episode of the long-running PBS children's television series, Reading Rainbow, where the program's host, LeVar Burton, checked out his wax likeness displayed there. On August 19, 2002, the museum's founder, Allen Parkinson, died from natural causes at 83 years old in his Rhode Island home. On October 31, 2005, after forty-three years in business and 10 million visitors, Movieland went out of business. The reason for its closure was because of declining visitors and revenue. Many of the wax figures and sets from the Movieland Wax Museum were auctioned off in March 2006. The Movieland Wax Museum property was purchased by the City of Buena Park in May 2007. In 2013 the city leased the property to Premier Exhibitions for display of RMS Titanic relics and its Bodies: The Exhibition. In March 2015, it was announced that the city of Buena Park had approved plans to convert the Movieland property into a Butterfly Palladium that would "feature the sanctuary for butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and other wildlife, an aquarium with jellyfish, a 3D movie theater, a cafe and a retail shop." In October 2016, the main Movieland Wax Museum building was torn down to make way for retail space. On July 31, 2018, the tall tower sign that was the tallest sign in Orange County, California was removed. The former Starlite Gift Shop in front of the museum is now a Starbucks Coffee. As of 2019, the construction on the retail space has been stalled by a legal battle in which the City of Buena Park had filed a lawsuit to it client, Butterfly Pavillion LLC. Figures displayed The Starprint Gallery The Starprint Gallery was located at the outside of the Movieland Wax Museum, and it featured handprints and footprints of celebrities in cement, dating from the early 1980s. It had a similar concept to the cement handprints at the front of Grauman's Chinese Theater in nearby Hollywood. When the museum closed, the prints still existed until the museum's demolition in 2016. The celebrities featured on the gallery include: References Defunct museums in California Museums in Orange County, California Wax museums in California Buena Park, California Demolished buildings and structures in California 1962 establishments in California 2005 disestablishments in California Museums established in 1962 Museums disestablished in 2005 Buildings and structures demolished in 2016