*** Warning: The below material is excerpted from a published book. Do NOT copy. ***
I’ve been ill this week and was not able to write up a new article for today. So instead, I’m giving you an excerpt from MAGICAL MOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE: Learn While You Play at Walt Disney World Resort (page 131)! I hope you enjoy this peek into the book! Remember it’s still on sale at Amazon for just $11.65.
“Welcome to Hollywood!” Since opening day in 1989, Disney’s Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios), a cast of living characters has greeted, entertained and interacted with Guests as they walk along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards.
The Citizens of Hollywood were the brainchild of Imagineer C. McNair Wilson. He referred to the troop as Streetmosphere, because it was an avenue of entertainment that, true to Disney style, plussed the street performance experience and enhanced the atmosphere of the Park. Disney’s Hollywood Studios placed Guests right into the movies, and when the actors, wannabes and talent agents are right there among them, visitors are fully immersed in what the Park represents.
My family has been pulled into the act a couple times now, and it really makes our whole day! One time, my teen son was wearing calf-high black socks with white Vans and athletic shorts. Teen fashion says it’s stylish, but Studios Mogul Shelby Mayer disagreed so firmly he gave my son $1,000,000 to buy new socks. Too bad it wasn’t legal tender.
On our most recent visit, German film director Otto Von Bonn Bahn and actress Dorma Nesmond were busy shooting a scene. Poor Dorma couldn’t get the lines right, though, and was very easily distracted by all the handsome men walking past. Meanwhile Otto feigned frustration at the interruptions and shouted in a thick accent, “No pictures, please!” while, of course, posing debonair for Guest photos.
The back story for each character is unique, but all are set around the year 1947. The actors research the time period, learning the hit songs of 1947, Academy Award-winning films of 1947, and other information pertinent to that era, so they can stay true to character. Go ahead! Try to stump them. They’ll have an answer for you even if they have to make it up.
Studios Central has a complete listing of the current Citizens of Hollywood roster, complete with bios and film snippets. Check it out, and next time you’re at DHS, play along. After all, when you enter those gates, you’re in the movies!
Today’s Takeaway:
One million dollars is a lot of money, especially by 1947 standards! My son could have bought a whole bunch of socks with that.
Today, teach your kids the value of the dollar. U.S. dollar bills measure approximately 2-1/2 inches by 6 inches. Make play money by cutting out green construction paper rectangles with those dimensions. Decorate your currency as you desire. Maybe instead of George Washington, you might draw Mickey Mouse (as we learned to draw him last week), or place a sticker in the center.
Assign varying amounts to your “dollars” and arrange them in stacks. You may also want to create coins using gray construction paper for quarters, dimes and nickels, and orange for pennies. To make “coins,” simply trace the shape and cut it out.
While the children are busy making money (haha!), have one parent place Post-it Note pricetags on food and grocery items in your kitchen. One million is probably too much to work with, so why not give each child $100 in play money. Discuss with them the things you buy when you grocery shop. Ask them to list things they think they would need or want. Then send them shopping in your kitchen pantry.
Let them shop one time without much assistance to see if they can “purchase” all their items with their $100. How’d they do? Take time to discuss estimating costs and budgeting. Help them rework their lists and give it another try.
SCHOOL SUBJECT: Economics
SKILL LEVEL: Elementary
©2012 MAGICAL MOUSE SCHOOLHOUSE: Learn While You Play at Walt Disney World Resort
Think outside the textbook with this veteran homeschooling author & editor, and learn while you play!
The post Citizens of Hollywood originally appeared on Magical Mouse Schoolhouse. Think outside the textbook and expand your home classroom with Walt Disney entertainment! ©2012 Magical Mouse Schoolhouse