MGM Signage removed from arch and water tower

Post by **acp** » Dec Fri 21, 2007 8:20 am

OK, I first spotted this last night, but I've finally managed to locate some pictures of a size you can see, albeit on wdwmagic*, but here you go:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showpost.php ... stcount=56

Looks strange without the logos there. I'm guessing the new ones will go up between Christmas and New Year ready for the January 7th switchover from MGM to Hollywood..

Andy.

* I'm not a fan of WDWMagic, mainly because I fail to see how they justify charging to look at full size pictures when you can get the same pictures elsewhere for free. There are other reasons, but that's the main one, and this is off topic, so I'll shut up now.

meticulus9 · Post by **meticulus9** » Dec Fri 21, 2007 5:38 pm

wow the arch looks so empty

boilerbabe · Post by **boilerbabe** » Jan Fri 04, 2008 10:36 pm

Wow!!! Goog thing I snapped pictures of that arch when we were there this past Oct. Looks strange to me.

Post by **acp** » Jan Mon 07, 2008 5:20 am

Well folks, today is the day we say Goodbye to Disney-MGM Studios, and Hello to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Andy.

tomdavo1 · Post by **tomdavo1** » Jan Mon 07, 2008 11:48 am

Some-one may have answered this before, but why the change of name? Is there any particular reason?

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Jan Mon 07, 2008 12:14 pm

i'm pretty sure the contract with MGM ran out..if I remember correctly.

tomdavo1 · Post by **tomdavo1** » Jan Mon 07, 2008 3:12 pm

Found some more information on this issue from Wikipedia

"In 1985, Disney and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer entered into a licensing contract that gave Disney worldwide rights to use the MGM name and logo for a yet-to-be-built backlot studio theme park.

Disney's plans for what became the Disney-MGM Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort included working production facilities for movies and television shows and a satellite animation studio, which began operation prior to the park's debut. In 1988, MGM/UA responded by filing a lawsuit that claimed Disney violated the 1985 agreement by operating a working movie and television studio at the Florida resort.

In 1989, the theme park opened adjacent to the production facilities as the Disney-MGM Studios. The only affiliation MGM had to the park was the original licensing agreement that allowed Disney to use the MGM brand name and lion logo in marketing, plus separate contracts that allowed specific MGM content to be used in The Great Movie Ride.

Disney later filed a countersuit, claiming that MGM/UA and MGM Grand, Inc. had conspired to violate Disney's worldwide rights to the MGM name in the theme park business and that MGM/UA would harm Disney's reputation by building its own theme park at the MGM Grand hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

On October 23, 1992, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis B. Rappe ruled that Disney had the right to continue using the Disney-MGM Studios name on film product produced at the Florida facility, and that MGM Grand had the right to build a Las Vegas theme park using the MGM name and logo as long as it did not share the same studio backlot theme as Disney's property. The 33-acre MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park opened in 1993 at the Las Vegas site and closed permanently in 2000.

Disney was contractually prohibited from using the Disney-MGM Studios name in certain marketing contexts like the free Walt Disney World vacation-planning kit; in those instances the park was called The Disney Studios.

On August 9, 2007, Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton announced that the theme park's name would be changed to Disney's Hollywood Studios in January 2008. In announcing the name change, Crofton said, "the new name reflects how the park has grown from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today's Hollywood has to offerâ€”in music, television, movies and theater."

The Florida resort later announced that the new name would be effective January 7, 2008, adding that it would take several more months to change all affected signage."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Hollywood_Studios

TOM

Post by **acp** » Jan Tue 08, 2008 4:41 pm

New logos are going up:

http://www.screamscape.com/assets/image ... wLogo1.jpg

Andy.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jan Wed 09, 2008 4:10 am

Hmm. Well, so far that looks okay. I'm interested to see what the arch looks like in its new incarnation.

Post by **acp** » Jan Wed 09, 2008 5:26 am

Here's some more pictures showing various locations round the park on the first day as Disney's Hollywood Studios.

http://www.studioscentral.com/board/vie ... php?t=4714

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Jan Wed 09, 2008 7:23 am

Cool, thanks for linking those pics.

It looks the same, just with Hollywood instead of MGM on it.

The buses changed their marquees on Tuesday, and that morning the new overpass sign was up.

The giant mini ToT on World Drive is changed as well. They added clouds and put the new title there.

lebeau · Post by **lebeau** » Jan Wed 09, 2008 12:42 pm

I think the name change is a good idea. Other than the Great Movie Ride, there was very little in the park that had anything to do with MGM anyway.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jan Thu 10, 2008 2:06 am

Yeah when I was leaving the Magic Kingdom on Thursday, I saw they were already taking down the MGM sign off of 192, it was so sad. It just looks weird but I'm sure I'll get used to the change, I know I will still call the park MGM though.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jan Thu 10, 2008 3:39 am

Lion Sleeps Tonight wrote:It looks the same, just with Hollywood instead of MGM on it.

I was just thinking it's like looking at Bizarro WDW; the park maps and hours guides look identical, but for oooone small thing.

I find it interesting/impressive that they have the dream fast passes already renamed. That didn't strike me as something they'd be on top of before they started changing out the merchandise. I guess it's better to leave the old merchandise out while people will be frantically buying it up as the last of its kind.

I'm with packwingfn though; I know I'll never stop calling it MGM (just out of habit).

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Jan Thu 10, 2008 1:05 pm

I tried looking for old MGM merch on Christmas week but all I could find was sizes in small or xtra small so unless I want my future kid to wear it, I didnt end up buying it.