How did the films for Great Movie Ride get picked?

[ThemeParkFilmsPodcast]

just watching Alien and realised it's a 20th Century Fox film, not MGM.
I believe now they have some sort of deal together but not as far as I know at the start of DHS (aka MGM) opening.

Nothing wrong with it being in there, just wondered if there was ever any explanation as to why certain films, aside from being classics, were depicted.

 

[Bairstow]

I assume the films were all chosen by the team working on the attraction as part of an effort to assembly a collection that would best represent the history and diversity of Hollywood films up to that point.
Many of the films were not owned by MGM at the time, though.
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Movie_Ride#Licensing_rights

Also, as stated by the article, Alien is the real oddball of the bunch as it was used primarily because Disney had already purchased the rights to the property for use on a massive Tomorrowland dark ride called Nostromo which never made it past the conceptual stage.

Notably, there have been multiple other attractions based on the Alien film series built over the years, most temporary.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The park was not supposed to be about just Disney and MGM.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I assume the films were all chosen by the team working on the attraction as part of an effort to assembly a collection that would best represent the history and diversity of Hollywood films up to that point.
Many of the films were not owned by MGM at the time, though.
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Movie_Ride#Licensing_rights

Also, as stated by the article, Alien is the real oddball of the bunch as it was used primarily because Disney had already purchased the rights to the property for use on a massive Tomorrowland dark ride called Nostromo which never made it past the conceptual stage.

Notably, there have been multiple other attractions based on the Alien film series built over the years, most temporary.

But, wasn't Alien Encounter supposed to be a part of it before they changed the design of the Alien? Because in that teaser tralier for the attraction it sure looks like an Alien seen in the movies..

 

[ScorpionX]

The idea was to choose one or two films from each genre represented in the ride to best summarize that genre for a 22-minute dark ride.

 

[Bairstow]

But, wasn't Alien Encounter supposed to be a part of it before they changed the design of the Alien? Because in that teaser tralier for the attraction it sure looks like an Alien seen in the movies..

Yeah, but I think that's the marketing guys being intentionally misleading. At that point the final concept using the new creature had long been finalized. If nothing else you can see that it has the 3-clawed hand of the final design.

This wouldn't be the last time a Disney park has intentionally used imagery from the Alien films to hype up things that have nothing to do with those movies or the Gieger design.

 

[jaklgreen]

Seriously, who knows? Someone probably thought it would be cool for the alien to pop out above you.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Yeah, but I think that's the marketing guys being intentionally misleading. At that point the final concept using the new creature had long been finalized. If nothing else you can see that it has the 3-clawed hand of the final design.

Well...Here's an Alien from Aliens...Shows he has 3 Clawed hands...

And here's the Alien Encounter Alien..And the Ad from the attraction...Lobster like claws..It's hard to say when you see it in the ads of what it was suppose to be...

 

[Bairstow]

Action figures aren't the best source of information.
Giger's alien is typically depicted with six fingers, with two opposing thumbs.
The two pairs of smaller fingers are sometimes joined together in molds for action figures or the cruder versions of suits built for action scenes, for durability, but the detailed version of the character has more than three digits.

Both of the figures Disney built for the Great Movie Ride, for instance, match this description.

I'm having a devil of a time finding a good picture of the figures used in the attraction, or even any concept art, but while the creature in Alien Encounter does have two lobster-like claws coming from its upper body, it also has four "inner" arms with three-clawed hands, even on the figure you posted.