Chapter 4 – Hollywood Studios – Hollywood Boulevard Part 3

posted Aug 2020
Our pictorial tour has brought us to the far end of Hollywood Boulevard. Since Hollywood Studios has been open this has been the focal spot for the park. As guests walk through the turnstiles and begin walking down the Boulevard their attention is drawn to the far end. Just like in the Magic Kingdom, where guests are drawn to Cinderella’s Castle, in Hollywood Studios their eyes are on……
Picture
The Sorcerer’s Hat 2001 – 2015
Picture
Grauman’s Chinese Theater 1989 – 2001, 2015 - present
In this chapter we’ll take a visit through:
  • Hollywood Junction
  • Starring Rolls – which has closed
  • Hollywood Brown Derby
  • Central Stage and Plaza
  • Sorcerers Hat
  • A Galaxy Far, Far Away / March of the First Order
The tour of Hollywood Studios’ Hollywood Boulevard continues.
Last, we left off at the original Theater of the Arts (which is where Sunset Boulevard is now – check out Chapter 3 – Hollywood Boulevard – Part 2), and cross over to the Hollywood Junction.

 
Hollywood Junction
Across the street from the Pacific Electric Railway Terminal (now the Starbuck’s Trolley Café), the Imagineers placed a Red Car station. (Called the Hollywood Junction). The Station is to further the backstory of the Red Car Line (See Chapter 3 – Hollywood Studios – Hollywood Boulevard Part 2).
 
Hollywood Junction also serves as an auxiliary guest relations and ticket sales location out in the park.
Guests can find help with ticket sales, ticket upgrades, dining reservation and special event bookings.
There are also FastPass+ Kiosks in the area.
click on photos to enlarge
For the guests not familiar with Fastpass+, please check out this link to Disney’s description and how to use it:


On the back end of the Hollywood Junction building is a small sovereign shop with an Ice Cream/Soda cart.
 
The FastPass+ system was introduced in Walt Disney World in 2014. Before that a paper Fastpass system was used from 1999 to 2014.
The Attraction Tip Board
 
Before the FastPass+ system was introduced to the parks in 2014, there was the Attraction Tip Board.
 
When guests visited Disney's Hollywood Studios, one good spot to visit was the Attraction Tip Board at the Hollywood Junction of the Pacific Electric Railway located on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard shortly after guest enter the theme park. These tip boards existed in all four Walt Disney World theme parks, and in the water parks.
The Tip Board provided helpful information to the park guests.
 
At this sign guests could see what the current wait times were for all of the attractions in the park as well as parade times and tips.
Some tips that you may see on the sign include:
  • Today's Park hours for all of Disney World's Theme Parks
  • Show times for each of the park's shows
  • Descriptions of each attraction in case you are not familiar with them.
Picture
Decorated for the Holidays
References:
Guest Experience Team
In 2019 Hollywood Studios had it’s 30th anniversary celebration, as part of the celebration Guest Experience Team podiums were stationed around Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guest Experience Teams were roaming extensions of the guest relations services and assisted guests with booking, modifying, and recovering FastPass+ selections, navigating the My Disney Experience app, and deactivating/reactivating MagicBands.
 
 
Guests Experience Teams were first introduced to the Magic Kingdom and the services have been expanded into Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
References:
 
Note: More about the 30th Anniversary Celebration and other special events at Hollywood Studios in a later Chapter.
Hollywood Junction Fountain
Picture
The Hollywood Junction Fountain is near the Guest Relations Kiosk
Picture
William Mulholland Memorial Fountain
The fountain at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard is an inspired by the William Mulholland Memorial Fountain, located at the corner of Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard in Los Angles, just a half mile from where Walt Disney’s Hyperion Studio had been. The fountain honors William Mulholland (1855-1935), the visionary self-taught engineer who brought water to the growing city of Los Angeles in 1913. Designed by Walter S. Clayberg and completed in 1940, it’s Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 162 (designated 1976).
Note: In 1926 Disney moved their Studio from the original Kingswell Avenue location to 2719 Hyperion in Los Angeles and named it The Walt Disney Studio. It was at the Hyperion Studio that Mickey Mouse was born and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was produced. They moved from Hyperion to Burbank around January 1940.
Reference:
Starring Rolls Cafe
Tucked between Hollywood Junction and the Brown Derby was the Starring Rolls Café. The Starring Rolls Café was one of the Opening Day counter service restaurants.
Starring Rolls Cafe, was open for breakfast and lunch, features a variety of fresh baked goods. Seating is limited and outdoors, with canvas cafe umbrellas covering the tables.
Guests could always find a fantastic selection of fresh pastries like croissants, fruit tarts, amazing cupcakes and coffees. Also for sale were tasty sandwiches, soups, salads, and assorted beverages.
 
