The Walt Disney Company started in 1923 in the rear of a

small office occupied by Holly-Vermont Realty in Los

Angeles. It was there that Walt Disney, and his brother
Roy, produced a series of short live-action/animated films
collectively called the ALICE COMEDIES. The rent was a
mere $10 a month. Within four months, the ever-growing
staff moved next door to larger facilities, where the sign
on the window read "Disney Bros. Studio." A year later, in
1925, the Disneys made a deposit on a Hyperion Avenue
lot in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. Construction
began on the new studio shortly thereafter. During the
next 14 years, many changes took place at the Disney
studio: Mickey Mouse was "born" in 1928, followed by
Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, and the rest of the Disney
gang.
Walt (bottom row, right) and his staff at the
Hyperion studio.

In 1937, Disney's innovative first full length animated

feature, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, was
released to critical acclaim and worldwide success. In
order to expand and meet the expectations of his
audience, Walt saw a need to increase the size of his
studio. With profits from SNOW WHITE, he made a
deposit on 51 acres of land in Burbank and began
designing a modern studio specifically for the purpose
of making animated films.

Walt was personally involved with all aspects of

designing the studio. From the layout of the buildings
to design of the animators' chairs, nothing was left to
chance. His main concern was to produce a self-
sufficient, state-of-the-art production factory that
provided all the essential facilities for the entire Walt and company discuss the progress made
production process. at the new Studio lot.
The Animation Building, housing the Disney Artists
and animators, was planned in the center of the lot.
Across a small street were built the Inking and
Painting and the Camera buildings, where the artwork
was completed and photographed.

Next to Camera, in the Cutting building, the post

production process occurred. Sound facilities included
dubbing, scoring, effects, and voice recording studios.
Many of the buildings were linked together by an
underground tunnel, so even in bad weather, the
process of making animated films was not disrupted.
To enhance the campus-like setting, all of the utilities
were placed underground which was an innovation for
1940.
Employees in front of the Animation Building.

During the 1940s and 1950s many prominent animated features were produced in Burbank, including
FANTASIA, BAMBI, CINDERELLA, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and PETER PAN.
 Beginning in the late 1940s, Disney launched into the
production of live-action features and television
programs. The Studio lot was subsequently expanded
during the 1950s, to include sound stages and production
craft facilities.

Sound Stages
Many of the interior scenes for Disney films were shot on
five live-action sound stages.

Stage 1 is part of the original lot that was built in 1940. It

was first used for filming the live-action scenes for
FANTASIA. Stage 2 was built in 1949 in conjunction with
Jack Webb, who used the stage for the filming of the
television series DRAGNET. A popular television show
filmed there was THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB. Stage 2 is
James Mason is menaced by a giant squid
one of the largest sound stages in Los Angeles at
during the filming of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER
approximately 31,000 square feet.
THE SEA.

In 1954, Sound Stage 3 was built specifically for 20,000

LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, complete with watertank.
Stage 4, completed in 1958, was first used for DARBY
O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE. In 1988, it was divided
into two television stages, thus creating Stages 4 and 5.

Well-known tenants on our stages have included Disney

classics such as DAVY CROCKETT, MARY POPPINS,
POLLYANA, THE LOVE BUG, BLACKBEARD'S GHOST,
PETE'S DRAGON, and BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS.
Other well-known tenants have included ARMAGEDDON,
HOME IMPROVEMENT, ELLEN, MTV, MADONNA,
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, NATIONAL TREASURE 2, and
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN I, II & III.

Riverside Lot
A live-action reference for a scene in LADY
Across the street from the Studio now stands the new
AND THE TRAMP.
Feature Animation Building and The ABC Building. This is
where Walt was planning to build a place called Mickey Mouse Park. There were to be lifelike statues of
Mickey and Donald, and guests could take pictures with their favorite characters and enjoy a train ride.
However, as Walt's ideas continued to grow, he realized more space was needed to fulfill his dreams. Shortly
thereafter he acquired more than 200 acres of orange groves in Anaheim, California. Those orange groves
became the site of Disneyland.

Shops
The back-lot shops were built to provide the many crafts and services required by live action productions.
The Machine Shop, which is no longer in use, housed machines and equipment that produced innovative
camera and projection objects for the film industry. During the construction of Disneyland in the mid-fifties,
this shop's engineers designed and hand-built many of the automobiles, train parts, boats, trams and carts
that were required by the new park. Hollywood Records now occupies the building.

Close by you'll find the Electric / Plumbing building containing machines and equipment for repairing and
maintaining the many systems within the Studio complex.

