The Sorcerer's Hat: Disney's Most Controversial Building

100 Years of magic is the biggest most personal celebration we've ever had at Walt Disney World and the Disney Studios is the perfect place to start it because that's where Walt started in animation and film and TV remember being a child and everything just seems so huge and towering over you you're going to get that same feeling at the Disney Studios because the first thing you're going to see is Mickey sorcerer hat from Fantasia except it's going to be 12 stories high [Music] [Music] it seems that Disney world is always celebrating something over the years Walt Disney World has hosted numerous celebrations usually marketing promotions to encourage more visitors to the parks in 1996 Walt Disney World celebrated its 25th anniversary which among other things brought with it the construction of brand new entrance gates at the side of the main roads into the resort and the infamous birthday cake redesign of Cinderella Castle temporarily adorning the castle with pink frosting and candles and changing or perhaps ruining many family photos that year this cake design lasted until the end of the celebration in 1997 and in 1998 the resort moved on to a new celebration of sorts with the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom the end of 1999 brought the next major promotion for the parks with the beginning of the Walt Disney World Millennium celebration the Millennium celebration largely centered around Epcot Disney's optimistic futuristic World's Fair theme park and among a new fireworks show a parade and a temporary Millennium Village brought with it its own cheesy decoration the one W similar to the birthday cake this was an update to Epcot spaceship earth a large Mickey Mouse hand holding a magic wand on the side of the structure accompanied by the year 2000 on January 1st 2001 the Millennium celebration came to a close and many of its additions were permanently removed however a handful did remain illumination 2,000 reflections of Earth simply became illuminations reflections of Earth and rather than returning spaceship earth to its normal State Disney instead chose to keep the want and replac the 2000 with Epcot ensuring it could stick around beyond the Millennium and later that year Disney would turn its attention to yet another Celebration The 100 Years of magic this was to be a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walt Disney bringing with it multiple new experiences across Disney World focusing on Walt Disney and his legacy and not to be confused with the similarly named 100 Years of wonder which is the promotion for 100 Years of the Walt Disney Company that's going on right now Disney has a lot of these things the celebration would introduce a whole host of new events and attractions across the resort first in the plan was to give each Park a new parade at Epcot this would be the tapestry of Dreams a modified version of the Millennium celebration's tapestry of Nations now including a segment referencing Walt Disney Magic Kingdom would gain the Shar a dream come true parade featuring classic Disney characters in large snow globes the still relatively new Animal Kingdom would receive Mickey's jam and jungle parade a colorful Safari through the park and the then named Disney MGM Studios would see the launch of the Disney stars in Motorcars parade which would feature Disney characters in decorated hot rods this time around MGM Studios will be the main focus of the 100 Years of magic in addition to the parade the park would also see the opening of three new attractions Who Wants To Be A Millionaire player would invite guests to join in on the Park's very own version of the hit TV game show and Playhouse Disney Live On Stage would feature favorite characters from several of Disney's preschool TV shows taking over the former location of the soundstage restaurant and nearby Disney would also open one man's dream a museum dedicated to Walt Disney featuring artifacts from his life and career models of Disney parks and attractions from around the world and a short film but the most significant addition to the 100 Years of Magic by far would be the sorcerer's hat the Hat was to be the centerpiece of the whole celebration a real life supersized version of the Hat featured in The Sorcerer Apprentice segment of Fantasia brought to life at Disney MGM Studios just like Mickey Mouse himself or the classic Disney Castle or Tinkerbell or many other icons by 2001 the sorcerer hat had become a famous symbol of Disney in its own right it was the perfect choice for a symbol to represent Walt Disney's Legacy but the question was where would it go one of the original plans for the Hat actually situated it outside of the park near the entrance this version of the design was absolutely huge turning the Hat into quite possibly the test structure on Disney property on either side of this version of the hat would be two twin Ferris wheels to act as Mickey's ears each decorated to look like a real of film one man's dream would have been built at the base of the Hat much larger acting as a standalone attraction for guests to visit before or after their dare MGM the cost of building something of this size for a one-year promotion would have been enormous and I can only