Walt Disney to Be Brought to Life with Audio-Animatronics in 2025: 'Walt Disney – A Magical Life' Revealed

Aug 11, 2024 in "Disneyland Resort"

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Walt Disney - A Magical Life Concept Art

Posted: Sunday August 11, 2024 11:17pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

For the first time ever, when it debuts in 2025 at Disneyland, you'll actually be able to see Walt Disney through the magic of Audio-Animatronics technology in "Walt Disney – A Magical Life."

Walt Disney - A Magical Life Concept Art

Walt Disney Imagineering's first Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney is being created for this very special experience. "I speak for our entire team when I say there is so much pride and excitement for everyone involved in this endeavor," Josh D'Amaro told the crowd.

The past, present and future are coming together, giving visitors the chance to imagine what it would be like to stop by Walt's office. Who knows what he might be dreaming up inside? Only time will tell with Walt.

"Walt Disney – A Magical Life" will debut inside the Main Street Opera House, and after its initial run, the attraction will play in rotation with "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." A fitting acknowledgement of Walt's significant advances with Audio-Animatronics about 60 years ago when he first introduced the groundbreaking technology.

"Creating our first Walt figure is a huge responsibility, and we've brought members of the Disney family along with us for every step of the journey," Josh continued on stage. "His great-nephew, Roy P. Disney, visited the Imagineering campus recently to see our progress. And he's here tonight. Thank you, Roy, for helping us fulfill this dream."

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PiratesMansion22 hours ago

It was very clear that Walt didn't want himself represented in the parks, but let's be real here, very few people are getting a solid education on who Walt Disney was as a person, what he stood for, what he did, and so on. If anything, they're getting the patently false narratives (he was an antisemite, etc) second or thirdhand from the internet. Times have changed, and the narratives currently filling the internet are largely inaccurate. If the company wants to address that, this is about the best way they could do it IMO. RE: the cast, unless anyone here has been through traditions recently, we have no way of knowing how much they were actually taught about Walt Disney, the man. The consensus seems to be that the entire program is a shell of what it once was, so it wouldn't surprise me if the company just isn't delivering the info that it used to. Even when there was more thorough training involved, they probably didn't need as much info on Walt himself because it hadn't been as long since he had been alive and a lot of it was likely common knowledge.

D.Silentu1 day ago

Regarding cast members knowing little about Walt, I can see how they got there. Sure, they got a history lesson when they started the job. Yet, however many hours that training course was, it is pitted against a wider public perception of the man that is really soup to nuts. On the one hand you have the company's 'Uncle Walt' who wavered from saccharine patriarch to genius depending on the day. Then there's that public 'too good to be true' version, where he is the poster boy for virtually every politically incorrect fault of his generation and occasionally a Third Reich sympathizer, depending on who you ask. Edgy animated comedies have had a role in perpetuating that Walt, which for many adolescents is probably their first education on him. As I understand it, Disney was somewhat mythic in his own day, so it seems understandable that there are so many iterations of him in public consciousness. Undoubtedly 'Walt Disney: A Magical Life' has at least a partial aim to ground these perceptions by presenting a tangible version of the man. If the comment section on an article I read recently about this project is any indication, they have their work cut out for them.

Comped1 day ago

A couple of people I've known who worked with Walt have confirmed this. Theme Park Insider had a very interesting quote from a high level Imagineer I'd not seen elsewhere: "We have a whole generation of guests and cast who don't know about Walt Disney, the man. They know the name and Disneyland, but to be able to keep his story as a permanent story at Disneyland - the only park that he ever walked in - is extremely important to us," Walt Disney Imagineering Executive Producer Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz said. Did those CMs fall asleep during the part of Traditions when they talked about Walt and the company's history?

Parteecia1 day ago

Walt should've thought of that before he created a theme park that did it to others without their permission.

J2B1 day ago

it's a heated debate over on MiceChat.com As I understood it, Walt did-not-want an animatronic of himself. That would be all I needed to hear to not push forward

D.Silentu2 days ago

I think a part of it is that it would seem incongruent with the Lincoln figure that has been there so long. Especially apparent once the old and new shows go into rotation

TheCoasterNerd2 days ago

Because an animatronic (3d, opaque, full range of motion, etc) will always look more realistic than a hologram (usually 2d or less detailed 3d, often translucent, etc). Plus it’s actually probably cheaper

SuddenStorm2 days ago

Part of Disneyland is marvelling at the technology. A state of the art animatronic will be far cooler to witness then a CGI generated Walt hologram. Assuming this one isn't built by the people that built Finale Tiana....

Phroobar2 days ago

Disney likes to do things the hard way I guess. Any idea if Walt will be walking around like the Frankenstein monster does at Epic Universe?

luv house of the mouse2 days ago

So my question is why they didn't go with a Hologram? The ones I have seen in person look like the person is right in front of you.

JohnD2 days ago

This would be awesome to bring to the One Man's Dream exhibit in HS. They said the DLP shows begins with a tweaked version of the show from DHS. In DHS, they would need to add the Walt AA which presumably would be shown after the screen for the short movie is lifted and curtains are parted. One can "dream", right?

DCBaker2 days ago

Laughing Place has shared more details from an early preview of Walt Disney – A Magical Life: https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-parks/how-imagineers-made-walt-disney-magical-life-reality-/ https://www.laughingplace.com/disney-parks/walt-disney-a-magical-life-new-details/

Figments FriendFeb 28, 2025

Had a feeling the opening date would be July 17th. Very befitting, and makes sense. Still have mixed feelings about this…Walt AA. But also admit I am curious to see how lifelike a figure they construct. Just hard to know how to feel when I know this is something he never wanted to see happen. Hopefully this will be done tastefully. We shall find out in a few months… -