MGM is pulling out of Disney

MGM annouced that they will be pulling out of the Disney/MGM Studios by the end of the year.

Perhaps this is the reason that Mickeys hat went up in front of the Chinese Theater.

I think its a big mistake. They need the MGM movies to compete with Universal.

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"The fish are eating the guest, sir

Whoa... do you mean the companies or the actual parks? I'm assuming you mean the companies. Quite frankly, what was the last movie that MGM made that was any good//successful? The only thing I know that MGM has going for it is the Bond franchise. Disney is such a huge company that it can do just fine without MGM.

To be honest, the MGM library of new films has been slowly decreasing year after year, so I wouldn't expect anything major from them to be even potentially added to Disney Studios Florida in the future. I think the only major franchise they still continue is Jame Bond.

The main reason Mickey's Sorceror hat went up in front of the theatre was part of the 100 Years of Magic celebration. There have also been rumors though that the Theatre will change to a Disney Villains ride or something along the lines and I could see that happening with MGM going out.

Edit: MGM is extremely well known for their classics though which is probably what keeps them afloat after so many years. I can't even remember their last huge release (Windtalkers and Collision Course were nowhere near hits and I don't think any of their future titles besides 007 will be this year). It doesn't really mean their productions are bad by any means, but they're likely successful on a smaller scale.

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Danny
Movie Coaster and Enthusiast White Pages Directory

*** This post was edited by Koaster King on 8/21/2002. ***

GandC said:
Whoa... do you mean the companies or the actual parks? I'm assuming you mean the companies. Quite frankly, what was the last movie that MGM made that was any good//successful? The only thing I know that MGM has going for it is the Bond franchise. Disney is such a huge company that it can do just fine without MGM.

Just the company. I guess they will call it Disney Studios Orlando from 2003 on.

I kind of think that after the first few seasons, Disney forgot about MGM. Seems like that they had planned a Wizard of Oz ride, but it did not get off the ground.

It also seems that Disney had some contracts for "Gone With The Wind", but they were never used.

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"The fish are eating the guest, sir

I seem to recall that there is about 7 minutes worth of film footage in the Great Movie Ride that is from the MGM library. It, basically, is the only reason for the MGM name.

With Disney live action improving since the studio opened (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, etc) I don't think Disney needs to rely on another studios brand to sell the theme park. Great Movie Ride is about ready for an update anyway.

Issn't there a rule against posting Rumors or News items without a reliable source. Who did you hear this from the Dippin Dots Guy there? Where did you hear about this?

This is just a dumb rumor there is no News Sources saying this is gonna happen. I even checked Disney's main news source ABCNews (A Disney company duh). I also checked CNN and Yahoo. This issn't gonna happen.

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Chris Knight
Whoa I'm the 88984594th Vistor to Coasterbuzz. I wonder what I have won.

Keep it related to coasters and parks, not franchises.

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Magnum is red,
Millenium Force is blue,
I love Wicked Twister,
and Raptor too.

I thought this was common knowledge that MGM was pulling out of the studios park by '03. Maybe the Orlando Sentinal could help you with the detials.

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-KoRn is the Millennium Force of ROCK-

I thought that Disney was going to go through with this a long time ago. I seem to remember hearing that they were beginning to sell merch & advertise the park as the 'Disney Studios' for quite some time.

And, even outside of the park itself, I don't think Disney needs MGM to compete with Universal. (For the record, though, and on the park front, IOA is the BEST single park in Orlando, but I want to let that rest ASAP...) Disney has Pixar under its wing.

Unfortunately, if the rumors are to be believed, Disney/Pixar may be on shaky ground as well.

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Yep... It is PICTURES now... http://www.loopscrew.com

Yes I do too. I think I began seeing brochures with just "Disney Studios" on them at about 1998. I guess that they have been building up on it for a long time.

Like some previous people said, I only think that Disney got MGM into the name in order to stand to Universal, which would open a year lator.

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"The fish are eating the guest, sir

Yeah I also know for a fact, that the Disney big wigs did not want MGM in the picture, but just before the park opened, someone in the company mistakingly made the deal! It's fine though, The Great Movie ride is still great but needs an update!

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See THE ULTIMATE in Orlando TR'S! Right now in the TR fourm!

Will the park have to be signifigantly changed in order to get rid of the MGM attractions and theming?

In the yearly preview videos that WDW sends out, the park has been referred to as "Disney Studios" for about 3 years now. It seemed articfial at the time, but I see what they were leading to now.

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http://www.rockandrollconfidential.com

Man, I hope that this doesn't mean that MGM Studios in Florida will be going down the drain in quality. My husband and I were planning to get there the next summer.

coderGirl, like someone mentioned earlier, the only major thing connected to MGM at the park are a few scenes in The Great Movie Ride such as The Wizard of Oz. It doesn't mean the park will have to stick to only Disney and Pixar films which you can tell by the LucasFilm, Fox, Paramount, etc. attractions throughout the park. Don't worry about the quality going down as its one of the best parks in the South IMO. Tower of Terror and RnRC alone are enough to please thrillseakers usually plus Indiana Jones, Backstage Tram Tours, Star Tours, and the Mupputs are must-see as well.

The Disney/MGM deals have been doomed from the start. In 1988, the MGM owner was so infuriated with the arrangments that he filled a lawsuit.

MGM also felt that they were cheated by Disney because they got so many movie rights at low cost.

By the way, Alien (1979) was a 20th Century Fox Movie. Did they have to make arrangments with Fox for that one?

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"The fish are eating the guest, sir

*** This post was edited by Dukeis#1 on 8/23/2002. ***