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El CapiTOON Theater

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The El CapiTOON Theater or El Capitoon Theater is a location from the Mickey's Toontown version of Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.

Description[]

The El CapiTOON Theater is a, "Toon" centric historic art-deco movie-theatre in Toontown, a cartoon character settlement located outside of Hollywood in Los Angeles. The El CapiTOON is officially considered, "A Place of Hysterical Significance" by the Toontown Hysterical Society and is also referred to as, "Toontown's Hometown Theater". The building has four main theatres located within it.

The El CapiTOON is known for showing various cartoon shorts along with Toon based parody/pastiches of live-action movies, and offers a, "Mickey Mouse Club Discount" to members of said club able to provide ID through card or sweater. The theater also sold many snacks and candies, some of which were supplied through Goofy. The El CapiTOON has had the policy that no outside food is allowed (unless you share). The theater's tickets historically come from the, "Big Bad Ticket Company", possibly related to the Big Bad Wolf, and previously accepted gold coins as payment but ceased to do so by the 2010s/2020s.

Features[]

Exterior[]

  • Ticket Booth:

Interior[]

  • Concessions: Apart from the lobby, the El CapiTOON has a room dedicated to its concessions stand.
  • Exhibit Space: There is a significant amount of space which the theatre allows to be used for exhibitions. Most notably was, "Mickey Through the Ears", an exhibition on Mickey Mouse's history curated by Minnie Mouse of the Toontown Hysterical Society. This exhibit featured various historic cartoon props, costumes, framed posters, vinyls and equipment.
  • Lobby: The lobby has a star-shaped chandelier, along with several movie posters and cardboard promotions for upcoming features. Nearby the lobby is a display-case showing historic items pertaining to the theatre's history.
  • Theater 1: Theater 1 was located apart from theatres 3-4, possibly due to being used for more experimental/film-festival awarded movies such as, "The Wrong Door" which was the official selection of the Inkwell Film Festival.
  • Theater 2:
  • Theater 3:
  • Theater 4

History[]

Backstory[]

Early history[]

The El CapiTOON was Toontown's original movie theatre, described as having been, "Delighting audiences since the dawn of the moving picture". The opening-ceremony had ribbons cut with large scissors which were loaned to the theater by Willie the Giant. The first ever ticket sold by the theater was to Elvira Coot, the grandmother of Donald Duck. The first hot-dog ever cooked by the theater on opening day was preserved and put on display as part of the El CapiTOON's history.

In 1929, the El CapiTOON showed Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney's animated Disney cartoon, "The Skeleton Dance" which was sold out for weeks. Fred R. Femur who played, "Skeleton #3" in the short said he would give anything to see the short on the big-screen, leading to him giving his left-arm to the theater for the opportunity. The first picture shown in colour at the El CapiTOON was, "Flowers and Trees" in 1932.

In the 1950s, the El CapiTOON was known for doing double-features such as when it showed the Chip & Dale cartoons, "Two Chips and a Miss" (1952) and, "Dragon Around" (1954), which the two leads attended. At an unknown point in time (likely around the 1950s), the El CapiTOON's first 3D-glasses were created by local quack inventor, Professor Ludwig von Drake. At some point, the theater attempted to create a drive-in movie service before scrapping it due to them not realizing that not many cars could fit into the lobby.[1]

Later history[]

In 2004, the El CapiTOON hosted the premiere of the film Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004). Mickey, Donald and Goofy signed a comic-book prop used in the film as a thanks for the, "Swell premiere" and this was framed in the El CapiTOON's ticket-booth.[2]

El CapiTOON Restoration Project[]

Around the 2010s/2020s, the El CapiTOON Theatre received an, "Off-model restoration"/"Hysterical restoration" sponsored by McDuck Enterprises (for tax purposes).[3] Construction of this restoration was overseen by Toontown's Chinny Chin Chin Construction Company. During construction, there were posters and warning messages indicating the threat of Beagle Boys and the Big Bad Wolf disguising themselves as construction workers for presumably nefarious purposes.[4]

After this renovation was completed, the theatre reopened while showing off a, "Mickey Through the Ears" exhibit curated by Minnie Mouse of the Toontown Hysterical Society, while also premiering Mickey & Minnie's short-film "Perfect Picnic" in theatres 3-4 (theatre 1 being used for, "The Wrong Door"). Due to Goofy getting into a train-accident in the cartoon, a hole was blasted into the projector's screen which let audience-members enter the world of the short.

Development history[]

The El CapiTOON Theatre is a parody of the real-world El Capitan Theater, owned by the Walt Disney Company.

Appearances[]

Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway[]

The El Capitoon serves as the setting for the attraction's queue.

Trivia[]

