Animatronics: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

[RobotWolf]

In their defense, nothing quite like this had ever been done before.

You're absolutely right. And Disney has tried (and failed) before. The Yeti thing is really the only "beef" I have; swing and a miss.

 

[RobotWolf]

Slight Redirect:

Speaking of really minimal, yet very successful animatronics is the RCA Home of the Future. I, like others I suspect, rode Space Mountain on multiple occasions just to see the post show. And if you rode the (then) Wedway Peoplemover, you got a bit of an extra show.

 

[raven]

Best - Hopper in "It's Tough to be a Bug"
Worst - All of the animatronics in COP (although I still ride it every time I go)

 

[Seabasealpha1]

Good: The Hall of Presidents...That's a lot of crap going on up there! Glad to see them kept up with (for the most part)
Bad: Expedition Everest Yeti- I still get p***ed when I see Disney using that marketing spin on "Escaping the yeti/OMG he's gonna get us" when I think a headless mannequin at sears presents more danger...
Ugly: The Alien animatronic on GMR. It's just poor show...sure it's actually ugly...but it's so fake...there's stuff at a Spirit Halloween store that moves better and is more believable.

I'll add one...
HOT: Back in the day, Bonnie Appetite had some tremendous legs...just saying...

 

[Brad Bishop]

I think the animatronics in Splash need to be updated. The characters don't move enough, and they've never looked much like the characters in Song of the South, especially Brer Rabbit.

The AAs in Peter Pan's Flight - if they can even be called AAs, given their limited motion - obviously need an upgrade. In fact, the entire ride should be replaced with the wonderful new version in Shanghai. It's fantastic.

There's one scene where Brer Rabbit is supposed to be hopping and you see the arm holding him. I think that's one of the worst AAs.. I remember them trying to cover it up in different ways over the years but it's pretty bad.

I think that the best AAs are the ones you don't notice / just accept. PoTC, American Experience, come to mind. IaSW has simple AAs but they are very effective for that show.

Buzz Lightyear (Space Ranger Spin) was pretty great until his face blurred (bad focus or dust or something).. At that point it took you right out of it. It was like that for years. I have no idea if they've fixed it.

 

[Brad Bishop]

I find the AAs in Little Mermaid kind of weird. They're stylized to be "cartoony-smooth" but it's just a little odd to me.

 

[John C. Shepherd]

Skippy i loved it when he was there before stich. That was so awesome. My wife and I told my kids all about it, had them freaking out. When we did Stich my oldest was like, hmmm that was weak compared to what you talked about. Stich is to friendly.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Ugly: The Alien animatronic on GMR. It's just poor show...sure it's actually ugly...but it's so fake...there's stuff at a Spirit Halloween store that moves better and is more believable.

That is a terrible thing to say about Sigourney Weaver. Yes, it's an ugly depiction of her, but, really, how rude! Wait, you cannot be talking about the actual Alien can you? Please, give me a clue about how you make a fictitious character look non-fake, unless it bites one of the riders or something. If you were to create an exact duplicate of that particular alien, it couldn't possibly be anymore realistic then it already is. It has no basis of comparison or perhaps all the real aliens refused to work for scale.

 

[SyracuseDisneyFan]

I also like the animatronics at the Haunted Mansion.

 

[Seabasealpha1]

That is a terrible thing to say about Sigourney Weaver. Yes, it's an ugly depiction of her, but, really, how rude! Wait, you cannot be talking about the actual Alien can you? Please, give me a clue about how you make a fictitious character look non-fake, unless it bites one of the riders or something. If you were to create an exact duplicate of that particular alien, it couldn't possibly be anymore realistic then it already is. It has no basis of comparison or perhaps all the real aliens refused to work for scale.

Haven't yakked with you for a while! How ya been Goof?

Moreso what I'm griping about are the hissing valves and slow and crappy movements...I mean...you just know off the top that it's an animatronic...the disbelief is non-existant. And I find this weird given the decent work they did with the Wicked Witch on the same attraction...of course the alien is actually ugly...I'm griping that the execution is ugly...just an opinion...

But how 'bout those legs on Bonnie?!

 

[Brad Bishop]

It's hard to believe that the Alien in GMR actually scared people back in the day. It must have popped out better or something because, as stated above, it's like a bad lawn decoration from Halloween Express.

