With TCM's 30th, MGM's 100th, the Disney•MGM Studios 35th & the Hollywood Tower Hotel's 30th all occurring within a 4-month span this might seem less like E82 & more like "S89 | The Studios Legacy" for a little while.
But there are several reasons why this is part of the Epcot Legacy as I explained when our "far-flung performing arts pavilion" ;-) was annexed into the project in 2019....
In a listing of Future World superlatives, one could easily say Horizons was the most inspiring, Imagination the most timeless, and Spaceship Earth the most impressive. To this list, one could add "Inside Entertainment" as the most prolific and certainly most impactful as the concept for the never built performing arts pavilion featuring Great Moments at the Movies, Disney Animation and a look into TV production was so expansive that no one building could possibly house all the possibilities of putting people into the movies.
Enter the Disney•MGM Studios
It might sound like somewhat of a stretch to incorporate a seemingly superficial studio into something as substantive as The Epcot Legacy on a historically tangential technicality, but the original aspirations of the park are very much in line with Epcot's over-arching theme of Humanity — who we are (World Showcase) and what we can do (Future World). In fact, the original Studios bridges these two concepts by exhibiting some of our Greatest cultural achievements and the technical abilities needed to achieve them.
Classic cinema speaks to our nature, our inherent humanity — both our shortcomings and successes. Furthermore, exposure to the historical heights of cinematic perfection not only reveals answers to our past but keys to our future. Most importantly, it provides a challenge to meet and surpass the achievements of yesterday ushering in a brighter tomorrow.
Like the MGM Studios itself, the greatness of the Florida studios has reached the slow Fade-Out. But that need not be the case. For on this 30th anniversary of its opening, the meaning and memories of the Disney•MGM Studios lives on through movies & music, sights & sounds.
https://www.epcotlegacy.com/art/dmgm/crest
