DHS Disney Animation-Inspired Experience Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

[DisneyRoy]

"M" stands for??? I know what BAH means. "Big A** Hat".

Medium?

 

[Nickm2022]

this looks great, honestly becoming one of my favorite projects of recent

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The building is more yellow than I expected based on the concept art, maybe that’s to compensate for Florida sun fade.

 

[James Alucobond]

The building is more yellow than I expected based on the concept art, maybe that’s to compensate for Florida sun fade.

Pretty sure it’s just as simple as it being a 1:1 color match with the building it’s imitating and the original art not capturing that perfectly.

 

[J4546]

this looks great, honestly becoming one of my favorite projects of recent

same. I always thought DHS was the worst of the Florida parks but with this new Animation Building overhaul, Monsters Inc Coater/Land expansion, and Muppets taking over RnRc.... it will still be the worst of the 4 lol but at least now its not WAY worse than the other 3 imo.

Kinda like the Disney Adventure World expansion made that park not as terrible as before, though it still needs a bit more to really catch up

 

[DCBaker]

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at installation of the sorcerer hat:

 

[BagOfGroceries]

MAH: The Medium Donkey Hat.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Love that the hat is back, even if it is a bit smaller!

 

[Mr. Engagement]

the hats not tht big and fits the building well imo

To each their own.

It just seems so All-Star Resorts.

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

To each their own.

It just seems so All-Star Resorts.

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Is that…a bad thing? I would love for more of this era to start bleeding into park designs. It’s fun.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

Is that…a bad thing? I would love for more of this era to start bleeding into park designs. It’s fun.

I guess it's just not my cup of tea.

Take Port Orleans Resorts, for example. In my opinion, the theming of both is world-class. Until you get to these guys, and the whole things goes McDonald's PlayPlace:

I know, it's just the decorations from the pool area on a Mardi Gras parade. It's for kids and it's supposed to be fun. But static fiberglass statues just seem so cheap to me, and kind of lazy.

I started a thread about the emergence of the fiberglass statues in the parks a while back for anyone who wants to discuss it:

Question: When did Disney start installing fiberglass statues of characters?

I've grown up going to the parks, and I remember a time when these were not common in the parks. In fact, they were stuff of Bob's Big Boy restaurants and McDonald's Playplaces.

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If you know, you know.

Sometimes, you'd see one that was a cheap knockoff of a Disney character, and every kid recognized it for what it was.

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Maybe that's Donald's half-cousin or something.

Obviously, many ride vehicles use some variation of these: Dumbo, Tea Cups, etc. But now, freestanding character "statues" are all over Disney's parks and resorts. From the Art of Animation's courtyard "decorations," to Port Orleans French Quarter's jazz alligators to Blizzard Beach's new Frozen themed kiddie area. In CA, it's Jack-Jack on a stick at DCA, Tarzan's Treehouse in DLR, etc.

I'm curious: what were the first instances of fiberglass statues in Disney parks?
What are the best (and worst) uses of these that you've seen at WDW?

 

[IMDREW]

All the contract and legal stuff aside-- maybe this is a hot take.. but I hope they keep all the Marvel stuff on the west coast, domestically. I haven't really been a fan of anything they have done with Marvel tbh. Now if that Avengers King Thanos ride ends up being incredible (and they can somehow get out of that contract with Universal) I would totally be on board with them bringing only that ride to Hollywood Studios..... but not so much the whole (boring) Avengers Campus

 

[Brer Panther]

Take Port Orleans Resorts, for example. In my opinion, the theming of both is world-class. Until you get to these guys, and the whole things goes McDonald's PlayPlace:

You'd rather have the parks and resorts look like a MODERN McDonald's? No fun or whimsy at all, just bland and minimalist?

 

[Timothy_Q]

To each their own.

It just seems so All-Star Resorts.

This is not a giant character statue for the sake of it

It's a recreation of the Disney Animation building in Burbank built in 1994 following the financial success of the early Disney Renaissance. It's an hugely important part of the Disney Studios history and it fits DHS like a glove (pun unintended)

 

[lazyboy97o]

This is not a giant character statue for the sake of it

It's a recreation of the Disney Animation building in Burbank built in 1994 following the financial success of the early Disney Renaissance. It's an hugely important part of the Disney Studios history and it fits DHS like a glove (pun unintended)

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What makes it hugely important? Animators hated it. It’s not even a major, defining work of Stern’s.

The building was already an actual part of the resurgence of the animation studio.

 

[Mr. Engagement]

This is not a giant character statue for the sake of it

It's a recreation of the Disney Animation building in Burbank built in 1994 following the financial success of the early Disney Renaissance. It's an hugely important part of the Disney Studios history and it fits DHS like a glove (pun unintended)

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I get that it's intended to reference the sorcerer's hat on that building. What I don't understand is how a gaudy bauble from the 1990's building makes for good decoration on a building themed to 1930's Hollywood.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

It’s not even a major, defining work of Stern’s.

Wow, I forgot it was Stern. I thought it was Graves! But on a second look, I can see that it doesn't quite fit Grave's styles. It's definitely a low point in Stern's amazing lineup of work.

I get that it's intended to reference the sorcerer's hat on that building. What I don't understand is how a gaudy bauble from the 1990's building makes for good decoration on a building themed to 1930's Hollywood.

I believe this area is intended to be set in the present day. Nevertheless, as @lazyboy97o pointed out, if the hat isn't an iconic structure in the first place (Disney will have to tell people what it is, contrary to the "to the extent feasible, show don't tell" principle),

If they lean into other features that project "this is a studio lot" (e.g., cohesive "studio theater" and "soundstage" signage), I'm optimistic that the area can still work fairly well as a whole - and certainly much better than what it replaced.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I get that it's intended to reference the sorcerer's hat on that building. What I don't understand is how a gaudy bauble from the 1990's building makes for good decoration on a building themed to 1930's Hollywood.

As the poster above pointed out, I don't think this area ever has been themed to 1930s Hollywood. What is now a replica of the Burbank animation building is flanked by buildings themed to soundstages. If anything, this whole project with the gates, landscaping, signs, and nods to the animation building is giving some thematic coherence to this part of the park. Honestly, I also don't mind "studios" as a theme, so I don't mind this. I much prefer using a studios theme as a thematic glue to just going full "random IPs" as they seem to be doing with Walt Disney Studios Paris/Disney Adventure World.

I am with you on fibreglass figures being bad theming, though. They have started popping up around Disneyland Paris and I think they really cheapen what are otherwise beautifully themed areas. I don't think this is the same thing, though.

 

[dmc493]

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That pole under the drum is a crime in and of itself

 

[HMF]

I was hoping the Sorcerer's hat was photoshopped in as a joke. Haven't we learned our lesson that oversized "icons" are bad theming and cheapen the place?

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This is more of a nod to the animation building in Burbank and less of a reference to the old far more grating Sorcerer's hat and for consistency's sake you might want to convince them to remove the giant guitar from RNRC as well.