assume this was a big reason why this version of the Hat was never built that and also with it being outside of the park many guests would likely walk straight past it without ever worrying about what was inside in instead the hat would be scaled down still massive but nowhere near the size it might have been the ferris wheel ears would be removed and one man's dream would receive its own location within the park and the new hat would not be located outside of MGM Studios but right in the very center on September 28th 2001 3 days before the start of the 100 Years of magic celebration Disney MGM Studios opened the sorcer hat the new hat was 122 ft tall slanted at a slight angle and covered in the classic stars and cant moons from the original Fantasia design the two Mickey Mouse ears on either side of it were created by Golden swirl patterns and just like with the previous year's one decoration at spaceship earth the Hat featured a large Mickey Mouse glove on its left hand side at the base of the Hat was a platform with the 100 Years of magic sign creating a photo opportunity for visiting guests and at night the sign alongside the Golden Ears and the Moons and stars in the Hat would all Sparkle and glitter as the hat and the 100 Years of magic sign were both illuminated underneath the hat there were two main areas the first was an exhibit named discover the stories behind the magic similar to one man's dream this featured a variety of photos of Walt Disney and also a selection of interactive kiosks with Mickey Mouse shaped computer screens hosting a variety of trivia games about the parks these kiosks were also available in other locations at Disney's other three Parks the second area underneath the hat was a pin training station where guests could buy and trade pins including the Special 100 Years of magic pins which would light up if you got an answer correct at the kiosks while smaller than originally planned the Hat was still an impressive structure to Mark the celebration with and was still pretty big many guests at the time did enjoy seeing the hat and liked the new attention being given into the design of MGM Studios but the building of the Hat also came with many criticisms particularly from the more hardcore Disney fans who had fond memories of the classic look of MGM Studios the Hat was constructed in the very center of the park at the end of Hollywood Boulevard and directly in front of mgm's former centerpiece the Chinese Theater this meant that the massive new Disney structure completely blocked the theater from view blocking the iconic sideline that existed down Hollywood Boulevard since the park was first opened the sideline had now effectively been changed to replace the theater with the new hat which many felt in comparison looked tacky cheap and out of place with the Hollywood theme Beyond blocking the long sideline to the theater its position in front of it also made it more difficult to take any good photographs of the theater itself that weren't super close up and the building of the Hat also obscured one more thing Disney MGM Studios was home to the Resort's largest Hidden Mickey only visible from above and shown on early park maps the shape and patterns on the ground of the area in front of the theater made up Mickey's head and Mickey's ears were made by echol Lake on one side and coloring on the roof of the Brown Derby restaurant and the Playhouse Disney theater on the other but with where the Hat had been placed Mickey now had a sort of large pointy nose and yet another element of the Park's original design had been obscured comparisons were quickly made with the Al criticized Birthday Cake Castle another cartoony overlay of a classic area at the parks and the dressing up of classic areas of Wal Disney World with these cheap looking overlays was a big problem that people had but in the grand scheme of things all of these criticisms of the Hat weren't super important to most Disney fans sure it had changed a lot of the original views of the park and it looked a bit goofy among all of the Hollywood buildings but it wasn't like this was going to be permanent the Hat was would only stick around for a year until the celebration was over and then it would be taken down and then it would be taken down right Michael then it would be taken down Michael look at me why we not cut it by the time October 1st 2002 rolled around the supposed end date of The 100 Years of magic Disney extended the celebration into the new year meaning that the hat would stick around for just a little bit longer the 100 Years of magic finally ended in March 2003 after a 17-month year and construction walls were put up around the sorcerer's hat in the months leading up to the end of The 100 Years celebration there was a lot of speculation about what might happen to the Hat after it was all over many naturally made the assumption that since it was built for the celebration that meant that just like the castle cake that came before it it too would be dismantled by March and now walls had gone up around it this seemed to confirm that but others were more cautious the Hat was big and a much more involved construction project than decorating the castle had been and it looked pretty permanent Disney had never actually said that it was temporary