5 Abandoned Remnants of the Old MGM Studios

hello I'm Michael Eis in a great tradition of Hollywood I'd like to welcome you to a major Studio sneak preview tonight the Disney MGM Studios theme park will officially open to the public but as the final touches are being put on this wonderful new theme park we're going to give you a glimpse of what all the excitement is about we're also going to try and give you a sense of what this thing called Hollywood is all about so sit back and enjoy the sneak preview of a Hollywood we've created in Florida is not so much a theme park as a state of mind a Hollywood That Never Was and will always be welcome to the grand opening of the newest most fantastic attraction at Walt Disney World the all new Disney MGM Studios theme park you know there really was nothing like Disney in the80s you had Epcot opening you had Disney's Hollywood Studios opening opened in the same decade I mean come on what a time to be alive and there's a lot about Disney's Holly I mean Disney's MGM Studios that I loved even though it was technically a budget park it captured an aesthetic all its own something very unique something kitchy something Disney and something Hollywood all rolled up into one and today everybody I thought it'd be fun to just dive in because yes we can still visit MGM Studios today in its Hollywood Studios form much of what was present in the park on opening day had has sadly been lost to time and wthes and expansions but not everything because if you look just below the surface just beyond a few switchbacks and just over a couple walls you may just be able to find some hidden remnants of the original MGM Studios and that's what we are here today to discuss starting of course with number five we'll start at one of the four best Star Wars attractions to have ever existed at a Disney park and uh not not that one no no no not that one actually either no not that one no actually kind of that counts but no not really this this one Star Tours that's the one I'm talking other one though there we go MGM Studio Hollywood Studios now whether this is the best or the fourth best Star Wars attraction that's going to be up to you but what we are going to look at for this number five entry on the list actually isn't part of the attraction or in the queue at all it's after you exit today after disembarking Star Tours you enter into a gift shop called called Tatooine traitors themed after the desert planet from the prequel and original trilogies Tatooine the exterior as you may be familiar with meant to represent the outposts of moss eely and Moss espa but once upon a time the name and exterior of that gift shop was very very different you see the main facade of the attraction is meant to be sort of a movie set version of Endor from the front it looks like you're looking into the forest Moon of Endor the planet from the Return of the Jedi but then once you begin walking through the queue you can see that the trees are Hollow there's lighting rigs everywhere it's very much a movie set that being said though it doesn't really make sense as to why there's a Tatooine gift shop right next to an endoor set which is why when the attraction first opened in 1989 the gift shop at the end was instead called Endor vendors or Endor vendors if you're cool and was meant to look like the shield generator bunker from Return of the Jedi that way it made a bit more thematic sense you were on endoor so of course the shield generator bunker would be over there right next to the at80 and that's what they're called 8s but in the late 1990s a small independent film called Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace was released into theaters and in order to tie Star Tours into the new Star Wars movie that was releasing in theaters new at the time Endor vendors became tattooing traitors but if you're in the outdoor queue portion of Star Tours and you pay very close attention to the walls around you you may notice one completely covered in Ivy IV that's covering up architecture that doesn't really look very Tatooine in this photo taken by archaeology you can see that the side of the Endor bunkers that belonged to Endor vendors still survives in the queue for Star Tours it's just completely covered with plants looking at tattooing Traders from above you can see that even the the basic shape of the bunker still survives today just with a you know a tatooing facade plastered onto the front so even though Endor vendors or Ender vendors may be gone the uh the side of the building still survives not just in our hearts and Minds but at the modernday Disney's Hollywood Studios I think that's pretty cool I'm glad they kept it there and they didn't just put some trees in front of it or something it's still just out there in the open for anyone who wants to see it to see it all you have to do is be stood in the outdoor queue for one of the Star Wars attractions at the Disney parks and with that we are on to number four so do me a favor and think of the iconic attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios you're going to say maybe I don't know rise of the resistance Mickey and min's runaway Railway or if you're really really cool and smart and awesome you're going to same up at Vision 3D I know you're out there I see you and all of those answers may be true and valid