With the opening of the Trolley Car Cafe, Starring Rolls Cafe Closed in February 2017. Many of the pastry favorites can now be found just across Hollywood Blvd. at The Trolley Car Café.
Reference:
Hollywood Brown Derby
An opening day dining location at Hollywood Studios was a restaurant that is a classic nod to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
 
The restaurant is actually a replica of the famous restaurant that was on Wilshire Boulevard in Hollywood, California, noted for ‘where all of the stars dined’. 
Before we tour and enter the Hollywood Studios’ Brown Derby Restaurant, we should probably walk through the Brown Derby Lounge.



The Brown Derby that was located on Wilshire Boulevard.
Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge
In October 2013, Hollywood Studios expanded the restaurant to include the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge on the outdoor patio.
 
The lounge is a narrow patio with Spanish Mission-style building as the backdrop. There lots of tables and chairs, and the crimson umbrellas provide color along with lots of welcome shade from the Florida sun.
Beyond the flights, the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is serving up their take on the classics.
Natural, plant-based home care & cleaning.
The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is perfectly situated for people watching, as it overlooks one of the main thoroughfares at Hollywood Studios.
 
 From 2016 to 2019, when Hollywood Studios presented the March of the First Order and Star Wars stage show in the Central Plaza, the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is a good place to enjoy a drink and catch the show (we’ll discuss the March and Star Wars Show below).
Classic Place, Classic Drinks  

Every Disney Lounge in Walt Disney World is known for their drinks. The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge is no different. Here, they celebrate flights we’re talking about margarita flights and martini flights.
The Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge offers a tapas style menu and of an appetizer-sized portion of The Famous Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad
For the current Lounge menu:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/hollywood-studios/hollywood-brown-derby-lounge/menus/
Reference:
Hollywood Brown Derby Restaurant
The Hollywood Brown Derby Restaurant in Disney’s Hollywood Studios reputation comes from the original Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles, it was a hot spot in the 1930s and 40s where stars of the Golden Age of film came to “see and be seen.”
The Entrance
As guests enter the Lobby of the restaurant, they already get the feeling of having stepped back to the time when Hollywood was at its peak and that they will be dining where the Stars dined.
Click to enlarge
While in the Lobby guests should take a little side tour, on the way to the restrooms, they’ll past an elevator and a set of stairs. These lead to one of Walt Disney World exclusive dining experiences call ‘Club 33’.
If you are interested in more information on Club 33: (if you become a member, please invite me)
The Ambiance
As guests enter the dining room they’ll be captivated by the décor and ambiance of the room, it was inspired from the original Brown Derby’s in California, Hollywood Studio’s version of mirrors the original designs. Deeply stained wood accents highlighted by dim, yellow-hued chandeliers gives the open space a very warm and intimate feeling.
The rounded booths that line the walls are exact replicas of the seating you would have expected to find in the original Brown Derby in Hollywood!
Just as the original, the wall surrounding the dining room are cover with caricatures of many famous actors and actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
All the caricatures in the Brown Derby that are in BLACK frames are copies of the originals. All those in the GOLD frames are the originals from the original Brown Derby and representative of the original Brown Derby artists Vitch, Zel, Pancho, Lane, Bunn and most recently, Woodruff.
The level of detail put into the restaurant by the Imagineers to create a replica is astonishing.
The Dining
Since the menu does change on occasion here is the link to the current Menu:
Several Items on the menu are originals from the original Brown Derby restaurant.

The Cobb Salad and the Grapefruit Cake on the menu are original items from the Brown Derby restaurant from Hollywood, California.  Not only that, the Brown Derby actually invented the Cobb Salad.  The owner of the original restaurant, Bob Cobb, went in one night and threw stuff together to make a salad for Sid Grauman. 