 

[Princess Leia]

It's hard to believe that the Alien in GMR actually scared people back in the day. It must have popped out better or something because, as stated above, it's like a bad lawn decoration from Halloween Express.

*slowly raises hand*
I was literally crying as a kid throughout the Alien scene. Not just the first time, but when we rode it again a few years later.

 

[RobotWolf]

It's hard to believe that the Alien in GMR actually scared people back in the day. It must have popped out better or something because, as stated above, it's like a bad lawn decoration from Halloween Express.

The first alien extended much further. There were more "goo drip" effects as well, I think. I believe it was significantly darker as well. Alien 2 used to seem like he came from nowhere. Now, with the current lighting, he just looks like he's taking a snooze like the monk in Spaceship Earth.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Haven't yakked with you for a while! How ya been Goof?

Moreso what I'm griping about are the hissing valves and slow and crappy movements...I mean...you just know off the top that it's an animatronic...the disbelief is non-existant. And I find this weird given the decent work they did with the Wicked Witch on the same attraction...of course the alien is actually ugly...I'm griping that the execution is ugly...just an opinion...

But how 'bout those legs on Bonnie?!

Never seen them. But, whatever floats your boat. Seabase!

 

[Seabasealpha1]

Never seen them. But, whatever floats your boat. Seabase!

Just a sample...

 

[RobotWolf]

"Kitchen Karabet"
It was an amazing show with a great soundtrack. I'm predictably disappointed by its loss. I saw its replacement once ... once.

 

[Princess Leia]

One of @marni1971 's tributes. It'd already been replaced by the time I went on my first trip.

 

[RobotWolf]

In the "It needed to die, but ..." category:

The goddess bot they built for the that Tiki Room was a really attractive looking and moving character. I'm very happy that the original management is back at Tikis. But that bot was literally a showpiece.

I know she replaced the fountain. But that was the insurance guys at work, I believe. The main part of the fountain was a cylinder of retractable glass; there was a show stop related to that cylinder's inability to retract as the bird carousel was lowering.

I'm definitely glad the Tiki Room is back to "normal." (Was I the only one who thought the Offenbach was one of the better parts of the show? Apparently.)

Compliant, smooth animation is almost passe these days. But in my personal timeline of animatronic coolness, she definitely shows up.

 

[Johnny Three-hats]

In the "It needed to die, but ..." category:

The goddess bot they built for the that Tiki Room was a really attractive looking and moving character. I'm very happy that the original management is back at Tikis. But that bot was literally a showpiece.

I know she replaced the fountain. But that was the insurance guys at work, I believe. The main part of the fountain was a cylinder of retractable glass; there was a show stop related to that cylinder's inability to retract as the bird carousel was lowering.

I'm definitely glad the Tiki Room is back to "normal." (Was I the only one who thought the Offenbach was one of the better parts of the show? Apparently.)

Compliant, smooth animation is almost passe these days. But in my personal timeline of animatronic coolness, she definitely shows up.

I get the sense that a lot of people forget just how literally and figuratively central that figure was to the show. Or that it was there at all. No one ever seems to talk about what's-her-face as far as I can tell, especially for how smooth her movements were. And, well, I can't entirely blame anyone, given how brief her appearance was.

When I saw the Tiki Room last year, my mom leaned over and muttered something like, "Is something gonna come out of the middle?" I figured there would be, being the ignoramus I was at the time, but no, nothing really happened except for a some smoking. It left the experience a little hollow without a Disneyland style fountain or UNM's goddess. There's not really much there for a proper, showstopping climax as it stands.

If one good thing came from the UNM overlay, it was that figure and I really do wish they could have kept it and repurposed it for a slightly different role maybe. But I suppose that everyone just wanted the pure experience back after so long. Kind of a shame, but that's how things go.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The goddess bot they built for the that Tiki Room was a really attractive looking and moving character. I'm very happy that the original management is back at Tikis. But that bot was literally a showpiece.

Well, Uh-Oha the Tiki Goddess of Disaster has been put to good use at Tader Sams Tiki bar.....Although she doesn't move anymore...Her eyes do glow when you get a certain drink..And you can lightly hear her say "When you mess with Polynesia the Tiki Gods will squeeze ya!" and laughs