fans had just assumed that and after all the Epcot one from a few years earlier was also a similar temporary installation that was still around and when the construction walls finally came down the Hat didn't come down with them instead Disney had just removed the 100 years sign and the interactive kiosks leaving behind the pin trading station and decorative golden swirls in the interior the fears of some had come true the Hat was permanent some were still eager to defend it that the theater looked boring and was only a copy of something that already existed elsewhere whereas the Hat was unique and emblematic of the Disney Magic side to the parks theme a side that had become all the more necessary now that many of the real Studio elements of Disney MGM Studios were quickly going away and as far as Disney was concerned the sorcerer's hat solved an important problem it gave MGM Studios a new icon every Disney theme park needs an icon something that can symbolize the Park's identity and act as an anchoring point for everything else around it and also something that can go on the marketing materials Magic Kingdom had Cinderella Castle just as every other Disney Castle Park around the world had their own Epcot had the prettiest girl in school Animal Kingdom had the tree of life and now Disney MGM Studios had the sorcerer's hat but what about the Chinese Theater the theater already was the icon it was the anchoring point of the park it represented the Hollywood theme and it had an EET attraction inside of it too and now it had literally been forced into the Shadows well officially the Chinese Theater actually wasn't the parks icon since opening mgm's icon had always has been the earful tower the water tower topped with two gigantic Mickey ears that sat in the corner of the studio backlock and being a water tower it was used to symbolize the park studio theme but the problem with the earful tower was that you couldn't go there it was tucked away in the Backlot only accessible on the studio Tram Tour it wasn't on the same level as the other three icons which were all Grand centerpieces guests could go right up to and inside of so as a result the theater became a de facto co- ion of the park and it would often appear on guide maps and posters in place of the aall tower but that resulted in a lack of cohesion in the park where you had one thing that was an icon but not a centerpiece and another that was a centerpiece but not an icon and so what the Hat was able to do was eliminate the messiness and create a new unifying icon for the park the sorcerer hat took over from the aall tower and it began appearing alongside the other three icons as a new symbol of Disney World I think before this point the existence of the Hat wasn't really a big deal to most people but once the permanence of the Hat became apparent the criticism of mgm's newest icon took Center Stage the Canon Disney nerd opinion if you like was that the Hat was an eyesa the complaints about it blocking the theater were repeated as were criticisms of it not fitting in with the surrounding buildings as were the more standard allegations of it looking tacky cheap ugly and of course temporary it did now solve the problem of having a single Park icon that could actually be visited but now that the interactive kiosks had gone away the only thing that could be visited in the Hat was the pin trading station and so as an icon it was much smaller and much less interesting than its three counterparts but nonetheless the Hat was now here to stay as the early 2 000s became the mid 2000s Disney held yet another new promotion the happiest celebration on earth and the hat was still around on October 1st 2006 Disney World moved on to its next promotion the year of a Million Dreams and the hat was still around in mid 2007 the Epcot wand that Disney had first constructed for the Millennium celebration was finally removed and spaceship earth was restored to its original appearance just in time for epcot's 25th anniversary Disney fans were thrilled to see spaceship earth restored and were also hopeful that maybe this could signal the end of the Hat by the time of mgm's 20th anniversary in 2009 in 2009 the Hat was still around by this time the existence of the sorcerer's hat had become something of a running joke among fans it really did now seem like a giant plastic cone slapped in front of the theater and online they started referring to it by a new nickname the bah the big ass hat the bah was now also subject to a new Disney conspiracy theory why would Disney block the Chinese Theater so egregiously they had to have known how badly the hat would hide it but what if Disney had done it deliberately in 2008 Disney ended its partnership with the film company MGM and Disney MGM Studios was renamed to Disney's Hollywood Studios but the Chinese Theater still hous The Great Movie Ride which contained many Recreations of scenes from movies owned by MGM which Disney had licensed fans speculated that perhaps Disney had built the Hat in 2001 to cover the theater in preparation for the deal with MGM coming to an end there have also been many different permutations of this Theory ranging from Disney's worries about the purchase of the real theater by Warner Brothers in Paramount in 2000 to completely inaccurate