Irene Ryan as Granny reacts to a whale surfacing out of the water in The Beverly Hillbillies episode ‘Back to Marineland’, 1964.THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY – “Whatever Happened to Moby Dick?” 10/22/71 Dub Taylor, Howard Cosell, Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, Danny Bonaduce, David Cassidy, Brian ForsterLOS ANGELES – APRIL 10: Marineland Carnival. A CBS television special. At Marineland of the Pacific tourist park, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, CA. Broadcast April 10, 1966. Pictured from left is Jim Backus, Irene Ryan. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)LOS ANGELES – APRIL 10: Marineland Carnival. A CBS television special. At Marineland of the Pacific tourist park, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, CA. Broadcast April 10, 1966. Pictured from left is Irene Ryan, Max Baer, Jr. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)LOS ANGELES – APRIL 10: Marineland Carnival. A CBS television special. At Marineland of the Pacific tourist park, Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, CA. Broadcast April 10, 1966. Pictured from left is Donna Douglas, Irene Ryan, Max Baer, Jr. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Beverly Hillbillies Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesAmerican rock n’ roll singer and actor Elvis Presley (1935 – 1977) feeds a pair of whales during a visit to Marineland of the Pacific at Longs Point, southern California, December 1969. (Photo by Alan Band/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)USA – 1958: A decal for Marineland of the Pacific in California from 1958 in USA. (Illustration by Jim Heimann Collection/Getty Images)(Original Caption) Sealed with a Kiss. Palos Verdes, Calif.: Actress Jayne Mansfield, on a sightesseing tour of Marineland in Palos Verdes, gets acquainted with a trained seal, who seems to love every bit of attention he’s getting from the beauty. Jayne, who likes animals, found the tour very interesting..A. And the intelligent mammal understands plenty of nautical expressions as well as being able to dish out the orders – when he puts his skipper’s cap on. December 1975 (Photo by WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 22: THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY – “Whatever Happened to Moby Dick?” 10/22/71 Dub Taylor, Howard Cosell, Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, Danny Bonaduce, David Cassidy, Brian Forster, Bert Convy, Suzanne Crough, Susan Dey (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)UNITED STATES – OCTOBER 22: THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY – “Whatever Happened to Moby Dick?” 10/22/71 Dub Taylor, Howard Cosell, Danny Bonaduce, Shirley Jones, Dave Madden, David Cassidy, Brian Forster, Suzanne Crough, Bert Convy, Susan Dey (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Six Million Dollar man
Marineland-Hollywood by the Sea
The End of an Era…MGM/ On Amazon
Tales Beneath the Sea
Animal activists may shudder but one cannot deny the tremendous awe, joy and respect these animals have inspired in millions, including me. I visited Marineland many times. My mother kept my drawing of Bubbles the Pilot Whale on our refrigerator for a number of years. it was my favorite park of all, besides Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica. But P.O.P. became derelict and abandoned in the mid 60’s. I was lucky enough to see Marineland through the eyes of a child and then visit the area again as an adult as part of Universal Studios crew.
History Timeline…
This public oceanarium operated from 1954 to 1987. Designed by William Pereira, it was the world’s largest oceanarium when it opened.
In 1974, 20th Century Fox becomes the new operator, allowing Fox to diversify exposure of its motion picture and television assets to the public. Fox begins work on integration of movie and television displays throughout the park. Walk-around characters from Planet of the Apes are seen. (If anyone has a picture of this, please share!)
Fox also begins discussions with Irwin Allen to “transform” the park into a major tourist attraction. In 1978 Fox pulls out following overly aggressive development plans by Irwin Allen that prove impractical; and marineland is purchased and merged into Hollywood Park, Inc. Hollywood Park, Inc. retains the operating management services of Hanna-Barbera. Costumed characters are seen, including Scooby Doo, Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear.
But, the real celebrities of the era were the mammals of Marineland including Flipper the talkative dolphin, Corky and Orky-the Killer Whales, Captain Winston’s California Sea Lions – one of which starred as Esmerelda in Twenty Leagues Under the Sea, the beautiful Pearl Divers, Omar the Giant Octopus and countless other memorable sea animals who educated and entertained the public.
Competition with all the other theme parks in the Southern California area resulted in low attendance and the park finally closed in 1987.
Marineland conducted valuable research on animal behavior. Their approach to training was not only using food as a reward, but playing, rubdowns, splashdowns, positivity and human kindness. (Who doesn’t like that?) Obviously, there was and still is reason for taking steps to ensure humane treatment of these sea creatures. Conclusion–they dislike being captive in small tanks.
They called me the "phantom of the backlot." Join me on my adventures through the historic and celebrated MGM studios, in Culver City, during the height of its glory.
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1 thought on “Marineland-Hollywood by the Sea”
Hi Donnie, You keep amazing us with these memories. This is so interesting that the TV show cast would come to Marine Land. This had to be special for the public to see and interact with them. Hope you are doing well and staying cool this summer. Cheers, my brother!
Phantom of the Backlots 
Hi Donnie, You keep amazing us with these memories. This is so interesting that the TV show cast would come to Marine Land. This had to be special for the public to see and interact with them. Hope you are doing well and staying cool this summer. Cheers, my brother!