SuddenStorm
Well-Known Member
I hope they're retired, and that at least the swamp boys, a geese, and a few of the other iconic ones are preserved in a museum or the archive.
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Tiana's Bayou Adventure: Disneyland Watch & Discussion
- Thread starter Californian Elitist
- Start date
I hope they're retired, and that at least the swamp boys, a geese, and a few of the other iconic ones are preserved in a museum or the archive.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
You know, those new AA's for TBA look pretty good ( aside from issues I have like Tiana not looking like Tiana and Louis being fuzzy) and have the state of the art tech and all that but I didn't see one that had the charm of a Swamp Boy. There is so much rich detail on those old Marc Davis designs. For example, the Louis AA looks very simple when compared to the Swamp Boys. With that said, the new AA's obviously have to look the way the characters are designed in the movie. I'm not knocking the work of the imagineers who worked on the TBA AA’s. Im praising the old Marc Davis designs.
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Rich T
Well-Known Member
To be fair, the designers were tasked with making him look exactly like the animated film character, who is a costume-less alligator. The detail in Louis is in the incredibly fluid motion they’re giving his entire structure. Side by side, while they’re moving, comparing Louis to a Swamp Boy Goose would result in each being impressive in their own way.
But I’d REALLY love to see a comparison of Louis and the Hitchhiking Alligator.
I hear ya. I expect her to be shouting to speak to the manager.
A bit embarrassing, since, that's Tiana.
zipadee999
Well-Known Member
She’s about to tell Tiana that she ordered the spicy gumbo and the gumbo she got was only ‘mildly tangy’
Rich T
Well-Known Member
That’s pretty much spot-on to her personality in the film. Honestly, if she stands there spouting a rapid, unending stream of hyperactive, self-absorbed babble… that will make the ride 100% worthwhile for me right there.
SplashJacket
Well-Known Member
She gives Meet the Robinsons vibes for some reason
𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Lottie is the modern example of this figure from Little Mermaid:
This isn't a good animatronic. Neither is Lottie. She is likely going to rock back and forth with that same expression on her face the entire time.
Consumer
Well-Known Member
That's the impression I got, as well, but I'm not entirely sure it's fair. For all we know, the mouth could still move and they just didn't showcase that for some reason. Still, if in the end the mouth doesn't move, yeah, it really brings down the animatronic.
I'm fine with minimal motion we see on the Fantasyland dark rides, but putting one of those Snow White models up next to the A-1000 Louis just feels to jarring.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
To be fair, I mentioned this in the post you quoted. haha
The detail in Louis is in the incredibly fluid motion they’re giving his entire structure. Side by side, while they’re moving, comparing Louis to a Swamp Boy Goose would result in each being impressive in their own way.
But I’d REALLY love to see a comparison of Louis and the Hitchhiking Alligator.
Yeah don't get me wrong. Louis is impressive. Particularly in how natural and precise his motions are. At some point yesterday after seeing all those new TBA AA photos and videos a picture of the Swamp Boy Gators popped up on my feed and it just struck me how rich and beautifully detailed they were in comparison.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
Lottie’s expression is fine, and captures the character 100%. Some of the greatest AAs ever made have one unchanging expression. Most AA characters are “painted” in broad strokes to instantly convey one emotion or story role (as I’m certain you know). The important thing is that they fill the role effectively.
I’ll be very disappointed in the Lottie figure IF her mouth doesn’t move, but if it does and she’s obliviously, hyperactively chattering away as she does in the movie, I will applaud with joy.
That turtle does stink. He stinks in the movie, too, so… mission accomplished? I guess?
Though, personally, I think the entire Mermaid rides stinks.
BasiltheBatLord
Well-Known Member
It reminds me a lot of the AAs from Tokyo's BatB ride, especially the last scene.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
Yes. I love the Louis AA, but I keep thinking it would be more appreciated and effective in an AA stage show… the kind Disney used to be famous for. How long will TBA riders actually see this figure? ESPECIALLY on the rush-through DL version???
We’ll find out soon. But I agree that, on a ride, fluid AA motion is not as important as effective, compelling storytelling.
And I sure hope Disney hasn’t forgotten that it’s not enough to BUILD an impressive AA—Ya have to MAINTAIN it, too.
Fingers crossed.
Disney-Universal Fanboy
Active Member
For everyone saying that the America sings animatronics will be retired, I don’t think Disney would erase them for parts, as I think some of them might have been gutted, some will remain in the Disneyland version, I think someone said that all the Disney world animatronics were destroyed. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Just how old are these America Sings AAs?
Would we expect any of the original AA let alone most or all of the parts still be original?
Especially with them 'working' 10 hours a day almost every day of the year?
Or are we talking about the Theseus Sings AAs?
Would we expect any of the original AA let alone most or all of the parts still be original?
Especially with them 'working' 10 hours a day almost every day of the year?
Or are we talking about the Theseus Sings AAs?
Disney-Universal Fanboy
Active Member
@MisterPenguin I mean the America sings animatronics might stay, they might be upgraded for better use so they don’t break down as much.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Off the top of my head without going to Google, I'm 98% positive it was Summer 1974 when America Sings opened. So nearly exactly 50 years old, a half a century. Hardly seems possible, doesn't it?
That's a good question. It's like the old philosophical question... "If you have a hammer that is 100 years old, but you've replaced the wood handle three times and the head twice in the past 100 years, is it really the same hammer?"
I'm no robotics expert, but I would imagine there were a few key support structures that were kept throughout, while moving joints and hydraulic hoses and valves were all replaced 10 times over in the past 50 years. The skins and clothes and feathers and masks and wigs were all likely replaced continually, or at least semi-annually.
Epcot81Fan
Well-Known Member
As least she looks like the character from the movie.
Why is Tiana’s face so wide? It looks nothing like her in the film. Looks like she’s twenty years older and twenty pounds heavier.
One would think the key character looking like the film would have been a priority.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
I've noticed that too. Like throwing a shapeless trench coat over that naughty Jessica Rabbit in Toontown, they seem to have purposely aged up and bulked up Tiana for this new version of herself.
And who exactly is their target demographic for this older/wiser/stouter version of Tiana? 6 year old girls want to be glamorous Princesses, not soccer moms in jodhpurs.
Heck, I'd imagine even soccer moms still like to be around Princesses once in awhile, especially at Disneyland.