TCM teams up with Disney to refresh Great Movie Ride

[Otamin]

Great news in my opinion.

Hopefully we'll get an announcement of the DHS plans soon.

 

[BrerJon]

Even if nothing great happens, this is still great news to me because it means the Great Movie Ride is not going away.

And with the removal of the BAH - and the lack of other attractions, of course - I suspect GMR will see a resurgence in popularity, with attendance figures at levels they haven't been since the hat was built.

 

[BrerJon]

I see this complaint a lot, but I personally have only once ever gotten a CM that wasn't a good spieler. Frequently, however, the onboard speakers are too quiet and/or cut out, so it might seem like the CM isn't enthusiastic.

Some CMs are really good, but some are totally flat. When they say "I see dead people" I sometimes think that they're referring to their audience, bored by their lack of charisma.

Jungle Cruise skippers and Safari guides seem to be much more consistent - maybe because there's more scope for improv? Or it could just be that the false enthusiasm they're supposed to have for classic movies doesn't always come across convincingly from a 20 year old CP who clearly had never heard of Footlight Parade or Public Enemy before they got the job.

 

[BrerJon]

You're right, but what would there be to complain about? There's absolutely nothing wrong with it

Yeah the reaction here proves the point we're always making - we don't just doom and gloom for the hell of it, and we're not automatically down on everything that Disney does. When they make genuinely sensible moves that will change things for the better, we're all supportive.

 

[BrerJon]

For me, it is more of "time for something new" than a dissatisfaction with anything that is there, except the Fantasia scene, which is essentially nothing.

That Fantasia bit is clearly where the money ran out. That needs to be replaced with a proper animatronic scene.

 

[Mike S]

That Fantasia bit is clearly where the money ran out. That needs to be replaced with a proper animatronic scene.

Animatronic Sorceror Mickey commanding fountains of water? Yes please.

 

[Foolish Mortal]

100% for this. can't wait to hear more details. total confidence with TCM behind this. always liked Osborne as a presenter.

 

[Kman101]

For me, it is more of "time for something new" than a dissatisfaction with anything that is there, except the Fantasia scene, which is essentially nothing.

Add some brooms and water effects to the Fantasia scene. Turn the swinging Tarzan into Luke and Leia swinging from platform to platform on the Death Star. Replace the vague horror show section with something. Adding Titanic would be fine with me as well. It is a classic by now.

If it were me (and it isn't), I'd shoot for replacing or significantly upgrading about 25% or so.

I don't at all disagree. I think there does need to be some replacements. I'm all for Tarzan (and Fantasia) being replaced but I can't see it happening in the near future, simply because of what they want the ride to represent now. I was more going off of that then my own personal desires. There's a lot I'd personally do with the ride but sometimes I think people let their own wants cloud what's actually going to be done and if it doesn't fit what they want to happen, it's seen as a slight negative. I was just going off of some posters stating their disappointment the article didn't say scenes were being changed (and I was disappointed as well by that).

 

[Kman101]

Please PLEASE redo some of the show scenes now and not just the queue and end of ride video. sigh

I guess its a start anyways but this ride has so much potential and sticking to older movie classics that many haven't ever seen or heard of is....well....ok for the theme and all but I just think they are missing out on what could be huge.

Take disney movies. Classic to modern and build show scenes around them especially some without attractions in the parks already. Family and kids would love it and it is disney after all with one mans dream right behind it

I get what you're saying, but I think that Disney movies and animated features could have their own attractions. I agree that the ride could be done a lot of different ways and be totally updated but I'm also on the side that thinks these movies need representation. Why can't families and kids learn about the classics? Why does it have to be Disney movies?

And I'm confused too because Mary Poppins is Disney, Indiana Jones is now owned by Disney and has been in the parks for a long time now, Fantasia is represented, Wizard of Oz is nearly as Disney as you can get and for a movie from 1929 that's still extremely relevant. Alien has had an attraction at Disney and didn't they just have an Alien horror thing at Universal? Relevant. I don't see why folks can't learn about the classics to appreciate what it's lead to in movie making.

