Changes
* Lee Marvin's character from the 1965 western, Cat Ballou was originally going to be included in The Great Movie Ride's western scene. When Marvin's children refused to sign the waiver however, Clint Eastwood was added to the scene instead <ref name= "Korkis"/>.
Construction on the The Great Movie Ride began in 1986 <ref name= "Studios"/>. When creating the replica of the Chinese Theater that would house the attraction, Imagineers used the original blueprints of the 1927 Meyer and Holler building for reference <ref name= "Korkis"/>. Furthermore, when building the theater Imagineers chose to create the building to scale and not use forced perspective <ref name= "Korkis"/>. When the building was being constructed, the 22 ton central roof was built separately and then placed atop the structure <ref name= "Korkis"/>. Finally, the The Great Movie Ride opened with the Disney MGM Studios on May 1, 1989 <Ref> http://www.thisdayindisneyhistory.com/Disney-MGMGrandOpening.html </ref>.
Since its opening, The Great Movie Ride has only seen a few major changes. The first change to the attraction came less then a year after it opened. The Footlight Parade scene that originally featured a rotating cake and attached water pumps (as seen in the movie), was significantly toned down <ref name= "footlight"/> . The cake in the scene was constantly breaking down and the water pumps would fail, causing the ride path to flood. Disney Imagineers eventually decided to leave the cake stationary, and use lighting effects instead of water pumps <ref name= "footlight"> http://www.studioscentral.com/great-movie-ride-footlight-parade </ref>. More recently, bubbles have descended on guests in this scene.
The next major change to the The Great Movie ride came in 1998, when Coca Cola ended its sponsorship of the attraction. Next, in 2001 the theater's spires were removed <ref name= "Martin"> http://www.martinsvids.net/?cat=3</ref>. This was done at the time that the large Sorcerer's Hat was constructed in front of the theater <ref name= "Martin"/>. in 2008 when the Wicked Witch of the West Audio Animatronic was replaced with a newer model.
On November 25, Disney and Turner Classic Movies announced that TCM would become the new sponsor of The Great Movie Ride <ref> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/26/business/media/disney-pairs-up-with-turner-to-promote-shows-and-a-ride.html?_r=0 </ref>. As part of the agreement on May 30, 2015 the attraction’s preshow and closing montage were updated <ref> http://attractionsmagazine.com/great-movie-ride-receives-upgrades-part-sponsorship-tcm/ </ref>. Following the update TCM host Robert Osborne introduces the film clips seen in the attraction’s preshow and the closing montage. Furthermore, Osborne was added as the attraction’s narrator <ref> http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/os-dewayne-bevil-disney-great-movie-ride-20150604-column.html </ref>. Following these changes, the live cast member is still featured in the interactive parts of the ride; however Robert Osborne is the one who narrates The Great Movie Ride’s scenes <ref> http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions/the-great-movie-ride/news/29may2015-photos-and-video---new-tcm-updates-debut-at-the-great-movie-ride.htm </ref>.
