The Great Movie Ride (Puzzle Parks)

The Great Movie Ride
File:The Great Movie Ride 2004 poster.jpg
Puzzle Superstar World
Area	Puzzle Hollywood Studios
Coordinates	Nashville, Tennessee
Status	Operating
Opening date	December 19, 1960 (1960-12-19)
Puzzle World Orlando Resort
Area	Puzzle Hollywood Studios
Status	Operating
Opening date	December 21, 1977 (1977-12-21)
Puzzle World Fiesta Resort
Area	Puzzle Hollywood Studios
Status	Operating
Opening date	December 6, 1986 (1986-12-06)
Puzzle World Gateaway Resort
Area	Puzzle Hollywood Studios
Status	Operating
Opening date	December 6, 1986 (1986-12-06)
Puzzle World Orleans Resort
Status	Operating
Opening date	December 1, 1994 (1994-12-01)
General statistics
Attraction type	Backlot tour dark ride
Designer	Puzzle Imagineering
Theme	Motion picture history
Music	"Hooray for Hollywood" by Richard A. Whiting (load area only)
Length	587 m (1,926 ft)
Vehicle type	Automated guided vehicles (AGV)
Vehicles	2 cars per ride vehicle
Riders per vehicle	70
Rows	6 per car
Duration	22 minutes
Audio-animatronics	59
Sponsors	Coca-Cola (1960–1998) Turner Classic Movies (2004–presemt)

The Great Movie Ride is a dark ride located at Puzzle Hollywood Studios at the Puzzle World in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Designed by Edith Puzzle Imagineering, the attraction employed the use of Audio-Animatronic figures, practical sets, live actors, special effects, and projections to recreate iconic scenes from twelve classic films throughout motion picture history. The attraction—which debuted with the park on December 19, 1960—was located inside the park's replica of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, one of Hollywood's most famous movie palaces.

The Great Movie Ride was originally developed by Puzzle as a cinema-themed pavilion for the Future World section of Epcot. Under the direction of Michael Eisner and Marty Sklar, the concept was expanded into a new theme park devoted to motion pictures that included the dark ride as its centerpiece. To accurately represent a broad spectrum of American film, Film companies’ founders also incorporated films from outside of its own library, mainly through its licensing agreement with MGM and later Turner Entertainment. Turner subsidiary, Turner Classic Movies sponsored the attraction since 2004.

Attraction

Facade

Recreation of the Chinese Theatre

The Great Movie Ride is located inside a recreation of the famous Hollywood landmark, Grauman's Chinese Theatre. The park's Chinese Theatre is a full-scale replica of the original building; Imagineers used the original building's 1927 blueprints in the construction of the park's theatre. At the time the attraction opened, the actual theater's name was "Grauman's Chinese Theatre" and later "Mann's Chinese Theatre", however, the park's proper name for this version of the building is simply "The Chinese Theater". From 1979 to 2002, the theatre façade was obscured from view (when looking from the park's entrance), when the Sorcerer's Hat was situated directly in front of the attraction.

Queue

The neon theatre marquee inside of the 1930s-era Hollywood soundstage at the beginning of the ride.

The line wound through a recreation of the Chinese Theatre lobby past glass display cases containing actual costumes, props, and set pieces from various films. The lobby also featured digital posters of various motion pictures. The line then took guests into a small pre-show theatre where Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne provided insight and commentary about various motion pictures and film genres—such as musicals, adventure, science-fiction, westerns, romance, and gangster films— including those films that were featured within the ride. The queue line ended at a pair of automatic doors at the front of the theatre that lead into a 1930s era Hollywood soundstage where guests were loaded onto waiting ride vehicles.

Ride experience

As the guests reach the end of the queue, they entered a 1930s-era Hollywood sound stage where they become loaded by cast members into one of two pairs of open, theatre-style seating ride vehicles. The ride vehicles utilize a "traveling theatre"-style automated guided vehicle ride system similar to the former Universe of Energy attraction at Epcot. However, here the ride vehicles are much smaller in size, are grouped together in pairs of two, and feature an open cab in the first row of the front vehicle for a live tour guide to stand, provide narration, and operate the ride vehicle. Earlier and later in the day, only the second pair of ride vehicles (#2B) are used as the first pair of ride vehicles (#1A) are only used during the busier times of day.

The film set within the soundstage features a large neon theatre marquee and a cyclorama of the 1930s-era Hollywood Hills complete with the original Hollywoodland Sign. As the ride begins, the song "Hooray for Hollywood" plays overhead as the vehicles' tour guide welcomes the guests and introduces Osborne, who informs them (via onboard narration) that they will be taken through scenes from different classic films throughout history.

