B. Creative Design & Services created the concepts, designed, sourced and fabricated the sets and props, art directed, led the installation, and returned to lead the dismantle, ensuring that key assets could be utilized for years to come. The event was a success and contributed to The El Capitan Theatre being #1 in the country for the 30th Anniversary re-rerelease in the U.S.
Every Halloween season, the El Capitan Theatre dresses up for annual screenings of The Nightmare Before Christmas. But this was the 30th anniversary and the first time since 1993 that the movie would be on big screens, nationwide. The El Capitan had to stand out. It had to be special. We couldn’t just recycle what the fans had already seen in previous years. They asked us to “do something great.”
After inspecting their existing Nightmare-inspired display inventory from previous years and learning that Tim Burton’s vision for “everything 30th anniversary” to embrace the spirit and style of the original, we fired up Disney+ and watched the movie, repeatedly. We started from scratch. Our concept sketches were an homage to the artistry of the original film.
Our final presentation included 20-foot-tall scenic models of memorable set pieces from the film in each opera box. Holiday string lights draped down from the huge displays to substage vignettes of iconic oversized props including a flying Scary Teddy, Undead Duck, and a 16-foot-long, tree swallowing snake. The main lobby display consisted of two separate Holiday Forest photo ops, each with its own 8-foot-tall tree and backdrop. In the lower lounge we designed a cemetery inspired gallery filled with concept art and behind-the-scenes images. We worked with Walt Disney Archives to create an exhibit featuring the original Spiral Hill movie set, an incredible scale model of Halloween Town, and a prop & costume display for the simultaneous Hocus Pocus anniversary event.
To be true to the film, we studied key scenes frame-by-frame. We understood that this IP has superfans and they would call out anything below their expectations. We knew how important it was that our work reflected the correct colors, textures, and details of the original film. Brenda read a book that said some of the original set textures were made with forks, so we used big forks. We knew that guests would be able to touch the giant snake, so we used “millions” of tiny foam beads to ensure it felt right. We scaled up screenshots to ensure details like ornaments on trees and graphics on wrapping paper were exactly right.
Like any project, it was not without challenges. The El Capitan is a historic landmark and must be treated with great care. No screws, staples, tape, or anything else that may damage the historic surfaces can be used to attach to anything, period. The opera boxes are high above the seats, have extremely limited depth, and displays share floor space with an impressive quantity of cables needed to create technical effects the theater is known for. Background flats had to be easy to crane up, razor thin and sectional to slide under the historic plaster grillwork without causing damage. They also need to be a light fabric to avoid baffling the sound of the organ pipes hidden behind each opera box. Our towering set pieces had to be easy to get up, easy to assemble and dismantle, incredibly stable without tethering, and feature dozens of DMX controlled, multi-color lights. Days before installation, we were asked to add blacklight reflective paint to everything. Done!
We are grateful for the opportunity to work in such a majestic place on a classic that we know and love.
Special thanks to our collaborators:
The El Capitan Theatre, Walt Disney Archives, KS Productions, and Full Staging Production Services.
