Not all Disney films that are shot in the Santa Clarita Valley use The Walt Disney Co.'s own Golden Oak Ranch exclusively. Take, for instance, 2003's "Holes" starring
Sigourney Weaver, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voigt and Tim Blake Nelson, with Henry Winkler and Eartha Kitt. It used Golden Oak, but it also made extensive use of nearby Melody
Ranch in Placerita Canyon, where crew members dug holes all over the ranch.
Released April 18, 2003 (premiered April 11), "Holes" tells the story of a teenager (LaBeouf) who is wrongfully accused and sent to a juvenile penal camp where he and others
are forced by a corrupt warden (Weaver) to dig holes. The warden is secretly using them to look for a buried treasure chest that had been stolen from LaBeouf's caracter's
ancestors.
This set of photos, shot in June 2002, shows some of the set dressing at Melody Ranch for "Holes."
Other locations included Lake Casitas, Lancaster, Red Rock Canyon, Trona and Cuddeback Dry Lake near Edwards AFB.