Weezer 'Buddy Holly' — Jim Henson Studios (formerly Chaplin Studios)

The music video for Weezer's 'Buddy Holly', directed by Spike Jonze and released in 1994, was filmed on a soundstage at what was then A&M Records Studios — a historic facility at 1416 N La Brea Avenue in Hollywood originally built by Charlie Chaplin in 1917. Jonze's concept was to seamlessly insert Weezer into archival footage from the 1950s TV series Happy Days, making it appear as though the band was performing at Arnold's Drive-In restaurant while Richie Cunningham, Potsie, Ralph Malph, and The Fonz watched from the booths. The technical execution, groundbreaking for its time, involved painstaking colour-matching and compositing to blend new footage with material from the original series.

The shoot took place over a single day on a recreated Arnold's Drive-In set built inside the studio. The result was so convincing that many viewers initially believed the Happy Days cast had actually participated — the archival footage intercuts so naturally with the new material that the join is almost invisible. 'Buddy Holly' went on to win three MTV Video Music Awards in 1994, including Video of the Year, and is regularly cited as one of the most technically ambitious and creatively successful videos of the decade.

The facility at 1416 N La Brea has had several identities over the past century: built by Chaplin, later operated as A&M Records Studios, and now functioning as Jim Henson Studios. The Chaplin-era buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the site remains an active production facility. The soundstage where Spike Jonze conjured 1950s America for a 1990s alt-rock band is still in use today — part of a complex that has been making entertainment history for well over a hundred years.