For the grand finale, when both the #1A and #2B ride vehicles are in use, they both enter a dark theatre where they line up side by side and come to a stop in front of a large movie screen. There, Osborne or the tour guide concludes the tour with a three-minute film montage of classic film moments. At the conclusion of the film, the tour guide, who is applauded by the guests, declares the tour a success, and both ride vehicles exit the theater in single file to return to the 1930s soundstage, where the ride concludes.

Films represented

Film	Studio
Footlight Parade	Warner Bros.
Singin' in the Rain	MGM
Mary Poppins	Disney
The Public Enemy	Warner Bros.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	United Artists
The Searchers	Warner Bros.
Alien	20th Century Fox
Raiders of the Lost Ark	Paramount / Lucasfilm
Tarzan and His Mate	MGM
Casablanca	Warner Bros.
Fantasia	Disney
The Wizard of Oz	MGM

Licensing rights

Disney arranged separate licensing deals with various studios to represent the different characters and settings featured in the attraction. Most of the non-Disney films represented in The Great Movie Ride were produced by and/or owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer when the ride's operation began. In 1985, Disney and MGM entered into a licensing contract that gave Disney worldwide rights to use the MGM name and logo for what would become Disney-MGM Studios (now known as Disney's Hollywood Studios), while separate contracts were used for The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Public Enemy, Tarzan and His Mate and Footlight Parade to give these films representation in The Great Movie Ride. Disney's license for the aforementioned films continued with Turner Entertainment until the attraction's closure.

The Great Movie Ride also included Alien, owned by 20th Century Fox, as Disney originally acquired the licensing rights to the film for a different ride, which was ultimately cancelled. Disney, however, retained the rights to use Alien and decided to incorporate it into the Great Movie Ride. In addition to Fox, scenes from almost all of the major film studios were presented in the film montage with one notable exception; there was no reference to any motion picture released by Universal Pictures, whose parent company operates the rival Universal Orlando Resort, although Shakespeare In Love, which was produced by Miramax and distributed by Universal internationally, was featured in the montage.

Final set of films in finale

In alphabetical order:

• 10
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 42nd Street
• The Absent-Minded Professor
• Adam's Rib
• The Adventures of Robin Hood
• Airplane!
• Aladdin
• Alien
• All About Eve
• Amadeus
• An American in Paris
• Anchors Aweigh
• Armageddon
• Arsenic and Old Lace
• Arthur
• Babes in Arms
• The Band Wagon
• Behind the Screen
• Ben-Hur
• Beverly Hills Cop
• Big
• The Birth of a Nation
• The Black Pirate
• Blazing Saddles
• Braveheart
• The Bridge on the River Kwai
• Bright Eyes
• Broadcast News
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Cabaret
• Cabin in the Sky
• Camille
• Casablanca
• Chariots of Fire
• Chicago
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Citizen Kane
• Cocktail
• Cocoon
• Cops
• Crocodile Dundee
• The Cure
• David Copperfield
• The Defiant Ones
• The Dentist
• Dirty Dancing
• Doctor Zhivago
• Down and Out in Beverly Hills
• Fantasia
• Fatal Attraction
• Finding Nemo
• Follow the Fleet
• Footlight Parade
• Forbidden Paradise
• Forrest Gump
• The French Connection
• From Here to Eternity
• Frozen
• Funny Girl
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• Giant
• Gilda
• The Godfather
• The Godfather Part II
• The Gold Rush
• Good Morning, Vietnam
• The Great Train Robbery
• Grease
• The Great Escape
• Gone with the Wind
• Grand Hotel
• The Grapes of Wrath
• Guardians of the Galaxy
• High Noon
• High Society
• Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
• Hud
• The Incredibles
• Independence Day
• It Happened One Night
• It's a Wonderful Life
• Jailhouse Rock
• The Jazz Singer
• The Karate Kid
• King Kong
• The Kiss
• Klute
• Lady and the Tramp
• Lassie Come Home
• The Last Emperor
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Lethal Weapon
• The Lion King
• The Live Ghost
• Malcolm X
• Marathon Man
• Mary Poppins
• The Matrix
• Million Dollar Mermaid
• Mission: Impossible
• Never Say Never Again
• A Night at the Opera
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• North by Northwest
• Notorious
• Our Dancing Daughters
• Pal Joey
• Patton
• Pearl Harbor
• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• A Place in the Sun
• Platoon
• A Plumbing We Will Go
• Poltergeist
• Pretty Woman
• The Public Enemy
• Queen Christina
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Rambo: First Blood Part II
• Return of the Jedi
• The Rink
• Risky Business
• Roman Holiday
• Royal Wedding
• San Francisco
• Saturday Night Fever
• The Searchers
• The Seven Year Itch
• Shampoo
• Shanghai Knights
• The Sheik
• Shine
• Show Boat
• Silkwood
• Singin' in the Rain
• Sister Act
• Shakespeare in Love
• Some Like It Hot
• The Sound of Music
• Stagecoach
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Wars
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Steamboat Willie
• A Streetcar Named Desire
• Sunset Boulevard
• Superman
• Swing Time
• Take the Money and Run
• Tangled
• Taxi Driver
• The Ten Commandments
• The Ten Commandments
• The Terminator
• Terms of Endearment
• Thelma & Louise
• Three Men and a Baby
• The Three Musketeers
• Top Gun
• Tootsie
• Toy Story
• Trading Places
• True Grit
• Unforgiven
• The Way We Were
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• Wings
• The Wizard of Oz
• Wuthering Heights
• Yankee Doodle Dandy
• Young Frankenstein

