Disney gets all the press, and Six Flags has all the dancing commercials, but Universal has always had a strong position in the theme park world. Starting with a simple tour of the Universal lot in Hollywood, the film studio evolved that into several parks across the globe, all of which showcase the big, popular film and TV shows created by the studio. Then, last year, that culminated with Universal opening its most advanced park yet, Epic Universe in Orlando.
And while we’ve seen plenty of documentaries about how Walt Disney built his theme park empire, we haven’t seen much about Universal. Until now. All that history and more is at the center of a new docuseries coming to Peacock on September 29. It’s called Epic Ride: The Story of Universal Theme Parks, and the first trailer was just released. Check it out.
Now, you’re probably thinking what I was thinking after watching that trailer. “It says ‘the story of Universal theme parks,’ but it really seems to be the story of ONE Universal theme park.” Yes, the trailer leans heavily into Epic Universe simply because you’d imagine the idea for this documentary came during its construction. But the inclusion of Steven Spielberg in the series, along with Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Donna Langley, and Bryce Dallas Howard, all suggest this goes well beyond that.
Spielberg, for example, doesn’t have any direct involvement with any of the Epic Universe IP. But he did, and does, have a huge hand in other Universal rides based on films like ET, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park. The same goes for the rest of that group, save for Langley, who runs the entire studio, so she can speak to anything.
Basically, while the trailer uses all the new, slick footage of the latest park, we hope that there is plenty of digging into the history of Universal as a theme park brand, because it’s a fascinating story with lots of star power. If it doesn’t, it’s going to be a pretty tedious three-part series.
We’ll find out soon, though, when Epic Ride debuts on Peacock September 29. And no, don’t get this confused with the Inside the Worlds of Epic Universe special, which debuted last month.