If you take the studio tour at the Warner Bros. lot you will find yourself riding on a open-sided shuttle and passing through sun-filled streets of Chicago, New York, and Big-City-and-Small-Town Anywhere, U.S.A. All fictional, of course. We had a connection who worked for Warner Bros., so we–a friend from London and myself–were given free reign to wander wherever we pleased–with one big exception: we were not to enter or even peek inside any of the sound stages. They all were busy.
Thanks to binge-watching on the internet, the demand for TV series and movies is seemingly endless and on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour you will also see street after street of huge sound stages–all busier than they have been in years. The production of entertainment, aka “content”, is a thriving big business in Los Angeles these days.
The Warner Bros. Studio is an actual working movie and TV production facility. The tall barn-like buildings are sound stages. Tours are secondary to the primary purpose of renting production space and creating streamable entertainment.
Instantly recognizable props and street scenes
There are several versions of the Batmobile. Here is one parked on a sidewalk in the city part of the Warner lot.
The gates to the Arkham Asylum stand next to the Batmobile on display at the Warner Bros. Studio lot.
Recognize this fake city?
If you are a fan of “Shameless” here is the exterior of Patsy’s Pies, ostensibly in Chicago but actually at the Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank.
And more from Chicago. Here is the permanent Warner Bros. set that incorporates an artificial version of the famed Chicago “L” train tracks. Like all the other building facades on this part of the lot, these can be repainted to represent other locations for other movies set in other times, past, present, and future.
Need a cemetery in your TV show? Well, here is a totally fake one on the Warner Bros. lot just in time for Halloween.
The famous Warner Bros. water tower
The famous Warner Bros. water tower, often used as a logo on cartoon productions. The other buildings, left and right, are part of the facades used for exterior shots in movies.
Workmen were setting up a stage for what I think was a Halloween event. The Little Shop of Horrors across the street was also being outfitted for the holiday. You can see more of this day trip to Warner Bros. here.
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