In Orlando theme parks, animatronics increase in number — and in realism

Mechanical birds bears and princesses have chirped growled and sung in Orlando s theme parks for more than years The animatronic trend shows no signs of fading as new figures arrive in new places at Walt Disney World and Epic Universe introduces batches of lifelike characters The additions range from a planned electronic version of Walt Disney at Magic Kingdom to a lumbering Frankenstein s monster figure that debuted with Epic in May People still enjoy seeing lifelike figures of their heroes villains and others come alive declared Dennis Speigel CEO of International Theme Park Services I think this is one area that continues to evolve and I don t think we ve seen anything yet Technological advances are enabling the improved illusion of the figures disclosed Brian Orr show systems studio executive with Walt Disney Imagineering The way that we can now simulate the way that we now design the way that we now can generate content for these and in style like it is moving like the character that everybody sees and recognizes from the film I think that s really the appeal of like Wow not only did I see Elsa on the ride but I felt like it was Elsa It moved it performed it looked at me Orr commented In Zootopia Better Zoogether the Tree of Life Theater at Disney s Animal Kingdom Theme Park is the epicenter of a citywide celebration with a livestream watch party of the Zoogether Day festivities Among the audience of mammals big and small is an all-new Audio-Animatronics figure of off-duty ZPD officer Benjamin Clawhauser Guests can see Clawhauser in his new look sporting glow-in-the-dark necklaces and his favorite Gazelle tee shirt when the D show opens Nov Walt Disney Co The next new animatronic at Disney World will be Benjamin Clawhauser a cheetah character that s part of the Zootopia Better Zoogether show launching at Disney s Animal Kingdom theme park on Nov You will see something new and unique from that figure Orr noted Tiki birds Big Al and beyond A tour of Disney World animatronics Other planned figures include Buddy a support-bot in the ongoing update for Buzz Lightyear s Space Rangers Spin at Magic Kingdom Scooter and other Muppets in the retheming of Rock n Roller Coaster at Disney s Hollywood Studios facelifts for Frozen Ever After figures at Epcot and the addition of Walt Disney himself at the beginning of Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom These come on the heels of the first animatronic to represent Walt Disney which debuted at Disneyland in California this summer I think that has breathed a lot of life back into the animatronics and from the highest level Speigel disclosed Figures frightening formidable Universal Orlando installed animatronics inside Epic Universe s Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of Magic Monsters Unchained The Frankenstein Experiment ride and elsewhere Everyone has their normal lives that they re going through and that comes with people wanting to be transported explained Gregory Hall assistant director creative design for Universal Creative We have the opportunity to bring new hardware and use it for good and use it to entertain and inspire people The Monsters Unchained ride is peppered with figures in action including Dracula Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon Frankenstein's monster and Dr Victoria Frankenstein are focal points of the preshow leading up to Monsters Unchained The Frankenstein Experiment at Epic Universe Patrick Connolly Orlando Sentinel A crowd-pleasing scene happens in the Unchained preshow with new character Victoria Frankenstein and Frankenstein s monster who strides into the room It s a moment that prompts applause from Epic visitors Hall explained That was the first time we made a figure on that scale walk Hall disclosed And then he s right next to Victoria and they re using extremely different mechanism Another big animatronic project was the erumpent a charging beast in the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride We re really all about how do we get the fastest smoothest motion moving this giant thing revealed Anisha Vyas director of projects for Universal Creative It demands to be really visceral It necessities to move really fast It necessities to be moving really fluid she reported Getting it to move and stop is not hard Getting it to look pretty and gorgeous and realistic That s hard And the motion must be repeated for each load of passengers We ensure every guest has the same experience Vyas noted It all started with a bird The seed for Disney s animatronics the company trademarked the term Audio-Animatronics in the s goes back to Walt and Lillian Disney s purchase of a miniature caged-bird decoration that tweeted That eventually led to Enchanted Tiki Room attractions such as the one at Magic Kingdom which opened with the park in Animatronics got a major boost from Great Moments With Mr Lincoln developed by Disney for the World s Fair in New York Guests watched the faux former president give a speech and Speigel witnessed this on a high-school trip to the event When he put his arms on that chair and he stood up and talked the whole audience I remember just gasped he disclosed The s innovation propelled the show s status announced Bob Rogers chairman of BRC Imagination Arts Otherwise it might have been forgotten swiftly he mentioned The fact that it was just a robot not a human was the charm Rogers reported Waiting for Walt Fast forward to and the installation of the Walt Disney animatronic at Disneyland Walt Disney A Magical Life is temporarily taking the place of the Lincoln animatronic presentation there Specific fans have criticized the look of the new figure It looks fine to me from a distance stated Jeremiah Good the Florida correspondent for LaughingPlace com But people that were there for the opening that were in the front row filming every bit of it were going that doesn t look a thing like Walt Critics are more forgiving about animatronic looks for animated beings as opposed to actual humans Good reported He awaits the Walt Disney figure slated to join Carousel of Progress next year That is supposed to be a little bit older of a Walt so that ll be enthralling to see Good commented I think there are specific opportunities there for the point in Walt s life explained Imagineering s Orr who noted that Florida s animatronic would be seen in shorter but more frequent bursts at Magic Kingdom than its counterpart in California I also think there are things just logistically about the run time of shows if you just look at the run time of the Disneyland the frequency of that show versus something like Carousel of Progress that is cycling through Louis the Alligator Tiana and critters perform inside Tiana s Bayou Adventure at the Magic Kingdom Joe Burbank Orlando Sentinel Tech talk After pneumatic and hydraulic phases animatronics are now settling into an all-electric era with computerized initiatives Last year Walt Disney Imagineering gave a populace peek into the process with an episode of We Call It Imagineering on YouTube This preceded the debut of figures for Tiana s Bayou Adventure the retheming of Splash Mountain at both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland A big challenge was the advancement of Louis the trumpet-toting alligator considered one of WDI s largest and preponderance dynamic figures There s a lot of moving parts So you have all of these layers you ve got fabric and it all has to be in sync commented Sonny Chapman principal illusion maker in the episode Louis big belly upper torso and arms must work together with the costuming all while he s bouncing looking happy and blinking Imagineering has expanded into stuntronics creating figures that can perform elaborate aerial acrobatic feats including one dressed as Spider-Man at Disney California Adventure theme park The company has also developed knee-high DBX droids which made appearances at Disney s Hollywood Studios this summer They re wonderful not just because they re robots but because they are animated and they are written with stories Rogers noted They express emotions They re doing things They get frustrated when they can t do what they re trying to do That s just wonderful Animatronics have proven multigenerational staying power A lot of our engineers went to school just to work on animated figures That s their thing Hall mentioned They re studying their whole lives and they make their entire lives and it s time for their generation to show the next generation how to pass the baton This is one of those moments that s even bigger than just theme parks Vyas points to their entertainment value I just think they bring so much life to the conditions she stated I absolutely love that at Epic Universe we ve doubled down on that I really think that it just takes it to the next level dbevil orlandosentinel com