El Capitan Theatre

thumb|300px|right|Kermit and Miss Piggy at the sing-along before the start of The Muppets.

The El Capitan Theatre is a fully restored movie palace at 6838 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, CA. It is owned by Pacific Theatres and operated by The Walt Disney Company. It serves as the venue for many of Walt Disney Pictures' movie premieres. The television program Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which airs on ABC, originates from a TV studio next door to the El Capitan.

The Muppets
In January 2011, the El Capitan Theatre stood-in for the exterior of the Muppet Theater during filming for The Muppets. Hollywood Boulevard was closed for two nights on January 18th and 19th to film the final musical number of the film. The shoot involved Mary (Amy Adams) and Gary (Jason Segel) dancing on the street in front of the theater, with several rows of backup dancers and dozens of extras filling the busy street. An on-set photo of the background Muppet characters included Thog, Sweetums, Sam Eagle and Link Hogthrob, among many others. The marquee read "One Night Only - The Muppet Telethon - Live at the Newly-renovated Muppet Theater Hollywood." The theater marquee stood in for the Muppet Theater marquee. On film, the "El Capitan" name was digitally removed and replaced with "Muppets." During filming, an ad for Gnomeo & Juliet (which had yet to be released in theaters at that time) was up on top of a building near the El Capitan. On film, it was digitally replaced with an ad for Disney-Pixar's Cars 2. A large "identity disk" promoting Disney's Tron: Legacy was above the theater marquee during filming and was also digitally removed in post-production.

On July 24, 2011, the film crew returned to Hollywood Boulevard to film some re-shoots in front of the El Capitan Theatre.

On November 12, 2011, the world premiere of The Muppets was held at the El Capitan. A slew of Muppets, the film's cast and crew, as well as other celebrities were in attendance.

The Muppets ran at the theatre from November 23rd to January 8th. Before each performance, Kermit and Miss Piggy appeared live in a holiday sing-along sponsored by Kodak. All guests received a free Jinglebell bracelet to help them join in the songs.

Exhibit
During the run of The Muppets at the theatre, an exhibit of Miss Piggy's costumes were displayed. Dubbed "Miss Piggy's Couture Collection," the lower lounge of the theatre featured many of her costumes, including her designer Zac Posen gown and her peep-toed Christian Louboutin pumps. Recreations of Kermit's Office and Miss Piggy's Dressing Room were also included, featuring many props from the film.

Apearances

 * The Muppet webseries Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony on Movies.com took place in the El Capitan. The opening of each episode started with a quick first-person perspective traveling through the Theatre. Pepe the King Prawn and Lester Possum appeared in various episodes of the show where they interviewed actual people walking the street near the El Capitan Theatre.


 * The Country Bears performed a live concert at the El Capitan Theatre in 2002.