 1988) an earthquake in Los Angeles (8.3 on the Richter scale). You can experience the Battle of Galactica portrayed with laser beams, pass by Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho House", and witness films actually at the production stage. After the two-hour tour you can also pay a visit to the show in the Entertainment Center. You can walk through a whole row of buildings made for films.

Universal Studios was severely affected by a massive fire in June of 2008.