BAH(on tv)

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
This is exactly how I feel, and you put that all very well. Forget merchandise, the theater represents the park as a whole.



The hat will never be removed as the icon, but its location might. While its over stayed its welcome, now a days people see and remember that as the icon.


Doubt that....;) :D But I would welcome that, as well.
 

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
HOW on earth does a WATER TOWER that you can only see from ONE part of the park or for less then five minutes on an ATTRACTION encapsulate the spirit, magic, majesty of the Entertainment Industry vs. the world's most famous Theater, paved literally with the hands and feet of the talent and stars that the entire industry is built on? It's not only emblematic of Hollywood at the grandeur of and the peak of it's power over the hearts of millions, it's also the most classic depiction of the everyday gateway into this very entertaining world of magic and make believe, THE THEATER. It works on EVERY LEVEL. There's NO COMPETITION in the field of Lead Icons for Studios, when there's LITERALLY a BUILDING IN THE CENTER OF THE PARK THAT REPRESENTS THE ENTIRE SPIRIT OF THE PARK. Yet, Holy Cow! Here we have a WATER TOWER built where practically NOBODY CAN SEE IT, and we're calling THAT the Icon because they decided it looked better on Napkins! Why don't we call the Archway the Icon, it's even more grand and you can see it for more places whydontcha?

And of course the park is filled with icons. Is Big Thunder Mountain not an Icon? What about the clock tower of Pirates of the Caribbean, the pyarmids of Imagination? all Iconic. A park needs to be filled with icons, and Studios has the most, hence this confusion, but I gurantee you the one true icon, in spirit, soul, vision, location, and knowledge is the Chinese Theater. They can put the hat or the tower or whatever, but the Icon of Studios is/has/always will be the Theater.

I am the "Studios Guy" for pete's sake...You think someone would believe me...

:lol:

Anyways, Walt Disney Imagineering designed an Icon for Studios. The Chinese Theater. Marketing has never liked the Theater. (This part, I know as Fact.) I believe in the park as it is, not so much how it's marketed or dictated, and I'm sticking with WDI and the spirit of the park. Chinese Theater is the icon. Maybe not on Hats, glasses, or napkins...but it's the icon the park's built around, physically and spiritually.

:dazzle:

EpcotServo wins. :sohappy:

I guess what one could take away from this is that although the Earful Tower may have been the original icon, the Chinese Theatre should have been. It absolutely personifies the (ideal) intent of the studios better. Hopefully if/when the BAH is removed, the Theatre will be promoted as the new icon.
 

DecWDW

Member
I've always thought of the ET as the park icon. I don't mind the hat, but I'd vote to move it somewhere else in the park, don't know where though. Recently, DVC has been sending emails featuring DeeVee Cee videos and it shows her drawn with the park icons and what they use for the Studios is the Earful Tower.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
You kids can fight about any/everything ad naseum. Just reading tires me to the point where I need a vacation, so I think I'm going to Disney World.

Seriously, though, what's worse is when you fight over factual matters. You may not like it ... or agree with why it was chosen ... or feel it worked ... but the Earful Tower was always designed as the ICON of the park. That's just a fact.

I know some of you believe the ICON must be the centerpiece/weenie and that's also not true.

And the ONLY reason the BAH was created was to allow merchandise to sell more Disney-branded crap, to pretend that the 100 Years of Dead Guy Walt was more than a marketing scam and to allow the Theater/GMR to be gutted for a thrill ride that thankfully did not happen.

Now ... those are the facts. You can go back to arguing which flavor of pxie dust you prefer.

I need to pack my Mickey undies.
 

trr1

Well-Known Member
You kids can fight about any/everything ad naseum. Just reading tires me to the point where I need a vacation, so I think I'm going to Disney World.

Seriously, though, what's worse is when you fight over factual matters. You may not like it ... or agree with why it was chosen ... or feel it worked ... but the Earful Tower was always designed as the ICON of the park. That's just a fact.

I know some of you believe the ICON must be the centerpiece/weenie and that's also not true.

And the ONLY reason the BAH was created was to allow merchandise to sell more Disney-branded crap, to pretend that the 100 Years of Dead Guy Walt was more than a marketing scam and to allow the Theater/GMR to be gutted for a thrill ride that thankfully did not happen.

Now ... those are the facts. You can go back to arguing which flavor of pxie dust you prefer.

