A sample of the Studios

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Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Matt Hochberg

Many times I’m confronted by folks who enjoy my work on this website or on the podcast but then always follow it up by saying, “…but I really don’t like the Studios” and it always gets to me why some people, like myself, “get it” and enjoy the Studios, while others don’t enjoy the Studios for one reason or another.  If you’re someone who gets it, well then you become perplexed as to why the people, who don’t get it, don’t get it.  Meanwhile those who don’t get it, think those who do get it must have some special disposition (like perhaps suffering from the effects of lead poisoning) that would lead them to thoroughly enjoy a park they skip over.

As you might have guessed by now, I’m in the lead poisoning group and I’ve often thought about why I enjoy the park so much and I think it comes down to one major aspect of the Studios and that is the “big bang” approach the Studios has to all of its attractions (There’s an Ellen’s Energy Adventure joke to be made here). What I mean by this is you have a great deal of variety in terms of the attractions found at the Studios as well as the layout of it.

Starting out on Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, you have that 1930’s Hollywood-that-never-was feel with some exquisite attention to detail.  Ideally one would experience Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster and then ride the Great Movie Ride. The reason I say that is because I feel like the Great Movie Ride is one’s entrance into the movies and when you exit the attraction, you’re in the movies now.  You can go see Indiana Jones or watch Ariel or laugh with the Muppets.  This may be a little far out there, but the Great Movie Ride is your golden ticket into the movies and you get to pick which film you want to be a part of. It’s the Studios lack of hegemony that is its best asset.

A favorite attraction of mine is the High School Musical pep rally.  Let me first say, no, I don’t have a poster of Troy on my bedroom wall nor have I even seen the film.  So why I enjoy it so much is because when you combine really catchy music and entertaining and talented actors to portray scenes from the film, you have for an engaging experience. It’s a peek into the film, kind of like one foot in and one foot out (if that makes any sense to someone other than me).

I may not win you over with High School Musical (some people hear those words and cringe) so I’ll move onto another example of how you can again feel like you’re living in the movies and that’s the wonderful streetmosphere characters at the Studios, or as they prefer to be called these days, the Citizens of Hollywood. These random and eccentric characters are an engaging and fun group that if you take the time to stop and see what they have to say, you’ll really be amazed and will come back again and again to see them.

Getting back to that big bang theory of mine (well, my theory, not the real big bang theory that someone far smarter than I came up with), I really enjoy the different areas of the park.  Take one step this way and you’re in the middle of the Star Wars galaxy but a few steps in the other direction and you’re part of the world of Muppets bit in another direction you can star with Drew Carrey or Indiana Jones.  The Studios breaks away from the lands hub-and-spoke design of its predecessor parks and allows for a more free flowing theme, much like what Hollywood really is; a myriad of productions and you the guest have the ability to pick and choose which one to go to.  Rather than have similarly themed attractions around you in one area (like say Frontierland), you may find yourself in the animated world of the Little Mermaid but can walk a short distance and find Bear in the Big Blue house or meet the characters from the latest Disney film.

Beyond everything else I’ve mentioned, it’s the attention to detail found at the Studios that really does it for me.  Let’s be honest here, attention to detail is something found anywhere the Disney touch has been, but at the Studios you have some very clever ones to be certain.  Whether it be a Muppets gag or a reference to George Lucas in the Star Tours announcements in the queue or perhaps just a funny sign on Hollywood Boulevard, you will find hidden gems waiting for you nearly anywhere you look in the park and it works so well with the Studios because Hollywood is full of props from old productions that are reused along side something brand new.

If you’re someone who “gets it” and has enjoyed the Studios, then this is preaching to the quire but if you’re not in the camp yet, then re-examine the Studios and understand that there’s magic at the Disney-MGM Studios, it’s just taken the form of glitz instead of pixie dust.