Walt Disney is now an animatronic. 5 things to know about the new Disneyland attraction

Los Angeles Times

4 days ago

Disneyland turned 70 today, and to mark the occasion the resort unveiled its signature attraction for its anniversary year, 'Walt Disney — A Magical Life.' The show is notable in that it features the first audio-animatronic of Walt Disney, a creation the company's creatives have stressed is its most lifelike mechanical figure to date.
While Disneyland's 70th celebrations got underway in May, 'Walt Disney — A Magical Life' is its nostalgic soul, and the aim of the production is to illustrate that the massive conglomerate that is Walt Disney Co. today was, at its heart, the vision of one man. The 17-minute-or-so experience is housed in the Main Street Opera House, where it will run for the next year. After that, it will play in tandem with 'The Disneyland Story Presenting Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln,' which has called the space home since 1965.
'Walt Disney — A Magical Life' has generated much curiosity, speculation and controversy since it was unveiled at last year's D23 fan convention. A re-creation of the company's patriarch is newsworthy, generating discussion on how best to preserve a legacy, but also notable because, unlike the vast majority of Disney's audio-animatronic figures, Disney is a widely recognizable personality for which much film and audio footage exists, thanks to a weekly television show in the '60s. Audiences will likely approach the mechanical re-creation with more scrutiny than an exaggerated character on, say, Pirates of the Caribbean, or even a 'Star Wars' figure.
I was at Disneyland for its 70th anniversary and took in the show. Here are some instant reactions.
I'm eager to see 'Walt Disney — A Magical Life' a second time, in part because I didn't catch much of what the robotic figurine was saying. Not because I wasn't interested but simply because I was distracted by how the audio-animatronic moved. I'm used to seeing figures, at Disney and elsewhere, with exaggerated motions. Not here.
The Disney figure maneuvers with patience — and, dare I even say, grace. That's a huge compliment for a robot. When Disney goes from leaning on a desk to standing, and then back again, you'll be looking around the stage, wondering just what mechanization allowed that to happen. Especially impressive is the slowness with which the arms move, his hands accentuating the speech but in a natural way; that is, they don't move with every sentence. There are times Disney will point and moments he puts his arm to his hips.
It's incredibly fluid. I was lucky to be seated about three-fourths of the way back in the theater, so I was able to take in the theatricality of it all — a small movement of an eyebrow, a slight twist of the wrist — without nitpicking imperfections in the machine, which brings us to the next point.
By now, many Disney fans have had a chance to see the officially released images by the company as well as close-up pictures taken by park guests. There have been quibbles, to say the least, with many a fan showing snapshots of the animatronic side by side with pictures of a much younger Disney. It's important to note that the figure captures Disney in 1963. Disney died in 1966 at 65.
The show has me thinking a bit on how the animatronic medium can be used best. Disney introduced its audio-animatronics in 1963 with the Enchanted Tiki Room, but elevated the form in 1965 with the 'Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln' production. We have no filmed footage of Abraham Lincoln, meaning he exists to us largely in our mind. 'Walt Disney — A Magical Life' contains a 15-minute documentary-like film, 'One Man's Dream,' which is narrated by Disney and Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger, allowing us an instant comparison.
From my vantage point — again, about three-fourths of the way into the theater — the animatronic was a more-than-respectable approximation of Disney. It's not perfect, perhaps — the face is a little bulky, the cheeks just a bit off — but that's because I still think the medium is best suited for more fantastical characters and creations, shows and figures that let us use our imagination rather than aim to capture life. Audio, however, is taken direct from Disney's speeches, with an emphasis on creative inspiration, and while it has been cleaned up, there's no mistaking that it's Disney's voice.
Ultimately, Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative team responsible for theme park creations, deserves to be commended for this risk, as it has me eager to see how audio-animatronics will continue to evolve and elevate our immersive experiences. At its core, this is a robot, and no robot will directly capture human life, at least not yet, but this is as close as Walt Disney Co. has come.
Imagineering took great pains to capture Disney accurately. That's apparent, right down to Disney's tie emblazoned with the logo for Palm Springs' Smoke Tree Ranch, a favorite retreat of his. At a media event earlier this year, Imagineers spoke of re-creating the exact suits Disney wore, as well as researching his shoe size and attempting to find the correct hair gel Disney would use. (They failed in the latter mission.)
The figure's hands were sculpted with the help of actual molds of Disney's hands, courtesy of the Walt Disney Family Museum, and the Imagineers studied film footage to time how often Disney would blink. 'Walt Disney — A Magical Life' is a work of theater, ultimately, and it's a period piece. The set surrounding Disney is a re-creation of his office, and it has a homey, vintage feel. Yet the focus of the show, at least until some animated effects in its final moments, is on Disney. While the animatronic portion of the production is about two to three minutes, it's a restrained, respectable production.
The short answer is we don't really know. Many members of the Disney family have spoken favorably of the animatronic. There has been one notable exception: Disney's granddaughter, Joanna Miller, who has argued that Disney wouldn't want to be preserved as a robot. Additionally, Miller is fearful that future audiences will see Disney simply as an audio-animatronic character rather than a real human.
Walt Disney Co. in May attempted to address those concerns. 'In all our research, we never found any documentation of Walt saying that,' Imagineer Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz said about the belief that Disney did not want to be immortalized as an audio-animatronic. 'We know that it's anecdotal, and we can't speak to what was told to people in private, and we can't speak to Joanna's specific feelings about the project. But we have worked very diligently for many years with the Walt Disney Family Museum and members of the Disney and Miller family.'
Imagineering has argued that the show is important because it can show today's audiences, who may think of the name Walt Disney as simply a designation for a corporation, as a real human.
'Why are we doing this now?' Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald said. 'For two reasons. One is Disneyland's 70th anniversary is an ideal time, we thought, to create a permanent tribute to Walt Disney in the Opera House. The other: I grew up watching Walt Disney on television. I guess I'm the old man. He came into our living room every week and chatted, and it was very casual, and you felt like you knew the man. But a lot of people today don't know Walt Disney was an individual. They think Walt Disney is a company.'
As someone who reported on the audio-animatronic earlier this year, I'm hesitant to give a definitive opinion on the show. I tried to approach the perspectives of Miller and Imagineering with equal respect, as I believe both are valid. I can't, for instance, relate to what it's like to see a loved one turned into an audio-animatronic. Nor am I charged with helping to preserve a company's legacy.
There is one lasting thought I had, however. 'Walt Disney — A Magical Life' is unique for a theme park experience. It is not tied to a massive intellectual property like a blockbuster film or hit television series. As an almost 17-minute theatrical show, with the vast majority of the experience being a documentary film, this isn't an E-ticket, the Disney term for its top-of-the-line attractions, a reference to the park's ticketing books of yore.
Yes, Walt Disney Co. has objectives in appealing to the nostalgia of its fans, and it can further endear audiences to the company if it can put a face behind its roots. Today the firm is a mass of properties — Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar and more — and surely there's motivation in presenting Walt Disney Co. as human, one devoted to creativity and imagination, which is the primary theme of Disney's short speech.
Yet, ultimately, this isn't going to pack in long-term crowds. It's an addition to Disney's original park that explores its history. And Disney enthusiasts will likely appreciate this bold endeavor from the company — or at least enjoy debating the merits of the figure. In that sense, it's the rare theme park attraction that feels like a passion project.