I need to pack my Mickey undies.
I never heard of the Theater/GMR to be gutted for a thrill ride do you have any other detail of this? and what was to be there
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
I never heard of the Theater/GMR to be gutted for a thrill ride do you have any other detail of this? and what was to be there

Only that it was to be themed to the Disney villains and used CAVE technology (think next generation of EMVs). And the thought was the BAH provided a perfect portal if you will in front ... since the Theater would no longer have had the same facade. Likely a very basic soundstage type look.

And I do believe this is where some of the many 'Disney villains fifth gate' and 'Bald Mountain for MK' ideas sprouted from ... only this one actually existed in reality.
:xmas:
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
:dazzle:

EpcotServo wins. :sohappy:

I guess what one could take away from this is that although the Earful Tower may have been the original icon, the Chinese Theatre should have been. It absolutely personifies the (ideal) intent of the studios better. Hopefully if/when the BAH is removed, the Theatre will be promoted as the new icon.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda, and I wish. The Theater isn't something that screams "DISNEY", though. I don't think it can take that kind of marketing status.

You kids can fight about any/everything ad naseum. Just reading tires me to the point where I need a vacation, so I think I'm going to Disney World.

Seriously, though, what's worse is when you fight over factual matters. You may not like it ... or agree with why it was chosen ... or feel it worked ... but the Earful Tower was always designed as the ICON of the park. That's just a fact.

I know some of you believe the ICON must be the centerpiece/weenie and that's also not true.

And the ONLY reason the BAH was created was to allow merchandise to sell more Disney-branded crap, to pretend that the 100 Years of Dead Guy Walt was more than a marketing scam and to allow the Theater/GMR to be gutted for a thrill ride that thankfully did not happen.

Now ... those are the facts. You can go back to arguing which flavor of pxie dust you prefer.

I need to pack my Mickey undies.

Have a good trip, and thanks. :wave:
 

TTA-ATW

Member
Hat Idea's

hatredo2.jpg

I like your idea for the hat Scar. Instead of having real projectors in the camera's display things on the hat I think the picture would be much clearer if you could wrap OLED's around the entire hat and use the camera's as places for characters or directors like you suggested to pretend to be projecting and draw a crowd to watch the show with a character at different locations. I like the idea of the film strip wrapped around the hat but have it as one of the types of shows that would be played on the hat intermittently throughout the day. Just think of the possibilities of a cone/hat shaped OLED screen. Now we are talking about Icon worthy BAH's. A night time fireworks show that goes on above the hat synced to music and magical moments of Hollywood could be played on the hat and the finale would be to make the hat almost disappear by playing a picture taken from the spot where the hat sits in 360 so it looks like you are looking directly through the hat no matter where you are standing.

Thanks Scar

BTW: The Earful Tower will always be the icon to me :lookaroun sorry couldn't help myself. lol
 

EpcotServo

Well-Known Member
Shoulda, coulda, woulda, and I wish. The Theater isn't something that screams "DISNEY", though. I don't think it can take that kind of marketing status.

Tree of Life, Spaceship Earth, Mt. Prometheus...none of them scream "Disney" by those standards. It's the magic of the building and what it represents.


And I don't buy the "It doesn't count because it's a real building" arguement, I've been to the real Chinese Theater and ours is a world apart. It's about three times bigger and grander and more opulent. An icon is an icon, it's like saying Matterhorn isn't "Disney" because people think of the real Matterhorn when they see a picture of the real Matterhorn instead of Disneyland.

To restate my argument:

Screw Marketing.
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Anyways, Walt Disney Imagineering designed an Icon for Studios. The Chinese Theater. Marketing has never liked the Theater. (This part, I know as Fact.) I believe in the park as it is, not so much how it's marketed or dictated, and I'm sticking with WDI and the spirit of the park. Chinese Theater is the icon. Maybe not on Hats, glasses, or napkins...but it's the icon the park's built around, physically and spiritually.

Servo, this totally meshes with a conversation we had with our host Imagineer during the Lunch w/and Imagineer in May '08. The conversation turned to the sources who did the actual designs for the things we see in the parks. Tim discussed with us how not everything you see comes from WDI. Marketing brings them projects that they are obligated to design & see to it that they get constructed properly. The biggest examples he used was the BAH & the Swan & Dolphin hotels. His sentiments were much like the rest of us with the BAH: it disrupts the story. The old-school WDI guys value story as a major fundamental in what they do. Marketing doesn't care so much about story as their priorities are to serve their own needs. The Swan & Dolphin are sore spots with WDI because of their disruption while guests are in World Showcase. They disrupt the skyline so a lot of what he referred to as "the salty dogs" look at them as an eyesore and major shoulda-never-happened.

to quote a past thread of mine :)D)...
Scar, I totally loooove your ideas for a big hat. I think the hat is a great icon or weenie in itself but the things you illustrated would really "plus" it in a fantastic way. The possibilities are endless and the fact that the film strip could change with whatever the latest-n-greatest Disney release is could really add to the marketing appeal. Your hat would be incredible if it were placed maybe out where the Christmas tree is placed or above the ticket windows & turnstyles or something....just so that the story isn't disrupted when you walk in the park with an overwhelming element that completely doesn't fit. You know?


