Disney Builds a IMAX Theatre

By Jack December 7, 1999 11:31 AM

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Disney is taking the extraordinary step of building a temporary IMAX theater for a four-month screening of its upcoming Fantasia 2000 feature, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Tuesday).?The steel-and-fiberglass tent, costing about $4 million, will include 622 stadium-style seats and a 56-foot tall IMAX screen.?Construction of the facility was necessitated by the refusal of the California Science Center, which houses the only permanent IMAX theater in Los Angeles, to agree to Disney's exclusivity demands, the newspaper said.?The Center also reportedly questioned the educational merit of the film.?But Dick Cook, chairman of the Disney Motion Picture Group, observed that Fantasia 2000 is showing at 20 other museums and science centers nationally, along with pertinent Disney-designed exhibits.?He justified the decision to erect a special theater for the run of the movie by saying, "This movie is very special to the studio, and it speaks right to the heart of our company.?We felt we couldn't not do it."

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