Entertainment History

The motion picture business arrived in Burbank in the 1920s. In 1926, First National Pictures bought a 78-acre (320,000 m2) site on Olive Avenue near Dark Canyon. The property included a 40-acre (160,000 m2) hog ranch and the original David Burbank house, both owned by rancher Stephen A. Martin. In 1928-29, First National was taken over by a company founded by the four Warner brothers.

Columbia Pictures purchased property in Burbank as a ranch facility, used primarily for outdoor shooting. Walt Disney’s company, which had outgrown its Hollywood quarters, bought 51 acres (210,000 m2) in Burbank. Disney’s million-dollar studio, designed by Kem Weber, was completed in 1939 on Buena Vista Street. Disney originally wanted to build “Mickey Mouse Park,” as he first called it, next to the Burbank studio. But his aides finally convinced him that the space was too small, and there was opposition from the Burbank City Council. One council member told Disney: “We don’t want the carny atmosphere in Burbank.”

Disney and Warner contributed to the war effort by producing both training and morale films for the armed services and cartoons promoting the sale of war bonds. Disney artists designed more than 1,000 unit mascot designs for the armed forces. Walt Disney had authorized that these insignias were to be designed at no charge. By war’s end, the cost to Disney was over $30,000.

Burbank saw its first real civil strife as the culmination of a six month labor dispute between the set decorator’s union and the studios resulted in the Battle of Burbank on October 5, 1945.

By the 1960s and ’70s, more of the Hollywood entertainment industry was relocating to Burbank. The National Broadcasting Company moved its network television headquarters to its new location at Olive and Alameda avenues. The Burbank studio was purchased in 1951, and NBC arrived in 1952 from its former location at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. Although NBC promoted its Hollywood image for most of its West Coast telecasts (such as Ed McMahon’s introduction to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: “from Hollywood”), comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin began mentioning “beautiful downtown Burbank” on Laugh-in in the 1960s.

By 1962, NBC’s multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art complex was completed. Rumors surfaced of NBC leaving Burbank after its parent company General Electric Company acquired Universal Studios and renamed the merged division NBC Universal. Since the deal, NBC has been relocating key operations to the 391-acre (1.6 km2) Universal property located in Universal City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

In the early 1990s, Burbank tried unsuccessfully to lure Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Columbia and TriStar studios owner based in Culver City, and 20th Century Fox, which had threatened to move from its West Los Angeles lot unless the city granted permission to upgrade its facility. Fox stayed after getting Los Angeles City approval on its $200 million expansion plan.

On September 10, 2007, NBC Universal management informed employees that the company planned to end its 56-year relationship with Burbank and sell much of the 34-acre (140,000 m2) Burbank complex. NBC Universal will relocate its television and cable operations to the Universal City complex. The new facilities, part of an $800 million skyline-altering development expected to be completed in 2011, will be located adjacent to the Universal City Red Line subway station. The company plans to take West Coast network and local news operations and other facilities such as the Access Hollywood set to a new broadcast facility across the street from Universal Studios in 2011.

Arnold Schwarzenegger first announced his candidacy for governor of California on The Tonight Show at NBC Studios in Burbank.  U.S. President Barack Obama made a visit to the set of The Tonight Show on March 19, 2009, becoming the first sitting U.S. President to do so on the NBC show.[23] Comic Conan O’Brien took over hosting duties of NBC’s iconic Tonight Show from Jay Leno on June 1, 2009, becoming the fifth host to lead the storied franchise and the first to host the show from Universal City. Leno’s final Tonight Show marked an end of an era for Burbank hosting the long-running show. Leno is scheduled to get a primetime show on NBC, with the network announcing it will premiere September 14, 2009.

When it was revealed NBC’s “Tonight Show” was leaving Burbank, then-Mayor Marsha Ramos was quoted as saying she was sad to learn The Tonight Show is leaving the city. “The Tonight Show put us on the map”, she told the Los Angeles Times. “Without that line from Johnny Carson about beautiful downtown Burbank, most people wouldn’t even know that we exist.”

Leno’s new show will film in Burbank on Stage 11 of the NBC lot, former home of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” NBC is preparing to replace the aging Burbank property with a modern media center featuring virtual studios, interactive graphic capabilities, a glass-walled newsroom and other high-tech features. However, the placement of the Leno show at the NBC studio may be another sign the company is backing off its original plans to leave Burbank. Relocation and new building plans would require approval from the county of Los Angeles.

On June 1, 2008 a large fire broke out on a lot at Universal Studios near Burbank. Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Frank Reynoso said the blaze was reported just before dawn on a sound stage on a back lot. There were no immediate reports of injuries.