“It Keeps Walt Alive” — NEW Walt Disney Animatronic Details Revealed

Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary celebration begins on May 16th, and it’s going to be amazing! There’s something that has fallen under the radar that debuts in Disneyland this year, making the anniversary EXTRA special.  A new show called “Walt Disney — A Magical Life” will debut in June, and it will feature the first-ever audio animatronic of Walt Disney.

Disney has said that this new animatronic will be one of their most advanced and impressive creations yet. Recently, Disney revealed more about the show, and it included an early sculpt of the animatronic.

Imagineering just previewed the brand-new show for a select group of media, and a sculpt version of the animatronic was revealed. The animatronic had “age spots on Disney’s hands and weariness around his eyes”. Imagineers had to stress that their intention in including these specific details, as well as other details, is solely to portray a true and faithful look of Walt Disney, according to the LA Times.

Just to stress this again, Imagineering showed the sculpt, it wasn’t even the real thing yet. It was an effort to show the care they had in building this project, and bringing Walt “back to life”. Josh D’Amaro even confirmed that this project was being done with the support of Walt’s family, including Disney’s grandnephew, Roy P. Disney — who was in attendance during the show’s announcement.

At the end of the day, the confirmations don’t mean much because the project is still heavily debated in the Disney community. Many feel that any project bringing back someone who has passed, using technology (whether it be animatronic, holographic imaging, and/or digitally re-created cinematic animations) could be seen as exploitative and dehumanizing. Walt Disney’s granddaughter, Joanna Miller, was very clear about her opposition to the project in a Facebook post.

Tom Fitzgerald, longtime Imagineer, confirmed that this Walt Disney animatronic aims to represent Disney in 1963, just three years before his death in 1966. He explained that they’ve paid close attention to detail when creating this animatronic, including the use of his hands when he speaks, as Walt so frequently did, showcasing his expressive eyebrows, and recreating how Walt rarely blinked when he spoke. Imagineers were careful to line up the animatronics’ “blink profile” using filmed footage. Imagineer Jeff Shaver-Moskowit also confirmed that all the dialogue will be taken from Walt Disney’s speeches — no false words or phrases will be included.

Multiple members of Disney’s descendants sit on various boards that the Walt Disney Family Museum is associated with, and they have pledged their support of the project, feeling that Walt’s fascination with art and technology, specifically how the two combined, means he would likely have really liked the project.

It’ll be interesting to see how this develops over time. It looks like Imagineering will obviously continue moving forward with the project. Make sure to stay tuned to AllEars for all the latest Disney news and updates.

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What are your thoughts on the animatronic? Let us know in the comments!