Animal Actors On Location! — Attraction in Orlando

Universal Studios is not nearly just a theme park. Yes, they do have many roller coasters, as well as virtual rides, food, gift shops, carnival games and characters walking around to interact with. But, there are also daily shows that take place around the parks. Animal Actors on Location is one of those, but I think they do too good of a job of blending in so they don’t always get a ton of credit. Their show name could also use some work…the creativity must have been lacking the day it was named.

This is a pretty fun show! If you like animals in any aspect you definitely gotta try and catch a time here- they perform various times throughout a day so there’s plenty of opportunities.

At this show, you can see dogs (golden retrievers, corgies with adorable butts, pugs, and others), cats (many colors), pigs (yup, big ones), birds (parrots, a hawk, pigeons), otters (so flipping cute), and even a porcupine and skunk! And they are all trained so well but you can tell the trainers just love working with the animals.

It’s just good, light-hearted fun watching the antics of the show and seeing the animals run every which way across the playground of a stage. The head trainer explains some of the ways they teach animals to become movie stars and it’s quite neat. There are some “accidents” where the animals misbehave that are very cute, but it’s also a little cringey because you can tell it’s super fake/ staged. But the effort and endearment is 100% there.

They also say that the pug featured in the show is the actual dog that was in the newest Men in Black movie. If that’s true, it’s of course super cool. I’ve heard rumors that they just bring in a new pug over time and continue to claim that, so I’m not sure the entire truth, especially given that the show is all pretty staged and planned so who knows. Either way it’s really a good bit of fun and if you want a laugh and change up from the high speed pace of typical theme park trips come find Animal Actors on Location! in Universal...

The Animal Actors show at Universal Studios is incredible! My wife and I loved it so much that we went back multiple times, and every single show left us amazed. The amount of skill, patience, and dedication it takes to train these animals--dogs, cats, birds, pigs, and more--is mind-blowing.

What really makes this show special is how the cast and crew mix humor and improv into it all. It’s so well done that it feels like the animals are doing improv too! Every performance is funny, entertaining, and so impressive.

Since I’ve started training my own cat, Nala, I’ve realized how much work goes into this kind of thing. It’s not easy, and seeing the love and commitment this team puts into training these animals gives me a whole new level of respect. You guys make it look effortless, but I know it’s far from that.

Thank you to the entire Animal Actors team! You create something truly special. Day after day, week after week, you bring so much joy and laughter to your audience, and it shows in every single performance. We walked away with awesome memories and a huge appreciation for what you do.

If you’re at Universal Studios, don’t skip this show. It’s easily one of the best experiences there. You’ll laugh, you’ll be amazed, and you’ll leave with a deeper appreciation for the talent of both the animals and the people who bring this show to life. Thanks for making our visit...

Such a nice change of pace in the Universal experience.

The animals are recognizable; not obscure or strange creatures that you can't relate to. They love what they do (evidenced by their happy tails and just overall demeaner). The set is covered so you don't get scorched in the sun. There's plenty of seating (on a packed holiday season weekday).

I'm sure the stars of the show change over the years or if an animal actor is filming a movie at that time. But they had Frank the pug from men in black there as one of the stand out stars when we were there 12/23.

I'd say the show was 30 minutes in total? So it's even good if you have squirmy kids that can't be entertained by anything for a long period of time.

All-in-all: it's a cute show where animals show what they have learned in funny skits that will involve some audience...