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News Disney Not Renewing Great Movie Ride Sponsorship Deal with TCM ; Attraction to Close
- Thread starter The Visionary Soul
- Start date
DisneyManOne
Well-Known Member
I was just on TGMR today, some notes:
Acting continues to be bad.
Sorry to pick on the recently deceased, but you can't bail out on one scene, Mr. Osborne, and then suddenly start narrating the next scene.
Sigourney's whiplash head jerk is gone! Not that the AA still isn't way too robotic, but the funny jerk of the head is gone.
OK, I can suspend belief in order to have a female cast member play Bugsy, even doing a horrible Brooklyn accent like the men do. But, she shouldn't be wearing a beret if the skeleton at the pyramid scene is wearing a fedora.
It seems that they now have someone other then the original car-host play the temple priest. Rather than the priest taking off her robe and revealing our original driver, the priest ducks into a room and our driver pops out of the room 'covered by smoke'. To someone new to the ride, they probably didn't get that it was supposed to be our driver under those robes.
OK, I understand that when Disney Events holds events in TGMR, that they may need a mic in the Oz room. But don't have the mic's cord visibly draped over the set... bad show.
There's a Yeti Watch thread... so, why isn't there a thread waiting for them to fix the Busby Berkeley section? Oh yeah, because TGMR is a huge disappointment (other than the Oz scene) and it will happily pass into history. Yeah, I get that it's better to add than replace, but, for me, they can't replace TGMR fast enough.
Sorry to pick on the recently deceased, but you can't bail out on one scene, Mr. Osborne, and then suddenly start narrating the next scene.
Sigourney's whiplash head jerk is gone! Not that the AA still isn't way too robotic, but the funny jerk of the head is gone.
OK, I can suspend belief in order to have a female cast member play Bugsy, even doing a horrible Brooklyn accent like the men do. But, she shouldn't be wearing a beret if the skeleton at the pyramid scene is wearing a fedora.
It seems that they now have someone other then the original car-host play the temple priest. Rather than the priest taking off her robe and revealing our original driver, the priest ducks into a room and our driver pops out of the room 'covered by smoke'. To someone new to the ride, they probably didn't get that it was supposed to be our driver under those robes.
OK, I understand that when Disney Events holds events in TGMR, that they may need a mic in the Oz room. But don't have the mic's cord visibly draped over the set... bad show.
There's a Yeti Watch thread... so, why isn't there a thread waiting for them to fix the Busby Berkeley section? Oh yeah, because TGMR is a huge disappointment (other than the Oz scene) and it will happily pass into history. Yeah, I get that it's better to add than replace, but, for me, they can't replace TGMR fast enough.
It's comments like that that are directly attributable to the reason the park is barely getting a gain in new attractions.
Well, you know, they could do both.
So, let me amend my comment so that the powers that be do my bidding... I'll be happy to see TGMR replaced, but they better add even more to DHS because the attractions that exist are too paltry in number and have too long of a queue.
Disneyson
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure it's the same every time, your Tour Guide probably just fooled you this time.
The extra mic in the Oz room is for when two vehicles are on the track, so that the front-car driver can be amplified through the whole room, allowing the other car to hear them.
EDIT: As for the Mugsi-Mugsy hat, on the skeleton the only bit you can see is a charred circle of felt/fabric around the skeleton's head. It is probably done that way in order for it to resemble a fedora, a beret, or even a cowboy hat. There really is no indication that it is a fedora.
As for the rest, I can't help. But ever since that screen went up in the first scene the effect has remained dormant and that's pretty much final show condition. However, I mostly disagree with your opinions (though the bad acting may be true, it's just about the luck of the draw), and if GMR got a good refurb replacing a few scenes, adding in projection mapping and new AAs, and returned to auditioning their Tour Guides, I think the ride would be ten times better. I don't think it's a dissapointment for those looking for a true family-friendly ride in DHS, one that isn't a very, very old show that one could say aged worse than this ride or one with an hour and a half long wait at non-peak season.
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Matt_Black
Well-Known Member
sunsetblvd26
Well-Known Member
But why not update it rather than replace? Every problem you listed can be fixed with a solid update to the ride, I see no reason why it should just be completely abandoned for a new ride.
Unless it's more that you just don't like the concept of GMR in general, which is fine. But even though it needs an update, I love it for the fact that it really encompasses the theme of the park and would work much better as a thesis attraction. Plus when it leaves there's going to be very few attractions left that fit in the theme of old Hollywood, rather than just "it fits in Hollywood because it's an IP".
