Bruce the shark

Bruce the shark ‘Bruce’ the shark prop from the movie JAWS. Which is true. Among those that worked on the casting were Don Chandler, Conrad Krumm, and Roger Lifsey.

For many years, students of cinema, motion picture prop experts, and obsessed JAWS fans were secure in the knowledge that the movie JAWS utilized three persnickety, pneumatically powered prop sharks. An unwritten consensus among said fans surmised that once the props were ‘struck’ they eventually disintegrated, succumbing to the elements erasing themselves from our collective reality. That is unle

ss you happened to grow up in the Los Angeles area or visited Universal Studios in the late 70‘s/early '80s. If you were a child of LA and had any allegiance to the movie JAWS, you knew that the big fiberglass statue displayed in the upper lot at the Visitor Entertainment Center was pretty much the real deal - 'Bruce' the shark himself. This version of the shark was created out of hard fiberglass on a wooden armature in the summer of 1974 (while the crew was STILL on location back east) and displayed at Universal Studios until 1990. There is photographic evidence that this photo-opportunity shark was placed on display at Universal Studios' Prop Plaza as early as August 1974. Concurrently, the source molds had either been altered, wrecked, or (most likely) stolen leaving this display prop to become the only surviving copy of the fussy monster. In the early Nineties, 'Bruce' was unceremoniously (some argue accidentally) hauled away with lots of scrap to the Aadlen Bros. U-Pick Parts yard in Sun Valley, CA. (a mere one mile north of where it was fabricated in 1974). It was on display at Aadlen Bros. from 1992 to 2016. I first became aware of ‘Bruce’ the shark at Aadlen Bros. in 2002 - or rather, “Bruce” came to me, via a photo in my email at that time from a fellow JAWS fan, Patrick Delaney. I understood its significance and it pained me to see something that had meant so much to me for the better part of my childhood into my adult life, lifelessly hovering over rusting vehicles - itself, bleached under the sun, sheets of stucco peeling off. The shark had somehow managed to escape destruction at the studio only to slowly fade into obscurity with each passing year underneath some hastily planted palm trees. It just wasn’t right. I had to do something but I didn't have the tools to do so.

'Project: Save Bruce' first appeared online thru my website ‘Bruce Sharkives’ in 2002. I posted the only known (at the time) photos of the shark at Aadlen’s to an uninterested world. For the most part, my push to save this prop fell on deaf ears. A few were listening though. Among them was Greg Nicotero. I didn’t know how long before I saw it that Greg was aware that the shark was junk-displayed at the U-Pick Parts. But we struck a friendship. And we both agreed that the shark needed to be saved; ideally in a museum. I was pushing for The Smithsonian. In 2010 I signed up with Facebook and launched the page ‘Save Junkyard Bruce’ as personal websites became a relic of the past and social media rose from the depths of the internet. It took another six years and Aadlen’s U-Pick Parts selling their massive lot to get the shark out and on display at a museum. It isn’t The Smithsonian. But it’s better. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will open in my home of Los Angeles, CA., in September of 2021. Lost in the chum of congratulations are the folks behind the scenes for which none of this would have been possible, including Stephen Manley, Ellen Harrington, Alejandro Lazo, Nathan Adlen, Greg Nicotero and his crew, and Joe Alves. It’s been an eighteen-year journey. I now have a book to finish writing. Thanks!
- West M. Maatita - Founder ‘Save "Bruce" the Shark’

WHEN AT DISNEYLAND: Full disclosure. I work for the Mouse. 'Nother full disclosure. I avoid the parks like the plague; t...
03/26/2026

WHEN AT DISNEYLAND: Full disclosure. I work for the Mouse. 'Nother full disclosure. I avoid the parks like the plague; they can be, well, it’s complicated. Anyhooo ... yesterday, during my once-a-year visit, I was pleasantly surprised not only to find a Jungle Cruise croc, but a Jungle Cruise croc that notes Bob Mattey as the creator of such a device. Okay, Disney geeks, I understand that Chris Mueller sculpted it, but Mattey mechanized it. In short, he made it move. Brought it to life. Honestly, I was a bit beside myself to see the contraption, but more so, that work acknowledged him. So, next time you are in Main Street at the Mr. Lincoln show, check this out in the lobby.

A PLACE FOR A SHARK: I first heard about the placement of the shark from Greg Nicotero, likely in April 2019. By then, d...
03/10/2026

A PLACE FOR A SHARK: I first heard about the placement of the shark from Greg Nicotero, likely in April 2019. By then, during the restoration, the shark had been completely stripped of paint and goo, its thousands of cracks sealed, and it was primed gray. The new gills were installed, but the mouth was still being sculpted and was weeks away from being installed. Inside, there was a thousand-pound steel armature. A local welder was hired for a day to create it and help mount it inside. This armature was eventually to be screwed into several cables that would secure the shark over the former May Co. escalators— a controversial decision that folks still belly-ache about today. Honestly, I used to as well when I first heard about it. But no one ever really considered the planning behind placing the prop. Well, technically, it was a copy of the original prop—and I could dive into that more later, but it’s the last remaining copy, nonetheless. Anyway, here are some photos of the team at the Academy Museum planning the installation, including members from Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the volumetric mockup hung to assess feasibility. So, yes, many smarter people than I devised a plan, and numerous meetings were held to figure out the best way to display this incredible piece of Hollywood history. In other words, next time someone is lucky enough to see this thing, remember that it wasn’t just arbitrarily placed hanging over an escalator.
For the record, I can't imagine the shark placed anywhere else. It's out in the open, and I have great views from the top, side, and bottom. Best of all, it's not behind plexiglass, where photos can be ruined by glare.

