News Disney Not Renewing Great Movie Ride Sponsorship Deal with TCM ; Attraction to Close

[Bocabear]

Well, all the studios had a water tower and this has the unique touch of the mouse ears. What else could they really choose? I don't think the Chinese Theatre works as it is a recreation of another structure and a decrepit haunted hotel seems an odd choice.

every town has a water tower too..as did all Manufacturing Plants...Mines... Railroad Yards... Lots of things had water towers... they even put up a fake water tower as an entrance into Celebration to make it feel more vintage, and now are doing the Disney Springs water tower...i think that has been pretty much played out even on Disney property... Not saying it was not cute at the time... but surely there could be something better...
We had a local theater down here that had enormous film spools on the roof... like 50' tall... now that would not be tall enough, but maybe something Film related... What about a gigantic 150' tall Academy Away statue with Mickey Ears?

 

[Sir_Cliff]

every town has a water tower too..as did all Manufacturing Plants...Mines... Railroad Yards... Lots of things had water towers... they even put up a fake water tower as an entrance into Celebration to make it feel more vintage, and now are doing the Disney Springs water tower...i think that has been pretty much played out even on Disney property... Not saying it was not cute at the time... but surely there could be something better...
We had a local theater down here that had enormous film spools on the roof... like 50' tall... now that would not be tall enough, but maybe something Film related... What about a gigantic 150' tall Academy Away statue with Mickey Ears?

I guess not being from America, the water tower may seem more evocative for me and for most of DLP's visitors than it does for most of WDW's visitors! Surely giant film spools wouldn't work for a Disney park icon, though. Thinking about the castles, Spaceship Earth, the Tree of Life, and Walt Disney Studios Paris' water tower, only DHS and Tokyo DisneySea don't seem to have convincing icons right now.

 

[Mike S]

I guess not being from America, the water tower may seem more evocative for me and for most of DLP's visitors than it does for most of WDW's visitors! Surely giant film spools wouldn't work for a Disney park icon, though. Thinking about the castles, Spaceship Earth, the Tree of Life, and Walt Disney Studios Paris' water tower, only DHS and Tokyo DisneySea don't seem to have convincing icons right now.

Um...

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Sure it's impressive in photos, but I think it's telling they use the circle with the waves and mouse ears in the logo.

 

[Mike S]

Sure it's impressive in photos, but I think it's telling they use the circle with the waves and mouse ears in the logo.

Doesn't mean it's a bad icon.

 

[Bocabear]

I guess not being from America, the water tower may seem more evocative for me and for most of DLP's visitors than it does for most of WDW's visitors! Surely giant film spools wouldn't work for a Disney park icon, though. Thinking about the castles, Spaceship Earth, the Tree of Life, and Walt Disney Studios Paris' water tower, only DHS and Tokyo DisneySea don't seem to have convincing icons right now.

Ummm Hello.... TDS has several things in the park that are iconic...
It is the two Studios parks that seem to be lacking in a real icon...
So what you are telling me, as someone not from America, when you see a water tower you immediately think "Film Studio"? or Movies?
Because I REALLY have a tough time parsing the two things... I get it, the water tower with ears was cute... and it was there for a long time, but when you think of a movie studio...or the magic of the movies...or classic Hollywood, I really don't immediately think "Water Tower!"
I think it is a real stretch...
Graumann's Theater was chosen because in many Americans heads, it was a symbol of Hollywood Glamour... Of Grand Opening Nights and premieres... All things HOLLYWOOD and an iconic structure on Hollywood Boulevard... This is not hard to understand...
Maybe they should have chosen something else? perhaps, but at the time, it was a good idea, especially with the fast track the park development was on... It still is a symbol of classic Hollywood...no matter who owns it...

 

[TeriofTerror]

Hi @Mike S ! Thanks for you response. It allows me to respond in a manor which lets me emulate a Disney Guest Relations specialist/Mommy Blogger/Social Media rep!!!! And I will throw in a good ol' "Oh, @marni1971 I miss you so much", so people might believe I have some sort of life long friendship with Martin. And I almost forgot, let me name drop a few brand designers and claim I own some shoes but I will post stock photos of them! Oh, @Mike S , I miss you so much

View attachment 167806

I thought these boots were fabulous. Where can I get them?

