Hollywood Boulevard

Once through Disney Studio 1, the Hollywood set continues in a much more realistic fashion, with Hollywood Boulevard on the studio lot. Between the two is a small park, at the center of which stands a copy of "Partners," the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse crafted by Blaine Gibson. You'll also find a copy of the dedication of Walt Disney Studios Park, opened by then-CEO Michael Eisner on March 12, 2002:

To all who enter this studio of dreams... welcome.
Walt Disney Studios is dedicated to our timeless fascination and affection for cinema and television. Here we celebrate the art and the artistry of storytellers from Europe and around the world who create the magic. May this special place stir our own memories of the past, and our dreams of the future.

The Hollywood Boulevard sets use an illusion of forced perspective to give the impression the buildings are taller and the street longer than they are. Seen from the point of view of Disney Studio 1, Hollywood Blvd. seems to go on for miles, all the way to the famous Hollywood sign. In reality, it's merely a handful of carefully-placed facades.

Each facade, though, is a work of art unto itself, dressed out with props and exterior details that complete the illusion. Whether it's the Deluxe Talent Agency (where hopeful starlets might go to get discovered) or Gower Books & Music (which takes its name from Gower Street in Hollywood), these look like real businesses you can step right into.

Ready for your close-up? Be sure to visit DeMille Studio for professional headshots! (Cecil B. DeMille was not only one of the greatest directors in old Hollywood, but also the subject of Norma Desmond's famous line in the film Sunset Boulevard: "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

There's the well-traveled intersection of Hollywood and Vine, and nearby... Hollywood & Lime, a refreshing drink and snack station sponsored by Perrier. Typical of what would be found on a real movie studio lot, much of the food service at Walt Disney Studios Park is handled by food trucks and carts like this, all in the guise of Studio Catering.

The entire Hollywood Blvd. area of Walt Disney Studios was added to the park in 2007, both as a placemaking enhancement and to support the addition of the park's newest attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

A near duplicate of the Tower of Terror attraction built at Disney California Adventure, Guests in the Paris park are taken beyond the old Hollywood sets and placed right in the middle of the action in their very own episode of "The Twilight Zone."

Tongue in Cheek... and Say, "Aaaah"

On the back side of the Keystone Clothiers building, facing Echo Lake at Disney's Hollywood Studios, is this little alcove and door. For the casual passerby, it may look like little more than a period graphic for a fictional business. Look more closely, though, and you'll discover this building purports to host more than just the Glamour Salon.

The directory implies that several dentists have their practice on the second floor:

C. Howie Pullum, DDS

Ruth Canal, DDS

Les Payne, DDS

I think I would prefer to visit Dr. Payne in Suite 210.

Those Imagineering writers sure do have fun playing with words!

A Hollywood Landmark

The corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Vine St. is a landmark in Tinseltown. Named for the famous intersection, the Hollywood & Vine restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios pays homage to this and other L.A. hotspots.

Step inside Hollywood & Vine, "Where Famous Stars Dine," and the first things you're likely to notice are wonderful food and a friendly staff, ready to treat every Guest like a VIP. Look past all that, though, and take some time to admire the murals that grace the walls of the restaurant. They include nods to the Chinese Theater, Hollywood Brown Derby and Carthay Circle, among others.

The map of Hollywood on the west wall is particularly interesting. Look for the Corner for Out of Work Actors, famous hotels like the Roosevelt and the Plaza, and references to other studios (Paramount, RKO, Hal Roach, Columbia, and even Universal).

Of course, to find the Walt Disney Studio, you'll have to follow the map all the way over behind the Servers' station, to the representation of the San Fernando Valley. Disney's Burbank studio is right there at the Buena Vista and Riverside, just where you can find it today.

Pouring on the Details

This planter outside the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios features an impressive topiary creation of Mickey Mouse in his role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia. It's a fun scene to be sure, made even more delightful when you consider a couple of details.