And the ONLY reason the BAH was created was to allow merchandise to sell more Disney-branded crap, to pretend that the 100 Years of Dead Guy Walt was more than a marketing scam and to allow the Theater/GMR to be gutted for a thrill ride that thankfully did not happen.

I've been racking my brain trying to think of where I heard or read something very similar to this recently. It was stated that the BAH was put into place to "celebrate" Walt's 100th birthday and not originally intended to be permanent...much like the dreaded wand of the millenium addition to SSE. I've been pouring over this thought a lot. As I stated above, I was told by an Imagineer WDI does not favor the hat, that it originated from marketing which meshes with what you said above. I'm just curious how a temporary marketing idea turns into something so permanent-ish. :shrug: I've never heard that there was a plan to change the GMR to something else entirely. That's interesting. I wonder how many other attractions or spaces have had such plans or ideas developed for them. Very fascinating stuff, indeed!



Eh, I lean more towards the "old salty dogs" of WDI, that story should be the A#1 biggest consideration when it comes to these things. The attention to detail & story is what primarily sets Disney parks apart from other theme parks. Marketing shouldn't be shooting themselves in the foot and jacking with that.
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
Tree of Life, Spaceship Earth, Mt. Prometheus...none of them scream "Disney" by those standards. It's the magic of the building and what it represents.


And I don't buy the "It doesn't count because it's a real building" arguement, I've been to the real Chinese Theater and ours is a world apart. It's about three times bigger and grander and more opulent. An icon is an icon, it's like saying Matterhorn isn't "Disney" because people think of the real Matterhorn when they see a picture of the real Matterhorn instead of Disneyland.

To restate my argument:

Screw Marketing.

You have GOT to be kidding. Seriously. Spaceship Earth, not Disney!? Tree of Life, not Disney!? Prometheus, I'll give you a little credit for, but SSE and the ToL will be recognized within seconds. They are unlike any other structure on Earth. People see those and know of their connections.

Show the pic of the Theater in Hollywood and the one in DHS side by side, and I doubt people will know the difference. That's the problem. People will identify it with Hollywood, but not DISNEY Hollywood. The Earful Tower? Yes. That's easy. A Hollywood Water Tower with Disney Flair. It fits perfectly.

Yeah, screw Marketing, in THIS sense, but don't underestimate it. People know more that you think about Disney, and in that, know what it is, and what it isn't.

To reiterate.... Move the Earful Tower to the front of the park. I'll miss it driving in, but it'll end this argument.
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
No, people only THINK they know more than what I think they know.

That's Marketing's job.

:lol:

:rolleyes::lookaroun

Seriously though, The Theater is identified with REAL Hollywood, out of the park. In the park, yeah, it works great as a sub icon and as a weenie. There's no comparing it to SSE and ToL, though. That's just crazy Studios Talk from StudioServo.
:lookaroun:lol:
 

EpcotServo

Well-Known Member
:rolleyes::lookaroun

Seriously though, The Theater is identified with REAL Hollywood, out of the park. In the park, yeah, it works great as a sub icon and as a weenie. There's no comparing it to SSE and ToL, though. That's just crazy Studios Talk from StudioServo.
:lookaroun:lol:

You are right there...Spaceship Earth and tree of life are the best. But the Chinese Theater is better than our Castle...

:lookaroun :zipit:

Sorry, I'm not feeling well, it just slipped out...
:lol:

And it's not attributed to real Hollywood...It's attributed to the Hollywood state of mind. It's like saying people think of the Castle as the one in Germany-Not the one at Disneyland.

It's not like you see the Chinese Theater on an ad for Studios and say "Let's go to Hollywood instead of Disney World". People are smarter than that, barely. :lol:

What matters is that the icon encapsulate and draw you into the spirit and nature of the park. Chinese Theater is the one that does that for Studios, all I'm sayin'.

Go to Hollywood and see what I'm talking about-The Hollywood people actually visit is long gone, had they actually stuck by the theater this conversation would be obsolete...It's authority as Awesome Icon has been undermined by the fact they put a fake Icon in front of it.
:hammer:
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
You are right there...Spaceship Earth and tree of life are the best. But the Chinese Theater is better than our Castle...

