OnTheGround: When In Hollywood

First published October 29, 2002

By C. W. Oberleitner

As an early Halloween treat, C. W. takes you to Hollywood's beautiful El Capitan Theatre for last Friday night's special screening (and panel discussion!) of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

To paraphrase one of my favorite Muppets, Bunson Honeydew, we here at JimHillMedia.com are dedicated to bringing you the very latest coverage of the world of themed events and entertainment. And since we lack the resources of say CNN we may only be as successful at this as Bunson and Beaker.

You can read step-by-step accounts of events that take place in the parks and in themed entertainment on a variety of fan websites. Both Jim and I want to offer you an alternative. Not necessarily better – although we will be delighted if you think so – but different. We like to think of it as coverage of events from a different perspective.

We live in an age of themed entertainment. It's part of our shopping and dinning experience; it's all around us. One of my favorite places – outside of the parks and resorts – to indulge in themed events is the entertainment district of Hollywood.

Thanks in no small part to The Walt Disney Company's 1989 purchase and renovation of the historic El Capitan theatre, on Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Le Brea Avenues the Hollywood entertainment district has undergone an amazing transformation. This past year saw the opening of the restored Cinerama Dome and the addition of the new ArcLight Cinemas entertainment complex. The long awaited Hollywood and Highland center opened and the center's Kodak Theatre hosted this year's Academy Awards.

When you add all of these new event destinations to the mix of T-Shirt shops, pizza joints and tattoo parlors you get the closest thing to Times Square that Los Angeles has to offer. From street punks to dazed and confused midwestern tourist families the entertainment district of Hollywood is one of the most alive and vital parts of LA that anyone could want to visit.

And so it was on the evening of Friday October 25, I found myself once again back in the thick of things in Hollywood. By thick I mean traffic. This evening was opening night for this Halloween season's annual run of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas at the El Capitan Theatre. Opening night of this Halloween classic always draws a crowd both for this timeless Tim Burton classic and the panel discussion that precedes it. This year the crowd seemed to be bringing Hollywood traffic to a stand still.

It turns out that NMBC at the El Capitan was running into some of the same scheduling collisions that Haunted Mansion Holiday at Disneyland had experienced.

Short history lesson:

Time was here in Los Angeles that between Labor Day and the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays there really wasn't much entertainment-wise for Angelinos and the tourists to do. Then Knott's Berry Farm and Universal Studios discovered they could increase park attendance by staging themed events like Knott's Scary Farm. Disney, realizing that it had lost out on the Halloween traffic, began to raise the level of Disneyland's Christmas décor and entertainment. They soon came to dominate the Christmas holiday season. So much so in fact that Christmas comes earlier – and stays longer – every year at the Disneyland Resort.

Last year after several years of prodding by Steve Davison, the fellow who gave us the Believe There's Magic In The Stars fireworks spectacular, Disneyland added a holiday storyline to the Haunted Mansion. Based on the story from Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas it was an unqualified smash hit success. People really liked it.

The folks in Entertainment at Disneyland had to push management into what seems to be such an obvious decision because NMBC has always been – at least from a marketing point of view – a problem for The Walt Disney Company. Released in 1993 NMBC was thought to be too intense to be released by Walt Disney Pictures. Disney's more adult oriented Touchstone Pictures released the film instead.

This brings us back to the present. Children now embrace Oogie Boogie, Jack, Sally and the rest of NMBC's characters as if they were Mickey, Donald and Goofy. The folks at Disney, as NMBC director Henry Selick says, still don't quite know what to do with the picture.

True, this year Disneyland did launch a TV ad campaign built around the re-opening of "Jack Skellington's" Haunted Mansion Holiday. And, unlike last year they ordered enough NMBC merchandise to fill the newly created Le Bat en Rouge gift shop. But in their zeal to start the holiday season earlier than ever they scheduled the official opening of this year's edition of Haunted Mansion Holiday on the same day as one of Disneyland's biggest annual mix in events.

