Liner Notes

1. Hollywood Plaza 1989

   As in the Magic Kingdom's hub, Hollywood Plaza functions as the nexus of the park. The gateway to your journey into the movies, this area befittingly broadcasts a collection of Overtures from the Golden Age of Hollywood with representatives from several key genres of cinema. From romantic Dramas to wind-swept Westerns, massive Epics to a multitude of Musicals, as the atmospheric climax of the Disney•MGM Studios experience, this compilation conveys the grandeur and gravitas of motion pictures.

   Listen to the full Hollywood Plaza 1989 Atmosphere

2. Chinese Theatre

   The exquisitely recreated lobby of Grauman's Chinese Theatre doubles as both the queue for The Great Movie Ride and the "Great Moments at the Movies Museum". As the intermezzo between the epic themes of Hollywood Plaza and the Trailers of preshow, the lobby features an underscore of contemplatively lush "love themes" from some of the greatest romantic films in Hollywood history.
   
   Listen to the full Chinese Theatre Atmosphere

3. Coming Attractions

   Beyond the ornate recreation of the Chinese Theatre Lobby we enter the Preshow Theatre which doubles as the main queue. On the silver screen, we are treated to vintage trailers of various great movies that remind us (or introduce younger guests) to the cinematic spectacles that will soon come to life. Interestingly, the only prominent film not included is The Wizard of OZ which was intentional so as not to spoil the ending of your experience.

   Producer Note:
   For the best possible sound and listening experience, all of these trailers were reconstructed (where possible) with AI-isolated dialog and effects recombining with my latest music restorations.

4. The Great Movie Ride Thru

   The “Spectacular Journey INTO the Movies” featuring the complete soundtrack masterfully engineered by Sound Designer (and GMR alumni) Tom McAndrew in Dolby Atmos and rendered in binaural stereo with original dialogue, music and sound effects.
   
   Significantly, this arrangement features an ensemble of 10 Great Movie Ride cast members across time from its 1989 opening and beyond recreating their roles specifically for this 35th Anniversary compilation performing a specially crafted script combining the best parts from several iterations of its spiel.

   Note:

   Unique to this recording, two gangsters are hijacking your vehicle for maximum representation. You can also listen to the full performances of each cast member off to the side (or below for mobile users).
   

5. Hollywood Plaza 2005

   In the 16 years since the park’s opening, many new classics came on the scene and several selections on the original Hollywood Plaza atmosphere were swapped out. The most significant of these new additions was the “H-1 Racer Plane” cue from the period bio-pic The Aviator which is coincidentally set mostly in classic Hollywood and even has a sequence at Grauman’s Chinese Theater for the premiere of Hell’s Angels in 1929.

   
   Listen to the full Hollywood Plaza 2005 Atmosphere

6. Coming Attractions Suite

   Created to compliment the Great Movie Suite, this unique reconstruction of themes from the trailers shown in the preshow theater/queue showcases the original scores of the films in isolation, with a few creative liberties taken along the way. All 8 of the film’s scores were painstakingly restored from the originals and (in the case of FANTASIA) the entire film’s FantaSound soundtrack was enhanced from the original - now with zero imperfections and artifacts.
   

7. The Great Movie Suite

   It simply cannot be overstated how significant George Wilkins’ contributions are to the theme park experience. From his work on the classic Journey Into Imagination to his magnum opus HORIZONS and literally hundreds of high points in between, George’s impressive work in creating original compositions is self-evident. However, what is less appreciated is his ability to take pre-existing material and transform it into something completely new. The Great Movie Ride combined one of the greatest theme park composers in existence, noted film composer Jimmy Bryant and the greatest film scores ever made to create the quintessential silver screen symphonic masterpiece.

   While this could have been a straightforward paint-by-numbers exercise in re-recording various cinematic cues for theme park use, George and Jimmy added several unique passages of their own to the mix including film-noir saxophone solos and Sergio Leone pieces you’d swear came straight from a “spaghetti western”.

   GMR’s unique intro to “Hooray for Hollywood” is a prime example of George’s mastery of “counter-melodies” with ever-so-subtle references to “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Dig Dong the Witch is Dead” and Indiana Jones’ “Raiders Theme” all before the show even starts.

   What follows is a seamless soundscape of various film scores and songs that culminates in a magnificent celebration of motion picture moments created by the master of montage, Chuck Workman, and scored by George and Jimmy who, combined, crafted some of THE best succinct arrangments of so many iconic themes.

   Producers Note:
   As an unapologetic musical purist, engineering this 29-minute suite was something that I’ve been dreaming about ever since the attraction’s tragic closing seven years ago, but such a mix wouldn’t have been possible until very recently with the advent of powerful AI models.
   While the Great Movie Ride Thru track features the original soundtrack, this Suite utilizes elements that were, in many ways, superior to what was available to audio engineers in 1989.

   You may notice that the “Musical Street” scene is noticeably clearer as the vocals and music were split via AI (for the first time ever). Also, Gene Kelly, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke vocals were completely replaced by the latest restorations from each film’s soundtrack where the vocals were AI-extracted and recombined with George and Jimmy’s GMR arrangements.

   Finally, no less than SIX complete unique AI models were combined to create an 85% instrumental Finale score!

8. Turner Classic Movies — 2015 Finale

   In 2015 the most marvelous of all theme park marriages occurred when TCM: Turner Classic Movies began sponsoring the attraction featuring massive upgrades to the queue, a new 40-minute preshow film, and the dearly-departed Robert Osborne co-hosting the attraction with the live Tour Guides.
   Most notably the attraction’s Finale film was changed for the 4th time culminating with this triumphant piece of “production music” composed by Chris Egan and simply titled “Superheroes”.
   

9. Hooray for Hollywood (Original Version)

   As with most projects, many adjustments in tone and presentation were made during the creation of The Great Movie Ride. While most of these were related to performance (such as the omission of Tour Guides being shot on stage during the gangster show) a few minor changes to the score were also required, the Exit version of “Hooray for Hollywood” being the most notable. (Admittedly supposition on my part), this original Dixieland-style arrangement was mostly likely replaced by Jimmy Bryant’s Swing Band version to more closely align the attraction’s more sophisticated tone.

★ Full Performances ★

In Alphabetical Order

✯ Denotes Opening Year Cast Member

(Tour Guide | Mugsy/Mugsi)