Note: Sid Grauman was the owner of the famous Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. A replica of that theater is right across the Hollywood Studios Plaza, which was the home of The Great Movie Ride and houses Mickey’s Runaway Railway.
click on photos to enlarge
Reference:
Brown Derby Backstory
Brown Derby at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard

The Brown Derby was the name of a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known of these was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that identified with the Golden Age of Hollywood
The original restaurant, opened in 1926, at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard remains the most famous due to its distinctive shape. Mimetic architecture was in vogue at the time, and the restaurant was designed to catch the eye of passing motorists. (We discussed mimetic architecture in Chapter 3 – Hollywood Studios Part 2 – The Darkroom Shop at head of Hollywood Boulevard)
 
With Wilson Mizner (a colorful character) as the front man; Herbert K. Somborn (once married to Gloria Swanson) owned the property and Jack L. Warner as a silent partner (Warner Bros. Studios) put up the money. It was located across the street from the Hollywood famous hot spot the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel.
 
With all of the success of the first restaurant, there were three more to follow. But, it was only the Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard that touted the big brown hat. Herb Somborn chose his good friend, Robert Cobb to run the new venture. In 1934 Mizner and Somborn had passed on and it was Robert Cobb, who took over the eateries.

In September 1980, the restaurant closed.  Local preservationists unsuccessfully tried to stop the building from being bulldozed, but the demolition was completed in November and replaced by a parking lot. The parking lot was replaced in late 1985 by a shopping center known as the Brown Derby Plaza
 
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Hotel_(Los_Angeles)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Derby
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Herbert_K._Somborn
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Wilson_Mizner
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Gloria_Swanson
http://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi404c.php
https://davelandblog.blogspot.com/2014/04/hooray-for-hollywood-pt-5-brown-derby.html
Note: In 1947's Fun and Fancy Free component "Mickey and the Beanstalk", Willie the Giant's stomping through Hollywood looking for Mickey Mouse. Willie notices The Brown Derby restaurant and picks up the restaurant looking for Mickey. He notices the restaurant looks like a hat, places it on his head, and stomps off with the HOLLYWOOD lights blinking in the background.

Source:
http://2719hyperion.blogspot.com/2008/02/roadside-disney-cartoon-crazy-and.html

The cafe was successful enough to warrant building 3 more locations which were (1) near Hollywood and Vine, (2) near Wilshire and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and (3) at Los Feliz Boulevard and Hillhurst in the Los Feliz area. Only the first one on Wilshire had the distinctive Derby Hat façade. But all served mostly American fare in a semi-plush manner with very attentive service.
Hollywood Brown Derby at 1628 North Vine
The distinctive Spanish Mission style façade of the second Brown Derby, opened on Valentine's Day 1929 at 1628 North Vine Street in Hollywood. It played the greater part in Hollywood history.
 
Due to its location near the movie studios, it became the place to do deals and be seen.
  • Clark Gable proposed to Carole Lombard there.
  • In the first of the Hollywood episodes of I Love Lucy, Lucy (Lucille Ball), Ethel (Vivian Vance), and Fred (William Frawley) have lunch at the Brown Derby. The trio end up dining in a booth with Eve Arden on one side and William Holden (who orders a Cobb salad) on the other.
Famous Caricatures
Like its Wilshire Boulevard counterpart, The Brown Derby on North Vine was the home of hundreds of celebrity drawings, paintings and caricatures. In 1931, Eddie Vitch approached Robert H. Cobb and offered to draw caricatures of the famous patrons who dined at the restaurant. In a very short time, Eddie had drawn hundreds of pictures of Hollywood stars and the Brown Derby became famous for the caricatures which adorned it walls.
The prestigious collection of caricatures was continued with a succession of other noted artists, Zel (1940’s), Pancho (1930’s-1940’s), Lane (1940’s-1980’s), Volpe (1950’s), Bunn (1980’s) and most recently, Woodruff.  

References:                                                                                                                      
As a result of damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the second Brown Derby at 1628 North Vine Street was declared unsafe by the City of Los Angeles and was the first building in Hollywood ordered to be demolished. The land is now occupied by an apartment complex.
Beverly Hills Brown Derby at Wilshire Blvd and Rodeo Drive
The third Brown Derby, built in 1931 at 9537 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, greatly resembled the Hollywood branch.
It was more popular with the Beverly Hills crowd so it was busiest on Thursday nights which was the traditional “maid’s night off”
According to Vanity Fair, in 1958 Christmas dinner at the Beverly Hills Brown Derby was $3.85
The Brown Derby restaurant on Vine Street was famous for its caricatures of the famous faces that dined there. This shot is from the one on Wilshire Blvd on the corner of Rodeo Drive where they hung photos instead.
It was closed in 1982 and demolished shortly afterwards.
Developer Douglas Stitzel purchased the vacant property in 1986 to build the One Rodeo shopping development.
 
