El Capitan Entertainment Center   

6840 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA 90028
323-468-8262

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When Disney purchased the old Hollywood Masonic Temple building in 1998 the company bought a piece of Hollywood history. Designed in 1921 by John C. Austin, the same architect who built the Griffith Park Observatory and Los Angeles City Hall, the building has a long history as a film location. Old-timers even claim that a secret underground tunnel once existed from Grauman's Chinese Theater across the street to whisk privacy-hungry stars away from the crowds. The building's classical facade features six Ionic columns standing in erect counterpoint to the jazzy, shifting rhythms of its Hollywood Boulevard locale. Disney originally rented the building to house the 'Toy Story' Fun House that accompanied the popular 1995 film's original run at the adjacent El Capitan Theatre. In 2002 the studio poured millions into upgrading the building's plumbing, air conditioning and electrical systems to house offices and a television studio theater for the 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' program. The 200-seat theater is gaudily gilded in an East Indian motif that echoes the audacious decor of its El Capitan neighbor. -- Christopher Cappiello