You’re probably too busy always running toward Toy Story Mania at rope drop, but have you ever stopped to notice the weirdness that somehow, over the years, manifested itself into today’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios?
While recently thinking about my 90s childhood and days of Ducktales, plastic VHS cases and Disney Happy Meal toys, I have also been analyzing the history of Disney-MGM Studios/Disney’s Hollywood Studios and its futured rumored ideas. I have come to a startling conclusion about this sadly misshapen park:
It is totally 90s.
Remember when you’d pop in a Disney VHS tape and catch a sneak preview of the newest film before the Feature Presentation would begin?
“Walt Disney Animation Studios proudly presents its 32nd animated feature, The Lion King!”
Cameras would pan over Sir Elton hammering out some tunes at the piano while a handful of nerdy animators were sketching from life with a real lion sitting in the studio, all while “Circle of Life” was booming and building up in anticipation until “Coming to Theatres in 1994” flashed across the screen. Cool, right?
Behind-the-scenes featurettes, sneak peeks, and anatomy-of-a-scenes are still considered interesting, but in this day and age, they are readily available via the Internet, Blu-Ray and DVD. In the 1990s, these featurettes that appeared in theatres and on VHS tape previews were literally a sneak peek into the then unaccessible and magical world of filmmaking.
Which brings us to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Much of it feels so VHS-tape-y, old-school sneak-peak-y, and “Where’s Michael Eisner?” vibe-y.
The park’s name itself drips with the assumption that you are entering a movie studio theme park. The set facades, 1930s theming and commissary-style and backstage areas even give off an excellent movie studio vibe.
But what is really going on here? Most Guests are too busy rushing toward the park’s E-ticket attractions to even notice that most of the experiences they are enjoying don’t truly encompass the park’s original movie studio theme: Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Fantasmic, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. These attractions are some of the most thrilling, top-notch on property, so there is great reason to be excited. But most Guests are missing out on what makes this park a movie studio theme park.
Since rebranding the park’s original name and concept (formerly Disney-MGM Studios) in 2008 to become “Disney’s Hollywood Studios,” Rock n’ Roller Coaster and the American Idol Experience also now (technically) fit the “Hollywood studio” bill. But I believe Guests don’t really understand the rebranding concept, which states that:
“The new name reflects how the park has grown from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today’s Hollywood has to offer—in music, television, movies and theater.”
Most Guests hear “Disney” and “Hollywood Studios” and think “movies.” Many, if not most, attractions at Disney Parks are based off of famous films. How does this set Hollywood Studios apart from the other parks?
It doesn’t.
So, by changing the concept and saying, “We are more than movies,” it’s like putting the metaphorical band-aid on a slightly bigger problem. The park’s undercarriage and design is still that of a movie studio, with a majority of attractions that don’t quite fit. While Lights, Motors, Action! and Indiana Jones stunt shows certainly fit the theme of a movie studio, many of the other attractions, besides the fact that they are based on films, are not themed to the stages of show business nor give the illusion of walking onto any kind of film set. The outdoor queue at Star Tours is a bit of an exception, and some may argue that the live shows, like Fantasmic! and Beauty and the Beast, fit the bill.
Many of the original aspects of the park that billed it as a movie studio are currently outdated and left in the dust. Attractions such as the Studio Backlot Tour and the Magic of Disney Animation, pinnacles of the original Disney-MGM Studios, are now after-thoughts; rainy day attractions, mid-afternoon “I guess so’s.” The Great Movie Ride also fails to pull in the crowds that the other thrills in the park offer.
Guests do enjoy these attractions, but they share a common bond with the unofficial theme of the park, which I refer to as:
“Totally 90s and in need of some major plussing.”
When Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, the park’s main attraction was the Studio Backlot Tour. This now-often overlooked and dated attraction encompassed the entire back “half” of the park, beginning at the old studio “gate” near Voyage of the Little Mermaid and wrapping around the backside of the Great Movie Ride. The original Backlot Tour was nearly two-hours and included an exclusive walking portion along New York Street and the Streets of America. The tour was quickly condensed to a mere 30 minutes by 1991. The trip included outdoor sets on the now extinct Residential Street, which featured TV exterior locations such as the Golden Girls house and other famous locales, the Boneyard, and of course Catastrophe Canyon. Soundstages were also included in the tour, and Guests could often catch crews filming the newest rendition of the Mickey Mouse Club or other TV shows or film sequences.
Doctor Disney Note: The Backlot Tour was seriously awesome back in the day. Just my two cents.
Disney’s Florida animation team fully produced three animated films in and around the Magic of Disney Animation, often within Guests’ view: Mulan, Lilo and Stitch, and Brother Bear, along with dozens of other sequences. Now these desks sit empty, as though the animators were literally kicked out of their seats mid-sketch.
These studio-themed attractions are still standing, but they are certainly skeletons of their former selves.
The downsizing of Backlot Tour and Magic of Disney Animation is a good example of why film studios don’t work that well in Florida. Costs outweigh the profits of producing at the tried-and-true actual Hollywood studio lots. Convenience is a big factor too. The loss of the “hot set” now contributes to the problem with the authenticity of Hollywood Studios.
Many of the other attractions that DHS showcases have not changed since the 1990s. The Beauty and the Beast stage show, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Playground, Muppet-Vision, the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and even the Great Movie Ride have remained largely unchanged since opening. Disneyland and Magic Kingdom have attractions that have been around 1955 and 1971 respectively, but the upkeep is different and the demand is there. Many of the earliest attractions still in operation at these older parks are considered classics.