 

[Matt_Black]

Thanks.
When I lost my hair during Cancer treatments, my son decided to (affectionately) call me Baldy. He was in kindergarten at the time. We used it as my screen name when we played video games together. We celebrated the end of treatments with our first trip to Disney. I'm also a big Snow White fan, so this seemed fitting.

* I have lots of hair now, but the nickname kind of stuck - better than being called hairy I suppose

Fake! Faker! Fake bald person! You spit in the face of those of us who are legitimately bald!!!

Good to hear about your health, though.

 

[Kman101]

Yeah the reaction here proves the point we're always making - we don't just doom and gloom for the hell of it, and we're not automatically down on everything that Disney does. When they make genuinely sensible moves that will change things for the better, we're all supportive.

I agree, but some are using the fact that scenes aren't being replaced (THAT WE KNOW OF) as a slight negative. Well, maybe more disappointment than a negative.

But this is excellent news.

 

[Kman101]

I will say I liked the idea of an update that had you attending a movie premiere and then being whisked into the movie and through key scenes.

 

[NJBrandon]

So the only change is to the video at the beginning that people ignore anyway because they're staring at their phones waiting in line and the video at the end that people just want to be over so they can get off the ride? Okay then. Thanks Disney.

 

[dreamfinder]

Didn't the trailers/clips in the preshow reference the movies showcased on the ride? I haven't had to wait more than 5ish minutes for as long as I can recall, so cribbing a list from a post elsewhere,

Footlight Parade (B&W)
Casablanca (B&W)
Mary Poppins (Color)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (Color)
Singin' in the Rain (Color)
Fantasia (Color)
Alien (Color)
The Searchers (w/John Wayne) (Color)

Doesn't eliminating them remove the remote chance of educating people somewhat about the scenes they will see? Especially for something like Footlight Parade? While I agree that it is due for an update, I'm curious to see how it gets handled.

 

[unkadug]

So the only change is to the video at the beginning that people ignore anyway because they're staring at their phones waiting in line and the video at the end that people just want to be over so they can get off the ride? Okay then. Thanks Disney.

If people can't get off their phones long enough to enjoy an attraction then perhaps they should have stayed at home.

 

[FutureCEO]

Now if only they'd rewrite the awful script and get rid of the dated 90s jokes, we'd be all set.

compared to what? The hip 2010 jokes? Jokes are jokes.

 

[FlaMel]

Another good point - this sponsorship is clearly targeting GMR at an older, more mature audience, instead of just kids. It's a thinking person's attraction.

Could it be the days of Disney not wanting to do anything that doesn't exclusively appeal to 6 year old kids might be coming to an end? Anna and Elsa must be annoyed they've been overlooked this time!

This all depends on the specific kids. My 8 year old loves the GMR.

I think this is a smart sponsorship/alliance deal. It will inject some (limited) new content immediately and provide greater visibility to the attraction, DHS and TCM. It seems that it could hold promise for the future too.

 

[AMartin767]

Definitely a positive step in the right direction. This is a smart move. See Disney, you can make good decisions!

 

[RedtoGray]

This is a really interesting partnership from the IP side of things. TCM is now owned by Time Warner but originally by Ted Turner/Turner Broadcasting which acquired MGM Studios. Turner sold MGM Studios but obtained the rights to the MGM library. TCM now has rights to show a ton of movies and licenses to sell movies from different studios but they do not own the rights to any films.

I'm thinking that this means we'll only see updates to the films in the previews and post shows and not any updates to the show scenes themselves. Now Disney may decide to do some refurb and may change some scenes but that would be independent of the deal with TCM. However, it may open some doors to some IP holders that weren't there before also.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I know. It's just speculation on possible scenes they can add in if they ever wanted to. Whenever Star Wars is suggested a lot of people seem to say it should replace Alien and I'm just wondering why. Because they're both in space?

Generally speaking the Alien section has the same look and feel of a Star Wars (EP IV-VI) ship, the used universe sort of approach.