|
Written by Louis Mongello
|
The Main Street Cinema
The Main Street Cinema operated from October 1, 1971 until April 1998, when it was replaced by a toy shop. When the theater originally opened, it played a number of different silent cartoons. In 1994, the theater began playing "Mickey's Big Break," which was a film showing how Mickey got his first starring role in "Steamboat Willie," as well as other Mickey animated films, like "Plane Crazy."
At one time the Cinema used to actually be an attraction in that it showed short movies on a number of screens in the theater, including the legendary Steamboat Willie and Mickey's Big Break, which showed how Mickey was eventually selected from a number of actors for his starring role in the 1928 Steamboat Willie cartoon. That film was originally created for an attraction that was planned for the Disney-MGM Studios but was never used. The banner below the marquee outside invited to your “Come in and see – 6 separate screens with drama, love, perils, humor and more.” It bore the tag line “An experience to write home about.”
Out front, you could find a mannequin in the Cinema’s box office prop with a WDW CM name tag that said she Jennifer and hailed from Marceline, Missouri, where Walt lived from 1906-1910. In 1998, the Cinema became the Main Street Cinema shop, and later became the headquarters for Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom online game. One of the screens still remains in the rear of the building, where promotional films and highlights of Disney’s Virtual Magic Kingdom played, although the VMK Central location closed permanently on September 30, 2007.
Tags: Magic Kingdom Trivia Main Street USA Main Street Cinema
If you would like to contribute to this entry, or have photos you would like to share to be used here, please send your trivia or contact us using the contact form here |