References:
Brown Derby at Los Feliz Boulevard

The Brown Derby at 4500 Los Feliz Boulevard was the only remaining structure in the former chain that operated as a restaurant into the 2000s. Film mogul Cecil B. DeMille, a part owner of the Wilshire Blvd. restaurant, bought the building, a former chicken restaurant named Willard's, and converted it into a Brown Derby in 1941. It uniquely combined a formal restaurant with a dramatic domed ceiling with a more casual drive-in cafe outside. This was the last of Cobb’s Brown Derby restaurants.
In 1960, it was purchased by actor Michael St. Angel and became Michaels of Los Feliz, and in 1992, after several other restaurants, it was transformed into a nightclub known as The Derby. In the late 1990s, it became one of the centers of the resurgence of swing dancing, which launched the careers of modern swing bands such as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and the Cherry Poppin' Daddies.
 
In June 2004, a historic preservation coalition prevented the demolition, and, in 2006, the Los Angeles City Council voted to designate the entire structure an official Historic Cultural Monument of the City of Los Angeles. The building is currently a bank.

Source:
Walt Disney

Readers are probably wonder why all these backstories about the Brown Derby. The Brown Derby is a Tinseltown landmark steeped in glamour and glitz.

In the last few decades, a lot of effort has gone into preserving the giant hat from the Wilshire location as a historical landmark.  The only remaining Brown Derby is located at the Disney-MGM Studio theme park in Florida.
 
In 1987, The Brown Derby began a licensing program with an agreement with The Walt Disney Company for a replica of the original Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at the new Disney-MGM Studios.

In 1990, the Walt Disney Company entered into three additional agreements for a Brown Derby in Disneyland Resort Paris, Tokyo Disney Sea and Disney California Adventure Park.

References:
Hollywood Studios Central Plaza

As in all of the Disney parks, there is a Central Plaza. The Plazas are typically in front of the parks focal point, as in the Magic Kingdom – before Cinderella’s Castle, in Hollywood Studios it’s at the end of Hollywood Boulevard, before the Grauman’s Chinese Theater. From 2001 – 2015, it was in front of the Sorcerers Hat.
The Plaza was and is the center for Entertainment, Shows, and Parades.
However, when Hollywood Studios opened in 1989, as seen in the below aerial photo, the Central Plaza had more of a park setting, than entertainment center.  (You may notice something else – Mickey)


Parks Surrounding the Central Plaza
Over the years there were changes, both Seasonal and promoting events.
click on photos to enlarge
Outside the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios featured an impressive topiary creation of Mickey Mouse in his role as the Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia.
In 2012, the topiaries were moved to the Hollywood Studios Entrance Plaza.
Meet & Greet
The Plaza has also been the place to Meet & Greet your favorite Disney Characters from Roger Rabbit to Evil Villains to Pixar Characters to Chip, Dale, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy.
click on photos to enlarge
Check out the Times Guide for current Meet & Greet Characters and Schedules.
If you want to meet and greet with some of your favorite Disney characters head on over to the Center Plaza. This is a wonderful place to do so. 
 
Source:
Hollywood Boulevard Statues
In Chapter 2 – Hollywood Studios – Part 1 we encounter high above the Crossroads of the World building on Hollywood Boulevard Mickey Mouse.  Greeting guests to Hollywood Studios.
 
We won’t discuss this statue, since we’ve already discussed the Mickey Mouse statue in a previous Chapter. However one thing not mentioned is that the reproduction of Mickey Mouse atop the Crossroads of the World building characterizes how he appeared in the 1930’s, the era that Disney/MGM Studios portrayed when it opened.
As guests head up Hollywood Boulevard and enter the central plaza, just to the left is a statue of an early movie director.

Also located near the status is Michael Eisner’s Hollywood Studios opening day Dedication Plaque.
The statue is of a 1930’s movie director checking out his next scene through the viewing scope on his camera.
 
The camera depicted here is an early Technicolor 3-color machine first used in 1934. This camera used mirrors and a prism located behind the lens to reflect light onto three monochrome strips of film. Each strip was sensitive to one of the primary colors, red, green, and blue. Later, these exposed strips were merged to create a vibrant array of colors.
 
