Word: studioful
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Steven Spielberg has a cute bald spot--a silver-dollar-size patch of arid land on the otherwise fertile scalp that sheathes his even more fertile brain. When making movies he covers it with a studio-issue baseball cap, but certain formal occasions call for cagier camouflage. On Oscar night 1994, when Schindler's List won seven awards (including Best Picture and Best Director) and Jurassic Park took three others, a makeup artist sprayed Spielberg's bald spot with hair-colored paint. No problem, until half an hour into the post-Oscar party, by which time the star...
...even weirder at Warner. Harry Warner, the studio's money czar, said he knew nothing about his cartoon unit except that "we make Mickey Mouse." Leon Schlesinger, the stingy despot who ran the unit until 1944, would begin his viewing of dailies with a curt "Roll the garbage." Schlesinger did inspire his troops once: his lisp was the basis for Daffy Duck's voice. Schlesinger's successor, Eddie Selzer, hated the notion that his slaves might enjoy their work. He once sputtered, "What the hell has all this laughter to do with the making of animated cartoons...
...charge rarely knew the worth of these cartoons, artistically or financially. Even Walt, in his later years, was blinkered. The genius-boss, who in 1934 had dazzled his staff for four hours laying out his vision for Snow White, turned bitter and vindictive after a 1940 strike at the studio. Disney now coveted real estate; bored with putting fantasy kingdoms into films, he wanted to put one in Anaheim, Calif. And he thought so little of the cels (the precious units of any animated film) that he gave them away to visitors when Disneyland opened...
Ford has generated a lot of loot for Paramount over the years, playing various Indiana Jones or Tom Clancy heroes. The star reminded Paramount of that in a Forceful call to studio boss Jonathan Dolgen, in which he requested that Dolgen kindly get Titanic the hell out of his way. The summer is already crowded with costly cinematic icebergs, including Conspiracy Theory, starring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, which is also supposed to open on July...
...studio chief Bill Mechanic says the Titanic footage looks great and the decision to make the movie will seem a lot smarter once the public gets a look at it. But given the jam-packed season, there's no place to park this ocean liner. Meanwhile, Air Force One has been generating great buzz. Should the Ford flick be forced into a battle with Titanic, audiences will have to choose between the two, giving Titanic a chance to sink yet again...