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Ummm Hello.... TDS has several things in the park that are iconic...
It is the two Studios parks that seem to be lacking in a real icon...
So what you are telling me, as someone not from America, when you see a water tower you immediately think "Film Studio"? or Movies?
Because I REALLY have a tough time parsing the two things... I get it, the water tower with ears was cute... and it was there for a long time, but when you think of a movie studio...or the magic of the movies...or classic Hollywood, I really don't immediately think "Water Tower!"
I think it is a real stretch...
Graumann's Theater was chosen because in many Americans heads, it was a symbol of Hollywood Glamour... Of Grand Opening Nights and premieres... All things HOLLYWOOD and an iconic structure on Hollywood Boulevard... This is not hard to understand...
Maybe they should have chosen something else? perhaps, but at the time, it was a good idea, especially with the fast track the park development was on... It still is a symbol of classic Hollywood...no matter who owns it...

Umm, hello to you too!

The water tower just looks unique from a non-US perspective. And, yes, you can make the connection to footage you've seen of old Hollywood studios. If it is mundane to you in the US, though, I have no problem with them coming up with something else.

I've never been to TDS, but I certainly wouldn't criticise the park as it looks amazing. It just doesn't seem to have a particularly strong icon. Doesn't make it a bad park, nor would DHS (or whatever they call it) be a bad park without one.

Graumman's Chinese Theatre doesn't work for me as an icon as it is already an icon of the actual Hollywood and the DHS version looks almost exactly the same. It would be like using the Eiffel Tower as the icon of Epcot. It's certainly better than the BAH, but surely they can come up with something more exciting.

 

[kpilcher]

Graumann's Theater was chosen because in many Americans heads, it was a symbol of Hollywood Glamour... Of Grand Opening Nights and premieres... All things HOLLYWOOD and an iconic structure on Hollywood Boulevard... This is not hard to understand.

It is the quintessential Movie Palace. Imagineers thought it the perfect metaphoric castle for a new park that aimed to be different than Epcot and closer to the Magic Kingdom in terms of feel. The blocks of Hollywood Blvd. are laid out in the same scale as Disneyland's Main Street, USA. Cozier than MK, so it needed a cozier "castle" at the end.

 

[DinoInstitute]

LOL Toy Story Land...Surely that was the lamest idea anyone has come up with...I guess they have the molds for all that oversize fiberglass crap they used at the other versions of Toy Story Playland...but that idea has never really been much of a wow...and this version will actually have less rides than the other versions of it... They REALLY need to rethink that whole idea and come up with something better...

Incorrect, 3 = 3 = 3. While I don't love what they are doing there, this "lame" land is for sure at least better than the other versions no question.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Well, all the studios had a water tower and this has the unique touch of the mouse ears. What else could they really choose? I don't think the Chinese Theatre works as it is a recreation of another structure and a decrepit haunted hotel seems an odd choice.

In it's time... it was the perfect Icon for the park. Obviously, at least as Disney is concerned it no longer will work with whatever they have planned. We shall see what they do.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Awww, this seems like such a waste to me -- they could have easily relocated the Earful Tower to another section of the park or something. It was adorable and it had character.

When you figure the buildings and facades that have been leveled over the past few months, the tower was just the tip of the iceberg. Probably the cheapest structure in the place. Just a few steel pipes, a big empty tank and some sculptured ears.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I like how it is now. I don't think every park needs that big weenie as Walt would put it.

The Chinese theatre is a pretty good weenie in the Walt sense of the word.

We've kind of been conditioned to think each park needs an icon, but perhaps not. I don't imagine there are many people who would knock TDS, but it doesn't really have it's own equivalent of Cinderella Castle or the Tree of Life.

 

[Mike S]

It is the quintessential Movie Palace. Imagineers thought it the perfect metaphoric castle for a new park that aimed to be different than Epcot and closer to the Magic Kingdom in terms of feel. The blocks of Hollywood Blvd. are laid out in the same scale as Disneyland's Main Street, USA. Cozier than MK, so it needed a cozier "castle" at the end.

And it works beautifully.

In it's time... it was the perfect Icon for the park. Obviously, at least as Disney is concerned it no longer will work with whatever they have planned. We shall see what they do.

Still is imo. The park is still going to be about movies so why not have the grand castle-like Chinese Theater at the center? Especially when Star Wars, the IP getting a huge new land, premiered at said theater.

Synergy!!!

Well I think I have my answer. Sort of.

Anyway, it's interesting how excited people were to see the hat come down to restore that view of the Chinese Theater, and now some folks are hoping they rip that facade down for another big icon.

I actually never saw DHS before the hat was placed, so when it came down, that was my first glimpse.
I like how it is now. I don't think every park needs that big weenie as Walt would put it.

Once the future direction of the park is clear, then I'll revisit my thoughts.

Only the crazy ones.