In 1932, Walt was introduced to the new Technicolor “three-strip” process. He was so impressed that he negotiated an exclusive contract with Technicolor as the only animation company who could use the process until 1935. This forced competitors like Ub Iwerks (who had left Disney) and Fleischer Studios to continue using the older 2-color process until 1935 and they could not release any 3-color films until 1936.
The placement of the statue at Hollywood Studios to honor film making and suggests to the guests that they are part of the motion pictures they are about to experience.
 
At the feet of the cameraman are a director’s megaphone and an open script that includes the names of people who inspired Andrea including Herbert Dickens Ryman and Lucille Ryman Carroll (Andrea is a retired board member of the Ryman-Carroll Foundation), Roy E. Disney and Patricia Disney, Marty Sklar and Andrea’s father, Aldo.
“Flowers and Trees” was already 60% complete as a black & white short when Walt halted production and had it reanimated in color. This gave a breath of new life into the Silly Symphonies series. The series even eclipsed the Mickey Mouse cartoons for a while. A total of 75 Silly Symphony shorts were produced between 1929 and 1939.
The Cameraman was created by Aldo and Andrea Favilli, father and son. Andrea became an Imagineer in 1987 and worked on a number of blue sky, design, and concepts for Disneyland, Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Typhoon Lagoon, Pleasure Island, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris.
 
In 1992 Andrea opened Favilli Studio where he sculpted the Disney’s Legends and the Frank G. Wells Awards.
 
The Hollywood Studios Cameraman statue is based on the original statue that Andrea made with his father Aldo that is located at 4411 West Olive Avenue across from Gate 2 of the Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California.
 
It was commissioned by Roy E. Disney and Shamrock Holdings, and was placed there in 1991 to celebrate the art of film making in the heart of the film making capital of the world. The plaque reads “He envisioned dreams that others might share”.

The man in the statue is a generic 1920s/1930s film maker, not based on anyone in particular, especially not a young Walt Disney as some have claimed. It reflects the transition period when Silent Movie disappeared and Talkies took over.
 
A replica of the Burbank statue was placed in Hollywood Studios in 1995 with a plaque that states “Movies are a medium of expression like a symphony orchestra... or a painter’s brush or canvas -Walt Disney”.
In 2008 a frame was placed around the plaque to reflect the park’s new name (Disney’s Hollywood Studios). However, the old name (Disney-MGM Studios) is still visible on the plaque itself. This may be one of the very few places left in Hollywood Studios, where guests can still see the park’s old logo.
 
 References:
Blurb
Picture
Since Hollywood Studios opened, the Central Plaza was the location for many entertainment activities, such a Parades and Shows.
 
Parades
Below is the list of Parades that have made their course through the Plaza over the years. (In a later Chapter we will view these Parades in more detail)

  • Dinosaurs Live (September 26, 1991 – August 29, 1992)
  • Aladdin's Royal Caravan (December 21, 1992 – August 27, 1995)
  • Toy Story Parade (November 22, 1995 – June 8, 1997)
  • Hercules "Zero to Hero" Victory Parade (June 27, 1997 – April 18, 1998)
  • Mulan Parade (June 19, 1998 – March 11, 2001)
  • Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade (October 1, 2001 – March 8, 2008)
  • Block Party Bash (March 14, 2008 – January 1, 2011)
  • Pixar Pals Countdown To Fun! (January 16, 2011 – April 6, 2013)
  • 25th Anniversary Parade (May 1, 2014)
  • Frozen Royal Welcome Ceremony (Summer 2014–2015; seasonal)
Shows

During the 2000’s as Disney Channel presented the "High School Musical” series, the central Plaza got the Wildcat fever. Originally, the High School Musical was introduced during the Year of a Million Dreams Celebration at the Magic Kingdom 2006 – 2008, then was moved to Hollywood/MGM Studios in 2007. (Chapter 32 – Magic Kingdom Parades 2000’s).

  • High School Musical Pep Rally (January 22 – September 14, 2007)
  • High School Musical 2: School's Out (September 23, 2007 – September 13, 2008)
  • High School Musical 3: Right Here! Right Now! (October 24, 2008 – October 2, 2010)
High School Musical 1 - Pep Rally (January 22 – September 14, 2007)
With the Shows on the Disney Channel the Wildcat fever caught on. The music was infectious, with guests learning cheers and dance moves, wave pom-poms and sang along to the hit songs the "High School Musical" Pep Rally Show.
 
