Walt Disney Animatronic Debuts at Disneyland's 70th Anniversary Celebration in July 2025

Feb 12, 2025 in "Disneyland Resort"

Posted: Wednesday February 12, 2025 2:45pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disneyland Resort is celebrating its 70th anniversary with new experiences on Main Street, U.S.A., and today, Disney announced that these additions will officially open on July 17, 2025.

Tribute to the Sherman Brothers at Main Street Cinema

The Main Street Cinema will host a new short film, The Last Verse, honoring legendary songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman. The three-and-a-half-minute film features a never-before-heard verse of It’s a Small World, written by Richard Sherman for the song’s 60th anniversary.

The film follows the song’s message of unity, showing people from around the world passing the melody from one generation to the next. The new verse will also be incorporated into the It’s a Small World attraction at Disneyland, beginning July 17.

New Exhibits at the Main Street Opera House

The Main Street Opera House is getting an expanded gallery space, showcasing Disneyland’s evolution. Curated by Walt Disney Imagineering and the Walt Disney Archives, the new exhibits will include:

  • Early Disneyland artifacts – Rare and never-before-seen images, art, and memorabilia from the park’s early years.
  • The history of Audio-Animatronics – A look at Walt Disney’s pioneering technology, tracing its development from the 1960s to today.
  • Artifacts from Walt Disney’s private apartment – For the first time, Disneyland will display furniture from Walt’s apartment above the Main Street Fire Station, including an original rocking chair, lamp, and table.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is also lending significant items, including Walt’s 1955 Emmy award for Walt Disney’s Disneyland, his 1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the commemorative medal presented to his wife, Lillian Disney, by President Nixon in 1969.

Walt Disney – A Magical Life

Alongside the new exhibits, the Opera House will debut Walt Disney – A Magical Life, a cinematic experience detailing Walt’s life and career. The film will use restored footage and audio recordings to tell his story, from his early struggles to the creation of Disneyland.

A new Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt Disney will also be introduced. Using archival recordings, Walt himself will appear on stage, sharing personal stories and thoughts on creativity and innovation.

After its initial run, Walt Disney – A Magical Life will play in rotation with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Continuing Walt’s Legacy

As guests exit the theater, they will find an area dedicated to Disneyland’s ongoing development. This space will showcase upcoming projects and how the park has continued to evolve over the decades.

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    mickEblu2 minutes ago

    You’re kidding. They’ve actually made updates to it already? Ok I need to take a look and see if I can notice the changes. While I appreciate them striving for better why do they need our negative reviews to do so? I have to assume they knew he didn’t look great before they shared him with the world. If not, that’s even more concerning.

    Disney Analyst5 minutes ago

    Interesting, was just watching MiceChat's live right now, and they were just discussing how the face has changed already since Monday. His face looks different, skin texture has changed, face is a bit slimmer. What we are seeing now is a short couple day fix, and will get better fixes later. Dusty watched the show last night with the lead Imagineer for it, and shared his concerns, and they are listening fully, and aware. Mentioned that like at all things at Disney, it's always a work in progress, sometimes they are just incapable of doing more, until a bigger can come. They are also now doing a speech before the show now, giving more context. Explains the Iger is the narrator, and this is original audio from Walt, and the quality varies per clip, as it is pulled from various places. He says they listen to what is said online, and take it to heart, that even some of the Imagineers who worked on the project were slightly hurt, as they put so much effort into the show and exhibit, and all anyone wants to discuss is the 3 minute Walt part of it. But they understand if they fix the 3 minute segment, people will be talking about more of the show.

    Yidsid20206 minutes ago

    It probably would look even better if you stood next to Tom Sawyer's island... :)

    MisterPenguin9 minutes ago

    Call 911!!!

    Disney Irish27 minutes ago

    I still don't agree with the Trump 2.0, but appreciate the sentiment. :) And yes an update with an improvement would be a happy event.

    mickEblu29 minutes ago

    I mean it’s a better place to be than where I was yesterday but I have to pushback on the notion that it will never look enough like Walt. If Walt 2.0 were to take the same leap that Trump 2.0 took I think I’d be happy enough with that.

    Disney Analyst29 minutes ago

    Impressive how quickly the system realizes it went wrong, and lights go out and curtains close. They don’t want a frozen Tiana moment for Walt.

    Disney Irish32 minutes ago

    And I think this is a good place to be overall. Its not Walt, and probably will never look like Walt enough to be fully realistic. But its acceptable as an AA version of Walt, and I think that is a healthy way to look at it. This is how I hope I'll feel tomorrow when I see it in person.

    Captain Barbossa34 minutes ago

    He’s been out of cryopreservation for too long. Time to put him back in the chamber.

    MoonRakerSCM39 minutes ago

    mickEblu49 minutes ago

    Yeah it certainly gets less jarring. It’s not that it’s starting to look more like Walt though. It’s that our mind is starting to accept that that is what a Walt animatronic looks like. Instead of comparing to Walts real face you begin to accept the Walt AA for what it is.

    Disney Analyst54 minutes ago

    I dunno. The more I get used to seeing the AA… the more it looks like Walt to me? I think the uncanny feeling is going, and I’m starting to suspend belief a bit.

    MisterPenguin59 minutes ago

    Disney Irish2 hours ago

    Well the hope is that with future refurbs and such will result in attempts to update the face. Just like other attractions get updates. And it probably is that there are more than several dozen people that think it doesn't look right, and again I'm one of them. However we here don't have any metrics to determine that. We have the number of posters in this thread. And I would say at most its a couple dozen people, which was my point.