you know those are all good answers but what if I told you the original headliner attraction for Disney's MGM Studios was a tram tour similar to the one that you could find down the street and a park that would open the following year Universal Studios Orlando that's right everybody we are talking about the iconic Disney's MGM Studios Tram Tour it's iconic okay the tram tour would take you on a tour on a trim throughout the park different sets and Facilities that would Aid in the production of movies the MGM Studios was supposed to be a full fledged movie studio when it first opened in 1989 and they would even go on to produce a couple of movies at the theme park a couple you may have heard of like Lilo and Stitch and Mulan you would board the original incarnation of the Backlot tour the backstage Studios tour from the building that is today the Star Wars launch bay in the animation Courtyard you'd Wind Through the animation Department costumes makeup before going through residential street catastrophe Canyon it was like a 2hour tour I'm pretty sure it was a very very long attraction the only other quote unquote ride on opening day was The Great Movie Ride so you could get these two knocked out early and then uh just I guess walk around maybe watch the Indiana Jon stunt spectacular for the rest of the day that one is actually worth the stop I love that show looking at the map you have here there's not a ton in this park that Still Remains recognizable today but here like I said earlier is where you would boore the tram tour and here is what it looks like today it is an absolute shell probably one of the worst and most least used corners of Disney's Hollywood Studios to this day they I I don't know they got to figure something out but remember the current Star Wars launch bay housed one the magic of Disney Animation where you could see how movies were animated and two the loading zone for the tram tour and it is still visible today after walking past the Star Wars launch B Q area take a look to your left past these funny Star Wars themed half walls and you may Glimpse the old loading zone for the backstage Studio Tour it still exists there just barely Out Of Reach but fear not my friends it is not the only part of the old Tram Tour that still survives at Hollywood Studios one part of the tram tour is actually walkable and is walked by a lot of guests on a daily basis and that my friends is Grand Avenue the last surviv set piece from the original tour this is where you can find Muppet Vision 3D and Baseline Tap House but it used to be so much more you see what we know today as Grand Avenue was originally part of the streets of America known as New York Street obviously meant to resemble the streets of New York City funny story originally you weren't allowed to walk around New York Street it was just a part of the tram tour you would drive through but guests complained that there was so little room to sort of walk and spread out at the original MGM Studios that this decided to just open it up and let people walk around which I think is kind of funny but if I show you first this picture of New York Street and then Crossfade very slowly to show you the evolution you can see very clearly where the current Grand Avenue currently stands and where the eventual expansion Star Wars Galaxy's Edge would go further on back and if you're wondering what happened to places like residential street and catastrophe Canyon and most of the studios's back lot I can answer that question with Galaxy's Edge and Toy Story Land Toy Story Land in Alx Edge have taken up essentially all of the area and you know maybe even a little bit more that the Backlot tour used to occupy and you know what I'm going to say it I don't even care at this point I'm okay with that I think Hollywood Studios right now as it currently exists is the best shape the best form the park has ever been in could it be a lot better absolutely I I actually think it is the worst of the Walt Disney World parks but it is certainly the best it's ever been if that makes sense I still like it it's just not my favorite everyone knows all you have to do is you go to Hollywood Studios you ride the Tower of Terror rise of the resistance Slinky Dog Dash and on the way out you hit Muppet Vision 3D Save The Best For Last then you head over to Epcot on the Skyliner and then ride living with the land a couple dozen times until they kick you off and tell you that the Park closed an hour ago you need to get out of here not that I'm speaking from experience or anything MGM and by extension Hollywood Studios hasn't really been about the making of movies for quite some time that really sort of flopped in 2004 when the animation studio over at the Disney Magic of Animation building was closed and so I think Disney pivoting the park to being stepping into the worlds of your favorite Disney movies is a lot more effective than just watch them get made and I mean come on let's be honest to ourselves for a second this was a budget Park you look at that opening day map there wasn't a ton to do this was a halfday park at most but dang it if it didn't have some charm to it that Backlot tour is so Charming it's so quaint so fun and then The Great Movie Ride is just something so unique there's something special about the opening day mg Studios that we I don't