A model new attraction at Disneyland is all the time information, however normally, to be an consideration grabber, it needs to be some form of large, E-ticket expertise, a brand new curler coaster, or an unimaginable darkish trip. Disneyland is celebrating its seventieth anniversary this 12 months, so that you would possibly count on the park to have deliberate one thing like that, however as a substitute, the most recent addition is one thing a lot smaller, and but so necessary.
Walt Disney: A Magical Life, which opens to the general public on July 17, the seventieth anniversary of Disneyland’s opening day, will debut a brief movie concerning the lifetime of Disneyland’s creator, however extra importantly, it is going to debut an audio animatronic determine of Walt Disney himself.
Walt Disney Has Come Residence To Disneyland
Disneyland is the one Disney Park the place Walt Disney truly stood inside. As such, it’s becoming {that a} present like Walt Disney: A Magical Life debuts there, although after seeing the complete present, I gained’t be shocked if it makes its strategy to different parks world wide.
The complete presentation begins with a brief movie, a brand new model of One Man’s Dream, which might be seen at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The brand new movie is narrated by Disney CEO Bob Iger. His voice, together with Walt’s personal phrases, takes us by the person’s life, from his delivery in 1901 by the early growth of Walt Disney World.
After that, nonetheless, the curtains open totally and the display rises. We enter a model of Walt Disney’s workplace, and there’s the person himself, leaning up towards his desk. He speaks to us in his personal phrases. The monologue comes from a number of interviews and TV appearances Walt remodeled his lifetime, however it’s been cleaned up in order that it sounds prefer it’s all coming from the identical man on the identical time.
Walt Disney Is A Large Leap Ahead In Audio-Animatronics
In recent times, we now have seen some unimaginable steps ahead in audio-animatronics, however we haven’t seen something like Walt Disney. Except for the latest President of the USA, a lot of the new audio-animatronics we’ve seen in sights are based mostly on animated characters or different fictional creations. There’s a number of leeway in the case of remodeling them into actual issues. For Walt Disney, there was little to no margin for error.
At one level, Walt, who begins the efficiency leaning towards his desk, shifts to a standing place. On the finish of the present, he leans again towards the desk. These are actions we merely don’t see from this form of determine.
The animatronic Walt Disney is an unimaginable technical achievement and a really particular addition to Disneyland pic.twitter.com/ZGttrKYJrQJuly 14, 2025
Nevertheless it’s the means he strikes that’s what’s really spectacular. Anyone who has seen footage of Walt Disney from the outdated Disneyland TV collection will acknowledge the way in which he strikes his fingers and the glint in his eye. This stuff have been recreated so effectively that the entire thing feels proper.
Walt Disney Imagineering labored with the Walt Disney Household Museum in San Francisco to get as many particulars about Walt proper. The rings on his fingers are replicas of those he actually wore. The fingers sporting these rings come from a bronze forged of Walt’s actual fingers. Even the swimsuit material is the true factor.
It’s Not A Excellent Walt Duplicate, However That May Be A Good Factor
As a lot because the Walt Disney animatronic will get proper, is all the things excellent? No, probably not. At the very least from my perspective, the face mould, whereas shut sufficient to obviously be Walt, nonetheless doesn’t fairly look proper. Nonetheless, I’m not completely satisfied this wasn’t by design.
My greatest concern strolling into Walt Disney: A Magical Life was that the audio-animatronic would throw us into the depths of the uncanny valley. I used to be afraid that Walt would possibly look so actual that it would change into disconcerting, the identical means that “lifelike pc animation might be concurrently spectacular and mildly terrifying.
The truth that Walt Disney doesn’t look precisely like Walt would possibly truly be a very good factor. Maybe if he seemed extra just like the model we all know, he could be too actual, and the audio animatronic character could be extra creepy than comforting.
I watched the A Magical Life presentation twice, and whereas the primary time I actually observed the way in which the face doesn’t fairly look proper, the second time it bothered me considerably much less. There was no means this present was going to be excellent, and if the face mould is essentially the most important sacrifice, the present is in good condition.
As anyone who’s a giant fan of Walt Disney. I had excessive expectations for the present, however an ideal life like Walt wasn’t a part of that. The animatronic merely wanted to painting his essence, and in that, it was profitable.
Walt Disney Is The Excellent Addition To Disneyland
Even if the audio-animatronic Walt Disney may not be excellent, Walt Disney: A Magical Life remains to be an unimaginable addition to Disneyland Park. As you enter Important Road U.S.A., friends will now discover themselves as near Walt Disney as they’ll ever be capable of get. On one facet of the sq. is the firehouse, the place Walt Disney would sleep when he spent the night time contained in the park. On the opposite facet is the Opera Home, the place Walt Disney: A Magical Life might be operating for friends.
If the timing is correct, I can’t think about a greater strategy to begin a day at Disneyland than seeing Walt Disney himself. That stated, the present might be utilizing a digital queue when it debuts.
Walt now shares a stage with Abraham Lincoln. Over 60 years in the past, Walt led a mission to create an audio animatronic of the sixteenth President as a result of Walt himself was an excellent admirer of Lincoln, and he wished future generations to know him, to know that Lincoln was actual, and to know his significance.
Walt Disney might not have had a serious influence on world politics, however he had a completely titanic influence on world tradition. I’d argue Walt Disney is as necessary an individual as Abraham Lincoln. The hope is that Walt Disney: A Magical Life will do for contemporary audiences what the Disneyland present did for individuals many years in the past, present us that Walt Disney was an actual man.