First of all, Fantasia was released in 1940. A reference to this film in the classic Hollywood section of the park fits right in with the time period. It also, along with the giant Sorcerer's Hat icon, helps provide a transition in this area of the Studios from a story set in the past to one which takes place in the here and now.

Second, look more closely at the statues of the brooms which surround Mickey. The buckets they're carrying are actually pots of soil, filled with blue-flowering plants arranged to look as if they're pouring over the edge. The same plant material is then continued in waves along the edge of the hillside, creating the impression that the brooms are flooding the area. When the little blue flowers are in full bloom, the effect is a scene straight out of the movie.

Photo Time Machine: Aladdin's Royal Caravan

Here's another great image from the past, chock full of little observations. Be sure to click on it to see the picture full size (photo ©Disney).

Aladdin's Royal Caravan, the first full-scale parade to be featured at Disney's Hollywood Studios, debuted the same time as the Aladdin animated film, in 1992. The procession entertained Studios Guests for nearly three years before making way for the Toy Story Parade. In this shot, we see one of the main units of the parade making its way down Hollywood Boulevard. Look closely, though, and you'll see even more.

The most obvious thing missing from this picture is the now-iconic Sorcerer's Hat at the center of the park (there was just an oval-shaped planter at this time). Added in 2001 as part of the 100 Years of Magic celebration honoring the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney's birth, the Sorcerer's Hat was meant to represent all the magic of show business brought to life in the park. The original icons of the Chinese Theater and Earffel Tower had specific connections to movies, but as the Studio moved into its second decade, the park had come to encompass much more.

Look down on the left side of the Aladdin's Royal Caravan image, and you'll spot a white diamond shape. This was an original directional graphic for the park. When the Studios opened in 1989, there were only five attractions, so finding your way around wasn't so difficult. That all changed over the course of the next five years, as the park grew into every available nook and cranny. To help Guests navigate, a new wayfinding package was installed that's still in place today.

Finally, back to the parade... You may notice the swordsmen leading the procession have goatees. This wasn't a lapse in the Disney Look guidelines. They were fake pieces applied to each of the performers to create the proper look for the show.

The giant Genie inflatable was re-purposed in 1996 as the central figure on the Aladdin float for the Remember the Magic parade in the Magic Kingdom, part of the Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary celebration.

And if you look very closely behind the Genie, you might make out one of the golden camels that are now a part of the Magic Carpets of Aladdin attraction in Adventureland. They started their career here at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Do You See What I See?

Often when I'm flipping back through my collection of Disney Parks photos from the past, I'll skip right over images like this one of New York Street at Disney's Hollywood Studios, circa 1991 (photo ©Disney). Occasionally, something will catch my eye that I didn't expect.

This shot of Manhattan in forced perspective would look much the same if taken today, save for some of the questionable fashion choices. There's one key difference, though. In this scene are a New York public transit bus and telephone company utility truck. They're full-size props which once populated the Backlot, adding an extra element of realism. Over the years, they've all been removed for one reason or another.

A few vehicular props can still be found around the Studios, like this tow truck outside Oscar's Super Service on Hollywood Boulevard, but even these disappear during peak attendance periods to allow for a more comfortable Guest experience in the park.

To catch these classic vehicles, plan to visit during slower periods (I enjoy early December, late January and early May myself). And don't forget to look closely at those old pictures. You might just discover a forgotten detail from one of the Disney Parks.

Hollywood vs. Sunset

The "Hollywood That Never Was" at Disney's Hollywood Studios is comprised primarily of Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard. Collectively, these two neighborhoods transport us to the Golden Age of Tinseltown, a period primarily couched in the 1930s and '40s.

At first blush, this whole stretch of the park may seem pretty much the same, but the two areas are actually quite different. Hollywood Boulevard is representative of the Business District and calls up an earlier Hollywood when the town was full of promise and rapid expansion. It starts with Sid Cahuenga, who was here before the movie biz, and continues to the Pacific Electric trolley depot. One can literally go anywhere from here.

