Outside the theme park, a facility near the Universal Pictures backlot was built in an effort to merge all of NBCUniversal's West Coast operations into one area.

As a result, the current home for KNBC, KVEA and NBC News with Noticias Telemundo Los Angeles Bureaus with on the Universal lot formerly occupied by Technicolor.

[4] He later invited the general public to see all the action for an admission fee of just five cents, which also included a boxed lunch with chicken.

[5] The first was in 1932, when embers from a nearby brush fire were blown toward the back lot, causing four movie sets to be destroyed and resulting in over $100,000 damage.

[7] In 1957, the New York street film studio set was destroyed by an arson fire, causing a half-million dollars in damage.

Aerial news footage captured the Courthouse building surviving fire for the third time in its history, with only the west side of it being slightly charred.

Fourteen firefighters and three Los Angeles County sheriffs' deputies sustained minor injuries.

Destroyed were 40,000 to 50,000 archived digital video and film copies chronicling Universal's movie and TV show history, dating back to the 1920s, including the films Knocked Up and Atonement, the NBC series Law & Order, The Office, and Miami Vice, and CBS's I Love Lucy.

It emerged only in June 2019, in an article published by The New York Times that the fire had totally destroyed Building 6197, a warehouse adjoining the King Kong attraction, which housed a video vault and, significantly, a huge archive of analog audio master tapes belonging to Universal Pictures' former division the Universal Music Group (UMG).

Randy Aronson, who was manager of the vault at the time of the fire, estimates that as many as 500,000 individual song titles were lost.

[13] In a statement issued on June 11, 2019, UMG disputed The New York Times article saying it contained "numerous inaccuracies", as well as "fundamental misunderstandings of the scope of the incident and affected assets," but was unable to publicly disclose details due to "constraints".

[21] Following the publication of the New York Times story, Questlove of The Roots confirmed that the master tapes for two of the band's albums, including unused material and multi-track recordings, were lost in the fire.

[22] Similarly, Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic said he believed the masters for the band's 1991 album Nevermind were "gone forever" as a result of the fire.

[26] Shortly after Music Corporation of America (MCA) took over Universal Pictures in 1962, accountants suggested a new tour in the studio commissary would increase profits.

On July 15, 1964, the modern tour was established to include a series of dressing room walk-throughs, peeks at actual production, and later, staged events.

Jay Stein, President of the Recreation Division, championed the idea of creating exciting experiences for visitors in place of viewing actual production.

20,000 gallons of water rushed 200 feet down a narrow Mexican village street, uprooting an old tree and threatening to engulf the tram.

In 1989's The Wizard, it was the site of the fictional Video Armageddon competition which gave way to the Nintendo World Championships held in 1990.

In 1999, T2-3D: Battle Across Time and a Chicken Run Walkthrough opened on the Upper Lot, and Beetlejuice's Rock and Roll Graveyard Revue was closed.

[30] On December 31, 2012, Universal Studios Hollywood closed T2-3D: Battle Across Time for Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, which opened in 2014.

[39] On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Universal Studios Hollywood could reopen with reduced capacity beginning April 1, 2021.

[42][43] On March 10, 2022, Universal Studios Hollywood announced that its version of Super Nintendo World would open in 2023.

The area soft-opened under technical rehearsals for reserved-guests on January 12, and officially opened as planned on February 17, about a month and a half before the release of Universal/Illumination's The Super Mario Bros.

[50] Universal Studios Hollywood is split into two areas on different levels, connected by a series of escalators called the Starway.

Universal Boulevard is home to WaterWorld, and the DreamWorks Theatre, the latter which currently serves as the main location for Kung Fu Panda Adventure, a slightly modified version of Kung Fu Panda: Unstoppable Awesomeness from Motiongate Dubai.

[55] The Wizarding World of Harry Potter soft-opened February 12, 2016, and officially opened April 7, 2016,[60][61] and is the largest themed area in the Upper Lot, featuring the animatronic and screen-based thrill ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is housed in a replica Hogwarts castle, featuring actual props from the films in the queue.

In addition to attractions, the themed area features multiple shops, a Hogwarts Express train picture spot, The Three Broomsticks restaurant, and a variety of outdoor vending carts selling food and drink.

[85] In 2023, Universal Studio Hollywood featured eight scary haunted houses including: The Last of Us,[86] Stranger Things, and The Exorcist: Believer.

[89] In the Halloween Horror Nights on 2023 at Universal Studio Hollywood, two new live experiences were added, Blumhouse: Behind the Scenes and The Purge: Dangerous Waters.

Metro Local lines 150, 155, 224, and 240 stop at Lankershim Blvd & Universal Center Drive (front entrance).