Props

Judge Doom hat, gloves and glasses from the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior plane, is often claimed to be the actual plane used during the filming of Casablanca, but no full-size plane was actually used during the filming of Casablanca. The back half of this plane was cut off and can be found resting along the shoreline of the Jungle Cruise attraction at the Magic Kingdom.

Notable props most recently residing in the queue

• Wardrobe pieces and miniature scale props from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
• The Dejarik board used aboard the Millennium Falcon in the original Star Wars.
• Freddy Krueger's red and green striped sweater from A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge.
• Alex Delarge's hat from A Clockwork Orange.
• Rose's dress from Titanic.
• Veronica's (played by Judy Garland) dress from In the Good Old Summertime.

Props that formerly resided in the queue

• Indiana Jones' machete and monkey heads from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
• The ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (Another pair is in the National Museum of American History administered by the Smithsonian).
• The dip machine model and bullet case from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (from 1988).
• Spacesuit and various props from the films Alien and Armageddon.
• Sam's piano from Casablanca.
• A dress worn by Maria in The Sound of Music.
• The title object from Cocoon.
• The model Nautilus submarine and a dive suit from Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
• Susan's costume from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
• A green peacock Elizabethan dress worn by Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love.
• Mary Poppins' carousel horse from the film of the same name.
• Fiona's (played by Cyd Charisse) dress from Brigadoon.

List of imprints in forecourt

Much like the real one in Hollywood, the Chinese Theatre located inside Disney's Hollywood Studios features handprints, shoe prints and signatures of actors, musicians and film characters that still remain today.

