‘Tracy’ Calls on Disney World

The Scene: The premiere of “Dick Tracy” Thursday at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The screening was at Pleasure Island, the party afterward at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park. Why Orlando? California may be the Disney empire’s home, but Orlando is the New Rome.

Who Was There: Between 3,000 and 5,000 guests; no one had an exact body count. On hand were the film’s producer-director-star, Warren Beatty; co-stars including Dustin Hoffman, Estelle Parsons, Michael J. Pollard, Seymour Cassel and Glenne Headly; Disney execs Jeffrey Katzenberg and Rich Frank, plus EuroDisney’s Bob Fitzpatrick. Co-star Madonna was absent because of a “recurring viral infection,” a Disney spokesperson said.

The Buzz: Al Pacino stole the movie. And with no Madonna on hand he could have stolen the premiere, too.

Quoted: “Whether it’s the first weekend, or the first week, or the first month, this is a movie that’s going to find its audience.” Box office optimism from Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Unquoted: The tenaciously youthful Beatty is more monosyllabic than John Wayne. “Uh, yeah” accompanied by a hand flutter is presumed to speak volumes. When women reporters thrust microphones his way, he looks soulfully into their eyes, gently touches their hands and says nothing as he walks by.

Theme: Reportorial excess. Hundreds of press, radio and TV people swarmed the Disney-engineered media circus that went on for four days. In addition to “Tracy,” Disney was showing off the opening of the Dolphin Hotel and two films premiering later this summer, “Betsy’s Wedding” and “Arachnophobia.” The media ran the gamut from Radio Free Europe to Progressive Architecture.

Dress Mode: Disney handed out black “Dick Tracy” T-shirts and fedora-style straw hats with the suggestion they be worn to the premiere. About 1,000 guests did, usually in combination with fluorescent Bermuda shorts and sandals. Beatty and Hoffman wore suits with black T-shirts. Katzenberg appeared to be the only person within a 200-mile radius wearing a dark suit and a tie.

The Chow: Food stations were set throughout the park with barbecued shrimp, seafood cassoulet, roast beef, lamb chops, fettuccine derby and, for the more daring diners, “snails California.”

Glitches: No Madonna. This seriously dimmed the premiere’s star power.

Triumphs: Disney throws parties the way Tolstoy writes novels. From the bus caravans to the fireworks display, this was a fiesta on the grand scale. All the rides at the park were open, celebs arrived via parade, Hoffman and Beatty were immortalized in cement at the Grauman’s Chinese reproduction, there were two performances of two “Tracy” themed musicals.