It’s been 50 years since Walt Disney debuted the first full sized audio-animatronic Abraham Lincoln figure at the 1964 World’s Fair, the next generation of figures debuting in Seven Dwarfs Mine Train might just be as big an evolutionary jump as the original Abe Lincoln figure was. (Let’s just hope they don’t have as many problems as “Leaky Lincoln” did at his debut.)
Walt Disney Imagineering has prepared this short documentary look at how these new audio-animatronics were created.
I saw a few new figures in there and a few more show scenes. As the video says, I think Walt Disney would have loved how advanced these figures have become and would be exploring the storytelling potential on many new attractions.
More photos below:
This is a long way from Dopey’s wiggly ears in Snow White’s Scary Adventures attraction. Would you like to see this type of digital projection based facial animation used in more Disney attractions? What about retro-fitting existing dark rides like Peter Pan or Pinocchio?