Nearby was the Staff Shop where they made molds, plaster casts, and fiberglass figures, many of which are
in use at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
The Electric/Plumbing building has its own machines for
installing and repairing all plumbing and mechanical
equipment within the Studio, along with equipment for
work in sheet metal, welding, and plastics.

Next to Electric/Plumbing was the Special Effects shop,

where our craftspeople created the myriad of unique
effects that have come to be associated with Disney
films. Flying cars, spaceships, miniature paddle wheelers,
and medieval armor that comes to life are just some of
the effects produced by this department.

The Paint Shop, which is in another large metal building,

does everything from spraying cars and furniture to be
used on a movie set, to spraying the set itself.
Walt looks on as a set piece is fabricated in the
Studio Mill.
Other prominent shops throughout the back-lot include
Sign Graphics, Crafts Service, and the Mill.

Back Lot
For more than 30 years, the back-lot featured exterior sets used for outdoor live-action filming. These
consisted of a Western Street, Zorro Pueblo, Residential Street, and Town Square.

Most of the buildings on the Western Street were constructed in 1958 for the ELFEGO BACA and TEXAS
JOHN SLAUGHTER television shows. Other productions which modified the structures for filming were DARBY
O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE, THE LOVE BUG, THOSE CALLOWAYS, and THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG.
The last major feature films to utilize the street extensively were HOT LEAD AND COLD FEET and THE APPLE
DUMPLING GANG RIDES AGAIN.

Sets representing a downtown area were constructed in 1965 for THE UGLY DACHSHUND and FOLLOW ME
BOYS. They were changed extensively for various films, and then completely demolished in 1981 to make
way for a new town set for SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.

There were four original buildings on the Residential Street originally constructed in 1960 for THE ABSENT-
MINDED PROFESSOR, including the main house and garage used for the laboratory. Other houses were used
for THE SWAMP FOX and the original THAT DARN CAT.

A well-known set was constructed for the ZORRO television series in the 1950s. This was once the Pueblo de
Los Angeles with a fort, a jail, a square, an inn, and a church. Later, one of the old Spanish squares was
redesigned to become a French village. Hills, pools, berms, and caves were built nearby for other
productions.

With the increased use of "on location" shooting, the back lot sets were gradually replaced by the Property
building, the Zorro parking structure, the Frank Wells office building, and Stages 6 & 7.

The Golden Oak Ranch

Walt Disney first leased the Golden Oak Ranch, which is situated in the nearby Santa Clarita area, in the
mid-1950s for the SPIN AND MARTY segments of THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB. Because of the variety of
natural settings available there, the Studio purchased the 700-acre property in 1959. Disney films shot at
the Ranch include: OLD YELLER, TOBY TYLER, THE PARENT TRAP, THE SHAGGY DOG, FOLLOW ME BOYS,
and more recently THE SANTA CLAUSE, PEARL HARBOR, PRINCESS DIARIES II and the PIRATES OF THE
CARIBBEAN II & III.

A western street was created for the renowned television miniseries ROOTS II in the late 1970s, and
remained an active filming location until it's removal in 2008. Other ranch sites include a rural bridge on a
lake, an entertainment and event venue, "THE GOLDEN OAK HALL," farm houses, barns, fields, country
roads, tree groves, a forest area, a creek bed, and a running waterfall. Currently being developed is a pine
lake designed to give the feeling of a High Sierra setting.

The Golden Oak Ranch is used by the entire industry and has been seen in LASSIE, BEVERLY HILLS 90210,
CHARMED, RED DRAGON, MURDER SHE WROTE, DIAGNOSIS MURDER, BONANZA, INDEPENDENCE DAY,
PROFILER, CSI, MY NAME IS EARL, ENTOURAGE, BOSTON LEGAL, BONES, SONS OF ANARCHY, GHOST
WHISPERERS, AMERICAN IDOL and so many more.

Imaging
Film imaging facilities have existed at the lot from its earliest days, starting with the Process Lab, building
which was adjacent to Inking and Painting. Through the years the building housed a motion picture
laboratory, primarily employed for animation, and
photo/visual effects facilities.

In the 1950s, as live-action films increasingly played a

major role in the success of the studio, so did the
inclusion of visual effects. Such memorable films as
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and DARBY O'GILL
AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE began a tradition of combining
complex optical effects with miniatures and matte
paintings to create rich fantasy worlds on the screen.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Process Lab,
renamed Photo Effects and then Visual Effects, was home
to the distinguished artists and technicians responsible
for the effects seen in MARY POPPINS, THE ABSENT
MINDED PROFESSOR, BLACKBEARD'S GHOST,
BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, PETE'S DRAGON, and
TRON.
Fred MacMurray flies in this process shot for
THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR.
During the 1980s, the unit was named Buena Vista Visual
Effects Group and expanded its facilities into the Camera building to include a motion-control stage. In
1990, the unit became Buena Vista Visual Effects (BVVE) and shifted rapidly to digital-imaging technologies.
Rooms within the Camera building, which formerly housed multi-plane cameras used to shoot animation,
were filled with computer equipment. BVVE transitioned to Buena Vista Imaging in 1996.