Note: High School Musical 1 was the first moving stage show at the Central Plaza. The show would be moved into the Plaza for the Show than removed to reopen the Plaza. 
At the Plaza, a team of entertainers re-create the East High basketball court and broke into elaborate musical numbers like magic. Guests would shoot hoops or joined the rockin' party.
 
Source:
High School Musical 2: School’s Out (September 23, 2007 – September 13, 2008)
In September 2007 the Hollywood Studio’s Plaza came to life with a new energetic show 'High School Musical 2: Schools Out!'
As Disney Channel’s "High School Musical" fans were buzzing about recent big hit, "High School Musical 2," Hollywood/MGM Studios replaced "High School Musical Pep Rally," and brought "High School Musical 2" to life with a new high-energy interactive street party featuring new hit songs and dance acts.


Sources:
High School Musical 3: Right Here! Right Now! (October 24, 2008 – October 2, 2010)
In 2008, the trend continued with the release of High School Musical 3: Senior Year. This led to the final Hollywood Studios’ presentation of the show, High School Musical 3: Senior Year: Right Here! Right Now!
New songs, dance moves, and guest’s interaction.
The High School Musical craze couldn’t last forever, the show closed on October 2nd, 2010 in Hollywood Studios.
 
Sources:
Disney Channel Rocks! (October 22, 2010 – April 6, 2013)
The new street show had a similar format to its predecessors. Disney Channel Rocks brought the best high-energy tunes from various Disney Channel movies and shows.
Guests danced along to songs from Camp Rock, Camp Rock 2: Final Jam, Starstruck, and Cheetah Girls: One World, and retained some of "High School Musical" elements as well.
 The show’s featured medleys like “It’s On!” which then broke out the gals and guys into competing songs “Push It to the Limit” and “Dance Me if You Can.”
Sources:
The Sorcerer's Hat
When Hollywood/MGM Studios opened in May 1989, the Earffel Tower was the park's icon.
 
During the 100 Years of Magic celebration, interactive kiosks were installed underneath the Sorcerer's Hat where guests could learn about Walt Disney's life and career.
In September 2001, as part of the 100 Years of Magic celebration at Walt Disney World, the Sorcerer's Hat was built in front of the Great Movie Ride. (See Chapter 32 – Magic Kingdom Parades of 2000’s for more information on 100 Years of Magic Celebration)
Picture
 The structure was inspired by "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment in Walt Disney's 1940 animated film, Fantasia. The Sorcerer's Hat became the icon of Hollywood/MGM Studios from 2001 to 2015.
When the celebration ended in April 2003, a new sculpture, replaced the “100 Years of Magic” Celebration logo. This sculpture featured gold ribbons decorated with silver stars and was located adjacent to a merchandise venue.

Disney characters made meet-and-greet appearances around the hat throughout the day.

In May 2011, the Sorcerer's Hat served as the site for the grand opening ceremony for Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. (More about this in an upcoming Chapter)
 
Note: The Sorcerer's Hat originally was going to be built outside of the park, in the space cleared for David Copperfield's Magic Underground Restaurant that ultimately was not built. (See Chapter 1 – Hollywood Studios – Getting There)
With the removal of Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat in February 2015, the Hollywood Tower Hotel has become the new acting icon for Hollywood Studios until an official icon replaces it in the future.
The Hat continued to serve as a backdrop to many special events and shows.
High School Musical and other shows from the Disney Channel performed several times daily in front of the hat. (See above)
When Disney/MGM Studios opened in 1989, the Mickey Mouse-eared water tower was its trademark. However, the Disney Earffel Tower could only be seen clearly on the BackstageTour and guests didn’t make the movie studio connection.

The Chinese Theater was by default the icon for many guests. But, the Chinese Theater, whose facade is an exact replica of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, has its own long and colorful history, could not be trademarked by Disney.
 
Hollywood/MGM Studios hardly ever referred to the building as the Chinese Theater in any official publicity or signage, but merely mentioned it by the name of the attraction, The Great Movie Ride.
References: 
The Sorcerer's Hat has popped in a lot of places over the years. Check out this link:
click on photo to enlarge.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away / March of the First Order (May 4, 2016 - July 6, 2019)
With the removal of the Sorcerer Hat in 2015, the Park’s mobile center stage has returned.
The stage featured two Star Wars Shows several times throughout the day:  A Galaxy Far, Far Away / March of the First Order.
Building on the Star Wars mania, the two new Star Wars themed shows debuted in the spring of 2016 at Hollywood Studios.
 
