Disney characters get robotic facelift for Magic Kingdom performance

We're hearing January is a fairly good time to hit up Disney World, and if you've got an itch to see giant rodents (and similar) perform on stage with near perfect mouth movements, we'd recommend heading on down. Apparently the engineers behind the relatively new Cinderella Castle stage show at the Magic Kingdom have spruced the characters up quite a bit, and most noticeable is the robotic facelift that the main characters received. Instead of just moving about while music loops in the background, the critters can now sing right along, as their mouths move almost in unison with the audio clips in the show. While we're sure your average six year old girl wouldn't notice such petty details, it's good to see Disney upping the ante on the mechanics to keep us geeks from zoning out while experiencing all that magic, so be sure to hit the read link for a video demonstration of the upgraded jawbones (and don't hum along too loudly).

[Via BoingBoing]

[therpham @ Jan 20th 2007 11:10AM]

Those poor people in the suits.

They must hear nothing but "WHRRRRRRR vrr WHRRRRRR vrr" when their character speaks.

[Andy @ Jan 20th 2007 11:13AM]

Wow, that looks pretty damn good.

[Chris Merchant @ Jan 20th 2007 11:23AM]

Is it just me, or does Donald Duck always scare the hell outta people?

[Gil @ Jan 20th 2007 12:53PM]

It just you

[John Frost @ Jan 20th 2007 12:01PM]

The character heads are not exactly robotics. They're actually elaborate puppets. If you watch the videos I've linked to on The Disney Blog ( http://www.thedisneyblog.com/tdb/2007/01/articulated_cha.html ) you can see the hand motions as they control the face movements. Still a great upgrade for themepark entertainment.

While you may see these in shows and parades, you probably won't encounter the new character masks in the character photo meet and greets anytime soon. They'd have to overcome the mechanical noise, and the language barrier (to every visiting child Mickey speaks in his native language at home on TV...)

[Osko @ Jan 20th 2007 12:05PM]

They also close their eyes. That's new.

[Brennan @ Jan 20th 2007 12:14PM]

cool something new

i cant seem to get the video, anyone have a better link to it?

[ShogunMaster @ Jan 20th 2007 1:45PM]

I'm not sure I understand why this is so exciting? Didn't Teddy Ruxpin own this technology back in the 80s?

[Steve Sande @ Jan 20th 2007 3:16PM]

And I hope everyone notices that Donald doesn't wear pants AND hangs around with his three "nephews". Hmmm.....

[chris @ Jan 20th 2007 3:26PM]

How do they see out? I think previous masks had areas in the eyes and mouth (which were always open) that they could see through. Is there a video camera?

[Chris @ Jan 20th 2007 4:38PM]

That is really cool. I'm even more excited now for my trip in March!

[A @ Jan 20th 2007 5:57PM]

There are people in the suits? :P

[icepop4who @ Jan 20th 2007 9:58PM]

cool. i forgot that the mouth never moves, and the eyes never blink. well, now, i don't need to correct myself.

donald duck was banned in one country (i forgot) for not having pants on.

[Bill @ Jan 20th 2007 10:46PM]

Oh ... when I went to Disney World on the 8th Jan 07, I actually thought there were people inside acting and singing in unison with the music and talking.

It was all robotic? wow ...

[Tim @ Jan 20th 2007 11:07PM]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!
DON'T WATCH THE VIDEO OR YOU WILL SEE HOW THE SHOW ENDS!!!!!!!!

[London @ Jan 22nd 2007 4:05PM]

And Disney comes one step closer to re-animating Walt's frozen head.