VIDEO - New A-1000 Audio-Animatronics to bring the characters of Star Wars Galaxy's Edge to life

Feb 28, 2019 in "Star Wars Galaxy's Edge"

Posted: Thursday February 28, 2019 1:31pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge represents the pinnacle of Walt Disney Imagineering, and on the planet of Batuu, one of Imagineering's greatest achievements rises to a new level to help bring the stories of Star Wars to life.

At Walt Disney Word, we first saw a new generation of Audio-Animatronic figures emerge in Frozen Ever After at Epcot and Na'vi River Journey in Pandora - The World of Avatar. The old hydraulic motors that had powered animatronic figures including the A-100 class for decades made way for new electric motors that are far more precise, fluid and quicker moving than their predecessor. The Shaman of Songs in Pandora will perhaps remain the most complicated figure ever made by Disney, but the Star Wars Galaxy's Edge figures will be right up there.

With Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, the A-1000 class of animatronic powers all of the major Audio-Animatronic characters. In this clip below, you can see the more than 6ft tall Hondo Ohnaka, who is part the Smugglers Run Millennium Falcon ride. And at Rise of the Resistance, Nien Nunb is the pilot on your ride aboard a transport ship.

Animatronic figure won't just be part of the rides - you will also find them in Oga's canteen, where captain Rex from Star Tours is now the DJ.

At Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, you will find Dok at his desk, checking his inventory, taking calls, and barking orders at his assistants.

And expect to see figures in more surprising places, like the droid shop and walk-around characters.

TechCrunch has a great article on 'How Disney Built Star Wars, in real life," and it is well worth a read for more details on the work that went into producing Star Wars Galaxy's Edge.

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cjkeating25 days ago

I don't think it was said in the thread that 'Pixar Place' wasn't meant to exist when Toy Story Land opened. I am pretty sure it did close for a while and only reopened when park ops saw it as some quick and easy capacity by adding the Incredibles to the area.

Purduevian26 days ago

At DLR, that blue area is basically the train and part of ROA. DHS filled all that in with a bigger berm... I just really feel like they need to do something for families with small children in this area (and in the park). I've already skipped dhs on my last 2 disney trips because there is almost nothing for my now 2 year old do to do there compared to EPCOT and MK.

larryz26 days ago

You have two mutually exclusive elements in your statement: "Jar Jar" and "fun."

marni197126 days ago

I’d hope not but all bets are off with current management.

ChrisFL26 days ago

I'll believe the pivot to film based once I see a Star Wars film actually make it into the theaters.

Centauri Space Station26 days ago

Do you think the new carousel will have one in DAK?

MLevell26 days ago

With Star Wars now moving back to seemingly being a primarily Film Based Franchise after 6 years or so of being primarily TV Based* I could see some more focus being placed on Galaxy's Edge in the coming years and adding an attraction that is more focused on putting us in the Star Wars Galaxy rather than in a Star Wars Adventure makes some sense to me. *As far as I can tell there is only one season of Star Wars Live Action TV in development along with a couple small animated things whereas there are two Live Action Films with release dates and a further 3 or 4 in development

Professortango126 days ago

Gotcha! I am far less familiar with WDW's layout, so I was mistaken. Thank you!

wdrive26 days ago

To me the discussion had led to the cancelled Bantha attraction. I think it is perfectly reasonable to bring up a reason why it would not be built in a discussion about it. We can talk about negative things too

easyrowrdw26 days ago

Wherever Jar Jar takes them in Episode 1 is underwater. Navi River Journey crossed with 20,000 Leagues, except have it be fun.

Purduevian26 days ago

Almost no guest walk ways are cut for the mansion (tiny corner of the one pathway by the red ). It's all trees/ dirt... I wish google earth would update... its been 5+ years.

mergatroid26 days ago

I think that they could do a really good boat ride based on the planet Dagobah (where Luke meets Yoda). You could tour the swamps of Dagobah with mist and scenery along with the camp site where Luke was training and an R2D2 animatronic could feature. Add some fit for the purpose alien creatures and the final scene could be a Yoda animatronic on the shore raising Luke's X-Wing from the swamp as your boat passes it. The atmosphere of Dagobah was dark and dingy so would justify an indoor attraction. I get that you didn't see any boats on Dagobah however it's more a method of transport for the ride which could be justified by water being an indirect iconic feature of that scene. Obviously that might break the time line that GE was going for but then again haven't they already done that to some degree already with some added characters?

Professortango126 days ago

Nothing that is a themed ride experience is being built without LL. That was the argument. I could see a spinner going either way. But probably would have a LL for that too.

Professortango126 days ago

I do love a good boat ride, but Star Wars (for me) doesn't seem like the right IP for it. I don't think I can recall seeing a character take a boat ride within a SW film. The closest I can think of is when the prisoners swam away from the prison in Andor. As for fitting, you did a great job showing the size of the area, but if they want to keep walkways, they are removing at least a 1/3 of that show building. With the current orientation, you would be looking at a HM without the Seance scene, half of the hallway of doors, the Maintenace bay, the ballroom scene, the attic, and the first half of the graveyard. So, we would be left with an attraction that is the equivalent to the loading area, endless hallway, conservatory, half of the graveyard, and the Hitchhiking Ghosts. And they would still need to find room for the Maintenace bay, so probably no HHG. Not terrible, but certainly is a much smaller attraction and not enough room for a boat ride beyond the scope of NRJ.