The facility that stored the studio's tape vault housed mainly what the studio called "tape assets" and a small percentage of "film assets." Concerns were raised when an email from a Universal VP warned repertory theaters that the fire "destroyed nearly 100% of the archive prints kept here on the lot." That's not to say that the film negatives were destroyed, so in theory, all the prints (the big cans o' film that go to the theaters) can be replaced, which Universal has said it plans to do. But some experts are saying that the prints themselves are what were so valuable. Says Variety, "So-called EK prints, struck from the original negatives when the negatives were new and thus irreplaceable, would be among the most valuable prints on Earth, according to one expert on film and printing who asked not to be named." I'm thinking said expert may have seen Hollywoodland a few too many times. That said, while the studio -- in keeping with industry practices -- has a storage facility in Philadelphia that may house some of the affected prints, those that do get replaced may not be of great quality. To a lot of purist film buffs, the news is almost as disappointing as the King Kong ride.

The good news here -- other than the destruction of Kong -- is that the Universal fire has prompted other studios to take a look at their facilities and fire prevention plans. And even if we've lost stellar prints of Universal's old horror classics and -- eek! -- Jesus Christ Superstar, other studio's classic films may be luckier.