EXTINCT DISNEY PT 2

As if the concept of having two studio themed amusement parks in one town didn't confuse the guests enough, the park formally known as Disney-MGM Studios changed it's name to Disney Hollywood Studios in 2007. Although MGM never really had any presence in Orlando, Disney barrowed the MGM name so we could use the movies in it's attractions and we briefly had the Tom and Jerry characters at the park. They did a promotional video where Tom 'chased' Jerry across the top of the Animation Courtyard arch, but never really went much further. You know it's going to be an interesting video shot when they schedule folks based on whether or not they're afraid of heights. The big question we always get is "Why?" We were told the contract ran out with MGM, the soundstages were being converted into the Toy Story Mania ride and 'film production has left the building'. . . I mean 'the park.'

When the studios opened there was a BACKSTAGE WALKING TOUR (which closed in 2001) that went through the a tour tunnel over looking the soundstages. It was hard to keep the facilities filled with projects. Maybe it was because they didn't like being watched by tourists, or maybe Florida has always been a bit of a step child when it comes to film and television production. The tour snaked it's way through a mock special effects workshops and ended in a real post production house. HOWEVER, again, people editing thier projects don't like being in a fish bowl, so alot of the time the editing rooms remained empty or closed off to the public. Now the Post Production building is independently run and the production tour tunnel has been turned into ONE MAN'S DREAM museum which opened on October 1,2001 to celebrate Walt's one Hundreth birthday.

Soundstages 2 and 3 housed WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE from 2001 to 2006. The closing of Miilionaire was probably the death neel for the "film industry" at Disney Hollywood Studios. In 2008 the stages were gutted and converted into TOY STORY MANIA ride. By the way, Millionaire was not the first big named game show to be shot in the Disney soundstages. Waaaay back in the begining of the park, a revival of LET'S MAKE A DEAL, was made there as well. Sadly it didn't last too long. I believe it was closed down around 1991ish. (i'.m still looking for the actual dates)

The BACKSTAGE TRAM TOUR has had a similar fate of it's walking tour cousin. Though it's still there, it's a mere shadow of it's former self. It's pretty much a drive through Creative Costuming and stop at catastrophe canyon. Oh yeah, they drive past the 'the award winning Earfel Tower'.(As the tour guide's script says). I've asked the guides "what kind of award did the water tower win ?" No one ever seemed to know. In it's day the tram drove past the soundstages and down residential street, but the home To The Golden Girls House, among others, are all gone now.

RESIDENTIAL STREET, opened in May 1, 1989, gave way to a new stunt show in 2005 called Lights Motors Action. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty cool show, but it's a bit heart breaking to see the 'studios' loose it's identity like that. If you ever wondered what was behind the house facades on residential street, it was storage. Mostly horticulture and other items that weather wouldn't hurt since there was only half a house there.

A little further up from Lights Motors Action, in a spot that used to be home to Norman the Cow from the City Slickers Movie, is BACKLOT THEATER. Built in 1993, it was originaly meant to be a temporary stage for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST while the old THEATER OF THE STARS (TOTS)was being relocated to make way for Sunset Blvd. Over the years TOTS was home to a number of song and dance shows including DICK TRACY (1990 - 1991), HOLLYWOOD'S PRETTY WOMEN (Sept. 9, 1991 to Nov. 3.1991), and various Star's of the Day Question and Answer sessions. When B&B got their new snazzy home, 'the powers that be' didn't want to tear down a perfectly good building AND we had a new Pocahontas movie coming out.

Thus the SPIRIT OF POCAHONTAS show was born June 23, 1995, but sadly, it closed on Feb. 24 1996, after a very short run. Casting issues. Staging issues. Staffing issues. They all played a part in it's demise. The intent was to have a totaly native american cast and crew. It ended up being maybe half the cast and a couple of the crew. For a few of the cast, it was in thier contract to either wear thier hair long or keep it in mohawks. If you know anything about 'The Disney Look', it was like an act of congress to get that passed Greta Groom (I'll introduce you to her in another blog).

Hot on Poca's heels was a new show DISNEY'S HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME: A MUSICAL ADVENTURE. (June 21,1996 to Sept 28, 2002)Since everything else in that theater had an extremely short life span, Hunchback spent most of it's life in fear of being closed. At the third year anniversary, we realized that maybe we might just be okay for a while. I personally always felt like we were the step child to B & B. Lasting for seven years, it seemed to take on a life of it's own. The movie was Ehh. . .it was okay. Disney, (as Disney usually does) took liberties with the story that didn't sit well with die hard Victor Hugo fans, but the show itself had a huge following.