 

[NearTheEars]

And it works beautifully.

Still is imo. The park is still going to be about movies so why not have the grand castle-like Chinese Theater at the center? Especially when Star Wars, the IP getting a huge new land, premiered at said theater.

Synergy!!!

Only the crazy ones.

I agree ha.

 

[No Name]

I liked the hat and thought it was a better park icon than the theater. The theater is a smaller, scaled-down replica of a famous building in Hollywood. It is not very grand and it's certainly not unique. The hat, on the other hand, was grand and unique and clearly identified the park.

To all of you who complain that the hat never belonged at the end of a classic hollywood street, remeber that there's a fairytale castle at the end of a classic Missouri street. Difference is, you didn't grow up without the castle there. Nostalgia is strong in these parts. I'm affected by it too.

I just ask you all to accept the fact that, just as you like the Chinese Theater, some people like the hat.

 

[FigmentForver96]

I liked the hat and thought it was a better park icon than the theater. The theater is a smaller, scaled-down replica of a famous building in Hollywood. It is not very grand and it's certainly not unique. The hat, on the other hand, was grand and unique and clearly identified the park.

To all of you who complain that the hat never belonged at the end of a classic hollywood street, remeber that there's a fairytale castle at the end of a classic Missouri street. Difference is, you didn't grow up without the castle there. Nostalgia is strong in these parts. I'm affected by it too.

I just ask you all to accept the fact that, just as you like the Chinese Theater, some people like the hat.

The hat was a giant plastic pin store in the middle of the park that in no way represented the idea of studio or movies. It represented one scene from a single movie which was Fantasia. The theater is a classic representation of the golden age of Hollywood and all the movies it encompasses.

Any of the Magic Kingdoms follow the model of the castle at the end of a turn of the century town, this is true. Yet what Magic Kingdom is trying to do and what Hollywood Studios is trying to do is different. Main Street is a fictional fantasy like twist on an American town. A town inspired by the towns Walt grew up with. Hollywood Studios you are meant to be in the world of Hollywood. While it is glamorous and much more clean and robust then the Hollywood we know, it is meant to be more of a setting of place. The hat did nothing to fix that. And also even if Magic Kingdom was wrong with the castle, two wrongs don't make a right so the hat still doesn't work.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I liked the hat and thought it was a better park icon than the theater. The theater is a smaller, scaled-down replica of a famous building in Hollywood. It is not very grand and it's certainly not unique. The hat, on the other hand, was grand and unique and clearly identified the park.

To all of you who complain that the hat never belonged at the end of a classic hollywood street, remeber that there's a fairytale castle at the end of a classic Missouri street. Difference is, you didn't grow up without the castle there. Nostalgia is strong in these parts. I'm affected by it too.

I just ask you all to accept the fact that, just as you like the Chinese Theater, some people like the hat.

The Castle at the end of Main Street, USA is completely in line with the typological organization of a typical Main Street. The street is built around prominent structures that reflected the character of the town. In older towns where religion is a main characteristic this building is the church. In later towns that sought to display their republican virtue it was the courthouse. At a Magic Kingdom is is a castle. It's acceptances comes from this play on organization, not nostalgia. Even the styling of the castle is of romantic 19th century revivalism, just like the street. The Chinese Theater follows this same pattern language, a grand movie palace as the built symbol of a Golden Age of Hollywood that never was and always will be.

The Hat did none of that. It had no relationship with Hollywood Blvd. it did not fit the story and experience. It did not fit the scale. It did not fit the architecture. And it most certainly was not unique. The Hat and Scorcer Mickey became go to marketing symbols tied into overuse of the marketing phrase "Magic," an ever increasingly hollow catch-all to try and explain the unique qualities of Disney's that itself actually hostile to those very qualities.

 

[Cesar R M]

Surely it's very cheap to recreate, though?

Repurpose the one at disney springs lol.

Size wise.. how big is the Disney springs one compared to the one at DHS?
Also, I remember someone mentioned that the DHS also housed communication equipment.

 

[Cesar R M]

every town has a water tower too..as did all Manufacturing Plants...Mines... Railroad Yards... Lots of things had water towers... they even put up a fake water tower as an entrance into Celebration to make it feel more vintage, and now are doing the Disney Springs water tower...i think that has been pretty much played out even on Disney property... Not saying it was not cute at the time... but surely there could be something better...
We had a local theater down here that had enormous film spools on the roof... like 50' tall... now that would not be tall enough, but maybe something Film related... What about a gigantic 150' tall Academy Away statue with Mickey Ears?

You mean as in Golden Mickeys?