Universal’s Quickly Canceled Show: Pandemonium Cartoon Circus

A Lost Opening-Day Attraction

Universal Islands of Adventure is a weird theme park because it has somehow changed a lot and very little over its 25-year history.

The addition of the Wizarding World and various new rides have rejuvenated the park, but other areas are almost exactly the same as they were in 1999. Many of the park’s opening-day attractions are still operating today; only a handful have closed: Triceratops Encounter, Island Skipper Tours, Dueling Dragons, The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad, Poseidon’s Fury, and—oh—there’s one more, the shortest-lived attraction at Islands of Adventure, Pandemonium Cartoon Circus.

The show lasted less than a year and was largely forgotten about as its amphitheater has mostly collected dust ever since. Let’s take a look back at this fleeting opening-day Islands of Adventure attraction—its crossover cast of characters, its colorful soundtrack, and the sad abandonment of the Toon Lagoon Amphitheater.

This is the story of Pandemonium Cartoon Circus.

Watch on YouTube

This article is available in video form with accompanying visuals. Click HERE to watch it.

Universal Studios Gets Its Toons

Universal Studios Florida debuted in 1990 with a lineup primarily of the company’s in-house franchises, such as Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. After the park’s grand opening, Universal Florida began looking for ways to broaden its roster of intellectual properties and expand into a multi-day resort.

Universal Studios in 1991 reached a licensing agreement with Jay Ward Productions Inc., earning characters such as Rocky and Bullwinkle as well as Dudley Do-Right. Universal wasted no time getting these characters into the parks. In 1992, Universal Studios Florida began a streetmosphere show called The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, produced by Michael La Fleur.

The little street show went like this.

Dudley Do-Right warmed up the crowd before each showing in Production Central. Rocky and Bullwinkle—fresh off a big-time movie contract—eventually arrived in a biplane, which was crafted by John Wiser. Snidley Whiplash posed as their trustworthy agent and flaunted the duo’s fancy trailer. Boris and Natasha, pretending to be their director, plotted to steal Rocky and Bullwinkle’s movie deal.

The show carried on with various musical numbers, skits, jokes, and special effects. It ended with a daredevil circus act, which was a coincidental hint at what was to come.