When the Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, there was a great deal of hoopla about how the city of Orlando was now “Hollywood East”. With Universal Studios Orlando opening soundstages a few miles up I-4 from Walt Disney World, there was suddenly an arms race for soundstage space in town, and with plenty of [...]
|
Back in the 1970s and 80s, there was a syndicated television show called PM Magazine. The evening entertainment and lifestyle show aired in markets across the country, packaging syndicated features with wraparound segments featuring local hosts. In 1989, the nation’s media descended on Orlando to cover the opening of the Disney-MGM Studios. Lest [...] Is there really anything I could say? I mean… sigh. The best part of the commercial? It doesn’t pander. There are no characters, aside from Figment and Mickey, no distortions of the truth – just images of EPCOT. It shows you how exciting EPCOT is, rather than telling you. There’s no cheesy footage of [...] Gather ’round, young ones, and I’ll tell you a tale of the distant days of yore when the Disney Channel featured programming related vaguely to Walt Disney and the Disney films and parks. One staple of those great days was interstitial segments that aired between programs (the channel had no commercial breaks back then), [...] Way back in the day, the Disney Channel showed content that was related to the Disney films and theme parks. And so it was in 1989, when the channel created an hour long special to celebrate the newly-minted Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park in Florida. Hosted by TV’s Fred Newman, then one of the adult stars of the new Mickey Mouse Club and known today as a sound effects artist on public radio’s Prairie Home Companion, the special shows the construction of the park while also serving as a tour of all the new attractions and shows that guests would find waiting for them when they visited. Of special interest are several of the creative staff behind the new park; lead Imagineer Bob Weis was responsible for the Studios park and actually returned to the company a few years ago to lead the creative makeover of California Adventure. A young Eric Jacobson, with a fantastic 80s hairdo-and-mustache, went from leading the team on the Great Movie Ride to his current role as a Senior Vice President at WDI. Take a look, and remember when the Studios was actually a studio, and there was animation in the animation tour! And – do I have to say it? – no hat! Continue reading The Making of the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, 1989 |
 
Essays about the first forty years of Walt Disney World, including two pieces by yours truly. Available in print and for Kindle. |
|
|
Copyright © 2007-2012 Progress City, U.S.A. - Subscribe to Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). Bad Behavior has blocked 1689 access attempts in the last 7 days. |
||
Recent Comments