Sunset Boulevard has a completely different character. For starters, it's the Theater District. This is the place where grand movie palaces and live performance venues can be found; everything from Legends of Hollywood, based on the old Academy Theater:

To the Theater of the Stars, whose proscenium was inspired by the concentric arches of the band shell at the Hollywood Bowl:

Sunset Boulevard is set in the latter part of Hollywood's Golden Age. Throughout much of this corner of the park, from Rosie's All-American Cafe to the recruitment posters, it is most definitely the 1940s. War time. The world is changing. Hollywood will never be the same. The street does culminate, after all, in a dead end... an abandoned hotel.

But there's also hope and optimism here. Rosie and her neighbors have planted Victory Gardens in support of our boys on the front lines. New enterprises are beginning, and a degree of normalcy (Hollywood normal, at least) can be found in the glamour of a red carpet premiere.

The show must go on, and the Hollywood that never was always will be.

The Red Car

Hollywood is a growing metropolis. What better way to get around it all than by taking a trip on one of Pacific Electric's Big Red Cars (Pacific Electric, a real public transportation company that thrived in Hollywood during the '20s and '30s, was also the trolley system depicted in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?).

Well, you can dream anyway. The Red Car Trolley popped up a couple of times in Disney's Hollywood Studios history as a potential attraction. It was part of early concepts for the park and was later proposed for Sunset Boulevard. In the end, the trolleys themselves never materialized (a version is being planned for Disney's California Adventure by 2012), but details alluding to them can be found throughout the park.

Down at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards is a large Spanish Mission-style structure. On the Hollywood side, it's L.A. Cinema Storage, but around the corner on Sunset it becomes the garage for the Pacific Electric Trolley Co. Notice the oversize door for the trolleys that opens up onto the street, as well as the Pacific Electric logo at the top of the building. Pacific Electric World's Wonderland Lines - Comfort, Speed, Safety (and there's that year again... 1928).

This corner of Disney's Hollywood Studios is a literal crossroads. It's the first point at which Guests entering the park have a decision to make as to the direction their next adventure will take. It also plays the role of crossroads in our story.

Hollywood Junction at Sunset Boulevard, aside from being a great spot to check attraction wait times or make dining reservations, is dressed out as a trolley depot here in old Hollywood. Below the Pacific Electric-branded clock is the departure board, letting us know how long it might take for each of the listed destinations.

A map on the back wall details the complete Pacific Electric Railway route, serving all of Southern California.

Schedules for each of the routes are available at the desk. None of these routes serve your specific destination? There's a direct line here so you can phone a cab. They'll even hold your luggage for you on the patio while you wait.

If the Big Red Car is your transportation of choice, there's a Car Stop right there on the corner and a line running straight down Sunset.

While a trolley attraction never became a reality at Disney's Hollywood Studios, that doesn't mean there isn't a Red Car to be found. Down Sunset near the Theater of the Stars stands a merchandise cart in the form of a Pacific Electric trolley car.

The route ID on the side of the trolley lists Hollywood, Sunset and Gower Street (the cross street that runs in front of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror toward Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith), and the number of the trolley - 694 - is a tribute to the June 1994 addition of Sunset Boulevard to the Studios landscape.

Alas, the Red Cars weren't meant to last in Hollywood. Just as talkies replaced silent cinema, the automobile did in the trolley system. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Judge Doom and Cloverleaf bought the Red Car just to shut them down and build freeways. Here in "the Hollywood that never was," the tracks have simply been paved over. Near the corner of Sunset and Gower, portions of the asphalt have worn away, revealing the original brick and trolley tracks beneath. If only we could hop back in time and take a ride...

California Crazy

California Crazy is a style of architecture popular in the Los Angeles area during the early to mid part of the 20th century. Some of the best examples, such as the Darkroom duplicated on Hollywood Boulevard at Disney's Hollywood Studios (above), were outrageous physical representations of what was offered inside. The Darkroom is a photo supply shop (the Hollywood original is now a restaurant). Tail o' the Pup, shaped like a giant hot dog, sold... you guessed it... hot dogs!