After Quasimodo rang his last cathederal bell, the stage sat empty for a while. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles invaded the space briefly as did other character sets using the old greenroom. Starwars weekends used the green room as Starwars Central for two years. Meanwhile, the Spectical of Lights (Christmas lights) crew claimed squatters right's to the stage area for storage. In Dec. 2007 the guts of the building were demolished and a full fledged 'new special events venue' was born for things like Night of Joy, Grad night, conventions, ect.

Next door to Hunckback was an odd stage. From the front, the two stages seemed to be on level ground. From back stage, however, the Muppets theater was a flight of stairs higher than the Backlot theater. This elevation difference, we believe, is what contributed to Hunchback's demise because all of the rain water drained down under the Backlot Theater and eventually rotted out the stage's supports. According to my tech sources the support posts under the stage were beginning to look like swiss cheese.

Working costuming at MUPPETS ON LOCATION: THE DAYS OF SWINE AND ROSES (Sept. 16 1991 and 1994)meant lugging costumes up a flight of stairs every morning and (I hate to admit it) throwing bags of dirty costumes off of the flight of stairs at the end of the day. We worked smarter, not harder, or at least that's what we told management. Since then, the stage has been host to numerous character sets over the years, now it's Buzz and Woody's home when they visit Al's Toy Barn.

Muppets costuming was also home to several of the music groups like the TUBAFOURS and The HOLLYWOOD HITMEN(closed April 7, 2001). During one of the "Oh my God the economy is tanking, must get rid of things' moments, we lost all of our musical groups to layoffs. A few years later they brought music back to the park with Mulch, Sweat and Shears rock band.

THe Studios went through numerous parades over the years. DINOSAUR (1992)(tv show version)was more of a street party complete with Dino whores. . .I mean scantily clad Dino girl cheerleaders, ALADDIN'S ROYAL CARAVAN, (Dec. 21, 1992 - Aug. 27, 1995) The spitting camels are now spitting once again by the Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride at the Kingdom, TOY STORY (1996 - 1997)To Infinfity, the International Space Station and Beyond, HERCULES (June, 27, 1997 to 1998)Hero to Zero, I mean Zero to Hero, MULAN (1998 - 2001) I miss seeing the Perchuran horses everyday, DISNEY STAR AND MOTOR CARS (october 1, 2001- march 8, 2008) Which I hear is coming to Disneyland Paris and last but definately not least, BLOCK PARTY BASH (March 9. 2008) . . .Uhm, never seen, know nothing about it.

SUPER STAR TELEVISION,(1989 to 1999)(Ahh, my home for many years), took guests from the audience and put them in scenes with famous co-stars. Using split screen, green screens, unique costumes and some old fashion imagination, guests were able try their hand at acting with the Golden Girls, Three stooges, David Letterman, Lucille Ball and several others. I'm not sure why it closed other than possible lack of interest/knowledge it existed due to limited advertising.

THe ABC THEATER stage sat dormant for a several years. The show DOUG started in 1999 was there briefly, but he, Patty Mayonaise, Skeeter and Pork Chop soon moved back to Nickelodeon. The cluttered up storage area in the back was given a new coat of paint and turned into a meet and greet area for Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc. until Jan. 2008 when they were moved to the Streets of America. ABC THEATER was also used for special events like ESPN Weekends, Super Soap and Starwars Weekends. Its many years of neglect finally came to an end when, in 2009, Fox's AMERICAN IDOL Opened up shop. So the 'poor little stage that could' is now alive and kicking again.

Next door the MONSTER SOUND SHOW started May, 1989, where actors Martin Short and chevy Chase introduced guest to the world of sound effects. On July 1, 1997 the format changed and it became the ABC SOUND STUDIO. Along with the name change came a new animated film clip. SOUNDS DANGEROUS with Drew Carey later replaced the second reincarnation on April 22, 1999.

Across the park, at home of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid was the original Muppet Show called HERE COMES THE MUPPETS(May 25 1990 until Sept 2, 1991). Many people believe Jim Henson's ghost haunts the Mermaid stage because he passed away while the Muppet show resided there. Across the Animation Courtyard used to be the SOUNDSTAGE RESTAURANT. A quick service pizza and burgers place, it was closed to make way for Henson's BEAR AND THE BIG BLUE HOUSE-LIVE ON STAGE in June 7,1999. For the first month or two, our "break room" was the old steel food service counters and the now closed Cat Walk Bar that was over head. They finally decided that Bear or some variation there of was going to be there for a while and did a huge renovation to create a real break room. The far side of the stage still has food service counters and is pretty much untouched from the restaurant days.

