PREMIERS : THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE (1956), THE SPIRIT OF MICKEY (1998)
104 North Main Street USA, Marceline, MO 64658
Welcome to UPTOWN THEATRE, of Walt Disney’s boyhood town - Marceline, Missouri! To start, I must make one thing perfectly clear - Uptown Theatre first opened on June 30th, 1930. This was long after Elias and Flora had moved their family out of town, so it’s safe to assume that Walt Disney would not have experienced watching films in this theatre as a young boy. However, Walt and his older brother would eventually set foot inside Uptown Theatre, and this movie house would be the scene of TWO huge Disney-related premiers!
THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE
Walt and Roy Disney did indeed visit this theatre later in life, upon their big homecoming. It was when they held the Midwest premier of their feature film “The Great Locomotive Chase” in the Uptown Theatre on July 4th, 1956 (the east coast premier took place in Atlanta on Friday June 8th, 1956 at Loew’s Grand theatre). Please CLICK the following window and scroll through a few artifacts courtesy of The Walt Disney Hometown Museum.
The duo personally greeted each child at the door. Walt and Roy took the stage before the movie started and the children of Marceline sang the “Mickey Mouse Song”. Because the Mickey Mouse Club program was not broadcast in Marceline, the children learned this song especially for this occasion.
Walt and Roy hosts the 1956 premier of The Great Locomotive Chase starring Fess Parker at The Uptown Theater.
Some visitors today might be surprised to find that (unlike the multiplex theatres), Marceline’s little theatre possesses just one screen. In order to accommodate the large crowd, the movie ran from 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon until 1:30 a.m. the next morning. That way, everyone in town who wanted to see the movie, could. After the first showing, Walt Disney again appeared in person on the Uptown Theatre stage at 2:30 p.m., and addressed the excited audience!
Photographs of The Great Locomotive Chase premier hang in the Uptown Theatre lobby today!
THE SPIRIT OF MICKEY
The Walt Disney Home Video release “The Spirit of Mickey” was celebrated when The Walt Disney Company’s presence returned to Marceline, Missouri (some 42 years after The Great Locomotive Chase premier), and the citizens of town were able to share in the festivities. July 14th, 1998, The Walt Disney Company held a premier screening at Marceline’s local Uptown Theatre. In addition, an impressive 18,000 enthusiastic Disney fans descended upon Marceline to show their support for the premier, which included a very special public appearance of Mickey, Minnie and a few of their friends. After greeting the visitors, many filed into the one-screen theatre (in turn, of course) for the big premier. The film featured 11 Mickey Mouse shorts, as well as several scenes from the Mickey Mouse Club, The Wonderful World of Color, and Mickey’s most recent cameo appearance in the animated feature film The Goofy Movie! Remember that this took place during a period when certain Mickey Mouse shorts were not as widely distributed in many formats as they are today, and as such were not accessible to many individuals. Now, those who had been fans of Mickey Mouse since his 1928 debut, could take a collection of select shorts home through VHS format - certainly something to celebrate!
When you visit the Uptown Theatre today be sure to search high and low for tributes to this Marceline landmark event! For example, just under the Uptown Theatre ticket booth rests a plaque commemorating the premier! CLICK on the following photo to view a close-up of the plaque.
Photographs as well as some ornaments (which decorated Main Street during the event) have been preserved within the Uptown Theatre and The Walt Disney Hometown Museum of Marceline, Missouri.
The interior of the theatre holds a few trinkets from The Spirit of Mickey celebration!
“DISNEYLAND INSPIRATION”
Homage to Uptown Theatre can be seen (not in the style of the store front façade, but) inside the ticket booth of Disneyland’s Main Street Cinema! Just take a closer look at Cast Member Tilly’s badge the next time you stroll “down the middle of Main Street U.S.A.” and head inside the six-screen venue.
Uptown Theatre (in turn) pays tribute to it’s Disneyland counterpart, with a special employee inside it’s box office!
By 2018, fundraising had begun to support restoring the Uptown Theatre to it’s former glory! Meanwhile Guests could visit The Walt Disney Hometown Museum for more Disney-related history of the Marceline Uptown Theatre.
A QR Code was present at the Grand Marceline booth of Disney D23 Expo in 2022, enabling passerby to cast their vote for the style of facade they would like to see Imagineered!