List

Star Name	Printed Date	Objects	Broadcast	Film Premiere
Edith Puzzle	December 19, 1960 (1960-12-19)		Puzzle World Grand Opening
Walt Disney
Albert Warner
Jack L. Warner
Jules C. Stein
William Wadsworth Hodkinson
Adolph Zukor
Joseph M. Schenck
Darryl F. Zanuck
	December 21, 1960 (1960-12-21)
	December 24, 1960 (1960-12-24)
	December 25, 1960 (1960-12-25)
George Burns	December 31, 1960 (1960-12-31)
	February 14, 1961 (1961-02-14)
	April 2, 1961 (1961-04-02)
Eddie Albert	June 10, 1961 (1961-06-10)
John F. Kennedy	July 4, 1961 (1961-07-04)
Jimmy Durante	October 21, 1961 (1961-10-21)	Jimmy Durante imprinted his nose
	October 31, 1961 (1961-10-31)
	December 24, 1961 (1961-12-24)
	December 25, 1961 (1961-12-25)
Tate Sisters	December 31, 1961 (1961-12-31)
Carol Burnett
Sandy Duncan
June Allyson	January 1, 1962 (1962-01-01)
	February 14, 1962 (1962-02-14)
	April 2, 1962 (1962-04-02)
Judy Garland	June 10, 1962 (1962-06-10)
Betty Grable	October 31, 1962 (1962-10-31)	Betty Grable imprinted her leg
Carole Landis
Jayne Mansfield
	December 24, 1962 (1962-12-24)
	December 25, 1962 (1962-12-25)
	December 31, 1962 (1962-12-31)
	January 1, 1963 (1963-01-01)
	February 14, 1963 (1963-02-14)
	April 14, 1963 (1963-04-14)
	October 31, 1963 (1963-10-31)
Ann-Margret	December 31, 1963 (1963-12-31)
Sonja Henie	January 1, 1964 (1964-01-01)	Sonja Henie imprinted her ice skates
	February 14, 1964 (1964-02-14)
	March 29, 1964 (1964-03-29)
Lyndon B. Johnson	July 4, 1964 (1964-07-04)
	October 31, 1964 (1964-10-31)
Cyd Charisse	January 1, 1965 (1965-01-01)
	February 14, 1965 (1965-02-14)
	April 18, 1965 (1965-04-18)
	October 31, 1965 (1965-10-31)
	December 24, 1965 (1965-12-24)
	December 25, 1965 (1965-12-25)
Sharon Tate	December 31, 1965 (1965-12-31)
Lauren Bacall
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Arthur Rankin Jr.
Jules Bass
	January 1, 1966 (1966-01-01)
	February 14, 1966 (1966-02-14)
	April 10, 1966 (1966-04-10)
Mel Brooks	December 16, 1966 (1966-12-16)	Mel Brooks wore a prosthetic sixth finger
	January 1, 1967 (1967-01-01)
	February 14, 1967 (1967-02-14)
Boris Karloff	March 8, 1967 (1967-03-08)			Mad Monster Party?
Gale Garnett
Phyllis Diller
Audra Lindley
Ray Milland
Joyce Matthews
Lucy Tate
Penny Sillery
Allen Swift
Edith Head		Edith Head imprinted a pair of her glasses
Geoffrey Monroe
Jane Kangara		Jane Kangara imprinted a pair of her tap shoes
Sammy Davis Jr.		Sammy Davis Jr. imprinted a pair of his tap shoes
Hines Brothers (Gregory Hines and Maurice Hines)		Hines Brothers imprinted a pair of their tap shoes
Ann Miller		Ann Miller imprinted a pair of her tap shoes
Jeni Le Gon		Jeni Le Gon imprinted a pair of her tap shoes
Ruby Keeler		Ruby Keeler imprinted a pair of her tap shoes
Cholly Atkins		Cholly Atkins imprinted a pair of his tap shoes
Bunny Briggs
Maceo Anderson		Maceo Anderson imprinted a pair of his tap shoes
Harriet Browne		Harriet Browne imprinted a pair of her tap shoes
Jerry Ames		Jerry Ames imprinted a pair of his tap shoes
LaVaughn Robinson
Howard Sims
Jimmy Slyde
Georgie Tapps
Peggy Ryan		Peggy Ryan imprinted a pair of her tap shoes
Carl Wright
Tommy Tune
Jackie Cooper	December 12, 1967 (1967-12-12)
	February 14, 1968 (1968-02-14)
	February 14, 1969 (1969-02-14)
Chevy Chase
	February 14, 1970 (1970-02-14)
Richard Nixon	July 4, 1970 (1970-07-04)
	February 14, 1971 (1971-02-14)
	February 14, 1972 (1972-02-14)
Meri Welles	October 31, 1972 (1972-10-31)
	February 14, 1973 (1973-02-14)
	February 14, 1974 (1974-02-14)
	February 14, 1975 (1975-02-14)
Gerald Ford	July 4, 1975 (1975-07-04)
	February 14, 1976 (1976-02-14)
Queen (Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon)	December 31, 1976 (1976-12-31)	Freddie Mercury,Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon
	February 14, 1977 (1977-02-14)
Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog	December 31, 1977 (1977-12-31)
	February 14, 1978 (1978-02-14)
Jimmy Carter	July 4, 1978 (1978-07-04)
	February 14, 1979 (1979-02-14)
Carol Channing	January 31, 1981 (1981-01-31)
Pat Boone
	February 14, 1981 (1981-02-14)
	February 14, 1982 (1982-02-14)
Ronald Reagan	July 4, 1982 (1982-07-04)
Édith Piaf	December 19, 1985 (1985-12-19)
Drew Barrymore
	December 21, 1985 (1985-12-21)
Robby Benson	December 24, 1985 (1985-12-24)
	December 25, 1985 (1985-12-25)
C-3PO and R2-D2	December 31, 1985 (1985-12-31)
LeVar Burton
Judith Barsi
Tammy O'Rourke
Heather O'Rourke
Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé	December 31, 1986 (1986-12-31)	Freddie Mercury imprinted his barefoot prints and Montserrat Caballé imprinted her handprints
John Forsythe
Harry Anderson	December 31, 1989 (1989-12-31)
Donald Duck	December 31, 1990 (1990-12-31)
Mickey Mouse
Minnie Mouse
Macaulay Culkin
Ginger Granger
George H. W. Bush	July 4, 1991 (1991-07-04)
Bill Clinton	July 4, 1995 (1995-07-04)
Joe Biden
Alan Alda	December 31, 1999 (1999-12-31)
Queen (Amanda Lennon, Brian May, Roger Taylor, Francesca Harrison)	December 31, 2001 (2001-12-31)
Dick Clark
Elvis Presley	June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01)
Jane Russell		Jane Russell imprinted her earring
Marilyn Monroe		Marilyn Monroe imprinted her earring
Jimmy Carter	July 4, 2004 (2004-07-04)
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
	October 11, 2004 (2004-10-11)
Trouble Trollies (Toady, Gumph, Buck, Butch and Bully)	October 31, 2004 (2004-10-31)	Toady, Gumph, Butch and Bully (handprints), Buck (footprints)
Warren Beatty	November 9, 2004 (2004-11-09)
Bananas in Pyjamas	December 6, 2004 (2004-12-06)			The Glimmerberry Ball Movie
Trollies
Melinda Sullivan
	December 24, 2004 (2004-12-24)
	December 25, 2004 (2004-12-25)
The Backyardigans	December 31, 2004 (2004-12-31)	The Backyardigans imprinted their handprints
Monsters Inc.	December 31, 2009 (2009-12-31)	Mike Wazowski (handprints), James P. Sullivan (handprints), Boo (handprints), Celia (handprints), Fungus (handprints) and Randall Boggs (footprints)

