This
past week we were treated to some excellent articles by our friend
Moviefan12 on the TV special's Disney has done for the grand openings of
their theme parks. Of course there was one missing. And by coincidence,
a few weeks ago I found an old VHS copy of it! So today I decided to
take a look at this show.
Before it
became Disney Hollywood Studios this was known as Disney-MGM Studios.
Why that name was added, and the trouble it caused, is a subject for
another time. I don't miss the name, but I do kind of miss the logowith
Mickey laughing at the MGM lion. In 2008 the park was officially
renamed.But I am talking today about when it first opened, back on May
1, 1989. The day before, as per usual, NBC had a TV special about it!
-Disney MGM Studios Theme Park Grand Opening Special
Plot-
Of
course the special is introduced by Michael Eisner. I always liked his
intros, it made these specials uniquely Disney. So the special finally
opens on the recreation of the Chinese Theatre, and we pan back to get a
special song from Smoky Robinson. The song is, ok. During the song we
see actors in different costumes from famous movies. The song is
basically them all inviting the audience to come and "experience the
movies". Is that replica of the Chinese Theatre still there? Then John
Ritter appears to guide us through the park, showing us all the
Hollywood landmarks that were recreated around the working movie
studios. There is a storyline in this, sort of; it appears John has less
than two hours to get the park ready for the big grand opening! So
basically the special is John checking out all the attractions to make
sure they are ready.
We also get
interviews from celebrities on their favorite movie memories. These
include Kate Jackson, Ronald Reagan, Lech Welesa, Margaret Thatcher,
Mickey Rooney, Jane Fonda, James Stewart, Stephanie Powers, and Walter
Cronkite to be specific.
In the final
segment we cut to John on the Earfull tower (anyone remember that??)
ready to get the celebration under way. We see a parade down the main
street filled with celebrities. Not going to try to list them all.
Michael Eisner then cuts the ribbon, and then music numbers followed by
the finale in front of the Chinese Theatre with fireworks. You can't
help but watch and realize how far that place has come since it opened.
What I Liked-
-Kate
Jackson introduces a segment on the New Mickey Mouse Club which was
filmed in that studio. This natually leads to a song and dance number.
They do a medley of Disney pop songs. I never watched that show, but
have heard good things. After that we see John Ritter at the Catastrophe
Canyon portion of the backlot tour. This was an awesome attraction
which simulates a disaster with an exploding oil truck. I still remember seeing that, you could literally feel the heat from that thing!
-In
the strongest portion of the show, Harry Anderson discuses special
effects like the blue screen effect used in movies, in this case the
famous bee scene from Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. We then get a look at
the special effects area with some cool props. Remember the days before
CGI when they had to use models? Ah, the good old days. Harry Anderson
then shows John Ritter a special demonstration of the wheel house, which
is designed to simulate a boat during a major storm, including rain,
wind, and waves. The idea is to show how the footage is intercut with
special effects in disaster movies.I always remembered this sequence; it
was one of the stronger one's and seeing it in person was really cool.
-John
Forsythe talks about how movies use stunt doubles. This is kind of
pointless. My tape does not show anything of the Indiana Jones Stunt
Spectacular, I thought it looked like the tape skipped a part so I
assumed that was the part I missed since there is no way that was not
featured. Later in the special was a Willie Nelson concert which was
held at that location so I know it was there then, and must have been
mentioned in the special prior to that.Right? But I watched it again and
not so sure, so either I missed it or they glossed over the Indiana
Stunt Show maybe because it wasn’t ready yet.
-Dick
van Dyke talks about The Great Movie Ride! This is thehighlight of the
whole park (at the time), and totally worth it. Hey, am I reviewing the
park or the special? Sorry let's get back on track. The specialshows how
many movie scenes are duplicated in the ride.
-Tony
Randall introduces us to a segment on the SuperstarTelevision
attraction. Never heard of it? Cause it isn't there anymore. But this
was really cool; they would take audience member and insert them
intofamous TV show footage. Including I Love Lucy, The Golden Girls, and
TheTonight Show. As a TV lover, this was heaven for me. Sad to hear
it's gone. Movies are great but television deserves some love.
-The
first part of the look at the backlot tour, including the facade used
for The Golden Girls house. I still have a picture I took of that. Sadly
it was all torn down so it could be turned into Westeria Lane on
Desperate Housewives. They still have a backlot tour of course, but it's
changed a bit. Then a cute moment of Mickey and Goofy playing with
Herbie before we see a mock movie being made on New York Street. This
launches into afull blown song and dance number. And then....well, check
out my Hated section.