There's another great example of California Crazy at Hollywood Studios, on the far edge of Echo Lake. And the fun of it extends to other details beyond just the architecture. Approaching from the area of the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, you might first notice these enormous footprints pounded into the pavement:

A little further, and you'll discover the culprit: a giant, concrete dinosaur which has apparently stepped over the fence, down the grass, and into the lake:

It's Dinosaur Gertie, home for Dinosaur Gertie's Ice Cream of Extinction. Steam flows from Gertie's nostrils, and a coating of snow lies across her back. The connection to ice cream is somewhat tenuous (at one time, the theory was that dinosaurs were driven to extinction by the last Ice Age). The connection to Hollywood and animation history, however, is much cooler.

"Gertie the Dinosaur" was the first character animated with true personality. The creation of animator Winsor McCay, Gertie made her debut before vaudeville audiences in 1914. McCay himself would appear on stage and "summon" Gertie to step forward. As the animated film of Gertie played behind him, McCay timed his movement to appear as if he were interacting with the dinosaur in real time.

As for the ice cream. Today, Studios Guests can find a selection of soft serve flavors here. Back in 1989, though, the offering truly was ice cream "of extinction." For a short time after opening, the location specialized in the sort of ice cream treats once popular in America, but hard to find in modern times. Sadly, those treats became more and more difficult to keep in stock, so the original concept itself became extinct.

Tinseltown Treasures

Just inside the entrance to Disney's Hollywood Studios is an odd little shop, Sid Cahuenga's One-of-a-Kind Antiques and Curios. The story of Sid's goes back to the earliest days of Hollywood. In fact, Sid and his wife moved into this Craftsman-style bungalow near the corner of Hollywood & Prospect before the movie business even came to town. As Hollywood grew up around them, the Cahuengas held tight to their cozy, little home, refusing to sell to developers. Mrs. Cahuenga had fallen in love with the place.

The Cahuengas were always avid collectors. Just take a look at the assortment of lawn ornaments and thingamajigs around the house. It was only a matter of time before their interest turned to collecting items from movies and movie stars.

Ever the entrepreneur, Sid decided to convert their hobby into a lucrative business. Now, he cruises the studios in his truck, happy to take "any old junk" off their hands... and turn right around and sell it to the next film fan to walk in his door.

Funny Business

It is widely known among Disney fans that the businesses advertised on the second story windows of Main Street, U.S.A. are all tributes to key individuals from Disney Parks history. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, however, those upper windows provide the Imagineers with an opportunity for a little humor while fleshing out the story of "the Hollywood that never was."

A great example is the window above. Found on Sunset Boulevard over the Villains in Vogue shop, one finds the headquarters for the International Brotherhood of Second Assistant Directors, or I.B.S.A.D. Pronounce those initials (I Be Sad) and this fictional organization becomes a comment on a movie making role that gets little respect... the person who assists the person who assists the Director.

In the same block on Sunset is also the Muscle Beach Bodyguard Service:

And just around the corner, Max's Classic Directing Academy, claiming to teach "The Latest Movie Techniques." This window is actually an homage to the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard. In it, Erich von Stroheim plays Max von Meyerling, a once-great Director who now spends his days as a butler catering to once-great actress Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson). The Academy's slogan, "Are You Ready for Your Close-Up?" paraphrases one of the great lines from the film.

Across the street and above Sunset Club Couture is Director's Best Friend, Inc., providing trained stunt dogs for motion pictures:

And finally, up the street a ways at the corner of Hollywood and Vine (and above the Hollywood & Vine Cafeteria of the Stars) is the office of Detective Eddie Valiant, the character portrayed by Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Fans of the film will remember the scene where Roger burst through the window shade of movie producer R.K. Maroon's office. Well, it looks like the silly rabbit must have made a similarly hasty exit from Valiant's place here at Disney's Hollywood Studios: