Amity Island

*This article is on the fictional location from Jaws, for the land of the same name see Amity.*

## Amity Island

### Attractions

57 Fare
Amity
Halloween Horror Nights
Jaws
Studio Tour
Tribute Store

## Location information

### Inhabitants

Captain Jake
Captain Jake's Skippers
Captain Lawrence B. "Lazy Bastard" Manely
Chester W. Pattongill
Dirk Kincaid
Doug Perkins
Dr. Howard W. Belinski
Dr. Pamela Darnell
Frank L. Dithers
Helen
Jack Balone
Martin Brody
Matt Hooper
Mayor Larry Vaughn
Melody Klarn
Mrs. Jack Balone
Pastor Roberts
Quint
Skipper Billy
Tadd Laffoon
Wacky Wally

### Visitors

The Shark
Boris Shuster (possibly)
Dr. Richard W. Steerington
Tourists

**Amity Island** is the fictional populated island from *Jaws*.

## Description

Amity Island is located off of New England. It had the town of Amity Village, and the Amity Harbour. Amity has a large tourism industry on its beaches. Amity had the local low-range TV station, " WJWS Channel 13: The Station That BITES".

### Features

* **Amity Island Elementary School**:
* **Amity Island Gifts**:
* **Amity Island Shark Trauma Center**:
* **Amity Landing Restaurant**: A restaurant made from the old *Amity Foundry & Boatworks.*
* **Amity Sports Arena**:
* **Beach**:
* **Bridewell's Gas Dock**:
* **Brody House**:
* **Dauntless Boatworks**: A boathouse which was base for Captain Jake's Amity Boat Tours.
* **Federated Church**:
* **Helen's House of Huge Helpings**:
* **Mayor Larry Vaughn's House**:
* **Mom's Restaurant**:
* **Mr. Shark's Fish n Chips**:
* **Oliver Orca Loan Shark**:
* **Pudding World**: A children's amusement park where children can jump in puddles of pudding.
* **Quint's Surf Shack**:
* **Saltwater Taffy's World of Seafood Flavoured Taffy**: A business of candied and chocolate covered sea-life and seafood flavoured candies, owned by Captain Jake under the persona of his younger sister, "Saltwater Taffy".
* **Shark-a-Rama**:
* **Shark Bait**:
* **Shark Disco**:
* **Sharks R Us Beachwear & Accessories**:
* **Stevens Cannery**:
* **Wacky Wally Stereo**:

## History

### Background

#### Origins

In 1886, the *Amity Foundry & Boatworks* was founded.

#### Shark Attacks

Surrounding the Fourth of July in 1974, a monstrous Great White Shark killed various people in Amity's waters. Chief Brody tried to have Mayor Vaughn shut down the beaches, only for the mayor to keep them open for tourism which resulted in more death. Brody then teamed up with marine-biologist Matt Hooper and shark-hunter Quint to go hunt the shark on Quint's ship, the ORCA.

The boat baited for the shark, causing an attack where the shark killed Quint. Brody was able to seemingly kill the shark, presumably by firing at a tank of oxygen in its mouth. A shark's body was brought back to land, reassembled by taxidermist Chester W. Pattongill, and hung upside down while labelled, "JAWS". Eccentric and money obsessed psychiatrist Dr. Howard W. Belinski took to treating the many survivors.

#### Jaws film

In 1975, Steven Spielberg made a movie based on the shark attacks with Brody as protagonist. Professor Hooper wound up working at the local elementary school as the Jaws film supposedly ruined his reputation and chances of a Nobel prize.

Around 1983 or later, a shark attacked one Dr. Pamela Darnell before she was saved by her friends. By the 1990s, Amity sailor Captain Jake established, "Captain Jake's Tour Boats" to monopolize on the attention which Jaws brought Amity. Tourism to Amity boomed because of this, causing many townsfolk to embrace the shark gimmick. The town even created an, "Old Shark Days Festival" with a, "Killer the Shark Lookalike contest" and a "Miss Shark" pageant commemorating the first visitor who was eaten by the shark.

#### Later shark attacks

Leading up to one of the Old Shark Days Festivals, Dr. Darnell warned townsfolk about the chances of another shark attack, only to be shut down by Mayor Vaughn who claimed she was, "hysterical". Around this time when the local news, "Hey There Amity" was doing a story on the real life figures and historic instances behind Jaws, a newspaper revealed a shark attack had occurred.

Around the 1990s, boats for the service were attacked by a shark virtually identical to, if not synonymous with that which Brody had fought years earlier. The boat's skipper contacted Brody who planned to save them and the guests by making contact with them in a boathouse, only for the shark to infiltrate the boathouse. The skipper attacked the shark with a grenade launcher and eventually the shark died when biting on electrical cords.

#### Steerington Disappearance

In 2010, Amity Island was visited by Dr. Richard W. Steerington, the COO turned CEO of paranormal-investigation agency *Legendary Truth: The Collective*. He went on a fishing-trip with Captain Lawrence B. "Lazy Bastard" Manely where he died/disappeared. The circumstances of Steerington's death are a mystery, with some saying Manley killed him, and Steerington's daughter Paige believing that the death was orchestrated by Ignatia Himmel, a member of the Collective who had been fired in 2010 due to allegations of intentionally releasing the entity *Fear*, but who was reinstated in 2015 by new CEO Dr. Calvin Thorncastle after Steerington's demise.

## Appearances

### 57 Fare

This New York area has Amity show up on a subway map.

### Amity

Parts of San Francisco were themed to Amity Island before it was replaced by the *Wizarding World of Harry Potter*. When it was turned to San Francisco, the area still had some Amity signage.

### Halloween Horror Nights

Apparently, major Halloween Horror Nights recurring character Boris Shuster (who founded Legendary Truth: The Collective) has a summer-home in Amity.

#### Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake

This 2022 Haunted House had multiple indirect allusions to Jaws including a docked boat called the ORCA, and a bulletin board with an advertisement for Captain Jake's Boat Tours as well as Quint's Marine Salvage.

#### Halloween Horror Nights 23

Legendary Truth: The Collective's former leader Dr. Richard Steerington died while on a fishing-trip in Amity.

### Tribute Store

In the Tribute Theatre's "Local news" area of the bulletin board was a story about Brody and his team being able to kill the shark, along with a photo of the suspended shark. Another piece of paper advertised, "Quint's Fishing School". The 2023 Holiday tribute store had a flyer for Amity's 4th of July festivities, and another for Quint's fishing school.

## Trivia

* Due to the impact of the Jaws franchise, it is worth noting that real-life, Great White Sharks are virtually harmless to humans and are essential to the health of underwater ecosystems which is presently vulnerable to extinction.
* Stevens Cannery was named in tribute to Jaws ride show-team Greg Stevens.

## References

1. ↑ Doctor Darnell says it happened seven years prior to the Jaws ride
2. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2023/04/photos-construction-walls-removed-from-snack-stands-in-gramercy-park-at-universal-studios-florida/
3. ↑ https://orlandoparkstop.com/feature/easter-eggs/7-hidden-references-to-the-jaws-ride-in-universal-studios-florida/
4. ↑ Fact is repeated on various websites and the Halloween Horror Nights wiki. Source has yet to be found by Universal Parks Wiki contributors.
5. ↑ https://wdwnt.com/2023/11/holiday-tribute-store-2023-usf-full-tour/
6. ↑ http://www.thestudiotour.com/wp/studios/universal-studios-orlando/universal-studios-florida/jaws-the-ride/