:lookaroun :zipit:

Sorry, I'm not feeling well, it just slipped out...
:lol:

And it's not attributed to real Hollywood...It's attributed to the Hollywood state of mind. It's like saying people think of the Castle as the one in Germany-Not the one at Disneyland.

It's not like you see the Chinese Theater on an ad for Studios and say "Let's go to Hollywood instead of Disney World". People are smarter than that, barely. :lol:

What matters is that the icon encapsulate and draw you into the spirit and nature of the park. Chinese Theater is the one that does that for Studios, all I'm sayin'.

Go to Hollywood and see what I'm talking about-The Hollywood people actually visit is long gone, had they actually stuck by the theater this conversation would be obsolete...It's authority as Awesome Icon has been undermined by the fact they put a fake Icon in front of it.
:hammer:

You did NOT just put down the Castle.:lookaroun:lol:

State of Mind? Maybe. But as you know, a Theme Park with a Castle in the center of it has been attributed to Disney in the public mind for over 50 years now. Especially in this setting. A REPLICA Theater that is based off a very famous one in a REAL place? That's different. It's a carbon copy, where as the Castles are based off real architecture, but unique. I think that would only work if we had gotten a Theater BASED off a original "archetypical" one.

Again, what you describe with "Spirit and Nature" is also done by the weenie. That's just standard WDI Talk.
 

EpcotServo

Well-Known Member
You did NOT just put down the Castle.:lookaroun:lol:

State of Mind? Maybe. But as you know, a Theme Park with a Castle in the center of it has been attributed to Disney in the public mind for over 50 years now. Especially in this setting. A REPLICA Theater that is based off a very famous one in a REAL place? That's different. It's a carbon copy, where as the Castles are based off real architecture, but unique. I think that would only work if we had gotten a Theater BASED off a original "archetypical" one.

Again, what you describe with "Spirit and Nature" is also done by the weenie. That's just standard WDI Talk.

Like I said...Not a carbon copy. I should know, I've been to both...:lol:

I'll give you it's different...(Even though like I mentioned, not too Different. You'll find representations of real places and real buildings at Disney everywhere. I mean, look at World Showcase for the most literal example. Let alone Studios and Animal Kingdom.)

But even so, this goes back to "Different" isn't "bad", you know...

And the phrase "Again, what you describe as "Spirit and Nature" is..." is hilariously out of place when talking about spiritual and thematic matters. With the airquotes and everything... :lol:


And in the heart of Movie Fans, There is no Archetypal theater. All Theaters are unique, but the only one that has ever been iconic, is the Chinese Theater. They could've done an over the top theater with all the bells and whistles, and it would never captivate as much emotion as the facade of that building. It's part of our mythos. Look at the TCM Classic Film Festival Ad, it's the first thing you see.
 

EPCOT Explorer

New Member
Like I said...Not a carbon copy. I should know, I've been to both...:lol:

I'll give you it's different...(Even though like I mentioned, not too Different. You'll find representations of real places and real buildings at Disney everywhere. I mean, look at World Showcase for the most literal example. Let alone Studios and Animal Kingdom.)

But even so, this goes back to "Different" isn't "bad", you know...

And the phrase "Again, what you describe as "Spirit and Nature" is..." is hilariously out of place when talking about spiritual and thematic matters. With the airquotes and everything... :lol:

How many people know that it's not a carbon copy. I did, but that's just because I'm here, and I am talking to you. :lol:

Representations work well as weenies, then. You just said it. World Showcase, DAK, and Studios. The only exception, are obviously our Castles, which has been a symbol of a DISNEY THEME PARK for over 50 years, now. 50 years ago, I doubt that would have worked. (Just showing a person a picture of SB Castle, and asking them to identify it) I don't think that works with our Theater. It might illicit the "Hollywood" response, which is good for the theme, but not good for having people know that it's Disney.


...Which is marketing. Which you might find to be negative. Honestly, I do too, here. But, it's true. The ICON of the park needs to be something DISNEY. Something that people can see, and identify with WDW. I don't think that the Theater does that, and the BAH OVERDOES that. You need a happy balance. And that's out friend, the Earful Tower. Poor thing's been pushed to the back of the park for too long. I am honestly starting to think that he needs to be moved ala DSP.

Different isn't bad, I think this diatribe I just posted shows that! :lol:

Don't see how the "airquotes" are out of place there. I was describing a weenie. Not the icon.
 

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