Disneyland visitors have been left horrified after the unveiling of a new hyper–realistic animatronic figure of Walt Disney.
The robot is part of a brand new exhibit titled Walt Disney – A Magical Life – created to celebrate the life of the man who dreamed up the Happiest Place on Earth.
Set to open on July 17 – the exact date Disneyland first opened in 1955 – the Disneyland Opera House on Main Street, USA, will transform into Walt’s studio office.
The experience features the Mickey Mouse creator walking around his personal study while addressing the crowd in a sharp gray suit and tie.
Tom Fitzgerald – Senior Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering – said everyone took ‘great care’ when crafting Walt’s animatronic.
‘We’ve created so many Audio-Animatronics figures over the years, from pirates to presidents, but to create a figure of Walt Disney is an honor and a challenge,’ he said, per The Walt Disney Company.
‘How can we create a lifelike impression of Walt Disney, with the nuances that made him unique in person?
‘The twinkle in the eye, his expressive face — those eyebrows — and the way he used his hands to punctuate his thoughts and ideas?’
Disneyland visitors have been left horrified after the unveiling of a new hyper–realistic animatronic figure of Walt Disney
The robot is part of a brand new exhibit titled Walt Disney – A Magical Life – created to celebrate the life of the man who dreamed up the Happiest Place on Earth
Set to open on July 17 – the exact date Disneyland first opened in 1955 – the Disneyland Opera House on Main Street, USA, will transform into Walt’s studio office
Fitzgerald continued, saying that the Imagineers ‘worked closely with the Walt Disney Archives to ensure we had the details as accurate as possible.’
‘We scoured through his speeches and documents to find the words that would bring him to life in a way that would feel as if we dropped into his office for a chat,’ he added.
‘Our hope is that the end result will give guests the best sense of Walt and his engaging and warm personality.’
Despite the attention to detail the Imagineers put into the robot, Disney adults feared the animatronic looked ‘nothing’ like the iconic man.
One person said: ‘They have to copy Walt Disney from Orlando’s Madame Tussauds, that one is much better!’
‘I thought it’d look better to be honest…’ another reflected.
Someone else questioned: ‘They could have done better with the face. Who made this?’
‘Looks like it was made by someone who was working from a rough description of what Walt looked like,’ a commenter observed.
Despite the attention to detail the Imagineer’s put into the robot, Disney adults feared the animatronic looked ‘nothing’ like the iconic man
Tom Fitzgerald – Senior Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering – said everyone took ‘great care’ when crafting Walt’s animatronic based on Disney archives
Other comments read: ‘Walt is having a terrible allergic reaction to shellfish, apparently,’ and ‘That looks very unlike Walt. Redo, please!’
‘I like the idea of the Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic, however, the face is off,’ someone wrote.
‘I can’t put my finger on it. It’s something to do with how the eyes are, like, too close, maybe. Or maybe the face is too square-like? Something is off.’
Despite the backlash, a few people were in awe at the technology.
‘This is mind blowing!!’ a user said, while another wrote, ‘Woah, this is incredible.’
Someone shared: ‘Holy hell, that’s an animatronic?! Looks real enough to fool me.’
Another post showed the life-sized Walt standing from a leaning position, moving his arms and legs, and speaking to the crowd.
More praised the robot, saying: ‘The clothes even fit like a human fit. Impressive,’ and ‘The gestures and motions are by far the most natural looking I’ve ever seen.
Daily Mail has contacted Disneyland for comment.
Last month, Disney revamped the Donald Trump animatronic after outcry that he looked like a woman.
The animatronic political attraction in Magic Kingdom discreetly opened its doors in June after being closed for five months.
It shuttered on January 20 after Trump was inaugurated into his second term. The display shuts down after every presidential transition so Disney can update the show.
Disney World did not announce the well-known display’s sudden reopening – leaving both guests and employees confused.
Other than Trump’s animatronic having a speaking role, no major changes have been made to the mechanized performance.
