Greetings from LA. I'm out in Tinsel
Town this week for some JHM &
HuffPost-related business. But while I was out West … Well, I wanted to get a
few items off of my Hollywood-related bucket list. So my first stop yesterday
was the Hollywood Heritage
Museum.
Photo by Jim Hill
For those of you who don't know this genuinely historic
place, it's the barn-looking building on North Highland
that sits right across the street from the Hollywood Bowl. And the reason that
the Hollywood Heritage
Museum looks like a barn is that —
back in December of 1913 — it really was a barn. One that used to sit at the
corner of Selma & Vine.
Photo by Jim Hill
Ah, but Jesse Lansky, Samuel Goldfish (later Goldwyn) and
Cecil B. DeMille were looking for a place to shoot "The Squaw Man."
Which was to become the first feature film ever to be shot in Hollywood.
And this barn seemed to be exactly what Jesse, Sam & Cecil were looking for
(i.e., it had a great location plus lots of natural light. And it was available
for lease for just $250).
And from those extreme humble beginnings, Tinsel
Town was born. And it wouldn't be
all that long after "The Squaw Man" before the first true Hollywood
epic — Douglas Fairbanks' 1922 version of "Robin Hood" — was in
production. Over the years, I've actually gotten to interview a few old timers
who recall the million dollar sets for this action-adventure which used to sit
at the corner of Santa Monica & La Brea.
Photo by Jim Hill
And — of course — the stars who made all of these movies
needed stylish places to stay. Which is why — in the late 1920s — you began
to see towers rise around Hollywood.
Take — for example — La Belle Tour, which was built along Franklin
Avenue back in 1929.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
I know, I know. La Belle Tour (which movie tough guy George
Raft had a partial interest in and called his home for a number of years) looks
eerily familiar to all you Disney theme park fans out there. And that's because
— back in the early 1990s — this building was one of the many classic
Holllywood structures that the Imagineers referenced when they were designing
the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for Disney-MGM
Studio Theme Park.
Photo by Jim Hill
The "Hollywood Tower"
sign facing out onto the northbound freeway, I'm sure you'll recognize from the
WDW version of this thrill ride. And speaking of riding, it was now time for me
to motor on down Hollywood Boulevard.
Photo by Jim Hill
You see, I hadn't been by the Disney Studio Store since Ghirardelli had
revamped the place. Setting up its own chocolate shop & soda fountain right
next door to the El Capitan Theatre. And while I will admit that I miss the
more "Golden Age of Hollywood" stylings that this retail / dining
establishment had under the previous management, Ghirardelli did a nice job of
contemporizing the space.
Photo by Jim Hill
I especially liked the Disney-themed mural which they'd placed over the
entrance to this chocolate shop & soda fountain that showed Mickey &
Co. shooting a short.
Photo by Jim Hill
I also just had to check out that new Studio Replica that
the talented folks at S / R Labs had
created which showed what Elsa might have looked like if Walt Disney Animation
Studios had decided to make "Frozen" as a 2D movie.
Photo by Jim Hill
And speaking of "Frozen," the sing-along version
of this Academy Award-winning animated feature is still going strong right next
door. It'll be finishing up its run at the El Capitan on
September 11th.
A Mom brings a little Elsa to the El Cap for
the "Frozen" sing-along. Photo by Jim Hill
And after that … Well, I got the chance to take part in a
very special event. Late yesterday afternoon, I and a handful of very lucky
reporters and bloggers were driven up high into the Hollywood Hills for a
cocktail party.
Photo by Jim Hill
"How high up in the Hollywood Hills?," you ask.
This was the view of LA that I had from this house's backyard.
A closer lot at LA. Photo by Jim Hill
"And whose house was this?," you query. Would you
believe Walt Disney's? The one that he and his family occupied from 1932 to
1950?
Photo by Jim Hill
I apologize for not being able to share any images of the interior of this
home. Which the new owners have lovingly restored to the point that it lovingly
recaptures the spirit of the times that Walt, Lillian, Diane and Sharon lived
here. But at this Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment event, attendees were
able to wander the grounds and take pictures of the exterior of the Woking
Way house.
Photo by Jim Hill
Which is why I'm now able to share pictures of the comfortable nooks &
crannies found around the outside of this house.
Photo by Jim Hill
Not to mention the beautifully maintained gardens.
Photo by Jim Hill
I promise to share more about my visit to the Woking
Way house as we get closer to the official release
date for the Blu-ray & DVD of the Diamond Edition of Disney's
"Sleeping Beauty." Not to mention "Maleficent." But before
I close here, I wanted to share one quick picture of this house's steep /
cobble-stoned driveway …
Photo by Jim Hill
… Which is one of the main reasons that Walt decide to
sell the place in 1950 and then move to Holmby Holmes. He honestly didn't
relish the idea of then-17 year-old Diane learning to drive and then having to
move a car up & down that narrow, dangerous driveway.
And speaking of Diane … Honestly, my favorite part of the Woking
Way house is that this structure is still in the
backyard.
Photo by Jim Hill
It's the playhouse that Walt had Disney Studio artisans build overnight one
Christmas Eve as a special gift from Santa for his girls.
Photo by Jim Hill
Back in the day, it had working plumbing as well as a telephone. Where —
periodically — Diane & Sharon would get calls from a S. Claus (who sounded
suspiciously like their father) to see if they were still being good little
girls.
Anyway … I apologize for this story being so short. But I
have to get back to the Woking Way
house for the second half of this "Sleeping Beauty / Maleficent"
media event. But I promise more stories & photos later, okay?