Originally Posted By DlandDug <--- dalmatians (doubled). Mmmmm. Epic Mickey. That could be a lot of fun. It would also allow a darker edge, without going all "ironic." Disney and irony are an uneasy mix. Epic Mickey has managed to stake out a dark edge without trashing the source material. I think it would work as a dark ride on (ready for it)... an epic scale.
Originally Posted By TP2000 There are so many things that need help and/or replacement at WDW, that the Great Movie Ride is probably going to suffer through another two decades of creaky operation before they get to it. Anything else is just fan froth on the Internet, and it's not grounded in current reality. The two decade timeframe for fixing GMR is assuming, of course, that WDW management actually stars helping and/or replacing all of the rides that need help there.
Originally Posted By HMButler79 ""and your average kid has no idea who James Cagney, John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart are and they don't really care."" No excuse and thier fault. There's this thing called TCM on cable and Blu Ray anniversary editions out the wazoo now. Also, there's this thing called film classes in college.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "There's this thing called TCM on cable and Blu Ray anniversary editions out the wazoo now. Also, there's this thing called film classes in college." The idea that someone needs to spend time or event money conducting research in order to understand a theme park attraction indicates that there is a big problem with the ride's content. There's no reason why anything in a Disney park should be that hard to figure out or understand. Disney parks have a long history of being revamped and changed to maintain their relevancy. Just as Walt ripped out the old dated Tomorrowland at DL and rebuilt it, current Disney management should recognize duds and either remove them or bring them into current fashion. The GMR was kind of a ho-hum ride when it opened back in the 80s (with the exception of the Oz scene it always reminded me of a ride through version of Madame Troussaud's), and I can only imagine that today it must seem like a relic.
Originally Posted By leobloom I think other countries have a better appreciation for old Hollywood movies than America does. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if the GMR plays better for international visitors in general. Doesn't matter to me if 5 or 10 year olds don't know who John Wayne is. Every attraction doesn't need to be geared to the under-15 crowd. Disney apparently thinks people still know who Brer Rabbit or Mr Toad is -- you're telling me they're more recognizable than John Wayne or James Cagney?
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Doesn't matter to me if 5 or 10 year olds don't know who John Wayne is. Every attraction doesn't need to be geared to the under-15 crowd." When the ride opened, how aware were the kids & teens about these old classics? I can't imagine it's that much worse now than it was in '89. I can't imagine a 15 year old in '89 was all that familiar with Casablanca.
Originally Posted By Blufusion12 Make it into a Star Wars ride. Thats the greatest movie of all time.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> When the ride opened, how aware were the kids & teens about these old classics? I can't imagine it's that much worse now than it was in '89. I can't imagine a 15 year old in '89 was all that familiar with Casablanca. << Absolutely true.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<>> When the ride opened, how aware were the kids & teens about these old classics? I can't imagine it's that much worse now than it was in '89. I can't imagine a 15 year old in '89 was all that familiar with Casablanca. <<>> Probably more familiar than they are now. They used to show many classic movies on broadcast TV. Now all the kids are into video games and computers... they really don't watch as much TV as they used to.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Probably more familiar than they are now. They used to show many classic movies on broadcast TV. Now all the kids are into video games and computers... they really don't watch as much TV as they used to." But I still can't imagine it was a big fraction of them. I doubt that stuff ever really resonated with them.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<But I still can't imagine it was a big fraction of them. I doubt that stuff ever really resonated with them.>> You forget that I'm older than dirt. When I grew up we (an upper-middle class family) had ONE TV in the house... the kids watched what the parents watched or we watched NUTHIN'.
Originally Posted By Manfried Imagine what imaginative Imagineers could do with the space the Great Movie Ride takes up.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 <<Imagine what imaginative Imagineers could do with the space the Great Movie Ride takes up.>> Yeah, imagine all the magical meet-and-greets they could fit in...
Originally Posted By leemac <<""and your average kid has no idea who James Cagney, John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart are and they don't really care."">> I get really irate with comments like this. It should never make any difference whether the current generation recognize a character or conceit - sure it is helpful to set up a story but it is not/should not be a prerequisite. There are a host of examples across the parks from Splash Mountain to Tower of Terror. I'd argue that TGMR is still a fantastic E-ticket - the problem is that: 1) Its location doesn't attract guests - especially with the hat directly in front of it 2) The park never publicizes it enough compared to Fantasmic!, AI Experience etc. 3) Audience tastes have appeared to change - attractions like Universe of Energy and TGMR seem to be out of vogue. I think it would help to freshen the attraction with more contemporaneous movie vignettes. I don't know how the licensing rights were determined back in '87 but it always amazed me that they were able to get some big names to appear. Flash forward twelve years and compare that to Superstar Limo! The show building is actually an awkward size to be repurposed - not that it is impossible. I'm just not sure what else could be done to the existing structure and conceit that would be fresh and exciting. There are far more creative folks than me though!
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "3) Audience tastes have appeared to change - attractions like Universe of Energy and TGMR seem to be out of vogue." Yeah. Unfortunate. Although those aren't the best choices for examples of this type of ride. I like the idea of the GMR better than the execution (not that I think it's a bad ride, it pretty decent). And UofE is OK, but not something I'd visit more than once a trip, and only if the trips are far apart.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<I get really irate with comments like this. It should never make any difference whether the current generation recognize a character or conceit - sure it is helpful to set up a story but it is not/should not be a prerequisite. There are a host of examples across the parks from Splash Mountain to Tower of Terror.>> Apples and Oranges there leemac. Those attractions stand on their own as rides. Six Flags versions of flumes and drop rides attract people with minimal themeing just because the ride itself is fun. TGMR is a relatively static attraction with little "ride value"... it all depends on the presentation of the show. And in an attraction like TGMR the show has to be something people are interested in or you end up with 'Knott's Bear-y Tales'.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Yeah, I'm pushing 50 and even I think that the classic MGM content in the GMR is a little long in the tooth. Busby Berkeley? Seriously?
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA Unfortunately -- TGMR in my opinion, is just a small step up from a wax museum. I've written this before, but I find, as designed, The GMR, the whole attraction is peculiar and dis-organized. It might have made more sense with a quick EPCOT-like history lesson. Imagine if we started out looking at movies on a series of movie screens -moving chronologically, with early clips from Georges Méliès movies , and 'The Great Train Robbery' -- Charlie Chaplin, Wings etc. Them we move into and through a giant movie screen -- and begin the adventure of going into the movies. So then, these key movies that are re-created -- would be presented chronologically -- Wizard of Oz comes before Raiders of the Lost Ark and Aliens -- and Mary Poppins comes after Public Enemy and then after we"re done with the various show scenes -- we see another set of movie screens, and we end with the final montage of clips. But as it stands today, it's just a pile of mess thrown at us in no particular order. But here's the biggest flaw of the entire attraction -- A concept that I've always found odd - what's the purpose or point or thrill of stepping into a movie? Especially if inothing is happening? (See John Wayne and Clint Eastwood) Looking at these three-dimensional sets with the AA figures of Bogart and Bergman and Sigournet Weaver -- recreations of movie scenes -- never made 'sense' to me. It feels rushed. It's one of the weirdest attractions Disney has ever produced.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>But as it stands today, it's just a pile of mess thrown at us in no particular order.<< Totally agree. Most of all, it felt dated -- not because of the classic MGM stuff but more from the 80s references. Wizard of Oz is never going to go out of style, it's an evergreen classic that kids still watch today and parents enjoy experiencing with their kids. In fact, if they were to repurpose the whole ride to just that it would probably be very popular. But Aliens? That feels like a business arrangement.
