Walt Disney Studios

During the last months, I had some time to scan an upload tons of older pictures from my previous trips to Disneyland Paris, like these ones I took back in 2002 when Walt Disney Studios had just opened. The park itself was the scary joke we all know, but the entrance to the park, especially at night had its own charme. Take a look and judge for yourself.

Good Ol' Days Walt Disney Studios

Ah, those good ol' days when Walt Disney Studios in Paris used to be a clean car-friendly parking lot! Nowaydays it's so different!: colorful walls, grass and trees almost everywhere, but nothing will beat the astonishing look of the first glorious days! How much I miss all that greyness, that sharpness, that emptiness...


First, a picture featuring the entrance to "The Art of Animation" building: yes, there are some colorful and impressive structures, but don't forget that this attraction is very close to the entrance so Imagineers had to find the right mixture between the world of wonderful Disneyland Resort Paris and the world of steel, concrete and giant billboards of Walt Disney Studios. What an achievement!



Here we are now! A tacky food cart, an unthemed asphalt floor, some fences and a giant billboard portraing a cd and a roller coaster track. Now, that's imagineering at its best!

Sorcerer Mickey to the rescue!

A lot has already been said about the total lack of charme and pleasantness of Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Resort Paris and, even though I couldn't agree more, I will not focus this time on this subject. I will cast a spot instead on the recent and much needed efforts Walt Disney Imagineering is doing to make this place a little more welcoming and colorful, and precisely to the Sorcerer Mickey Statue that is gracing the gates of Toon Studio.

Firs, an establishing shot:

I know, it's not the Tree of Life but it's so much better than the gray concrete esplanade there was once: sleek, colorful, energic, dynamic. Now, that's something that really can set the mood of an entire land. Some may say it still looks like something nice thrown away in a still too rigid environment but don't forget the aim here was not to re-design a land but to add touches that would make it more appealing, without making it too much different (and better) than other area of the park. I mean, a ToonTown-like makeover wouldn't have blended with the look of the park as a whole, very close to what real studios look like (giant squared warehouses, with empty corridors surrounding them).

Close-ups of the statue are even better:




And finally, only a few noticed Mickey is closely supervising the works on Walt Disney Studios' Tower of Terror. Let's all hope Mickey will give the right suggestions and support to the people working on it and that our new E-ticket will live up to its expectations!