Soundscapes: Hollywood Studios Christmas Follow along with the show notes below!

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(3:39) In the 1930s and 1940s, Hollywood was a vibrant young town full of dreamers and visionaries. Its sunny disposition and Art Deco architecture are iconic to this day, engaging and inviting at any time of year. Here, we find the place exactly as Walt Disney would have known it, youthful and full of the vim and vigor that resonated so deeply with his creative spirit.

(5:19) At Christmastime, the city once given the nickname “Tinseltown” raises the bar for holiday cheer, adorned as its namesake in glitz and glamour to delight visitors of all ages. We are invited, now, to step into the story of Christmases past, the imagination of Mr. Disney, and the Magic that happens when the golden age of Hollywood collides with this most special time of year.

(6:20) The Magic begins on Hollywood Boulevard, where big band orchestrations of our favorite swinging holiday songs immediately put us in a festive mood. Every lamppost and traffic light is layered with tinsel and bows, every building strung with lights and garland and signs of the season. Each storefront is a postcard, a Norman Rockwell scene of yuletide cheer. Presents wrapped in emerald and cranberry incite curiosity from little ones passing by, who pause to press their noses against the glass and envision their Christmas mornings yet to come.

On the corner of Hollywood and Sunset, the nostalgic aromas of gingerbread and peppermint waft into the street from the Trolley Car Café where long-awaited cups of creamy eggnog and frothy hot chocolate satiate everyone’s seasonal cravings…at least for a little while.

(9:00) Flashy and festive and dressed in Hollywood style, silver bells and candy canes and plenty of dazzling lights, this is an unforgettable way to begin our holiday tour of Tinseltown. Hollywood Boulevard signifies our arrival, our welcome to the place where dreams are only limited by how big you dare to dream them, and where holiday Magic and a little bit of luck might just see you up on the silver screen, starring alongside the Hollywood greats.

(10:39) Still, it’s fun to see how those who have come to call Hollywood “home” celebrate the holidays. Just a couple of blocks away from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood Boulevard is a lakeside community that flaunts the Art Deco theme with a fun, festive flair.

(12:15) Kitschy holiday decor joins the pastel colors and retro lights for a sensational sensory stroll through the neighborhood park. Benches and balconies offer sweeping views of Echo Lake and its sparkling Christmas tree. Gigantic baubles scattered across the water glow brightly in the darkness, while holiday brass brings everything to life and keeps the merriment going all night long.

(15:00) Here, visitors of all ages cannot help but give way to the allure of the festivities. Elderly couples sit comfortably and enjoy the goings on, the romance, the joy of the season, watching children dance without inhibition to their favorite holiday tunes. The ambitious young dreamers who have traveled Here in pursuit of something greater can be spotted on their own, gazing at the blurs of light and color on the rippling water, wishing with all their might for a chance, a break, a reality indistinguishable from their wistful musings.

(14:30) Perhaps even Walt himself once spent a cool December evening at a Hollywood lakeside park, gazing at the distortion of Christmas lights on the dark water in wonder, hoping that his dreams would become all that he imagined they could.

(20:41) Every Hollywood legend, every crooner and comic, starlet and sensation has been the scrappy young idealist at one time or another. This town is riddled with stories of luck and happenstance, of being in the right place at the right time, and the next stop on our Tinseltown tour is proof that destiny may very well have lent a hand in authoring these legendary narratives.

(25:00) Sunset Boulevard is a cavalcade of dazzling marquees, a technicolor display of the golden age of Hollywood and the people whose contributions are some of the most beloved parts of our holiday celebrations even today. Lined with Art Deco spotlights, quaint California markets, ice cream parlors, and towering palms decorated with shining tinsel stars, this is where we find the stories to inspire the next generation of show business elite.

(27:10) Among the yuletide cheer that meets our eyes and ears as we stroll past the theaters with their coming attractions set in lights are the smooth song stylings of the crooners, including the unmistakable legato of Bing Crosby and his timeless dreams of a White Christmas. They echo from every alleyway and sing in tandem with the flashing lights on every marquee, bringing to the bustle to a halt as we stand, mesmerized and enchanted.

(29:31) Pause for a moment, right where you are. Look up, among, and all around you. Everywhere, there is light and joy and hope and wonder. Those governors of the human spirit are amplified like song in the wake of the holiday season, regardless of how many years have gone by since Danny Kay was doing choreography and Rosemary Clooney was counting her blessings instead of sheep. They are forever, eternal and unwavering as the sunshine on an L.A. Christmas Day. They are comfort for those who most need to feel the friendly sense of familiarity that each twinkling light and jingle bell bring, joy for all who long for something to celebrate.

(31:22) The Magic of the season is what keeps us marveling at that which we know will come back to us again next year. It is the first chord of our favorite holiday song, the first warm sip of cocoa on the first cold, winter’s night. It is the first snowfall, the first cookie hot from the oven, the first midnight stroll under the starry Solstice sky.

Each year it is both familiar and brand new, a tale as old as time and a story you can’t put down. It fills us with joy that sustains us, peace that brings us much-needed rest, and hope that the future will be as bright as the lights that shone in the mind’s eye of a young Walt Disney, discovering the place where his dreams would come true for the very first time.

(32:35) Listen for the whispers that drift through the ages, from those starry-eyed dreamers who found comfort and joy in this season of celebration. No matter how far from home, no matter what the future held in store, they found hope Here in the present moment…and so can you. And whether you’re dreaming of a white Christmas or you’ll wake up to a blanket of sparkling snow, the spirit of the season resounds for all who are Here With the Magic. And now…

Lights, Camera, Action! Happy Holidays!