Testing for the Muppet Mobile Lab at California Adventure has ended, for now. Disneyland recently gave the press a chance to talk with Bruce Vaughn, Walt Disney Imagineering vice president of research and development. The OC Register has a good story and LaughingPlace.com has posted a video interview with Vaughn with some interesting details about the future of Dr Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker and what other characters we might see in the future, along with some more photos of the MML.
The MML is the logical next step Disney’s Living
Characters Initiative. It’s the end result in the evolution that has been Stitch, Turtle Talk with Crush, Lucky the Dinosaur, and now Monsters Inc, Laugh Floor Comedy Club. As the technology improves at some point you might find a warehouse sized attraction or series of attractions populated by these autonomous audio-animatronics. We’re obviously much closer to that reality than we are to a virtual world.
Don’t forget “PUSH”. Push is a simple example of this kind of technology in action. One thing that struck me in the OC Register article… the talk about this being done from the other side of the world once the bugs are worked out. Are you ready for the characters to sound like they’ve been spending a lot of time in India?
What a cynical viewpoint. I prefer to think trans-global remote control would allow animatronics in Tokyo and Hong Kong can be controlled from California, where the characters originated. I’m not opposed to globalization, but Mickey should have an American accent.
It was just a joke. I’ve dealt with one too many “customer service” people who are sitting in India and one too many of them asking me if I’d like to refinance my home.
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