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
From the Hollywood Reporter
Critic's Notebook: Robert Osborne Made Old Movies New Again
7:39 PM PST 3/6/2017 by Todd McCarthy
Getty Images
Robert Osborne
Debonair and enthusiastic, Osborne was wildly effective in popularizing classic Hollywood cinema for new generations, THR's chief film critic writes.
At a time when modern college students find The Godfather too slow, Daisy Ridley admits she's never heard of Cary Grant and the majority of people who enjoyed La La Land have no doubt never seen Singin' in the Rain, the role Robert Osborne played in keeping old Hollywood movies alive for contemporary audiences cannot be underestimated. As the face of Turner Classic Movies since 1994, Osborne genially and expertly carried the torch for the films made during the studio system's Golden Era, the 1930s-1950s, providing a platform for older audiences to revisit films they might have seen decades earlier and for younger ones to appreciate that there was some very good stuff that somehow got made before they were born.
With his debonair 1950s looks, agreeable voice and unstinting enthusiasm for his subject, Osborne delivered general public nuts-and-bolts information and a Hollywood insider's take on the four films he presented every day, creating a sense of heightened interest and excitement for films that couldn't all be good, but which he would suggest were at least interesting in one way or another. He was a company man, for sure, a community booster, an enthusiast, which meant that he couldn't be taken entirely seriously as a critic (which was one of the roles he performed during his career).
Rather, he was a born popularizer, which is something old movies needed then and will probably find increasingly difficult to come by as the 21st century churns onward. Ted Turner may have been a lousy studio head at MGM, but those who love movies will be forever indebted to him and his organization for not only saving innumerable old films but for actually creating for them a public home and, with that, unexpected new life and availability to new generations. Osborne indisputably played a major role in perpetuating this process.
On television, his talks about movies bulged with information, specialist trivia and a fan's fervor, but he was never pedantic. As a natural-born cheerleader for Hollywood, he could sometimes be petty but seemed naturally inclined to look on the bright side, which is probably why he didn't remain a critic for very long. He was an Oscar fanatic, authoring several books about the Academy Awards and even becoming the official red-carpet greeter of celebrities on television for several years.
Despite our considerable overlapping interests, I never knew him well — hardly at all, really. For many years, we worked for competing trades and kept a respectful distance, whether that was called for or not. Once he decamped for New York, then Atlanta, I never saw him at all until 2010, when he began hosting the Turner Classics Film Festival in Hollywood. He was in his late 70s by then but didn't look it, and he certainly knew how to handle the old stars who would emerge from the shadows to introduce films they'd made 50 or more years before; they knew Robert would take care of them and help them come off at their best.
To the largely Middle American tourist audiences who saved up every year to make the trip to Hollywood, sitting in movie palaces like the Chinese and the Egyptian to watch great prints or restorations of films they saw in their youth and observe Bob Osborne interview living legends in person was a dream vacation. For Osborne himself, his job, once he started at TCM, must have seemed like a dream come true as well, as it enabled him to share what he loved most with whoever cared to join him. He made film geekiness seem respectable, as well as plenty of fun.
Critic's Notebook: Robert Osborne Made Old Movies New Again
7:39 PM PST 3/6/2017 by Todd McCarthy
Getty Images
Robert Osborne
Debonair and enthusiastic, Osborne was wildly effective in popularizing classic Hollywood cinema for new generations, THR's chief film critic writes.
At a time when modern college students find The Godfather too slow, Daisy Ridley admits she's never heard of Cary Grant and the majority of people who enjoyed La La Land have no doubt never seen Singin' in the Rain, the role Robert Osborne played in keeping old Hollywood movies alive for contemporary audiences cannot be underestimated. As the face of Turner Classic Movies since 1994, Osborne genially and expertly carried the torch for the films made during the studio system's Golden Era, the 1930s-1950s, providing a platform for older audiences to revisit films they might have seen decades earlier and for younger ones to appreciate that there was some very good stuff that somehow got made before they were born.
With his debonair 1950s looks, agreeable voice and unstinting enthusiasm for his subject, Osborne delivered general public nuts-and-bolts information and a Hollywood insider's take on the four films he presented every day, creating a sense of heightened interest and excitement for films that couldn't all be good, but which he would suggest were at least interesting in one way or another. He was a company man, for sure, a community booster, an enthusiast, which meant that he couldn't be taken entirely seriously as a critic (which was one of the roles he performed during his career).
