Videopolis is an auditorium in the
Disneyland Park
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
at
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, Seine-et-Marne, Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disney ...
, near
Marne-la-Vallée
Marne-la-Vallée () is a new town located near Paris, France.
Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios Park, Val d'Europe, Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, ESIEE Paris, and École des Ponts ParisTech are located in Marne-la-Vallée.
St ...
. It was an opening day attraction launched in 1992, and is located within the
Discoveryland
Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
section of the park, an alternate take on the
Tomorrowland
Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...
concept, which takes into consideration the
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
pioneered by the likes of
Jules Verne,
H.G. Wells or
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
.
Theme
The building is themed to dreams of the future from the turn of the twentieth century, especially air exploration. The
airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
hanging outside the building is from the 1974 film, ''
The Island at the Top of the World
''The Island at the Top of the World'' is a 1974 American live-action lost world fantasy adventure film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Winston Hibler. It was released by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distributi ...
''. Videopolis also houses the Café Hyperion, the largest fast-food restaurant in the park. This building features inspiration from Discovery Bay, a former
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
concept by Imagineer
Tony Baxter
Tony Wayne Baxter (born February 1, 1947) is the former senior vice president of creative development in Walt Disney Imagineering and was responsible for creating designs and carrying out the construction of attractions all over the world. He anno ...
(a land themed to Victorian visions of the future), which also inspired Discoveryland.
Imagineers
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...
provided this former airship station with a whole
back-story
A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of ...
. The Hyperion once took explorers to 49 destinations, until one day when its captain mysteriously disappeared, leaving her ready for her last journey that never was. She is henceforth waiting for her master to return. The station was soon turned into a place where guests could rest and have meals.
History
The original premise for Videopolis was based somewhat on
an earlier concept used at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
in California, in that a theatre acts as a venue for a night-time disco in addition to its function as an auditorium for performance.
The original concept, however, changed due to public interests. The night-time discos were meant to appeal to teenagers and young adults as a mean of topping off their day. Yet, they were more interested in visiting other attractions up until the last minute. The regular discos therefore came to a halt, and Videopolis is only used as such a venue for special events such as
New Year's Eve and
Halloween.
In between the live shows,
music videos
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
were to be played. Yet after complaints from families incidentally dining in the Café Hyperion, these were replaced with cartoons.
[ ]
The original daytime show from 1992 was equally themed to the auditorium's original contemporary, pop-culture theme and to Discoveryland's visionary theme. Called ''Rock Shock'', it featured a gang of teenagers journeying in the footsteps of Jules Verne to the beat of rock music. It was a relative success.
Yet, demand for more shows based on traditional Disney properties led to its replacement with a
stage version of ''Beauty and the Beast''.
After that came several shows based on Disney productions or characters, most prominently stage versions of ''
Mulan
Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history.
According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...
'' or ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...
''.
The theater was previously showcasing a various choice of Disney cartoons, from the early animated ones (for example ''
Steamboat Willie
''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black and white by Walt Disney Studios and was released by Pat Powers, under the name of Celebrity Productions. The cartoon ...
'') to Pixar shorts, however is now The Jedi Training academy, and has been themed with scenes and characters from ''
Star Wars: The Force Awakens''.
List of Videopolis shows
* Rock Shock (1992-1993) - Returned in 1995 for
Space Mountain
Space Mountain is a space-themed indoor roller coaster attraction located at five of the six Disneyland-style Disney Parks. Although all five versions of the attraction are different in nature, all have a similar conical exterior façade that is ...
opening.
*
Beauty and the Beast
''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...
(1993-1996)
* Disney Classics - The Music and the Magic (1998)
* Disney Magic Forever (1998)
* Mulan - The Legend (1998-2002)
* Minnie's Birthday Surprise (2002-2003)
* Mickey's Showtime (2003-2004)
*
The Legend of the Lion King
There have been seven theme park live adaptations of ''The Lion King'' at Disney parks since the animated film ''The Lion King'' was released by Walt Disney Animation Studios in 1994. These have included a parade, two theater-in-the-round shows, ...
(2004-2009)
* Cinema Mickey (2009-2010)
* CineDisney (2010–2015)
*
Jedi Training Academy (2015-2017)
Design
* The idea of using the airship from ''
The Island at the Top of the World
''The Island at the Top of the World'' is a 1974 American live-action lost world fantasy adventure film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Winston Hibler. It was released by Walt Disney Productions, distributed by Buena Vista Distributi ...
'' in a Disney attraction was considered for Disneyland's planned Discovery Bay, but was scrapped after that film's failure at the box office.
* There are two binocular-shaped blocked windows on the side of the building, which originally were to have acted as passageways to
Discovery Mountain (which has been replaced with
Space Mountain
Space Mountain is a space-themed indoor roller coaster attraction located at five of the six Disneyland-style Disney Parks. Although all five versions of the attraction are different in nature, all have a similar conical exterior façade that is ...
). In the original concept, guests would have been able to go on numerous rides within this domed attraction, themed to many Jules Verne's visions.
* Behind these two windows is a Studio Radio, regularly used when reporters want to broadcast live from the park.
* Two rooms are located beneath this Studio, accessible via ground floor. They originally acted as a Space Exhibition in 1995, as
Space Mountain
Space Mountain is a space-themed indoor roller coaster attraction located at five of the six Disneyland-style Disney Parks. Although all five versions of the attraction are different in nature, all have a similar conical exterior façade that is ...
was inaugurated. Later, in 2004, they were turned respectively into Arcade Alpha and Arcade Bêta. The arcades have both since been stripped out leaving no arcade machines left and so currently these rooms are empty.
References
{{Disney rides
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Tomorrowland (Disney Parks)
1992 establishments in France