Then there is a list of, as I call them 'honorable mention' shows. The small, short run, limited set creations that were never intented to be long term commitments. R.L. STINE'S GOOSEBUMPS started in Sept. 1998 and lasted until Dec of that same year. ACE VENTURA PET DETECTIVE arrived in late 1995 and was gone a few months later. SCREENTEST was an itty bitty 'show?', 'experience?', maybe a little of both located in one of the stores near the front of the park. A Streetmosphere performer would pick people and auditon them. It lasted a few years. I'm not really sure why that one died. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES emerged from thier specially made Turtle Van on New York Street on June 30,1990. They did a brief martial arts routine them signed autographs on the loading dock. If I remember right, they later moved to other locations aroud the park for their sets until 1996 when the Turtles went back to thier sewers for good.

And finally, I bid a fond Rest In Peace to the ANIMATORS. The very real animation studios was shuttered soon after the release of the Mulan movie as yet another cost cutting measure. What used to be an animation tour is now just a character meet and greet area. THe rest of the building is more corporate offices. Fancy corporate offices, but just offices none the less.

Of all the parks, I think the Studios has seen the most change. Now with Disney buying Marvel Comics, I know we haven't seen the last of it.

OH THE LIFE OF SHORT LIVED SHOWS.

Just like tiny towns in the middle of nowhere, you'd miss some shows and events at Disney over the years if you blinked. Did you know that Norman the Cow from the City Slickers movie used to live at the Disney MGM Studios backlot ? . . . Yeah, i never saw him either, but they say he did.

Norman's field was turned into the temporary stage for Beauty and the Beast. . . then the new home of Pocahantas. . . then the new and jazzed up home of Hunchback of Notre Dame . . . then the new, new home for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . . . then new temporary home for Star Wars Weekends (deep breath) And Now after much gutting, rebuilding and remodeling that space is (drum roll) a convention space . . . and I believe a venue for Night of Joy, Super Soap, Ect, ect, ect.

But first let us go back in time to some other one hit wonders like the Dinosaur Parade. Do you remember the television show with Earl the Dinosaur and his family ? The most famous member of the cast was the baby whose only line was "Not the mama." Well, we had a Dino parade with about three or four floats and the infamous Dino - Whores, i mean Dino - girls. THey got that nick name because of the itty, bitty costumes and a dance routine that was straight out of a night club, but then most of our parades seem to have a unit or two of scantily clad girls. I guess you have to do something to keep the 'little old men' coming back.

Although it was a relatively short run, we did manage to be around long enough to have the only float wreck I can remember at the Studios. Sure, we had plenty of floats clips a few trees and trim a few branches, but during the Dino parade, we had a float actually hit the fence. Fortuneatly no one was hurt, although a few people did go to first aide.

Disney had a way of creating shows and events that are not quiet in step with the modern trend. When they opened the Goosebumps Horrorland show / attraction, the series of children's books was already on the decline. Although i never worked at the show, I was told the grand finale all hinged on young childern volunteers doing a certian bit part in order to release everyone from a curse. It all sounds well and good. You pick the most enthusiastic kids in the audience, take them back stage, dress them up and give them a couple lines to say. Easy. Right? Wrong. When taken out of thier element, some kids melt like the wicked witch under water. SO. You have a show that "can't end until the kids say the secret words", but often times you'd have kids that wouldn't say the secret words. Gotta love kids.

The fact that the audience was outside, standing on hot asphalt with out any sun shade pretty much gauranteed that it was only going to be a short run show. They also had a spooky maze for kids to go through. THe cast loved it because they could scare the bejesus out of little kids and get paid for it. Where the maze area is now an enterance to a gift shop.

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, or Epic, had an ultimate top to bottom over haul back in the late nineties or so. While they were on hiatus, the cast did an odd ball kind of show out on New York street. Good guys and back guys fight it out, some one falls to thier death (not really) and heros save the day kind of show. Right next to the New York Street Show was the Pocahontas show. (Another short lived wonder.) During the Pocahontas show there is a touching scene between John Smith and Pocahontas where John offers her his hand in friendship and trust. Nice sweet, touching moment. Expect during Epic's street show.

On several occasions it went something like this. John Smith offers to shake hands with Pocahontas, "This is how we say Hello." This is abruptly followed by rapid gun fire from the Indy show out on the street. Hey, for once Disney got history right. . . get it ? "this is how we say hello", white settlers killing off the natives. . .anyway. After a few shows like this. The cast of Pocahontas wanted go on the War Path and raid the Indy street show. Stage managers called a truce, adjusted show times and peace was restored. To bad it wasn't that easy back in colonial times.

Ace Ventura was another one hit wonder at the studios. Since it was also considered a stunt show, there was some over lapping of cast. One particular day, a cast member at Ace was also a cast member at Epic in the same day, practically at the same time. In order to make it from one show to the other, a costuming dresser was assigned to play pargo chauffuer all day as the stunt guy was laterally changing costumes in the pargo on the way from one end of the park to the other.

Always remember. . . "The Show Must Go On."