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Normouse
11-08-2006, 06:17 PM
After a few visits, it's possible to see all of the old Disney shorts in the Cinema, and even to see them all in one sitting in a relatively short time. I always thought that the Cinema should rotate it's short offerings to include all of the great classic color shorts that Disney made during the thirties and forties. There is such a wealth of material available, and yet the same six black-and-whites are endlessly shown year after year. This doesn't mean that I don't enjoy them, but it would be nice to have a change on a regular basis.

It might also be a truly wonderful Disney experience to sit in a comfortable theater and be able to see a screening of one of the classic Disney animated feature films, which would constantly rotate so that on every visit, you could see a different film, interspersed with some of the shorts at intermission.

I know that this would take time away from the other attractions, but the features are not excessively long, and it is nice to take a break from the lines or the heat for awhile. And there is no reason why you couldn't get up and leave when you wanted to.

I remember when Disneyland was a place that showcased the fantasy that Disney created through his animated features. As a kid, it was a truly magical experience to visit the park every year. The window displays along Main Street, and the Fantasyland rides recreated the world of the animated films that we already knew and loved. Now there are so many attractions that may be exciting in their own right, but they don't really have a specific "Disney" connection, such as the Indiana Jones attraction.
A refurbished theater that would feature Disney animation would bring back the connection that has been blurred over the recent years.

tod
11-08-2006, 06:34 PM
There used to be a full-on theatre in Fantasyland, about where the Pinocchio's Daring Adventures attraction is now. It showed three uncut 35mm eight-minute cartoons, or. as TLMt used to say, "Two cartoons and Mickey's Trailer," which you could watch in air-conditioned comfort. The Fantasyland Theatre disappeared in the Great Big Fantasyland Rehab Of 1981.

What I would like to see in the Main Street Cinema is the great old silent movies like The Great Train Robbery and Walt's original Laugh-O-Grams. The set-up is perfect for showing old-timey silent movies, not crappy black-and-white 16mm prints with the soundtracks muted.

--t

Opus1guy
11-09-2006, 10:17 AM
There used to be a full-on theatre in Fantasyland, about where the Pinocchio's Daring Adventures attraction is now. It showed three uncut 35mm eight-minute cartoons, or. as TLMt used to say, "Two cartoons and Mickey's Trailer," which you could watch in air-conditioned comfort. The Fantasyland Theatre disappeared in the Great Big Fantasyland Rehab Of 1981.

The old Fantasyland Theater also at various times screened:

- "Mousekateer 3D Jamboree" (a couple of Disney 3D shorts intro'd by a 3D segment from the 50's Mouseketeers)

- "Dad, Can I Borrow The Car" (a Ward Kimble film starring Kurt Russell)

- "It's Tough To Be A Bird" (another Ward Kimble film...Academy Award winner)

- "Winnie The Pooh And The Blustery Day" (may have been double-featured with Honey Tree...don't quite recall that)


What I would like to see in the Main Street Cinema is the great old silent movies like The Great Train Robbery and Walt's original Laugh-O-Grams. The set-up is perfect for showing old-timey silent movies, not crappy black-and-white 16mm prints with the soundtracks muted.

Perhaps you're having a bit of Deja Vu there but don't realize it. :)

Because that's almost exactly what they used to show in the Main Street Cinema on the multiple screens. Willie or Plane Crazy was on only one screen. An Alice Laugh-O-Grams was shown, along with a Chaplin film and perhaps even the The Great Train Robbery. I could swear The Great Train Robbery was one of the ones shown in those early years.

The films used to have intro title cards that mentioned briefly the particular film's historic significance. Don't know if any of them still do. I'm headed over the Park in about an hour and if I can I'll dodge inside and check it out. Also curious as to if they are still projecting film, or if they've switched to video projection by now.

tod
11-09-2006, 10:36 AM
What I would like to see in the Main Street Cinema is the great old silent movies like The Great Train Robbery and Walt's original Laugh-O-Grams. The set-up is perfect for showing old-timey silent movies, not crappy black-and-white 16mm prints with the soundtracks muted.


Perhaps you're having a bit of Deja Vu there but don't realize it. :)

Because that's almost exactly what they used to show in the Main Street Cinema on the multiple screens. Willie or Plane Crazy was on only one screen. An Alice Laugh-O-Grams was shown, along with a Chaplin film and perhaps even the The Great Train Robbery. I could swear The Great Train Robbery was one of the ones shown in those early years.

Déjà vu hell, I know exactly what I was talking about, I remember all of those from the good old days. Maybe I should have added like they used to. Where else couuld you see a Laugh-O-Gram in the '80s?


The films used to have intro title cards that mentioned briefly the particular film's historic significance. Don't know if any of them still do. I'm headed over the Park in about an hour and if I can I'll dodge inside and check it out. Also curious as to if they are still projecting film, or if they've switched to video projection by now.

The only one that I remember having a historical-significance title card was Steamboat Willie, and its calligraphy made me think those titles were from the 1940s or maybe even earlier.

Would like to hear what you find out about the current projection system.

--t

Bullfrog117
11-09-2006, 12:21 PM
If you're looking for animated films/shorts and a (somewhat) comfy place to sit, have you ever been to the Grand Californian or Disneyland Hotel's play room for kids? They've got rocking chairs in the Grand Californian and giant steps in the Disneyland Hotel and a TV playing classic hits 25 hours a day. It's awesome!!!

I agree completely...they could have played any number of Halloween shorts...they've already converted one of the regulars from color to black and white (Mickey's Polo Team)...they could even play christmas shorts...i'm very disappointed...

oh well ;)

Opus1guy
11-09-2006, 06:44 PM
Déjà vu hell, I know exactly what I was talking about, I remember all of those from the good old days. Maybe I should have added like they used to.

Yeah. I thought that was a little too close to the mark for just "wishful thinking". :)


Would like to hear what you find out about the current projection system.

Confirming that they are using a video projection system now. The source film stock could very well be from "crappy black-and-white 16mm prints" though. Judging from the size of the scratches and dust it does look like it came from something smaller than 35mm. But no way of knowing for sure.

Only one film has its soundtrack playing: Steamboat Willie. All the others have had their soundtracks turned off. The entire room has background music of an old player piano coming from some sort of antique player-machine (though I'm certain it's actually just a tape loop or something).

It's basically all Mickey cartoons now. And not one of them is from the silent era (except perhaps Plane Crazy which was initially made silent, but had a soundtrack added before its release). They are all just sound films with their soundtracks turned off to make them seem like silent films (except Willie, as I already mentioned). No silent film title cards at all on any of them. Nor any historic intro cards anymore on any of them.

It is kinda strange to watch these sound films without sound. For example in "The Pointer"...Mickey thinks he's shot Pluto and turns to the camera and pleads for a doctor in the house or something...but you just watch his mouth moving and really have no clue what he's saying. Same with the others...you can tell they are talking, but you've no idea what they are saying as they've muted the sound! Weird and not very entertaining. If you're going to show silent films...then show actual Silent Films with title cards so the audience can follow the dialog a bit!

Five or six people watching them.

Opus...reporting LIVE from Disneyland!