The Orca boat rotted out from sitting. You could see the front end of it visibly bending down over the years. Then in the mid-90s they tried to pick it up when they briefly transformed that pond area for one of the Flintstones live-action movies. It broke in half when they lifted it. They reportedly scrapped the carcass after that.
Right after JAWS filming ended they had sold it to a local east coast person guy. He undid much of the prop appearance work. (The Orca was not "OMG, it's THE ORCA!" until after the movie came out.) He just used it as a boat for a few months. Then when the movie hit big, Universal bought it back from him (at a hugely inflated price) to put it on the backlot ride. But it never again looked all detailed like it did during the movie.
I suspect the loss of the authentic prop-Orca appearance probably contributed to its demise. Over the course of 15+ years Universal's people probably began to forget that it was the real Orca. It looked more like just a quick & dirty backlot prop imitation to the untrained eye.
If The Berg had been too concerned about the Orca's fate then I don't think he would have allowed it to rot out for years like it did. The bending hull was already visible 10 years before they scrapped it. If he went out & sat in it then he must have noticed the front half was full of water.
Right after JAWS filming ended they had sold it to a local east coast person guy. He undid much of the prop appearance work. (The Orca was not "OMG, it's THE ORCA!" until after the movie came out.) He just used it as a boat for a few months. Then when the movie hit big, Universal bought it back from him (at a hugely inflated price) to put it on the backlot ride. But it never again looked all detailed like it did during the movie.
I suspect the loss of the authentic prop-Orca appearance probably contributed to its demise. Over the course of 15+ years Universal's people probably began to forget that it was the real Orca. It looked more like just a quick & dirty backlot prop imitation to the untrained eye.
If The Berg had been too concerned about the Orca's fate then I don't think he would have allowed it to rot out for years like it did. The bending hull was already visible 10 years before they scrapped it. If he went out & sat in it then he must have noticed the front half was full of water.
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