Universal Hartland Visual Effects

Universal Hartland was the visual effects house of Universal Studios Hollywood. The effects studio was in operation from 1978 to 1981. The studio was created as a means for Universal to enter the visual effects field that was growing larger as well as provide in-house effects creation for Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series). Before the facility closed its doors in 1981 it had worked on 4 films, 6 television shows (2 of which they did effects for the entire run of the show) some commercials and a few specialty projects, including the special model effects for the Horizons (Epcot attraction) exhibit for Disney's Epcot Center.

History

Universal Hartland started in the Future General facilities in Marina Del Rey. In August 1978 they moved to North Hollywood and settled on Hartland Street (Hence Universal Hartland). It was at this time the effects studio began work on Buck Rogers and at the same time the Industrial Light & Magic crew that worked on Battlestar Galactica decided to move to Universal Hartland. For the next three years the studio would work on Airport '79, Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, The Nude Bomb and model effects for Disney, ABC and NASA.

Closure

Despite the body of work the studio had completed, the parent company Universal Studios became disinterested in the effects studio and the studio ceased production as an in-house production facility in 1981 and eventually closing permanently a few years later

List of Films

* Battlestar Galactica (TV Series)
* Buck Rogers In THe 25th Century (Movie and TV Series)
* Airport '79
* Cheech and Chong's Next Movie
* The Nude Bomb

Links

[http://www.universalhartland.com/ Universal Hartland archive site]