Bye-bye Bruce: Jaws theme park ride closing in Orlando
For children of a certain generation, no film conjured more fear than Jaws. The moment that dismembered leg hit the harbor floor, it spawned a nationwide phobia of ocean swimming -- not to mention the age of the summer blockbuster movie, a new generation of marine biologists, and later, a major theme park attraction.
But while the nation"s shark mania has only grown -- see the enduring popularity of Shark Week -- Universal Studios Florida announced last week it is pulling the plug on its longstanding Jaws attraction. As of January 2012, riders on a seemingly innocent amusement park boat ride in Orlando will no longer be terrorized by Bruce the mechanical shark who went on a killing spree in a fictitious version of Martha"s Vineyard in 1975.
The Jaws ride was one of the inaugural attractions at Universal when it opened in 1990 (a time when the original Jaws movie was already 15 years old). Other film-based attractions to have come and gone at the park have included ones based on King Kong, Ghostbusters and Earthquake, as well as TV tie-ins such as Murder, She Wrote and Xena.
A fun piece about the Jaws ride on IFC.com notes that it was increasingly an a