And of course, there are issues with attraction placement and the layout of the park. For example, Imagineers decided to drop the modern G-Force Records right in the middle of 1930s Sunset Boulevard. And should I even mention the Sorcerer Hat, also known un-affectionately in the Disney community as the BAH, which obviously stands for “big awesome hat?”
“Hey, I remember that movie…maybe.”
Do Guests want to go behind the scenes of their favorite films? Perhaps if the films didn’t include characters and scenes from outdated so-so’s, like Mulan and Pearl Harbor, then yes. Or maybe it’d be more exciting if Residential Street was alive and actually filming exterior shots for a new series. Or maybe it’s just not as exciting when you have more important things to do, like run to Toy Story Mania at rope drop.
Another “studio” park down the street already has an established name for itself, and while it doesn’t boast a backlot tour (its Hollywood sister takes care of that), the concept motto is “ride the movies.” Simple and effective.
Does Disney’s Hollywood Studios need a makeover like Disney California Adventure had back in 2010? Should it still be branded as a “studio?” With Frozen Summer Fun taking place all summer long, the Disney Villains hard-ticketed event coming up this August, and the American Idol Experience closing in January 2015, it makes us all wonder:
What will Disney’s Hollywood Studios do next? The park needs a solid identity. Can it get out of the 1990s?
DHS definitely needs a re-branding or at least a lot of new attractions. They’ve been riding on the success of their top attractions, but there just isn’t enough to do there. I think they will eventually make some serious changes, but it may not be until 2020 at the current pace. It’s really too bad given how much I enjoyed the park at one point.
I have to agree with you, Callie. I have thought the Studios has needed a much overdue rehab within the last 5 years, if not more. After Lights! Motors! Action! Came for the celebration of Uncle Walt’s 100th birthday, not much seems to have been done. With Pixar Place established, more needs to be done with that. Especially with more Pixar films being made. Other attractions, such as Indiana Jones, seem to have finally run their course. This is where a coaster, based on Indiana Jones and his adventures, might work in the same area. Much like the one that is located at Disneyland Paris. I used to enjoy going to the Studios and truly explore the entire area. But I now primarily go during the holidays, to enjoy the Osbourne Family of Dancing Lights…which while beautiful in the Streets of America, were much more enjoyable when the Residential Street was still existing. There is still a LOT of potential at the Studios. But it needs to begin to updated to join the rest of WDW.
I am going to miss Backlot and Magic of Disney Animation. In fact, I already do. Those were my two favorites next to The Great Movie Ride and Star Tours. Sorry to say, Toy Story can’t even compare and TS is my favorite Pixar movie set since I always loved toys almost more than the normal child. Backlot was sorta the only Disney ride so far that I had closure with. I got to ride it about a month before it was shut down, although I didn’t know at the time that the ride would be leaving. If I had known, I would have ridden it more than once and I’d have bought the book I wanted from the gift shop.
But that one’s not as huge of a deal. The closing of The Magic of Disney Animation really killed me because that one made a huge change in my life. In elementary, I had an art teacher who constantly told me that I couldn’t draw, I couldn’t sculpt, basically that I couldn’t do art at all. I almost believed it. But something at the attraction during the making of “Lilo & Stitch” turned that around for me. The tour guide picked up a cel of Stitch that showed him reading the Ugly Duckling with a bunch of baby ducks all around him and explained that someone drew and painted that by hand. Not long after she said that, I saw a woman on the floor below come and sit at a cubicle and she looked like she was working on the film. I thought about what the tour guide said, that it was possible for someone to create such a beautiful image and some synapse fired. When I got back home, I was introduced to anime for the first time and with the memories of that time at Disney in my head, I decided to sharpen my drawing skills. Now I’m a far-off cry from the crude drawings of yesterday and I found a new release for anxiety issues. All thanks to that tour. Plus it also helped make “Lilo & Stitch” my favorite Disney movie. Both the experience and the movie showed me how believing and having hope can pull you through. The tour showed me that hoping to do better and believing to do better on my drawings would improve my skills and the movie, with Lilo hoping for and believing she had a new friend in Stitch, proved to me that you should never give up on friends, either. My heart tore in two when I found out it was closed not long after I got to go. I’ll always remember the very first time I met Stitch through that cel and the words of that woman…
Also, if it’s of any sillier interest, the woman that I saw going to work on the movie was a living carbon copy of the woman in the film who worked at the shelter. I’m always going to remember that, too.
I think many of the attractions should just be updated. Because I can understand that I know most aren’t, but there are others like me who love the “classics” too. And I don’t know what I’d do if the Great Movie Ride went away, too. Star Tours was my least favorite of the four favorites. Great Movie Ride is the last one still around that still has a really good memory attached to it for me. As a child, I was a big chicken. When I first went, I was heavily frightened by the Alien scene. But long story short when I was small, one of my FAVORITE musicals was The Wizard of Oz… So imagine my excitement to round the corner into the colorful land of Oz, hearing the nostalgic track of “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead”. I immediately forgot my fear.
But Star Tours… Well… That was just fun. I had high hopes for getting the pilot I had heard about on the way to the ride… Jar-Jar. I was kinda a typical non-Star Wars fan and only liked Jar-Jar as a child. I was dragged onto it because my parents liked Star Wars. But I LOVED Jar-Jar. So when I was told Jar-Jar was on-ride, I almost BEGGED to go on it. Well, I went on it that trip, the trip after and the trip after. No Jar-Jar. Disappointment. Fun being zoomed around the galaxy in a simulator, not fun not seeing my favorite character.