claims that the theater's architecture was somehow copyrighted but this really is just a conspiracy theory and I can find no real evidence for it whatsoever whatever the case the hack continued its life well into the new era of Hollywood Studios as it continued to be mocked and criticized for being ugly or badly positioned or whatever it may be in 2014 I was lucky enough to go on my fifth trip to Walt Disney World where just like the times before I once again saw the Hat in all of its pointy Glory but as that year Drew to a close major changes were coming to Hollywood Studios towards the end of 2014 Hollywood Studios saw the beginning of a large scale overhaul of the theme park as many long-standing attractions will be removed over the next few years to make way for massive updates to the park like the opening of Toy Story Land and most notably Star Wars Galaxy's Edge the studio Backlot tour closed in September the streets of America would close a couple of years later in 2016 and in October 2014 Disney announced that finally after more than 13 years of temporary existence the sorcerer's hat was to be removed nothing was to go in the Hat's Place aside from a few new Planters and the original sight line to the Chinese Theater would finally be restored and on January 7th 2015 the sorcerer's hat was sealed off and piece by piece the Hat was demolished photos of the progress were excitedly posted online as the bah was waved goodbye but it did end up having the last laugh as not long after its removal when the sine was restored a large stage was placed in its location also blocking the Chinese Theater I'm not trying to make it seem like everyone loved the fact that the Hat was removed as I've mentioned over the course of this video it did have many Defenders particularly when it was first built but this is the point of calling the Hat the most controversial building at Disney World the internet loves to use that word incorrectly I see it used all over YouTube to just describe things that are widely hated but really it means something that's widely disagreed upon and that's exactly what the Hat was and so obviously not everybody was thrilled about its Disappearance in particular there was one group that viewed the Hat quite fondly and that was Jen Z I'm part of the older end of this group and if you're my age or younger the Hat was all you ever knew at Hollywood Studios many people disliked the Hat because they had Nostalgia for the park before it came along but my generation often remember the Hat fondly cuz we have Nostalgia for the park when the Hat was there if you're deep into Disney Park's Tik Tok like I am you've probably been recommended these Nostalgia posts from people lamenting things they miss from Disney World and I've seen seen so many of these that mention the hat and if I'm being completely honest I never really got the hate for the hat either I liked it and I think people called it ugly not because it actually was but largely because they were just upset with where it was placed but I can also recognize that I feel that way because of my own Nostalgia for Disney World and I do at least understand the criticism also I'm remembering now in my sideline video I did actually make a joke about the Hat being bad but it was literally just a joke I am in two minds about it though the stage went away in 2020 and now the Chinese Theater Seline has been fully restored I do like the return to the classic look for Hollywood Boulevard and I suppose purely on Aesthetics that is the best design for the area although the original hiden Mickey has not fully come back the colored roof that made Mickey's left ear was never brought back and the new planters that exist in the Hat's old location give Mickey this weird looking mustache in a way I wish the Hat could have lived on in some other location where it wouldn't have blocked any of the classic fale and Hollywood Studios does have a problem now when it comes to the parks icon since the demolition of the aall tower in 2016 both official icons of Hollywood studios are now gone for good and now the park often struggles with what its icon should be sometimes the Chinese theat used and sometimes they use the Tower of Terror instead and it seems like the Park is just overall very uncertain about what its identity should be what are your opinions on the sorcerer's hat did you love it did you hate it and what do you think Hollywood Studios icon should now be let me know in the comments and if you like the video please consider subscribing as there's always plenty more theme park content coming in the future other than that if there's anything else You' like me to cover please let me know and as always I'll see you next [Music] time for

Channel: George Browning

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Keywords: sorcerers hat, disney sorcerers hat, sorcerer's hat, hollywood studios hat, disney magic hat, mgm studios, hollywood studios, disney's hollywood studios sorcerer's hat, disney's hollywood studios, disney mgm studios, george browning, disney world, walt disney world, disney wizard hat, wizard hat disney world, hollywood studios wizard hat, sorcer hat, sorcerors hat

Id: JEQfvqIrURM

Length: 22min 6sec (1326 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 14 2024