  • The counterpart to the El CapiTOON in Disney's Hollywood Studios is the Chinese Theater, previously used for the Great Movie Ride.
  • The ticket-booth has various easter-eggs.
    • There is a sticky-note reminder to call Tilly, referencing the ticket-booth character from the Main Street Cinema.
    • One is a note to order more candies from Goofy. Goofy supplying the theater with candy is likely a reference to Goofy's Candy Co. in Disney Springs.
    • There is a mug from Lester's Possum Park, a fictional amusement park which Goofy and Max visit in the Goofy Movie, and a photograph of a girl who Max saw at said park, seemingly implying the ticket-master to be related to her.
    • There is a signed and framed comic from Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004).
    • Flyers on the desk include a promotion for the Ghost Hunters, a business from the Lonesome Ghosts (1937), and Doctor Frankenollie's, "Mindless Work" newspaper promotion from Runaway Brain (1995).
  • Many details in the concession stand room has details and easter-eggs:
    • The register comes from, "Lucky Dime Registers" referencing Scrooge McDuck's lucky dime. Its money amounts are set to $11.18 and $19.28, a tribute to Steamboat Willie's release in November 18, 1928. A sign next to the register says it is out of order with the note, "(Yes, we've called Gadget)", referencing the inventor character Gadget from Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers who is central to the story of Mickey's Toontown attraction Gadget's Go Coaster.
    • The various condiment dispensers come from Begorra Farms. This references the leprechaun character Patrick Begorra from Little Man of Disneyland (1955) by Jane Werner, who is affiliated with Adventureland. Begorra's Adventureland tree home is depicted in the logo for Begorra farms, and further referenced through the, "Est. 1955" notation, which is also Disneyland's opening year. The Barbecue Sauce's, "Smoke Tree Flavour" is a reference to Walt Disney's, "Smoke Tree Ranch". The Haggis being, "Glomgold Quality" references Scrooge McDuck's enemy, Flintheart Glomgold.
    • The popcorn kernels are shaped like Mickey Mouse's head. There is also a, "Roastie toastie" style popcorn turner.
    • The chocolate chip cookie sign is annotated to say, "Chocolate Chip & Dale".
    • The Witch Hazel Nut Candy is a reference to the character Witch Hazel from Trick or Treat (1952), who is featured on the candy's art. The manufacturer is, "Luna Belle Treats", Luna Belle being the name of one of the Imagineer's dogs.
    • Power Limes are a reference to the character Powerline from the Goofy Movie who serves as the brand's mascot. The slogans include, "Stand Out" referencing his song of the same name, and, "they set the world in motion" referencing Powerline's song I2I. The box the candy is in offers the chance to win a free trip to Lester's Possum Park, a fictional amusement park which Goofy and Max visit in the Goofy Movie. The candy comes from, "Bowling Allie Candy Co.”, referencing Disney graphic designer Allie Wong.
    • The Golly Pops are a reference to phrases said by Goofy such as, "Golly", "Gawrsh", "Hot Dog!" and, "Oh Boy". They are identified as coming from Flower Street, the real-world street where Walt Disney Imagineering is based out of.
    • The Polka-Dots candies are a reference to Minnie Mouse, hence being described as, "Mini Candy Dots". Them coming from, "Wowza Bouza Candy" tributes Disney Imagineering President, Barbara Bouza.
    • The cotton-candy description reads, "As seen at the Spoonerville Aviation Fair". Spoonerville is the hometown of Goofy, Max and Pete in the Goof Troop/Goofy Movie franchise. This specifically references the events of the Goof Troop episode, "Hot Air".
    • McDuck's Chocolate Coins are a clear reference to Scrooge McDuck, and are identified as being made in Duckburg. They are made by Ben & Hudson’s Candy Kitchen, a reference to the children of the attraction's executive-producer, Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz.
    • The Laugh-O-grahams references, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, the studio which Mickey Mouse's creators Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney originally worked at. The logo is an imitation of their 1922 short, Jack the Giant Killer while showing the characters Jack, Susie, and Julius the Cat. The candy coming from, "Sweet Fridays" references Jonathan Friday who is Senior Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering. This company coming from Kansas, Missouri is a reference to Walt Disney's youth.
    • The Gummi Bears are a reference to the Disney Afternoon cartoon Adventures of the Gummi Bears. The candy is identified as being made from real Gummiberry Juice, a magical concoction which appeared in the show. The note, “juiced by Lomboy" is a tribute to site portfolio executive Jeanette Lomboy.
    • The Mallard Cups reference Mickey Mouse universe superhero/vigilante Darkwing Duck AKA Drake Mallard. The box-art is modelled after his colour-scheme, and the, "Dangerously good" phrasing alludes to his catchphrase, "Let's get dangerous!". E+A Schwartz Schweetz references lead concept designer Jennifer Schwartz whose children's names have the initials E and A.
    • The chocolate-covered grasshopper and the ants references the 1934 Grasshopper & the Ants Silly symphony.
  • Many of the film-posters in the theater are parodies of movies made and released by Disney.
    • "Walt Disney's The Absent-Minded Professor Von Drake" is a parody of The Absent-Minded Professor (1961).
    • "Goofy Friday" is a parody of Freaky Friday (1976).
    • "Mickey, I Shrunk the Nieces" is a parody of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989).
    • "The Mouseketeer" is a parody of The Rocketeer (1991).
    • "Toonsies" is a parody of Newsies (1992).
    • "The Mighty Ducks" is a parody of The Mighty Ducks (1992).
    • "Meeska Mooska" is a parody of Hocus Pocus (1993).
    • "The Chipmunk Trap" is a parody of The Parent Trap (1998).
    • "High School Goofical 3" is a parody of High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008).
    • "The Scroogiest Millionaire" is a parody of The Happiest Millionaire (1967)

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://dlnewstoday.com/2023/01/photos-video-take-a-full-tour-of-mickey-minnies-runaway-railway-now-open-at-disneyland/
  2. ↑ https://attractionsmagazine.com/first-look-inside-disneylands-mickey-and-minnies-runaway-railway/
  3. ↑ https://blog.disneygeek.com/2021/10/15/pictures-el-capitoon-theater-construction-walls/
  4. ↑ https://www.micechat.com/305131-dateline-disneyland-monorails-trams-magic-key-fail/disneyland-toon-town-mickey-and-minnies-runaway-railway-construction-wall-dsc_6422-x5/
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