think Disney will ever recapture did it kind of suck yeah was it also cool in a uniquely Michael eisener way yeah and that's what I think makes MGM Studios unique onward my friends to number three now forgive me but I am going to bend the rules here for just a second for number three on this list because I cannot do a video about MGM or Hollywood Studios without talking about Muppet Vision 3D it's the best ride at the park or I guess best attraction at the park but did you know at one point in time Muppet Vision 3D wasn't the only Muppets attraction that was planned for MGM Studios in fact an entire Muppets land was to be constructed in the opening few years of the park after passing through residential street on the tram tour we're talking about the tram tour still guests would then drive past a set of construction walls obscuring the construction of a new Muppets themed area but instead of just saying you know Muppet Vision 3D or The Muppets The Walls said Muppet Studios now that is a bit more than just Muppet Vision 3D this is because in the original Phase 2 construction plans for MGM Studios in collaboration with Jim Henson a new Muppets themed land would open targeting the year 1991 2 years after the opening of the park the land would have some of what we have today Muppet Vision 3D of course would be part of it but there would also be two restaurants and the E tiet attraction the great Muppets Movie Ride which was meant to parody The Great Movie Ride at the front of the park just with the Muppets messing everything up and making it a complete disaster that sounds amazing and by 1990 ground had been broken and construction had started on the Muppet Studios this land was going to happen unfortunately after the death of Jim Henson the relationship between Disney and his company became sort of frayed but the filming form Muppet Vision 3D the movie that was going to be part of the land was done it was one of Jim hensen's last performances as Kermit and so the plans were completely changed into just Muppet Vision being allowed to operate at Disney's MGM Studios Unfortunately they had already built and constructed two buildings for the Muppet Studios land and those buildings were intended to be restaurants one where you would order food from Rizzo the rat and his friends and then they would deliver it over some Rafters in the ceiling to your table and another restaurant featuring The Swedish Chef because of course you have to have a Swedish Chef Restaurant makes sense so instead of having a Muppets themed the Swedish Chef Restaurant became a movie Showcase in this case showcasing The Rocketeer and the Rat Restaurant became Mama Melo Restaurante Italiano hopefully without rats in the kitchen I've been to mam Mel roses it's pretty good it's all right but if you look around the dining room area and more specifically look up you may notice some lwh hanging Rafters some Rafters that are relatively close to your table because the two restaurants had already been constructed under the original concept for the Muppet Studios Land There were some references some structural remnants of this Muppet's theme that stuck around like the beams above your head at Mama Mel roses these are the beams that the rats would use to Scurry back and forth and deliver your food to your table I assume the rats Were Meant To Be animatronics or moving figurines that would talk to you and say quips as they moved past and it sounds like a really interesting concept that never came to fruition until of course Pizza Rizzo opened in 2016 to eh it's Pizza reviews and even though it didn't feature moving animatronics of Rizzo and his friends it did bring the idea of a Rizzo theme themed restaurant back into Hollywood Studios it's called Hollywood Studios at this point however even though this changed Mama Mel roses is still Mama Mel roses and there are no rats to be seen either in the kitchen or up in the rafters unfortunately or or fortunately if you prefer not to have rats in your pizza I don't know maybe it's just me but I trust Rizzo even though his pizza isn't the best at the parks it still certainly gets the job done if you have absolutely nowhere else to go I will forever mourn the loss of Muppet Studios I think having an EET Dark Ride theme around the Muppets is almost a no-brainer for a park like Hollywood Studios I feel like it'd be a good way to tie together stepping into the movies and the making of movies the old theme of the park and the new theme of the park it'd be a nice compliment to Muppet Vision and of course you can never have enough Muppets I love the Muppets but it seems like these days Muppet Vision is just one of those lingering attractions from the early days of MGM Studios like the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular that is just waiting that is just time for a new IP to move in for a new e dark ride to move in and honestly I hope it doesn't I know why maybe they'd want to replace it but I hope Disney sees that Muppet Vision has a dedicated following the Muppets have a dedicated following and if they chose to expand on that I think they could see a lot of success that's just me though do it build the Great Muppets Movie Ride you cowards on to number two number two takes us back underneath the Hollywood Studios Archway into the animation Courtyard now now while