Tower of Terror (1997)
Let's look at one of Disney's early attempts to make a movie based on a theme park attraction with Tower of Terror. The Movie: Tower of Terror is a television movie produced by Walt Disney Television for the Wonderful World of Disney. It was broadcast on October 26, 1997. Tower of Terror was written and directed by D.J. MacHale, who is best known for creating the Nickelodeon series Are You Afraid of the Dark? The movie starred Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst. Though the actual ride is themed around The Twilight Zone, this movie has no connection to that show. Like in the theme park attraction, the backstory is that the Hollywood Tower on Halloween night in 1939 was struck by lightning, and an elevator with five people in it vanished. In this movie, one of those five people was the child star Sally Shine. In present day, former journalist Buzzy Crocker is now a tabloid writer, using his niece Anna to help him stage photos for his stories....