Today, Buena Vista Imaging occupies the Camera building, providing a full range of photo-optical and
digital-imaging services, which include a black and white lab, digital workstations, film recorders and
scanners, optical printers, and title graphics.

Post Production Sound

The Main Theater is a state-of-the-art digital sound dubbing and screening facility that was first used to mix
the sound for FANTASIA. Sound mixers blend dialogue, music, and sound effects tracks to the various levels
appropriate for a movie theater. The acoustics are designed to simulate a theater that is three-quarters full.
Although the theater is empty during the mixing session, extra padding in the seats and specially designed
walls absorb and reflect the sound. This helps the sound mixers to know what the final product will sound
like when it is released to the public.

Stage A, situated next to the Main Theater, was originally

used for scoring. For many years, the music for
innumerable Disney movies and cartoons was recorded
here. In 1985, the stage was converted to a dubbing
stage and theater. Like the Main Theater, Stage A is an
all-digital, state-of-the-art dubbing facility.

Stages B & C were designed to provide sound elements

for the animated films. Because of the Studio location
near the Burbank Airport, special priority was given to
soundproofing with "building within a building" design for
noise reduction.

Stage B is known as the dialogue stage, where character

voices were recorded for many animated classics
A sound recording session on Stage A.
including ALICE IN WONDERLAND, LADY AND THE
TRAMP, PETER PAN, and THE JUNGLE BOOK. The tradition continues today, as Stage B is still used for such
recent films as ALADDIN, THE LION KING, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE
DAME. Today, that tradition continues not only on Disney films, but also with Pixar hits such as TOY STORY,
BUGS LIFE, TOY STORY 2, and MONSTERS INC. Stage B accommodates Automatic Dialog Replacement
(ADR), a process that allows the talent to re-record their dialogue. One such use is for scenes shot on
location, where an talent's lines were destroyed by outside sound or noise, such as a plane flying over at the
time of filming.

Stage C was originally used for the recording of various sound effects for the animated features and short
subjects. Many of the unique sound-effects props and gadgets for these processes were invented by Disney
technicians. Today, Stage C serves as a dubbing stage for film and television. It was recently renovated in
2001 and like the other stages it features an all-digital, state-of-the-art film console

handigarh to have its own film city

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March 08, 2007 01:53 IST

Delhi-based Parsvnath Developers is planning to develop a state-of-the-art multimedia-

cum-film city centre at Sarangpur, Chandigarh.

Once the project is through, Chandigarh will join the exclusive club of other film cities
which include Mumbai Film City, Noida Film City and Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad
amongst others.

The multimedia-cum-film city project, first of its kind, is estimated to cost around Rs
800 crore and will spread over 30 acres. It will have a film studio, a multimedia park, a
multimedia entertainment centre and a multimedia college and research centre. The
project will be completed within 36 months. Parsvnath Developers will pay a premium
of Rs 191 crore for the land with a lease period of 99 years.

Parsvnath Film City, a subsidiary of Parsvnath Developers, will act as special purpose
vehicle for implementing the project. The company plans to dilute equity on the
subsidiary level and equity and plans to raise funds through internal accrual and selling
of commercial spaces.

"We are working out other investments details. However, it would be too early to predict
when we would break even," said Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Parsvnath Developers.
Parsvanth has entered into an agreement with the Chandigarh Tourism Board for a
private-public partnership. Chandigarh's scenic beauty, high tourist traffic and its
proximity to Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh has prompted the Chandigarh
Tourism Board to toy with the idea.

The Film City will be designed and developed as per international standards having a
digital studio to facilitate film and television productions, post-production facilities for
digital films, high-tech animation facility, high-tech gaming facility and a cafeteria. The
multimedia park will provide ready-built space for technology companies working in the
multimedia industry and would also facilitate setting up of own software/multimedia
development centres for them.

The entertainment centre will consist of a minimum four-screen multiplex with a total
seating capacity of 900, a 200 room hotel and service apartments and a commercial
estate.

The multimedia college and research centre will have features like facility for
multimedia studies, modern equipment for animations, various international standard
devices and software for gaming, research centre etc. The college will deliver graduate
and post graduate courses in multimedia for 750 students along with a hostel facility.

"We want to make it one-stop shop facilitator related to all media and film needs," said
Jain.