A mix in event is when a large group or organization tells all of it members to meet at the park for a day of fun with their fellow, employees, Rotarians, etc. To make it easier to find one and other participants are usually encouraged to wear the same colored t-shirts or sweaters. This year Disneyland scheduled the Haunted Mansion opening on Gay Day2 the west coast version an event that started as a single day event at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. It has now grown to a full week of events covering all of Orlando's parks and attractions.

On October 3, tens of thousands of folks who had come to Disneyland for the re-opening of Haunted Mansion Holiday were joined by tens of thousands of folks who had come for Gay Day2. The result was that Fast Passes for Haunted Mansion were gone by mid morning and the lines for everything in the park resembled the height of the vacation season. By mid day as cast members scrambled to bring more cars on to rides and open more food queues it became clear that the park had not anticipated such a turnout.

While stuck in traffic waiting to get to the El Capitan for this year's opening night of The Nightmare Before Christmas I couldn't help remembering being stuck earlier in the month in the crowds clamoring to get into the NMBC themed Haunted Mansion Holiday. Could all of this traffic be for tonight's performance of Nightmare at the El Capitan?

The answer was yes and no. It turns out that this year's opening of NMBC was scheduled on the same night as the Ritmo Latino Music Awards at the Kodak Theatre. In LA awards mean celebrities and celebrities mean limousines and red carpet runways and in the case of the Kodak that means closing Hollywood Blvd.

Opening night for NMBC being scheduled the same night the street in front of The El Capitan was closed wasn't the only scheduling problem for the film. As I emerged from the parking garage at The Hollywood and Highland Center I knew I would be able to get a great picture of the El Capitan's classic marquee from the Center's terrace court. Imagine my surprise when in place of a grinning Jack Skellington I see the rosy red checks of Tim Allen beaming across the boulevard and a marquee proclaiming the coming of The Santa Clause2.

Like I said, Christmas keeps coming earlier and earlier to Los Angeles. The El Capitan is actually suffering from an embarrassment of riches. Walt Disney Pictures has had and continues to have a full slate of new film releases. Each of these films becomes part of an El Capitan experience. During its run The Santa Clause2 will be preceded by a live stage show, Disney's Holiday Spectacular, featuring Mickey, Minnie and the gang.

Surrendering to the power of Tim Allen's celebrity and the might of Disney marketing I made my way around the crowds lined up to watch the arrivals for the Latino Music Awards and across the street to the El Capitan. I finally discovered the marquee for The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was a series of banners strung below the blazing marquee the lights from which all but obscured the poor NMBC banners.

By now I am beginning to feel sorry for the movie. I love The Nightmare Before Christmas. So what if it's nearly ten years old. In my mind it deserves better treatment than this. I was just hoping enough fans of the film would show up to at least fill the orchestra level of the theatre. Silly me.

I got to the box office a full two hours before the first evening show and panel discussion only to discover that it was SOLD OUT. Not only sold out but that it had been for days. Fortunately the panelists had all agreed to a second discussion prior to the next show. I bought a ticket without hesitation.

I Was Snow White then I Drifted

With nearly three hours to kill I decided that I should at least eat before the show. The Hollywood and Highland Center has several very good, reasonably priced restaurants, among them The California Pizza Kitchen. But I chose to visit my favorite little Hollywood gem of an eatery, The Snow White Café.

The Snow White Café is just a few yards east of Highland Ave. on the north side of Hollywood Blvd. Built by the Disney studio it's full of Disney artists imagery from Walt Disney's Snow White. In 1946 the studio sold this little gem with a license that has allowed its owners to continue to use both the name and original artwork.

It was originally opened as a family style coffee shop and served mostly pancakes and eggs. Now serving coffee drinks as well as beer and wine and with a full lunch and dinner menu the Snow White Café has lost none of its original charm. Lovingly cared for over the years it looks as if Disney might still be running it.

I walked off dinner taking in the sights and sounds of Hollywood Blvd. Avoiding the crowds lined up for celebrity sighting in front of Hollywood and Highland I took a stroll behind the El Cap hoping to catch one of NMBC panelists grabbing some fresh air. No such luck. But I did get a good look at the gigantic tent structure erected by Disney that will house Port of Discovery attraction that will be part of the Treasure Planet experience at the El Capitan.

