Universal won one of its Thea Awards this year for those interactive wands, capturing the award for Technical Excellence. Another Disney Legend, Tony Baxter, presented Universal with the TEA's Paragon Award for its overall work on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley.
Award shows aren't the only times in which creative talent crosses over between Disney and Universal. Sure, Gurr's the man who designed many of the ride vehicles in Disneyland and subsequent Disney theme parks, including the Autopia cars, the submarines, the Haunted Mansion omnimover, and the original Disneyland monorail. But don't forget that Gurr created iconic work for the Universal theme parks, too. Gurr created the original King Kong animatronic for Universal Studios Hollywood's Studio Tour, which was copied for Universal Studios Florida's Kongfrontation ride and that has inspired the new Kong animatronic that is coming to the Kong ride now under construction at Universal's Islands of Adventure in Orlando.
So whether you are a Disney or Universal fan, if you've spent some time in one of those company's theme parks, you've likely spent some time in the Wizarding World of Bob Gurr.
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