![]() For when a storm arises and lightning strikes, five guests on their way to the party at the top of the tower disappear forever as the hotel elevator comes crashing down. That’s when the film reveals the tower in question, a vibrant place, reveling in old Hollywood excess, moments away from the curse which will lead to its downfall. The camera lingers as fire dances behind the invitation, slowly engulfing its elegant print in red, flickering flame. Opening with eerie music, an unintelligible ghostly whisper and the text, “It started on Halloween… 1939”, the image tracks to an ancient tome as it slowly opens before landing on a propped up invitation to a party at the Tip Top Club at the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Starring alongside Steve Guttenberg was Kirsten Dunst, known then for her work in Interview with a Vampire (1994) and Jumanji (1995), and Michael McShane, who most kids would have recognized as the inimitable Professor Keenbean from Richie Rich (1994). MacHale, co-creator of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, was brought in to write and direct and the screen was populated with recognizable players for the Tower of Terror movie. Kid-friendly horror storyteller extraordinaire D.J. Pair that with actual video of Rod Serling and a short film directed by genre legend Joe Dante telling the tale of the people who mysteriously vanished in the hotel all those years before and the ride becomes a story driven experience of wonderment and terror unlike anything else Walt Disney World has to offer.ĭespite the studio’s decision not to license The Twilight Zone for the film, it was that inherent sense of story, built-in enveloping atmosphere and borrowed production value that made the ride the ideal candidate for adaptation. At the same time, the hotel transports people back to 1939 Hollywood, reflecting the glitz and glamour as seen through the inevitable lens of neglect, despair and decay. It’s peppered with specific references and nods to the series, easter eggs for keen eyed fans to seek out and pour over, like the broken glasses from Time Enough at Last or the Caesar ventriloquist dummy from Caesar and Me. It comprises over three million pounds of steel, almost fifty thousand cubic yards of concrete and is topped with approximately twenty seven thousand roof tiles, making for one of the most elaborate and engaging locations in any of Disney’s massive parks.īased on The Twilight Zone TV series, the ride takes patrons into the fifth dimension that Rod Serling was only ever able to show them before. Dubbed “a white knuckle screamer” and “Disney’s newest, fastest, strangest thrill ride” in advertisements, the tower in question stands over two hundred feet tall. Originally pitched by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner as a Mel Brooks themed Haunted Hollywood Hotel attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride became one of Walt Disney’s World’s premiere attractions. Still, with its on-ride filming sites, colorful character actors and dedication to eerie atmosphere over eye-catching special effects, one would be hard pressed not to count Tower of Terror amongst the most successful ride-to-movie adaptations in Disney’s ever expanding portfolio.Īfter all, shouldn’t the aim of the movie be to capture the essence of the ride? Far removed from the made-for-TV Steve Guttenberg starring spook fest that served as a gateway horror flick to so many young and impressionable minds, these multimedia ticket drivers have left behind low budget simplicity in lieu of multi-million dollar CGI driven set pieces and A-list casts. Twenty six years later, the studio is on the cusp of their twelfth ride adaptation and their second big screen attempt at a blockbuster Haunted Mansion movie. The line between rides and movies was blurring and soon the path that carried the silver screen to the realm of reality would no longer be one-way. On October 26, 1997, Tower of Terror aired as ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney feature presentation, initiating a trend that would go on to shift the paradigm that had long existed between Disney’s immersive theme park attractions and their successful movie slate.
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