To kill time I popped into the Disney Store adjacent to the El Cap's lobby. I thought some pictures of NMBC merchandise might go well with this story. To my surprise there wasn't any. I ask the store manager if they had NMBC items. I was told that they did receive a shipment of Nightmare related merchandise but that it had sold out the week before. All that was left were a few small snow globes.

I joined the line of ticket holders for the nine thirty NMBC showing. Over the course of the next ninety minutes I was entertained by chanting Krishnas, punks, Goths, tourists and dozens of locals dressed for Halloween, which wouldn't arrive for another six days. All the while being serenaded by the same three songs from the movie played over and over again.

At last the doors open and it's our turn to go in. The minute I set foot inside the lobby I remember what it is about the El Cap that I love. Like most things done well by Disney the El Capitan Theatre has been lovingly restored to the level glory and elegance it enjoyed during it heyday. I am instantly transported to another place and another time. I take seat down front an settle in to enjoy the musical stylings of the El Cap's organist Rob Richards.

Richards is more than a musician. He is a showman. Dressed like the Phantom of The Opera Richard's treats the chatting audience to selections from that show. In what at first appears to be an odd selection he concludes with Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Utilizing the full power of this might instrument the crowd is silenced and our full attention is placed on organist and the music he is producing. As the wall literally rumble and our seats begin to vibrate the crowd bursts into applause and begins to cheer.

With the organ recital finished an El Capitan manager came out welcomed us and introduced E Entertainment Television personality Todd Newton. Newton in turn introduced the panel for the evening's discussion. First, the voice Halloweentown's Mayor, actor Glenn Shadix followed by NMBC director Henry Selick. The final member of the panel is one of the starts of the classic Tim Burton short film Frankenweenie, Shelley Duvall.

NBC Panel Take Two

Now if you are even the slightest fan of this movie what comes next should come as no surprise to you. These four very talented people had to struggle to find new and entertaining ways of retelling the same stories they told two hours earlier. Not just earlier that evening but the same stories they have been telling to fans, fan sites and on panels like this for the past ten years. To his credit Todd Newton kept asking questions and probing for entertaining anecdotes but little was forth coming.

Glenn Shadix, just as he has done for the last two years at the Haunted Mansion Holiday event at Disneyland, told the story of how he came up with the voices for Halloweentown's dual personality Mayor. The calm mayor was basically a recreation of the Southern politicians he grew up with. The inspiration for the neurotic mayor was Karen Black. According to Glenn,

Karen Black. Remember Airport 75? Well, Karen has a line as the stewardess forced to take controls of the plane. She does her famous eye-crossed grimace and says in a high- pitched voice "I can't fly a plane!" I found that by imitating Karen saying that line I could get the perfect character for the fearful, pessimistic Mayor. I would literally be in the booth saying her line out loud over and over before switching to the pouty Mayor. I would even cross my eyes!

And he did. Recreating his impression of Karen Black screaming her now famous line was perhaps one of the biggest laughs – outside of the three Burton films - of the evening.

If you have the opportunity and after you have finished reading all the articles here on JimHillMedia.com bop on over to Glenn's website, http://www.glennshadix.com. Among other things you can learn how dressing in drag as Gertrude Stein ultimately lead Glenn to the role of the Mayor. As with so many talented and gifted people Glenn's own story and his enthralling way of telling it rivals many of the roles that he is famous for.

With the panel discussion concluded it was now time to settle back and enjoy. The house lights dimmed and the crowd cheered. First up was Frankenweenie, followed by Vincent the two shorts Burton made for Disney shortly after leaving Cal Arts. Finally the familiar Touchstone Pictures logo appears and once again there is cheering and applause.

In that huge theatre filled to capacity with people who like me love this film it was like seeing it again for the very first time. We laughed at every joke and gag and cheered as Oogie Boogie once again met his fate. And it was at this point that I knew what OnTheGround would be about, the experience of being there.

C'ya real soon!