Legends of Hollywood

One of the first theaters Guests encounter as they tour the Theater District of Sunset Boulevard is Legends of Hollywood. Based on the Academy Theater in Inglewood, California, this classic example of Art Moderne design was built in 1939 to host the Academy Awards (although the Oscars never did move there).

Coming Attractions posters outside the theater advertise a wide variety of films soon to be playing at Legends, from comedies (Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) and thrillers (Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca) to gangster pictures (Angels with Dirty Faces) and musicals (Broadway Melody of 1940).

Tonight, Legends of Hollywood is hosting a grand premiere. The red carpet has been rolled out, and ritzy cars are pulling up to the theater to deliver their glamorous celebrity passengers for the evening's event.

For those who don't already have a ticket through the studio or their publicist, just stop by the Box Office:

The beauty of the theater carries over to the inside, with bold Art Deco styling in the flooring and fixtures:

A graphic mural along the back wall of the interior depicts each of the movie palaces represented at Disney's Hollywood Studios, along with the grandest of them all, Grauman's Chinese.

Ni Hao!

Welcome to the ancient land of China. Stepping through Zhao Yang Men, the "Gate of the Golden Sun," we arrive at the centerpiece of the pavilion, a spectacular replica of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, part of the Temple of Heaven complex built in the early 1400s in Beijing.

Everything here is ripe with detail and symbolism. The dragon and the phoenix are important figures in Chinese culture. Dragons represent power. A phoenix stands for peace and prosperity. Their union represents a marriage of sorts. Look closely at the dragons depicted on the Hall of Prayer, and you'll notice they have five claws, a detail reserved for the emperors. It's appropriate here, as the Temple of Heaven is where the emperor would go to pray (or give thanks) for a good harvest.

Images of the dragon and phoenix continue throughout the incredibly ornate interior of the Hall. Here too are other references to the importance of agriculture and the seasons. The four seasons of the year are represented by the four tall, decorated columns in the middle. Surrounding those are twelve smaller columns, each standing for one of the months of the year. Finally, the twelve highest columns supporting the dome each represent a year in the Chinese calendar, which follows a twelve year cycle.

Back outside, flanking the entrance to the pavilion's exhibit gallery, can be found a pair of Chinese guardian lions. Also known as Fu Lions, they are traditionally placed outside temples, palaces, government buildings and in more recent times restaurants or hotels.

Always appearing in pairs, the lion on the left is female and holds a cub in her paw, while the lion on the right is male and holds a ball or globe. Together, they defend the structure from evil spirits. The male guards the structure. The female protects those inside.

Additional pairs of Fu Lions can be found at one of the shop entrances on the Street of Good Fortune, elsewhere in the China pavilion, and on either side of the doors to the Chinese Theater over at Disney's Hollywood Studios.