There won’t be football or concerts at the Rose Bowl this fall, but it looks like grounds and parking lots of the 98-year-old facility will be busier than expected during a global pandemic. Last night the television divisions of the Walt Disney Company held the second of six FYC screenings in a temporary Drive-In format on the Rose Bowl grounds. Needless to say, it was another twist in an Emmy season that has had more surprises than the appearance of Baby Yoda, er, the Child at the end of the first episode of “The Mandalorian.”
Thursday night’s event was focused on the breakout Disney Plus hit which stunned many observers by landing an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. Despite comparably minimal media advertising and press outreach during the nomination process to other Drama Series nominees, the freshman series took 15 nominations overall including Original Music Composition for a Drama Series (Ludwig Göransson, looking to add an E to his GO of a potential EGOT), Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Giancarlo Espositio), Special Visual Effects, Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes and, perhaps most impressively, three individual nods in Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (comparatively, “Succession” and “Ozark” landed two each this year). The program lacks writing, directing and major acting nominations, but its Emmy haul is nothing to scoff at. It’s much more than just the Creative Arts player many expected it to be. And like “Game of Thrones” it could prove popular enough for many of the Television Academy’s 20,000+ members that it ends up triumphing in Emmy’s Drama Series race (maybe).
Disney has lined up six series including “The Mandalorian” for this Disney Drive-In FYC (which, in this case, stands for, From Your Car) and, watch out Netflix because the Mouse House pulled out all the stops. There was a “drive and repeat” before attendees parked (a major heads up to wash your car if you’re going to future events) and a gift bag with a plush Baby Yoda to remember the night. A DJ kept things energetic before the screening (get that paycheck) and the projection screen was genuinely impressive. Oh, and they even had sanitizer with Baby Yoda on the label.
Executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni were part of a virtual taped Q&A that took place beforehand (which meant not even a word about season two). Would it have been fun if they appeared socially distanced on the stage? Or if even Favreau had waved hello and socially introduced the film beforehand in-person? Sure, but it’s a pandemic. The fact Disney safely pulled this off and made it genuinely entertaining was an achievement in and of itself.
“Black-ish” already kicked off the Disney Drive-In FYC series, but it will continue tonight with “What We Do In Shadows.” “Little Fires Everywhere” and “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” round out the weekend. The series will conclude with “Live in Front of A Studio Audience” on Tuesday.
But for those movie studios and streamers wondering how to pop with guild and Academy members for the upcoming Oscar season, we’d suggest you take a serious look at what Disney is pulling off at the Rose Bowl.