The first show, Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away was a fifteen-minute show at Center Stage.
Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away
The stage show highlighted what guests and fans love about Star Wars. The show began with John Williams’ Star Wars Theme and highlights scenes from the original trilogy. As the opening builds, scenes from The Force Awakens began to filter in along with a few scenes from the prequels.
 The show then moved onto movie scenes focusing on the many pilots in the Star Wars universe and include scenes of Luke Skywalker, Poe Dameron, Han Solo and interrupted by short visit from Chewbacca, with images of the Millennium Falcon behind him. The movie clips then focus on the search for the Millennium Falcon and ends with Darth Vader handing over Han Solo to Bobo Fett. Boba Fett then appears on stage.
 Yoda’s wise voice returns to warn about the Dark Side. Kylo Ren then speaks and appears with Captain Phasma and more Storm Troopers. Scenes are shown from the Force Awakens and speak of the First Order and a deserter. Kylo Ren gets really angry upon hearing of the deserter. (If you’ve seen the movie this should not have been shocking).
Picture




For the finale, the entire cast came out on stage with Maz saying that the Force is calling to us!
Next, Yoda invited us to feel the Force and followed by an appearance from C3PO and R2D2. Yoda then speaks again of the Force. We see multiple shots of characters wielding their lightsabers from all the movies. This section culminated in Yoda introducing the Sith and the Dark Side. Darth Maul appear on stage and provided a short lightsaber demonstration.
The show then transitions to the Dark Side with Yoda quoting how people are led to the Dark Side. Scenes highlight Anakin’s path to the Dark Side and concludes with a visit from Darth Vader accompanied by Storm Troopers and John Williams’ The Imperial March.

The music transitions to Rey’s Theme while guests heard Maz Kanata speaking with scenes from The Force Awakens. Han Solo, Leia, Poe, Finn, Rey, Chewbacca, Luke Skywalker and BB8. BB8 then appeared on the stage.
click on photo to enlarge
Sources:
The second show, March of the Storm Troopers, was much shorter.
 
March of the First Order
Originally in May 2016, the March of the First Order took place with Captain Phasma leading her Storm Trooper Brigade from Star Wars Launch Bay to Center Stage.
 
In Oct 2016, the March of the First Order with Captain Phasma took a more striking route down Hollywood Boulevard to the center stage. 

Even the March Music loop was impressive, March of the First Order Music loop:
It was a chilling delight to see Captain Phasma up close with her troops.
click on photo to enlarge
The last performance on Hollywood Boulevard was in July 2019 with anticipation of the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in August 2019.
 
References:
Our tour has reached the end of Hollywood Boulevard. We visited all of the shops on both the left and right side. We hope next time our guests visit Hollywood Studios, that they take the time look at the details Disney Imagineers had put into this street. Because it still holds true to the original plans, to look like the Hollywood of the 1930’s & 40’s
 
But we’re not through with Hollywood Boulevard, we still have one more attraction to visit, The Great Movie Ride. Even though it no longer exists, it is still a very important attraction to visit and understand. It was the last of the original attractions when Hollywood Studios opened in 1989. Disney Historians considered it the embellishment of what Hollywood Studios once stood for, “Hollywood that never was — and always will be”. So stay posted for this upcoming Chapter on The Great Movie Ride.

    We would definitely like to hear from you. Let us know what you like and also don't. Your feedback is important!

    Thank you
Afterword:
WDWMousing.com is designed to be a tour of Walt Disney World through photos. We have been to Walt Disney World countless times over the past 25+ years and accumulated a magnitude of photos in that time. This website is an intention to combine two of our favorite pastimes, Walt Disney World and photography, and provide an insightful pictorial tour.
While doing so, we've done an extensive research of the internet and literary sources for background information on each area and attraction. The information is available, but most bits and pieces are scattered all over. WDWMousing doesn't intend to rewrite the stories, legends or data, but to try and collect it into one location with reference and links to the original articles and authors, giving rightful credit. We've stumbled through quite a bit of mis-information, most of which came to life by fans because the origins were lost, forgotten or no one seems to remember. Over the past 25 years we've also lost most of the great Imagineers that helped develop, design and build the original concepts of Walt Disney World. So we believe it's extremely important to make sure that their efforts, intentions, details and creativity in making this Happiest Place on Earth isn't lost.
So we ask for feedback, insights, and suggestions.

Thank you
WDWMousing