a lot of the park around the courtyard has changed over the years the courtyard itself has remained relatively the same sure the the signs have been switched out maybe a couple facades here and there have been changed some meet and greets but for the most part the animation Courtyard is still very much the same layout as it was in 1989 and for the eagle-eyed guest who remembers old Hollywood slgm Studios you may notice a couple of signs in this Courtyard that evoke times long since past in the park history an age when the entrance to the Backlot tour was colored red with black and yellow stripes and the trams were red with black and yellow stripes signs showing off information for attractions were red with black and yellow stripes restaurant signs were red with black stripes and yellow lettering this one's a bit weird they they would a bit crazy with this one this was the visual language of old MGM Studios it let you know when something was sort of behind the scenes movie themed and you can still find find remnants of it in the animation Courtyard today specifically the sign for the studio store the studio store was a gift shop in the animation Courtyard that just sold you know the your generic Disney gift shop merchandise your plushes your backpacks your shirts all all the usual things that you would find in a gift shop that Disney doesn't really know what kind of specialized merchandise to put into it I say was because it has been closed for about four years at this point and shows absolutely no sign of reopening so just another little abandoned corner of Hollywood Studios that is home to a sign that features the visual language of the old MGM Studios I think that's pretty neat also that's it for number two it's just the sign that looks like the old signs now we don't talk about stage 17 or the studio store over at California Adventure this is a video about MGM although yes those are those are the same as well wonder when those are going to change now the last entry on this list is a bit of a story to tell but it's a really interesting story and I think you'll like it the last of the very few surviving remnants of the original MGM Studios name is this spoiler alert it's it's it's the cameraman statue in the front of the park and the plaque alongside it reads the world you have entered was created by the Walt Disney Company and is dedicated to Hollywood not a place on the map but a state of mind that exists wherever people dream and wonder and imagine a place where illusion and reality are fused by technological magic we welcome you to a Hollywood that never was and always will be Michael D Eisner May 1st 1989 and as it stands to this day if you look up at the top of the plaque the very very top you'll notice that it doesn't say Disney's Hollywood Studios it says Disney MGM now the plaque still referring to MGM Studios is interesting and that's the remnant of MGM but I did want to focus for a second at least on the Statue itself the statue with prgm Studios Origins is called the cameraman and while you may not know the names of the men who sculpted it you certainly have seen some of their other work this bad boy wasn't sculpted for MGM Studios at all it also isn't a sculpture of Walt Disney behind a camera that's a that's a common misconception I see this is just meant to be a generic filmmaker a man making a movie this is not Walt the sculptor of the cameraman is a man named Andrea favil his father Aldo was an art director for the film studio chinit and as a result of this Andrea grew up surrounded by the world world of film making he would spend the days of his childhood on set and in the back lot developing a deep deep love for the art of making movies and when he was seven his family picked up and moved to California it was here where Andrea would attend the Art Center College of design and while still in school was hired to help produce commercials by one of his friends Will Vinton now some of you may know the name Will Vinton and this is because he is well known for his clamation work most notably the California raisins and also the extremely creepy welcome to the mysterious stranger what hello who are you an angel what's your name Satan uhoh what's your name Satan uh-oh yeah uh-oh indeed extremely creepy Mark Twain stop motion Movie that was released in 1985 what were they they thinking with this guy will vinton's still a legend though anyway back to Andrea after his work on the California Raisins commercial with Will Venton he caught the eye of one man one very important man in the history of this Channel and just in the history of the Walt Disney Company in its entirety a man named Marty sclar Marty saw Andrea's talent and immediately hired him into a position at Walt Disney imagineering his new job quite the big deal lead concept designer but in his spare time the company would commission Andrea to do different sculptures mainly and usually most recognizably the Disney Legend statue and after sculpting and premiering the Disney Legends statue at the Burbank lot Andrea caught the attention of Roy E Disney Roy told Andrea about an idea for a new sculpture a sculpture that would pay homage and tribute to the history of Hollywood and would be located in the historic heart of Hollywood Andrea agreed and set up a shed in his father's backyard to serve as studio