03/01/2026

PRINTING A SHARK: A look at the process of printing the miniature, interactive, 6 ft shark for The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. JAWS: The Exhibition is open now and will run thru July 26, 2026.

DOES A MONSTER TAKE A BATH?: Interesting question. And I have an even more interesting answer: Yes, it does. And it's ha...
01/21/2026

DOES A MONSTER TAKE A BATH?: Interesting question. And I have an even more interesting answer: Yes, it does. And it's handled annually by a small team led by Sophie Hunter. Sophie is the Senior Objects Conservator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. And she has an awesome job!

Initially, Sophie worked with the fabrication crew back in December 2018 to prep 'Bruce' for his monumental restoration at KNB EFX Group in Chatsworth, CA. She documented the model's issues with the paint and its overall condition, culminating in helping the team that designed the brace that would attach to the shark in order to display it in the space Renzo Piano chose.

These days, ole 'Bruce' is cleaned once a year. At least once or twice a year, scaffolding is erected along the museum spine to allow workers to thoroughly clean and dust the shark while it is on display. Between cleanings, the staff blows dust off the object with an electric leaf blower.

And that's Sophie Hunter!

THE MAKING OF: The Jaws Shark Interactive video is available for those with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures app.
01/06/2026

THE MAKING OF: The Jaws Shark Interactive video is available for those with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures app.

THIS IS NOT THE SHARK: Well, kinda. This is the notorious first version of 'Bruce, the shark' that greeted tour tram vis...
12/24/2025

THIS IS NOT THE SHARK: Well, kinda. This is the notorious first version of 'Bruce, the shark' that greeted tour tram visitors at Universal Studios in Studio City, CA. The body was pulled from the sled or tow shark molds. The head was correct. The goofy cartoon eyes and the legendary icicle teeth were not. Joe Alves would later refer to them as "carrot teeth" in an interview I had for his art department, which, when I posted it on a message board, spread like wildfire.
I found these pics online. Hopefully, someone can help identify the person—I have the names of the crew who installed the Uni attraction, but I don't have faces to go along with them. There are rumors that Bob Mattey helped with this shark, as quite a few components of the picture sharks were robbed and installed in it.
Pics of this attraction are scarce. But once I find a few, I'm more than eager to share.

THIS IS NOT THE SHARK: Over the years, I've been pointed towards many sharks by family, friends, and co-workers. More of...
12/15/2025

THIS IS NOT THE SHARK: Over the years, I've been pointed towards many sharks by family, friends, and co-workers. More often than not, they were harmless plastic displays used to sell everything from surfboards to Hawaiian shirts and Orange Whips. Most were inaccurate representations of a shark that a lone designer scribbled on a piece of paper years before the final product was spit out and strung up in a store, museum, or restaurant. On one occasion, perhaps the most famous, the one person who pointed me to a shark turned out to be the most famous shark of all time. That was well documented and doesn’t call for a repeat visit. That said, I’ve seen photos several times of a shark on display in Berlin, Maryland, whose owners claim, without evidence and under the most incorrect information imaginable, that the shark in their possession was used in the movie Jaws. An astounding piece of wrongheaded braggadocio considering the events—for those who’ve followed this page—of the past, let's call it, 15 years. However, it extended way beyond that!
The roadside attraction is called Frontier Town. Look, I could have Googled the history of Frontier Town and written a thousand-word essay on the history of said location, but the owners pushing their cartoonishly plastic fish didn’t take a moment to look up the history of their goofy prop; why should I look up the history of their establishment? Anywhooooooo … here’s some hilarious history from a sign that is displayed near the thing

"It was the summer of 2000 when a Great White Man-Eating shark called Jaws came to town and nothing has been the same since!
This 31.5-foot-long Great White Shark was an actual working prop used in the filming of Paramount Pictures "Jaws". In the movie, a Great White Shark was seen lurking in murky ocean waters, close to the beach, in hopes of finding his next meal"

Back in the real world, visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures near LACMA. Their exhibit JAWS: The Exhibition runs through July 26, 2026

11/24/2025

SHARK CITY SUNVALLEY CA.: Here's 16 mm footage of the crew building the right- and left-hand sharks. You can also see two workers prepping the sled shark.

This is from Spielberg's home movies that appeared on the making of doc in the Signature Edition laserdisc in 1995 and the current Jaws @50 doc released this past summer. Looks like it was shot over three days as the crew were prepping to show the shark to nervous MCA/Universal execs.

11/18/2025
EIGHT THOUSAND FOLLOWERS: I remember my surprise when I had 200, then 250, then 300 followers. That was back in 2010, sh...
11/12/2025

EIGHT THOUSAND FOLLOWERS: I remember my surprise when I had 200, then 250, then 300 followers. That was back in 2010, shortly after I launched this page, which I called "Save: Junkyard Bruce." Back then, I was emailing, texting, phoning, and visiting Joe Alves, Roy Arbogast, and Greg Nicotero, throwing out ideas for restoring that shark and returning it to the yard. We just wanted to make it look pretty.

At one point, I had a friend in the Air Force whose job was project management. He helped me create a project book to deliver to the fine folks at Aadlen Bros. We even had Joe Madalena of Profiles in History step in to try to act as mediator, and that's quite a story that you will read one day. Hopefully sooner than later.

Fifteen years later, this page has 8,000 followers, and it still astounds me how many people dial in for a few seconds to look at photos of a very stylized Hollywood shark and all its stories. There's more to come. And as always, I'll only post anything newsworthy when there is news to share.

11/11/2025

MEET BABY BRUCE: Greg Nicotero takes a moment to explain the miniature model at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Address

6067 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
90036

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 8pm
Saturday 10am - 8pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bruce the shark posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to Bruce the shark:

Shortcuts

Share

Category