Main Street USA: Main Street Cinema

And we're back in Main Street, but travelling back in time, to visit the Main Street Cinema.  Long since gone from Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, the Main Street Cinema was a place to visit to watch classic Disney cartoons from yesteryear.

Originally, the cinema - in keeping with the turn of the century theming of Main Street itself, played a rotation of silent black and white films.  These included a western, a risque belly dance, a cartoon called Gertie the Dinosaur, a Gloria Swanson melodrama and a Keystone Kops comedy.  Charlie Chaplin films and the 1925 version of Phantom of the Opera also featured from time to time and - bizarrely - a Phantom would appear outside the cinema to attract guests to visit.  This isn't a character - particularly as it isn't Disney - that would ever be likely to pop up in any Disney theme parks nowadays.

In the 1970s, the cinema began to show exclusively Disney short cartoons.  One of these shorts was Steamboat Willie, the 1928 classic that introduced Mickey Mouse  and Minnie Mouse to the world.

On entering Main Street Cinema, visitors found a ticket booth with a turn of the century costumed mannequin sitting inside ready to exchange tickets for coins.  There are lots of nice little details in the booth such as the occupant's hat, a jug and cup and her handbag.  Passing through a turnstile and red velvet curtains with gold fringing, guests entered a circular room.  Around the room were six screens playing the short cartoons.  In the centre was a small raised area with a railing running around it.  The room was panelled in wood and had a warm glow from numerous light bulbs.  Below each screen were images of people sitting in cinema chairs watching the cartoons.  The entrance way was adorned, on both sides, with posters for the various shorts.

The frontage of Main Street Cinema was gorgeous.  The large, bulb-lit, signage alone was something worthy of a photograph.

Main Street Cinema has since been converted into yet another merchandise shop, which is a shame as I imagine a cool, quiet place to sit down and watch a few short cartoons was a welcome respite from the busy world of Disneyland.

Hong Kong Disneyland also have a version of Main Street Cinema which has also now been replaced by a shop.