LEGACY: 10 Years Later

Amongst the multitude of movies infecting the worlds of Epcot, there is only one that is completely excluded from contempt. TRON's simulated digital frontier symbiotically created to synergistically exist alongside (and even inside) Walt Disney Productions' future-focused theme park.
From its architectural aesthetics to its commentary on the relationship between humanity, technology, and religion, EPCOT Center & TRON not only share the same birth year but also perfectly complement each other's ethos in much the same way as The Lion King with Animal Kingdom or The Rocketeer with the Disney•MGM Studios. 
Fast-forward 1400 Cycles (or 28 Years) and the world was invited to enter "The Grid" once again with TRON: Legacy — a film that is just as stunning and profound as its predecessor. Beginning with a beautifully "Digitized" Disney Castle was exquisitely evocative (and is still my favorite variation on the Walt Disney Pictures logo), yet I thought it was a missed opportunity to call back to the origins of the film and its relationship with physical worlds of Disney. Clearly, Spaceship Earth and not Cinderella Castle should have begun this new cinematic experience. 

In honor of TRON: Legacy's 10th Anniversary and to celebrate The E82 Project's 10th year, today we pay tribute to both ideologically-aligned entities with Future World's iconic geosphere entering "A digital frontier to reshape the human condition."                  

Mouse Deco

From the rustic steel of Animal Kingdom's Oasis to the elegant wrought iron of Main Street USA, all of Disney's parks feature appropriately detailed gates cleverly designed to both protect and present the entrance to enchanting environments and the Disney•MGM Studios is no exception. Perhaps the most notable of functionally friendly fences, the entrance to Hollywood Boulevard continues the streamlined style of the Pan-Pacific Auditorium inspired ticket booths with Art Deco curves and an extremely familiar silhouette signifying that the Hollywood you're stepping into is a carefully-curated one crafted by the House of Mouse.
Here is a small series of backgrounds depicting those gates in their natural state of Tinseltown Teal as well as Glittering Gold and Silver Screen Slate.              

Epcot's Rib

In a listing of Future World superlatives, one could easily say Horizons was the most inspiring, Imagination the most timeless, and Spaceship Earth the most impressive. To this list, one could add "Inside Entertainment" as the most prolific and certainly most impactful as the concept for the never built performing arts pavilion featuring Great Moments at the Movies, Disney Animation and a look into TV production was so expansive that no one building could possibly house all the possibilities of putting people into the movies. 

Enter the Disney•MGM Studios

It might sound like somewhat of a stretch to incorporate a seemingly superficial studio into something as substantive as The Epcot Legacy on a historically tangential technicality, but the original aspirations of the park are very much in-line with Epcot's over-arching theme of Humanity — who we are (World Showcase) and what we can do (Future World). In fact, the original Studios bridges these two concepts by exhibiting some of our Great-est cultural achievements and the technical abilities needed to achieve them. 

Classic cinema speaks to our nature, our inherent humanity — both our shortcomings and successes. Furthermore, exposure to the historical heights of cinematic perfection not only reveals answers to our past but keys to our future. Most importantly, it provides a challenge to meet and surpass the achievements of yesterday ushering in a brighter tomorrow.

Like the MGM Studios itself, the greatness of the Florida studios has reached the slow Fade-Out. But that need not be the case. For on this 30th anniversary of its opening, the meaning and memories of the Disney • MGM Studios lives on through movies & music, sights & sounds.

E82 — The Epcot Legacy

Welcomes the 
Disney • MGM Studios 

  

The World you have entered 

was created by The Walt Disney Company 

and is dedicated to Hollywood—

not a place on a map, but a state of mind 

that exists wherever people dream and wonder 

and imagine, a place where illusion and 

reality are fused by technological magic. We 

welcome you to a Hollywood that never was—

and always will be.

May 1, 1989          — Michael D Eisner

Logo Series — Electronic Forum

"From the assembly of the ancient Greeks to the New England town hall meeting, every democratic community has had its own forum, a place to meet with one's peers to discuss events of the day and to plan a course of action for tomorrow. In a very real sense, Electronic Form is as lively and democratic as Athen's agora, and infinitely more efficient." — Walt Disney's EPCOT Center, Creating a New World of Tomorrow by Richard R Beard "
With its seemingly random bits of data building into a clear picture, the marquee of CommuniCore's Electronic Forum beckoned guests to add their individual viewpoints to a great number of issues facing the ever-changing conditions found in the 1980s and early 90s. E82 welcomes this incredibly intricate signage to the Logo Series complete with its equally complex color scheme and customarily updated aesthetics of E82's "De-Retro-ization" Process.        

Oceanic Architecture

Inspired by the design timelapse videos from visual artist James White , "Oceanic Architecture" is the entire 15-hour process of The Living Seas Edition in the Epcot Architecture Series.What you will see is every step of the process, from source architectural drawings to failed attempts and all points in between as I struggle to translate its highly sculptural three-dimensional waves into a strictly 2D format.