Saturday, May 24, 2008

The Walt Disney Studio Burbank California View

A nice overhead view of the Burbank Walt Disney Studio right around the time of its opening. The hills and surrounding area are quite barren and still country like. The buildings shown are Orchestra Stage and Theater. (At least that is what is written on the back.)

For those interested in the answers to yesterday's trivia- here you go:

The original investors were Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Spike Jones, Art Linkletter, John Payne and Walt Disney. Walt was approached to invest by the family lawyer Lloyd Wright, Sr.

The bowling alley consisted of 80 bowling lanes. The lanes were specifically built and installed to be the best in the world. Another interesting note is the swimming pool was built measuring 164 feet, 1 inch in length and 75 feet, 1 inch in width. The extra inch was added to allow for shrinkage and still maintain the correct length and width for international swimming competitions.

The petrified tree stump is from the Florissant Fossil Beds in Southern Colorado.

The center was sold in 1979 (March 29, 1979 to be exact.)

Currently ther site is a shopping center with the main tenant being a Home Depot. The building and signs were razed. Nothing remains of the Celcbrity Sports Center.

I hope you all enjoyed the contest and learning a little obscure part of the Disney Company.

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5 comments:

  1. Vintage Disneyland Tickets8:40 AM

    I ejnoyed the contest, even if I only knew about the petrified tree stump, and that was just a guess. Thems questions was hard! THANKS!

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  2. Major Pepperidge10:01 AM

    Yeah, the only one I could guess at (correctly) was the petrified tree trunk. I would have never gotten the other ones!

    The shot of the studio is nice, but I am almost more amazed at the emptiness of Burbank, where I work every day!

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  3. Unknown7:28 PM

    Any thoughts on the time period for the photo?

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  4. Matterhorn19598:07 PM

    I would say late 1939 or early 1940.

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  5. Anonymous12:23 PM

    That's a great old photo. Photographed is the Disney Studio Lot Main Theater (which seats 400) and Stage A (which is used for sound dubbing). Behind those buildings is the original commissary and Garden Terrace patio. Further in the background is where St. Joseph's hospital is now located as well as the 134 (Ventura) Freeway. The hills in the distance are where Forest Lawn is located (where luminaries, such as Sammy Davis, Jr., are buried). Those hills separate the valley from Hollywood.

    If I were to guess, this photograph was taken from the water tower looking west. Just off camera to the right is the site of the original Animation Building.

    This photo looks to have been taken around when you said: 1940-ish.

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