The HOLLYWOOD TOWER Hotel
MGM Studio - Walt Disney World

A Sculpture by Ray Day
For Disneyana 2002

To accompany the MYSTERY DISNEY EVENT theme of the 2002 Convention, Ray Day and Lilliput Lane again join together to present a unique, highly detailed limited edition collectible.

Exquisite detail and rich tropical color adds to the finished sculpture.
Molded, cast, and painted at the
Lilliput Lane Studio in Penrith, England,
THE HOLLYWOOD TOWER HOTEL was released in conjunction with the
Disneyana 2002 Convention - August 22-24.

Limited Edition of 400 - Issue Price: $325.00 - SOLD OUT

More Color Photos

Find eight Hidden Mickeys

Hollywood Tower Hotel - GICLÉE

Hollywood Tower Hotel - AUCTION PROJECT

The completed wax model.

This is the eighth annual Disneyana sculpture by Ray Day and Lilliput Lane. To continue a tradition, there will be eight Mickeys "hidden" throughout the sculpture. But there's a twist - and I'll tell you more about it at a later date.

I invite you to view the progression photos below. Read about the sculpting process and Disney's creative concept for the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror".
Some photos may require a 30-second download period as they are presented in "maximum" resolution for the sake of detail.

Following studies of the essential architectural elements of the HOTEL, drawings were prepared depicting the structure in the exact proportions it will be sculpted. Wax is "blocked" and shaped to those proportions in three dimensions. To simplify the sculpting task, lower extensions of the building and the landscaping are not included at this stage.

Here the "blocked" wax is compared to "Tom Sawyer Island", the 2001 Disneyana piece,

REAR - BEFORE Window sketches are drawn to scale and faxed to the Lilliput Lane Studio. Computer images are prepared to the exact size specifications. They are reproduced in brass - (design is etched half way through a thin sheet of brass, then cut out and carefully inserted into the wax as pictured at left). White plastic strips and buff-colored wax segments are added as indicated.

REAR - DURING Because wax is quite vulnerable, it can not be touched once an area is complete. Therefore, the sculpture must be finished from the top to bottom and from center to outer edge. The photo at right shows roof tiles and upper details complete. Notice that no landscaping has yet begun to emerge.

REAR - AFTER: Right Rear of Hotel now complete.
A wandering pathway, palm tree and numerous other flowers and shrubs have been added.

FRONT - BEFORE Facade details emerge showing future placement of "The Hollywood Tower Hotel" sign - which will be cast in metal and added to the finished painted model. In 1989, Walt Disney Imagineering was asked to design a new thrill ride. They decided to link the attraction to "The Twilight Zone" TV show. Today's visitor experiences a tone and atmosphere as if they have actually stepped into an episode of "The Twilight Zone".

FRONT - DURING With the tile roofing finished, it is now time to add the foreground structure and the formal entrance. Some windows are cast in three-dimensional gray resin from my pen and ink drawings. The architecture was inspired by the revival styles that swept California during the early 20th Century.

FRONT - AFTER: Park visitors will recognize the entrance to
the queue line at lower center - and the familiar
exit from the gift shop at lower right.

It is Halloween night, 1939, at the Hollywood Tower Hotel - elegant gathering place of the movie industry elite. The evening's festivities are in full swing, undeterred by a freak storm that has suddenly swept across the Hollywood Hills.

As bolts of lightning rip and crack across the darkened sky, a steady stream of limousines pull up up to the entrance of the 12-story hotel, depositing a "Who's Who" of the movie world at the doorsteps.

A young, attractive couple, two rising stars in the Hollywood galaxy, enter one of the hotel's elevators. A bellhop, struggling under the unwieldy weight of their bags, is with them. Also boarding the elevator is a small girl in blond curls and a frilly dress - a child star, who is accompanied by her governess.

As the doors close, a bolt of lightning strikes the building, changing forever the fortunes of the Hollywood Tower Hotel and those five unsuspecting elevator passengers.

Now, at Disney MGM Studio, the Hollywood Tower Hotel is reopened,
inviting guests to enter the decaying old
building to draw their own conclusions about the legendary
"Tower of Terror". But visitors should be forewarned:
perhaps the real answers can only be found
in...The Twilight Zone!

COLOR PHOTOS of finished model

American Landmarks ARCHIVE

___________________________________
RAY DAY
ray@rayday.com