Rather, he was a born popularizer, which is something old movies needed then and will probably find increasingly difficult to come by as the 21st century churns onward. Ted Turner may have been a lousy studio head at MGM, but those who love movies will be forever indebted to him and his organization for not only saving innumerable old films but for actually creating for them a public home and, with that, unexpected new life and availability to new generations. Osborne indisputably played a major role in perpetuating this process.
On television, his talks about movies bulged with information, specialist trivia and a fan's fervor, but he was never pedantic. As a natural-born cheerleader for Hollywood, he could sometimes be petty but seemed naturally inclined to look on the bright side, which is probably why he didn't remain a critic for very long. He was an Oscar fanatic, authoring several books about the Academy Awards and even becoming the official red-carpet greeter of celebrities on television for several years.
Despite our considerable overlapping interests, I never knew him well — hardly at all, really. For many years, we worked for competing trades and kept a respectful distance, whether that was called for or not. Once he decamped for New York, then Atlanta, I never saw him at all until 2010, when he began hosting the Turner Classics Film Festival in Hollywood. He was in his late 70s by then but didn't look it, and he certainly knew how to handle the old stars who would emerge from the shadows to introduce films they'd made 50 or more years before; they knew Robert would take care of them and help them come off at their best.
To the largely Middle American tourist audiences who saved up every year to make the trip to Hollywood, sitting in movie palaces like the Chinese and the Egyptian to watch great prints or restorations of films they saw in their youth and observe Bob Osborne interview living legends in person was a dream vacation. For Osborne himself, his job, once he started at TCM, must have seemed like a dream come true as well, as it enabled him to share what he loved most with whoever cared to join him. He made film geekiness seem respectable, as well as plenty of fun.
Bocabear
Well-Known Member
I agree... Update, rewrite the script, replace som,e scenes but keep the heart of the park intact... Then build an all new Mickey Ride in the Animation Courtyard where it belongs...That just makes sense... They could even create an attached Toontown side corridor connecting to the RockNrollercoaster plaza... Then you would pass through the Disney Studios gate into the Disney Studios original properties...Animation and all. The central core of the park would still have the 1940s Golden Age of Hollywood narrative.... Classic Hollywood in the center section of the park, Animation on the right side of the park (Classic Disney and Pixar) Science fiction and Star Wars on the left side of the park...
Otterhead
Well-Known Member
What about the long queue for TGMR that already exists? On my last visit in the fall, I waited for 45 minutes for TGMR. While you may not be a fan, it's still seen by many as the flagship ride of the entire park, and draws crowds every day.
OliveMcFly
Well-Known Member
Sad day. I've been watching him for many years on TCM. He made the classic movies great with his introductions.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
The Great Movie Ride has been allowed to deteriorate in the same way that the Studio Backlot Tour was. That latter was a cut in size, the former was largely a cut in relevance. I would love to see The Great Movie Ride updated with additional rides like the LPS Mickey ride go elsewhere, but at this point I'm ok with TGMR closing.
I understand the add instead of replace policy but the current version of The Great Movie Ride is no longer the E-ticket attraction it needs to be.
Otterhead
Well-Known Member
I'm not quite clear as to why a celebration of classic movies has 'deteriorated in relevance'. Are The Wizard of Oz, gangster movies, and Casablanca less relevant now than they were in 1996?
Because millennials nowadays, due to technology, have the attention span of a gnat, and anything that happened more than a few years ago is ancient history to be ignored and ridiculed.
TeriofTerror
Well-Known Member
Why is everyone always bashing millennials? My daughter can quote not only most of the movies in the ride, but many in the ending film montage, as well. Her friends are great, too. My house is routinely filled to the brim with that generation, and they are typically smart, engaged, caring, and committed people - not a "snowflake" in the bunch.
Maybe the problem isn't with the kids themselves, but with Disney's perception of them.
Matt_Black
Well-Known Member
And there it is. Whatever the problem, blame the millennials.
DisneyGentlemanV2.0
Well-Known Member
Blame the millennials...
... but thank the Phoenitians.
Matt_Black
Well-Known Member
Considering how you spelled that, I think thanking the Phoenicians is a bit premature at this point.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
No, but the animatronics haven't been updated since 1989, the script has been dumbed down, and only the finale film has been updated from both content and image quality.
There are many scenes that should stay, but could still use animatronic updates. Having said that, there are other scenes that either don't work as intended (Footlight Parade) or could stand to be updated. Things like Singing in the Rain, Mary Poppins, Casablanca and Wizard of Oz shouldn't go anywhere. However, I would listen to discussions on pretty much all other aspects of the ride.