Variety, Monday, May 1, 1989

Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park Grand Opening

        It's hard to believe sponsors could build a two-hour show around the opening of a new theme park, but Disney and MGM did and, to some extent, successfully.
        One of the best things the show had going for it was the antics of John Ritter as host. He managed to inject some laughs into an otherwise dry bit about getting things ready on time.
        Producers wisely kept such hokum as the "Movie Memories" clips, featuring stars reminiscing about their film favorites (including Ronald Reagan comparing himself to Mr. Smith in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington"), to a minimum and instead concentrated on film clips and the makings of movie magic.
        Show opened with a big musical number starring Smokey Robinson that was a good launch as he and numerous dancers made their way down Hollywood Boulevard - the one recreated in this Florida park.
        Another smartly paced musical featured Buster Poindexter, Ashford and Simpson and Ann Miller in three dance numbers that were well-choreographed and entertaining.
        Other highlights of the show included clips with Harry Anderson showing how special effects are created and with Tony Randall talking about the workings of animation.
        Show actually was fairly full through its first 90 minutes, but quickly dropped off as last half-hour went into a long concert sesh with the Pointer Sisters, George Burns (the highlight) and a rather uninspired Willie Nelson.
        There was also a good deal of walking the television audience around this new park, which will feature a ride similar to the one at Universal Studios through a film studio backlot. Park will also have sessions for audiences to take part in filming along with booths where children can dub their own voices into cartoons, and so on. This amounted to advertising, which went hand-in-hand with this kind of hype.
        Appearances on film by Margaret Thatcher, Lech Walesa and Reagan seemed out of place and inappropriate.
        Yet for children and their parents, show had it's share of enjoyable entertainment.        Teen.