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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 |
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It’s 1990 at Disney-MGM Studios. You just entered from the parking lot. Disney-MGM had its grand opening on May 1, 1989, so it’s all still very new. This isn’t just a theme park. It’s also an actual working movie studio. |
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Scanned image © 1989 The Walt Disney Company Map of Hollywood Boulevard in the 1989 Disney-MGM Studios Guide Book |
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The biggest attraction here is the Backstage Studio Tour, a two-hour guided tour involving a tram, various demonstrations, and about an hour of walking. You might see actual film and television production from a hallway with large windows overlooking real working soundstages. Or you might just see empty soundstages from that hallway. To get to the tour, you need to pass through the Studio Gate Arch. |
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Photo by Steve Langguth, 1990 CC0 1.0 Universal Deed The beginning of Hollywood Boulevard |
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To get to the Studio Gate Arch, you first need to walk up Hollywood Boulevard, an idealized version of Hollywood, the Los Angeles neighborhood synonymous with moviemaking. This street is the “Main Street, U.S.A.” of this park. You might want to buy some Kodak film here. |
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Photo by Steve Langguth, 1990 CC0 1.0 Universal Deed The Great Movie Ride behind a replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater |
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When you reach the hub at the top of the street, you have three choices. You can turn left for Lakeside Circle and the Backlot Annex. Or you can go straight ahead to The Great Movie Ride in a replica of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, the most famous theater on the real Hollywood Boulevard. |
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Photo by Steve Langguth, 1990 CC0 1.0 Universal Deed Hollywood Brown Derby, just before the Studio Gate Arch |
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Your third choice is to turn right to enter the movie studio through the Studio Gate Arch, just beyond the Hollywood Brown Derby. |
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Photo by Steve Langguth, 1990 CC0 1.0 Universal Deed Studio Gate Arch, as it originally looked |
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You’ve arrived! The Studio Gate Arch marks the transition from the public side of Hollywood to the movie and television studio. The gate is in the tradition of grand entrances at Hollywood Studios such as Paramount, MGM, and Warner Bros. There’s a courtyard beyond the gate. The loading area for the tram portion of the tour is straight ahead. The same structure houses The Magic of Disney Animation, featuring a clever film, “Back to Neverland,” pairing the gravitas of newscaster Walter Cronkite with the inventiveness of comedian Robin Williams. They show how animated films are made. On the right is Soundstage Restaurant, where you can dine among movie sets from Big Business (1988), a Touchstone Pictures comedy starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin. On the left is the Walt Disney Theater. If you had come in 1989, it’s where you would have seen a sneak preview of an upcoming movie release as the final part of your two-hour tour. But it’s now 1990. On June 15, 1990, it became the home of a live show, Here Come the Muppets. |
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The Studio Gate Arch was part of Disney-MGM Studios when the third Walt Disney World theme park opened on May 1, 1989. Although the Pan Pacific Auditorium-themed entrance at the front of the park had letters reading “Disney-MGM Studios,” it made sense also to have a formal studio gate with the same name in front of the courtyard. The former marked the park entrance. The latter marked the studio entrance for guests. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Studio Gate Arch as it looked in its later years |
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In 1996, the Backstage Studio Tour was renamed the Studio Backlot Tour. Its starting point moved to the far end of Mickey Avenue. In 1998, The Magic of Disney Animation expanded, using the entire structure that had been the starting point of the tour. With the Voyage of the Little Mermaid running in the former Walt Disney Theater and Soundstage Restaurant featuring only various animated movies after Big Business departed, the courtyard became the Animation Courtyard. But the arch remained unchanged. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2008 Old name removed in preparation for a new name |
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On January 7, 2008, Disney-MGM Studios became Disney’s Hollywood Studios. All references to MGM had to be scraped away. It would have been the perfect opportunity to transform the arch into a formal entrance to the Animation Courtyard. That’s not what happened. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2009 Studio Gate Arch with the original Disney’s Hollywood Studios logo |
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Although it no longer made sense, the new park name went on the Studio Gate Arch. All over the park, thousands of instances of the old park name, large and small, were simply replaced with the new park name. In most cases, it made sense — but in the case of the Studio Gate Arch, it was a missed opportunity to give the Animation Courtyard a fitting portal. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2019 Getting ready for another logo change |
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On May 1, 2019, the 30th anniversary of the park, Disney revealed a new logo. The emphasis would be on Hollywood rather than on Studios. There would also be a new color scheme for the Studio Gate Arch. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2024 Studio Gate Arch with the updated Disney’s Hollywood Studios logo |
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The new logo replaced the old one on the Studio Gate Arch in November 2019. By this time, Star Wars Launch Bay had opened December 4, 2015, in place of The Magic of Disney Animation — so the Animation Courtyard was no longer as focused on animation. |
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Concept Art © Disney 2025 Concept art for the new Animation Courtyard, without the Studio Gate Arch |
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On December 3, 2025, Disney announced that the former Animation Courtyard would become a new land, The Walt Disney Studios Lot, in 2026. After an eleven-year absence, a new version of The Magic of Disney Animation, would return where Star Wars: Launch Bay had displaced it. Concept art showed a Sorcerer Mickey hat on the park’s animation building, similar to the one at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building in Burbank. The concept art also showed that the Studio Gate Arch would not be part of the new land. A case could be made that the arch, with an appropriate logo, would have made sense for The Walt Disney Studios Lot. This corner of Disney’s Hollywood Studios will represent a movie studio at a park that has otherwise long moved past its movie studio theme. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2026 Construction site for the new Animation Courtyard |
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In October 2025, construction walls appeared, blocking the the old Animation Courtyard. The Studio Gate Arch was quickly demolished. Disney won’t have to keep changing the logo on the arch. |
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© 2026 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated February 20, 2026 |
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