The land's entrance once had towering studio gates that featured intricately carved elephants atop massive columns. The gateway was a tribute to the spectacular epics made throughout Hollywood history, especially pioneering director D. W. Griffith's 1916 silent film Intolerance. After the park's re-design, the archway sign, elephants and columns were removed, whereas the repainted pedestals remained.
Hollywood Land is located in the northeast corner of California Adventure. It is connected to Buena Vista Street, the park entrance themed to 1920s Los Angeles, giving the two lands a close relation in geography and era. The main thoroughfare in the land is Hollywood Boulevard, an avenue loosely modeled after the real street but also incorporating architectural elements from elsewhere in Los Angeles. The street leads up to the Hyperion Theater, a 1,984-seat venue that presents Broadway-style musicals. Several faux sound stages, including one housing a Monsters, Inc. dark ride and another housing the Mickey's PhilharMagic show, are adjacent to Hollywood Boulevard.[1][2][3]
History
In 1990, Disney announced plans for a Hollywood-themed land in the original Disneyland park with a scheduled opening date in 1999, as part of a series of planned changes dubbed the "Disney decade" by Michael Eisner. The proposal called for the addition to be adjacent to Tomorrowland and included a replica of the Hollywood Sign, a duplicate of The Great Movie Ride from Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, and two new rides based on Baby Herman from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and comic book character Dick Tracy. However, Disney shelved the idea in 1991 because the company believed that its construction at the same time as the proposed WestCOT theme park would hamper the park experience for visitors; plans for WestCOT were ultimately canceled in 1995.[4][5]
In 1995, Disney executives devised an idea for a California-themed park as a replacement for WestCOT, believing that it would deter tourists from going to see other attractions in the state and thus spending more time on the property. As such, the shelved Hollywood land concept was revisited as a facet of the new proposal. In June 1996, the Los Angeles Times reported details of the planned park, mentioning the inclusion of a Golden Age Hollywood backlot-themed section.[6] The construction of California Adventure began on January 22, 1998.[1] Information about Hollywood Land was included in four different park preview centers and online Disney promotions promised "glitzy cafés and shops, famous theaters and a real studio backlot." The original name for the land, Hollywood Pictures Backlot, was revealed in 2000.[7] The backlot, along with all of California Adventure, opened on February 8, 2001.
The original entrance, featuring replica elephant statues from the 1916 film Intolerance.
The original rendition of Hollywood Pictures Backlot featured an entrance gate with replicas of the elephant statues from the 1916 D. W. Griffith film Intolerance that were incorporated into the Hollywood and Highland center. The land had four inaugural attractions: The Disney Animation complex, a musical called Steps in Time at the 1,984-seat Hyperion Theater, the 3D film Muppet*Vision 3D, and a Hollywood-themed dark ride called Superstar Limo. The backlot opened with three restaurants: the ABC Soap Opera Bistro, themed to the sets of four different ABC daytime soap operas; the Award Wieners hot dog stand; and Hollywood & Dine, a food court based on four famous restaurants from Hollywood.[8][9]
Upon its opening in 2001, the initial reception of California Adventure, including Hollywood Pictures Backlot and some of its attractions, was poor. The backlot, like the rest of the park, drew criticism for alleged cost-cutting.[10] Before the end of the park's first year in existence, Steps in Time was scrapped due to poor ratings and Hollywood & Dine was closed due to a lack of customers.[9][11] In September 2001, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire – Play It! was introduced as a game show attraction. In 2002, Superstar Limo became the first California Adventure attraction to permanently close due to its poor reception and the Soap Opera Bistro was closed as well.[1][12] The Hyperion Theater was furnished with a derivative of the Broadway musical Blast! in November 2001 and was replaced with an Aladdin show in January 2003 as a long-term feature.[13]
In 2004, the E ticket attraction The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, an altered version of the Walt Disney World attraction, was opened as a new anchor for the backlot. In 2005, the area was renovated to remove some of the movie set props while introducing a new paint color scheme for the soundstages and new planter boxes.[14] In 2006, Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! was opened in the former Superstar Limo building.[2]
In 2010, Disney introduced ElecTRONica, a nighttime concert event situated in the backlot that was based on the Tron franchise.[15] The event was replaced by the Mad T Party in 2012, a similar attraction based on Tim Burton's 2010 remake film Alice in Wonderland.[16] The Mad T Party's first stint ended in 2014 but received a second run from 2015 to 2016.[17]
In 2012, Hollywood Pictures Backlot was reopened as Hollywood Land as part of a parkwide renovation. The sign and elephant statues were removed from the land entrance and the Red Car Trolley, a trolley part of the new Buena Vista Street, was introduced.
In 2014, Muppet*Vision 3D was closed and its theater was subsequently used for movie previews and other temporary showings. In 2016, the final showing of Aladdin took place at the Hyperion Theater after featuring for over a decade. The show was replaced by Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, a musical based on the 2013 feature film. In 2017, the Tower of Terror was closed to be rethemed as Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, the first Disney attraction in the United States based on the Marvel Universe. In March 2020, the Hyperion hosted its last showing of Frozen before the Disneyland Resort was abruptly shuttered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic – the musical did not return when the park reopened in 2021. That same year, Mission: Breakout! was reclassified as part of Avengers Campus, leaving Hollywood Land without an E ticket attraction for the first time since 2004. In 2023, the Hyperion was briefly reopened with a limited run of Rogers: The Musical.
Attractions and entertainment
The Red Car Trolley traversing Hollywood Land
Disney Animation, an indoor complex with educational attractions about Disney animation
^Tully, Sarah (October 13, 2010). "ElecTRONica begins at Disney park". Orange County Register. Southern California News Group. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
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