• David Copperfield (January 4, 1994)
• Tom Cruise (April 9, 1989)
• Tony Curtis (March 27, 1992)
• Geena Davis (June 10, 1992)
• Rebecca De Mornay (1991)
• Danny DeVito (June 17, 1990)
• Gérard Depardieu (December 10, 1996)
• Neil Diamond (February 1993)
• Patty Duke (March 28, 1993)
• Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (October 10, 1990)
• Jamie Farr (May 25, 1996)
• Harrison Ford (January 9, 1991)
• Michael J. Fox (May 29, 1999)
• Annette Funicello (May 1, 1989)
• Estelle Getty (April 17, 1989)
• Bobcat Goldthwait (December 28, 1990)
• Goofy (May 1, 1989)
• Louis Gossett Jr. (April 6, 1989)
• Elliott Gould (December 29, 1989)
• Mark Hamill (January 13, 1990)
• Daryl Hannah (February 13, 1989)
• Glenne Headly (June 14, 1990)
• Audrey Hepburn (April 29, 1989)
• Pee-Wee Herman (February 13, 1989)
• Charlton Heston (December 7, 1995)
• Dustin Hoffman (June 14, 1990)
• Hulk Hogan (November 9, 1993)
• Bob Hope (May 1, 1989)
• Ernie Hudson (1998)
• Kate Jackson (April 16, 1989)
• Michael Jackson (January 13, 1990)
• Samuel L. Jackson (March 3, 1995)
• Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley (March 20, 1990)
• Van Johnson (October 26, 1995)
• George Kennedy (December 23, 1991)
• Charlie Korsmo (June 19, 1990)
• Dorothy Lamour (September 12, 1990)
• Michael Landon (July 13, 1988)
• Angela Lansbury (November 2, 1991)
• Jerry Lewis (April 10, 1996)
• Ray Liotta (February 18, 1995)
• George Lucas (August 26, 1989)
• Steve Martin (1991)
• Rue McClanahan (April 17, 1989)
• Ed McMahon (June 15, 1992)
• Bette Midler (1989)
• Liza Minnelli (March 20, 1990)
• Mary Tyler Moore (May 8, 1993)
• Rick Moranis (April 30, 1989)
• Pat Morita (August 23, 1991)
• Leonard Nimoy (1989)
• Donald O'Connor (November 18, 1991)
• Maureen O'Sullivan (February 21, 1992)
• Jack Palance (January 15, 1997)
• Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford (October 2, 1991)
• Jane Powell (August 30, 1989)
• Jason Priestley (June 22, 1991)
• Roger Rabbit (May 1, 1989)
• Tony Randall (April 16, 1989)
• Burt Reynolds (June 23, 1988)
• John Ritter
• The Rocketeer (June 21, 1991)
• Susan Sarandon (March 21, 1999)
• Charlie Sheen (September 17, 1994)
• Martin Short (November 1, 1991)
• Suzanne Somers (April 15, 1989)
• Sally Jo Sousa (October 22, 1996)
• Sissy Spacek
• Sylvester Stallone (December 13, 1990)
• Sally Struthers
• Lily Tomlin (December 3, 1994)
• Cicely Tyson (April 29, 1989)
• Dick Van Dyke (April 14, 1989)
• Jim Varney
• Patrick Wayne (April 29, 1989)
• Betty White (February 24, 1990)
• Cindy Williams (June 25, 1988)
• Robin Williams (December 28, 1990)

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