Mickey’s of Hollywood

It’s time to dive into the architectual design of Hollywood Studios and look at one of the first buildings you see once you enter the park.  On the left side of Hollywood Boulevard as you walk into the park is the Mickey’s of Hollywood Store, where you’ll find lots of Disney merchandise to buy.  The building itself is designed after a famous Hollywood landmark and the attention to detail is remarkable.

It’s time to dive into the architectual design of Hollywood Studios and look at one of the first buildings you see once you enter the park.  On the left side of Hollywood Boulevard as you walk into the park is the Mickey’s of Hollywood Store, where you’ll find lots of Disney merchandise to buy.  The building itself is designed after a famous Hollywood landmark and the attention to detail is remarkable.

This store is based on the Baine Building, which is located at 6601 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, a few blocks from the Hollywood & Highland Center. It is also once known as the Merchant’s National Trust and Savings building and became a Hollyewood landmark.  It was built in 1926 by Henry L Gogerty and Carl Jules Weyl and is a sparkling example of the Hollywood of glitz and showbusiness.  The building’s penthouse belonged of Colonel Harry Baine, for whom the building was first named. Baine was an entrepreneur and he commissioned the construction of the building and gained fame for bragging that he was the first person on Hollywood Boulevard to live in a penthouse.

Baine always had an eye for developing his business further and one year, in order to help his own retail sales, he proposed renaming Hollywood Boulevard to "Santa Claus Lane" and even rented some reindeer and hooked them up to a sleigh where he put celebrities on them and paraded them down Hollywood Boulevard.  Incidently, in 1929 the city gave an honorary name to Hollywood Boulevard of "Santa Claus Lane".  From the success of Baine’s idea, others followed and this was the start of what we now call the Hollywood Christmas Parade.

Mickey’s of Hollywood reflects the look of the building that it originaly had, with spanish revival style roof and that California style stucco.  In addition, the top floor sports basket-handle arches above the doorways on the upper story hold French doors.