-The grand
finale was awesome! After the pointless musicnumbers (more on that in
second) we see the real opening ceremony, and this was cool as we see a
full blown Hollywood production with the Disney characters in front of
the Chinese Theatre! This is what I'm talking about. It was a flashy
montage of memorable Hollywood songs with all sorts of Hollywood flare,
and Roger Rabbit too!! Hooray for Hollywood! Then the fireworks to
finish it off, fantastic end!
What I Hated-
-One criticism is all the film clips tossed into this special. We get the idea, it's all about movies!
-The
story, if you can call it that, was lame. It's basically John Ritter
getting into one strange situation after another including drenched by
Catastrophe Canyon, getting stuck in the mud in front of the Chinese
Theatre, almost getting impaled by some spikes during a stunt
demonstration.Why do the facade of a story to get him into these
situations? It's so lame.
-Before
he shows us the Great Movie Ride, Dick Van Dyke shows the Creel
Triplets around the park. Wait, who? Monica, Leanna, and Joy Creel were
doing a new version of Parent Trap at the time. I sort of remember it.
They were the daughters of Haley
Mills character from the original movie, or something. Anyway one of the
area's they see is an area called The Loony Bin which has all sorts of
cartoonish things. Sound effects, etc. Then they show the Monster Sound
Show.yay, sound mixing. Boring. What a waste of Dick Van Dyke.
-Suzanne
Somers shows off one of the many soundstages on the lot and discusses
how a program is produced. Interesting, but since no tourist will ever
see this stuff kind of pointless. I guess since it was a workingstudio
they had to show that off too. They show every step of a production and
it leads into a pointless song and dance number.
-John
Forsythe showing off the Disney animation department,which is no longer
there. When opened the park was also supposed to be a real,working
studio but that idea kind of got squashed over the years. This segment
is as boring as the attraction was, we know how animation works this
isn’t interesting. If only they'd had a cool ride, like a big tower
which was scary or something.......
-Remember
what I said about the part on the backlot tour? The segment moves to
New York Street for an elaborate and pointless song and dance
number.When that is done...we get another. Then another! Fast forward
button anyone?The idea is to demonstrate that the street can be made to
simulate any season,environment, or location, but did we need four
separate song and dance numbers to convey that????? A Disney Christmas
Special later will do the same thing in two minutes! This portion was
just long, tedious, and boring! Why couldn't they show any of the Disney
related shows? Oh right, none of them existed yet.
-The
final half hour or so. The Pointer Sisters, Willie Nelson, and George
Burns? Pointer Sisters kind of made sense, but Willie Nelson? Why?? Oh,
and we got two songs! Yawn!! Even worst, we get George Burns who
appears....for some reason. His stand-up was classic but, why are we
getting it in this special exactly aside from the need to kill ten
minutes? It has NOTHING to do with the park except maybe that it was
happening there. Even the show knows it’s pointless. The promo for his
spot says he is appearing with a “special message”. Well I guess that’s
better than saying “Coming up, George Burns kills ten minutes we didn’t
know what else to do with!” I get showing the celebration of the grand
opening but this got boring. How about showing the Disney characters or
something?
-Too bad this
special misses all the new stuff that has been added. The Tower of
Terror which was pretty fun, Echo Lake, The Muppets, The New Star Tours
that I would LOVE to see, and even that awesome Sorcerer Hat I would
have loved to get a picture in front of. Among other things. The truth
is when it first opened there wasn't much to this place, a lot has been
added over the years.
Final Thoughts-
The
reason this was recorded waa because my family and I went there that
year! I am happy that I got to go the year the place opened.This special
was not as good as I remembered, clocking in at two hours meant we got
lots of padding. Pointless song and dance numbers and other things which
are just here to pad out the run time. I mean, the audience has seen a
movie before. The stuff about the park was really interesting but the
"behindthe scenes" stuff got boring, especially that endless backlot
portion.Also wish they had done more interaction with the stars, the few
that they did felt forced. There was one cute moment when Kate Jackson
thinks she recognizes John Forsythe’s voice, but isn’t sure (anyone get
that?). The other decent one was John Ritter and Harry Anderson who had
decent chemistry. But least NBC didn't make it a cheap commercial for
themselves this time. The special does show what was cool in the park
and really did get us psyched to go and see the place at the time. So
mission accomplished as far as this special is concerned,even if it is a
tad dated now. If you find it and decide to watch, I recommend you have
a remote with a fast forward button.
Got lots of other Disney specials I hope to get to down the road. For now, hope you enjoyed this.
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