Today Universal Studios is famous around the globe for creating world-class entertainment; from blockbuster movies to chart-topping music to awe-inspiring theme park attractions but that reputation for creative excellence didn't happen overnight. It all started with one man's dream.

Universal founder Carl Laemmle is credited today with creating the concept of the movie star, inventing the horror movie genre and being one of the first people to see the potential of Southern California as a movie-making Mecca. But Mr. Laemmle was more than just a visionary entertainment pioneer; he was the embodiment of the American Dream.

Laemmle, a German immigrant, arrived in America in 1884 at the age of 17 with $40 dollars to his name. By the turn of the century, Laemmle had saved enough money working in a dry goods store and other odd jobs to make his big break. Keenly recognizing America's growing fascination with a new phenomenon called "Moving Pictures," Laemmle parlayed an initial investment of a single Nickelodeon theater in Chicago into a motion picture empire that has become the longest continuously operating movie studio in America.

According to Hollywood legend, Laemmle chose the name "Universal" for his new movie studio after seeing a truck advertising "Universal Pipe Fittings" pass by his office window. In 1915, at the grand opening of his new production facility Universal City in Southern California, Laemmle issued a press release that predicted not only the future of Universal Pictures but of the global entertainment company that would grow out of the movie studio.

"...just think what this would mean..to see the inner workings of the biggest moving picture plant in the wide, wide world. A whole city where everyone is engaged in the making of motion pictures, a fairyland where the craziest things in the world happen. A place to think about and talk about for the rest of your days! See how we blow up bridges, burn down houses, wreck automobiles...see how buildings have to be erected just for a few scenes of one picture and then have to be torn down to make room for something else. See how we have to use the brains God gave us in every conceivable way in order to make the people laugh, cry or sit on the edge of their chairs the world over!"

Carl Laemmle 1915

 

Ninety years later, Universal is still making audiences "Laugh, Cry and Sit of the Edge of their chairs the world over."

When Carl Laemmle spoke these words ninety years ago, he couldn't have imagined the global entertainment company his fledgling movie studio would one day become. Today, Universal movies, music and theme park attractions are experienced by guests around the world, in every corner of the globe.

Though Universal has grown beyond it's founder's wildest dreams, it remains true to his original vision…"To make people, laugh, cry or sit on the edge of their chairs the world over."

LAUGH - whether it's laughing at the antics of Donkey and Shrek in Shrek 4D, the biting humor of Emenem's latest rhymes or the newest installment of the American Pie trilogy, Universal keeps the world rolling in the aisles!

CRY - Universal entertainment continues to touch the human spirit through the universal language of music and Academy Award winning dramas that challenge and inspire the world. Every day thousands of people experience this great entertainment legacy on the World Famous Universal Studios Tour.

EDGE OF THEIR CHAIRS - Universal keeps the world on the edge of their seats with adrenaline-filled music, movies and theme park attractions that continue to defy convention and push the limits of technology.

Every day…every minute…every second…all across the globe…Universal entertainment is bringing a smile to someone's face, a tear to someone's eye or a scream to someone's throat!

Entertainment truly is Universal.