Hollywood Studios has gone through a number of changes since it’s opening day on May 1, 1989. After all, until 2008 the park was called Disney-MGM Studios. Then there was the Sorcerer Mickey hat, which towered over the park from 2001-2015. Perhaps the most significant changes are the addition of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land.At the dedication of the park, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner said, “The World you have entered was created by The Walt Disney Company and is dedicated to Hollywood—not a place on a 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.”
For many years, the park gave Guests something akin to an insider peak at the creation of movie and television magic. It did this through attractions like the Studio Backlot Tour, The Great Movie Ride, and the Lights, Motors… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular. There were also smaller nods to Hollywood and TV history, like the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, which featured bronze busts of television legends like Betty White and Andy Griffith.
The park still celebrates the magic of Hollywood, though not in quite the same way. However, you can still find remnants of that original concept scattered about. The most obvious is the replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which once housed The Great Movie Ride and will soon be home to Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
Other nods to Hollywood are more subtle. As you stroll down Sunset Boulevard, you’ll see a gift shop built to resemble the Carthay Circle Theatre, the legendary movie palace in Los Angeles that hosted the premiere of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Fantasia. Then there’s Dinosaur Gertie’s Ice Cream of Extinction. If you aren’t familiar with early animation history, you may have wondered why there was a giant dinosaur plopped in the middle of the park. It’s a tribute to one of the earliest bits of animation, a 12 minute film called Gertie the Dinosaur that was created by Winsor McKay in 1914.
Then there are the hand prints. They are one of Hollywood Studios hidden treasures. In front of the replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, there are the hand prints and signatures of some Hollywood Legends. They’re 100% authentic, made between 1989 and 1995. The creation of the hand prints and signatures was an elaborate affair. The celebrities would ride down Hollywood Boulevard in a convertible, seated alongside Mickey and Minnie Mouse. A marching band provided the soundtrack to the event.
Just whose hand prints and signature can you see? There are 35 in total, too many to list here, but I’ll give a few of my personal favorites: Carol Burnett, Robin Williams, Bob Hope, Jim Henson, Michael J. Fox, and Audrey Hepburn. Mickey Mouse left his mark there too.
If you’re a fan of the movies, be sure to take a few minutes to stroll by this amazing piece of Hollywood history. If you’ve seen them, which is your favorite? And what is your favorite nod to old Hollywood in the park?
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