Main Street Cinema Articles

Since 1955 the Main Street Cinema has presented short films in a stylish brick building along the southeastern block of Main Street. Just to the north is a locked doorway and is supposedly the home of Disneyland casting agency where according to a sign on the door "It takes people to make the dream the reality" The Main Street Cinema has a prominent marquee projecting out from the building announces the program and the beguiling Tillie from Marceline the boyhood home of Walt Disney is always present in her ticket booth.For over 60 years, Hostess Tillie hasn't blinked because she's afraid she'll miss a talent scout. Still not discovered, Tillie doesn't give up and shows a great deal of devotion to her work

Inside the theater movies and cartoons play on six small screens in one wood paneled room with an oval riser in the center to help kids get a clearer view. The Main Street Cinema doesn't have any seats only railings that standing guests can lean on.Back when Disneyland use ticket books admission to the Main Street Cinema initially cost only an "A" ticket rising to a "B" ticket in 1960.

July 17, 2010 - September 6, 2010 A rare film of the first five years of Disneyland was shown.For a short time in 2019 a store was set up inside the cinema called: "Cartoons And Collectibles": Offering a collection of patriotic-themed merchandise: bubble wands, t-shirts, hats, mugs an American flag, Minnie Mouse ears were among the souvenirs available for purchase.

Nomenclature May 25 1955:
MAIN STREET CINEMA (formerly Nickelodeon)
6 performances running continuously and simultaneously, of old silent movies with piano accompaniment.

Some films that have been shown in the cinema:
A Dash Through The Clouds (1912)
Dealing for Daisy (1915)
Fatima's Dance
Gertie the Dinosaur (1915)
The Noise Of Bombs (1914)
Shifting Sands (1918)
Disney Cartoons:
The Dognappers (1934)
Mickey's Polo Team (1936)
The Moose Hunt (1931)
Plane Crazy (1928)
Steamboat Willie (1928)
Traffic Troubles (1931)

In Mickey's first film, Plane Crazy, Mickey doesn't have his trademark gloves or shoes.

The name of the girl in the ticket booth out front is Tilie

Tillie's Story:

For over 60 years, Hostess TILLIE hasn't blinked because she's afraid she'll miss a talent scout. Still not discovered, Tillie doesn't give up and shows a great deal of devotion to her work at the Main Street Cinema box office. In fact, she holds a world record for selling the least amount of tickets in a straight 24-hour-period.

Many say when you're doing nothing it's tough to know when you're through. Others say Tillie is doing nothing but she's never through either. At least this gives her more free time than most. And she spends that time wisely-- she loves to read magazines and apparently without looking. Of course she's partial to page 50 and 51 of the January 1912 edition for Pearson's Magazine.

Tillie is known to others for her never-ending smile and admiringly, she never talks back to guests. She never complains and happily wears her warm crocheted shawl-- even during the hot summer months.

Tillie's background is quite a mystery but it is known she is always on the go and requires little sleep. Surprisingly, she still looks as young as she did on the first day she was employed.

She has a deep concern for those who are accused of taking their work home. However, Tillie has found a solution that works well for her-- she never goes home.

Required an "A" ticket in 1955-1957

In 1956 the phone extension for Main Street Cinema was 393

Required a "A" ticket in 1959

Required a "B" ticket in 1964-1965

From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968
Main Street's theatre, features five silent film "classics" that play continuously and simultaneously. Many of the biggest names of the pre-talkie era are featured at the cinema.

Required a "B" ticket in 1970's

From Steve Birnbaum brings you the best of Disneyland 1982:
One of the great things about this prominent Main Street attraction is that most people rush right by it on their way to Tomorrowland Space Mountain, Frontierland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and other thrill-a-minute shows. Therefore it's never too crowded-and it's dark and air-conditioned, making it a perfect place to rest on a scalding summer afternoon. Five short silent classics play continuously: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in which a pretty nature- child inhabiting a mysterious island is found to be the bearded Nemo's long-lost daughter; Spring Fever, a Harold Lloyd comedy in which the daydreaming boy meets the addle-headed damsel and, perhaps, lives happily ever after; Thomas Edison's 1903 11-minute The Great Train Robbery (at the time, the longest film ever made), in which a train is ambushed while replenishing its steam engine's water supply; the terrific Tumbleweeds, a brief and romantic drama about the Sooner State, starring an incredibly handsome William S. Hart; and All Jazzed Up, starring Bobby Vermont and Helen Darling in a very funny tale about a farm couple's mixed up honeymoon in the city. Don't miss the ad for Mission Knit Hosiery (IN A VARIETY OF NEW SHADES AT POPULAR PRICES AT YOUR DEALER'S), which follows the Captain Nemo show. Steamboat Willie, the talkie that introduced a spindly-legged little mouse named Mickey, is also on view. The scene in which this sometime musician plays "Turkey in the Straw" on a cow's udder drew one of the film's biggest laughs at its November 1928 release. A must.

July 17, 2010 - September 6, 2010 A rare film of the first five years of Disneyland was shown.

For a short time in 2019 a store was set up inside the cinema: "Cartoons And Collectibles": Offering a selection of patriotic-themed merchandise: bubble wands, t-shirts, hats, mugs and American flag Minnie Mouse ears are among the souvenirs available for purchase.