and because his father Aldo was something of an artist himself he would sometimes assist Andrea and make additions or changes thereby becoming in a way a sort of co-s sculptor of this brand new Statue the finished sculpture was finally unveiled at 4411 West all of Avenue in 1991 this is 2 years by the way after the opening of MGM Studios present at the unveiling of the statue just across the street from the Warner Brothers lot was none other than Frank Wells the current president at the time of Disney Frank Wells of course was extremely impressed by the sculpture and absolutely had to call up his buddy who else but Michael Eisner and tell him all about it Eisner he was confused he was confused why a sculptor who worked at the time for Disney made a beautiful sculpture in omage to the history and Legacy of Hollywood and didn't ask him if they wanted one in his brand new MGM Studios theme park and so Eisner called up Andrea and asked him hey I know you you just finished the the other one but do you think you could just make make another another cameraman sculpture and put it in the MGM Studios park I feel like that'd be kind of awesome kind of cool and so fail got back to work making a second edition of the cameraman this one a little bit different and that is the very same one that you can find to this day at the front of Disney's Hollywood Studios with a plaque in front of it that still reads Disney MGM Studios and as an homage or little Easter egg if you will if you look at the book at the feet of the cameraman that is meant to be the SHO script for whatever the cameraman seems to be filming I guess it's us right walking into the park you'll find the names of people who have influenced Andrea throughout his life like his mom and dad Roy Disney Michael Eisner Frank Wells and of course Marty scar if you want to learn more about the history of this sculpture I'm going to link an amazing video by Sizzle map in the description down below I will also put a card you should see it right there the video is so well made and it's only got like 100 or 200 views at the time of making this and it deserves so so much more please go check it out when you're done watching this video so there you have it the legacy of Disney's MGM Studios goes back even further than we could have predicted across the Atlantic Ocean to Rome and back generations and I think for the amazing animated movies they made at MGM Studios and the fun attractions like The Great Movie Ride The Stunt spectacular or the Backlot tour I think it's really neat that one of the parks if not the park strongest connection to Old film making not just in Hollywood but around the World sits right there often walked past by the average guest so next time you're walking through Hollywood Studios on your way to Runaway Railway or rise of the resistance stop in front of the cameraman and take a moment to realize how much history is sculpted into this man's face in the camera he is pointing at you it may not have been a full day park and it still may not be a full day park but it is certainly a full brain Park a park where you can step into the worlds of your favorite movies and even for a brief second still catch a glimpse of how these movies are made and the original intention behind MGM Studios that was a cool ending that's how you do it hello everybody Welcome to the end card for this week's video I truly do hope you all enjoyed we went through some uh some history of MGM Hollywood Studios I want to give a special shout out by the way to parkology I saw them post on the uh the Twitter board about the the abandoned tram station and I was like huh I wonder what else they have left over of MGM so that they inspired this video go check them out on Twitter at parkology so much cool history over there if you enjoyed this video please be sure to hit the like button and if you want more videos like this be sure to hit the Subscribe button we're actually nearing 300,000 subscribers I I want to do something special for 300,000 so uh once we get there I'll do something really cool and unique I'm I'm I don't know what it is yet but I'll do something as always a massive thank you to all of my supporters over at hand Disney they are the ones who help keep this channel going they are the ones who get early access to videos and this week actually got an exclusive video all about the windows on Main Street USA the window displays I should say if you want early access to my videos before they go live to the rest of the general public on YouTube or if you want to watch that exclusive in the park video recorded a while ago please head to the link in the description down below and even just $1 get you access to most of the perks otherwise if you'd rather just follow me for free I am at offhand Disney on Twitter Instagram and Tik Tok but that everyone is the end of this video thank you all so much for watching and I look forward to seeing you all in the next video probably going to be another top 10 I have something something fun maybe a little controversial but something really fun in mind I'm excited for you to see it thank you everybody and goodbye

Channel: Offhand Disney

Views: 232,924

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Id: jemacjpEtTg

Length: 25min 21sec (1521 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 13 2024