Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2013

Tales From The College Program: Hilary Duff

Before I start this story, let me remind you that I was in the Walt Disney World College Program in 2003.  At the time Hilary Duff was one of the biggest stars on the planet.  Having said that, let's begin. I remember one night when Dan and I were working The Link alone, I went home sick.  I had a real sinus attack and the last thing people want to see around their food is a dude who can't stop sneezing.  I went home and Dan closed down the restaurant by himself.  The next morning I was awoken by a phone call from Dan.  His roommate who worked at Blizzard Beach had called to tell him that Hilary Duff was at the park.  Dan loved Hilary Duff, so we decided "Why not, take a crazy chance" and see if we can meet her. I'll pause here to give you some advice if you ever plan on trying to meet a celebrity.  The first rule should be "Dress in a way that is appropriate to your surroundings.  So, you want to meet Hilary Duff at a water park, wear a swimsuit.  Neithe

Back to the Twilight Zone: Part 2

After the clock tower, the most important set in Hill Valley is probably the cafe.  In the Twilight Zone, the area we know as being the cafe is a police station. In 1985 Hill Valley, it's Lou's Aerobic Fitness Center. The building has not changed that much since the Twilight Zone, all they really did was relocate the door and build that facade.  Funny how Lou went from owning a restaurant to a fitness center 30 years later. Mike Ferris also takes in a movie at The Savoy. The Marquee (and movie selection) was changed when this area became Hill Valley A close up shows, that those busts have been there for quite a while. One scene that really threw me off, was when Mike walked past a drug store. It looks like the clock tower is behind him, and the reflection in the window looks like the post office building, but something about the geometry just didn't make sense to me.  I looked for more pictures of the set fr

Back to the Twilight Zone: Part 1

When you think about it, Back to the Future is a very Twilight Zone-esque movie.  In the season one episode "Walking Distance" a man actually ends up back in his childhood town and runs into his younger self and his parents.  Like Marty McFly, tampering with his past changes things when he eventually returns to the present. "Where is Everybody?" is the pilot episode of The Twilight Zone.  It's about an Air Force pilot who finds himself in an empty town with no recollection of how he got there or who he is.  He spends the episode wandering around searching for signs of life, but only finds, mannequins, lit cigarettes, ringing phones, and an empty movie theater.  This was the only Twilight Zone episode filmed on the Universal Studios backlot.  Why is important, because the town of Oakwood that Mike Ferris stumbles into in The Twilight Zone is also Hill Valley in the Back to the Future trilogy. I decided to take screen shots from Where is Everybody and compare