Walt Disney – A Magical Life

[TP2000]

Interestingly the set dressing seems to be from a later period with an photo of Lincoln, the jet used to survey WDW, and a motion picture almanac with the year "1965" on it.
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I believe the Walt animatronic is 1963 era because much of his show speech comes from an interview he did in 1963. This was also before his lung cancer started to take its toll on him by '65.

The office is set up circa 1965-66 because that is how they have set up his office at the Burbank studio, the time represented as he left his office just before he passed away in December, 1966. The latest reference books on display would be labeled 1965, as the 1966 volumes wouldn't have been released until later in 1967. Etc., etc.

All that said.... The face looks way off. Why can't they do faces any more? It's far too fat and wide. He was always a lean young man, and barely put on weight into his 50's and 60's. Really, it's his entire upper torso and into the neck and face that is off. He looks like a linebacker, not Walt Disney.

I'm not very impressed with this show, from what I've seen so far. And I had high hopes for it.

 

[BrowncatP]

Moves very well. Does not look enough like him and doesn't sound enough like him. If this is what we get then failure!!

 

[TP2000]

The Walter Matthau jokes on the Disney Twitter this afternoon are cracking me up!

That's exactly who this fake Walt looks like... Walter Matthau! Except worse.

 

[Andrew C]

The Walter Matthau jokes on the Disney Twitter are cracking me up!

That's exactly who this fake Walt looks like... Walter Matthau! Except worse.

I loved him.

 

[Andrew C]

It says they put 7 years of work into this project. And still failed on face? And his voice should have been the easy part.

 

[TP2000]

I loved him.

Me too! Talented and funny in everything he did. I loved California Suite, saw it a couple of times.

One of his funniest movies was A Guide For The Married Man. My Dad took me to see that on a boys night out, and I always wondered why.

 

[TP2000]

It says they put 7 years of work into this project. And still failed on face? And his voice should have been the easy part.

No kidding. Especially the voice. With today's incredible editing technology, there's no excuse for sounding so off like that.

Particularly when the main audience for this show is going to be Disney fans who have all seen and heard the source material for years and decades. I'm really concerned at the quality of WDI's work in the past 7 or 8 years, and this doesn't help at all.

 

[Parteecia]

Once someone mentioned the pillow guy, now I can't unsee that. Thanks a lot.

So what happened? Emperor's new clothes? They knew he wasn't right but no one had the nerve to say it out loud? Couldn't admit it and pull the plug?

In hindsight, they should have made sure they could make the face before they announced it.

 

[danlb_2000]

Personally I think his face is too square and bulky.

Yeah, this is what is putting me off. I can see some reseblance but if that face was just narrower it would look better.

 

[Comped]

Eisner had a genuine affinity for Walt and felt a great connection there (you can debate if this was true inspiration or driven by hubris).

I've spoken to and known folks who worked directly with Eisner. His love for Walt, and the company as a whole, should never be up for debate... Iger's on the other hand? At this point I doubt it...

 

[JohnD]

With the reaction they are receiving already from just the photo and short video, there is no way this is coming to Florida. I can't believe they haven't turned off the comments on Facebook. Everyone is saying it doesn't look like Walt. They really must have thought this was going to be a win for them.

OTOH, this is version 1.0 of this AA. I also said its more believable the farther awsy you are from it. I agree it won't be anytime soon. But Walt Disney Presents is the most obvious location for a version 2.0 AA.

 

[JohnD]

I still don’t get why this was necessary.

It was a 70th anniversary addition. As to "necessary" to celebrate Disneyland's 70th anniversary is open for debate.

 

[Disone]

I’m excited for this! I’ve evolved from queasy at the thought of a Walt AA to optimistic this could be a respectful tribute and serve as an informative show for younger guests. I’ve got the day off Friday; hopefully I can snag a spot in the VQ.

Edit: and as soon as I post this, the Walt AA is revealed lol. Looks more like Tom Hanks as Walt than it does Walt. Or Walt after a long week of too much chili. Maybe it’s passable from a distance? Idk. Why bother with any of this if Walt’s face wasn’t achievable?

That's exactly what I thought too. It looks more like Tom Hanks playing Walt Disney then the actual Walt Disney.

It's not great for those of us who are expecting the actual Walt Disney.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

The only thing that looks incorrect is that there’s no cigar in hand.




In all seriousness, it’s more than fine for what it is. Does it look exactly like Walt? Nope. Does it look absolutely nothing like Walt? Nope. I think most had their expectations sky high. Remember, this is today’s WDI we’re dealing with. This is pretty much what I expected. Doesn’t look great, doesn’t look horrible. Looks fine. Maybe even plain jane good and not a bit more.

I’m way more concerned by the way he sounds.

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ֊ᗩζᗩᗰ]

Figure: Face narrowed, particularly around sides, cheeks and bridge of nose (some can be corrected with repainting), eyebrows trimmed correctly and made less bushy (can still be done), slightly baggier under-eyes (fudged with re-paint), iris darker brown (biggie, shouldn't be skipped) mustache made less bushy and trimmed correctly.(can still be done) As is... It's about 75% Walt.

With repaint/trim,different lighting he'd be closer to 80%. Enlarged shoulder pads and a fuller torso would also help "shrink" his head. Bringing likeness closer to 85% without a new face sculpt.

It's not Trump 1.0 bad and it definitely surpassed the uncanny valley. Passing resemblance but is that adequate for WALT DISNEY? :shrugs:

Sound: I think I'd prefer a voice artist honestly. They have the skills to back it up. AI can assist where needed. AI enhanced dialogue ripped from footage... terrible.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I wouldn’t mind this replacing One Man’s Dream in Hollywood Studios.

That's what I was also thinking it fits the exhibit.

 

[DLR92]

Once someone mentioned the pillow guy, now I can't unsee that. Thanks a lot.

So what happened? Emperor's new clothes? They knew he wasn't right but no one had the nerve to say it out loud? Couldn't admit it and pull the plug?

In hindsight, they should have made sure they could make the face before they announced it.

I was thinking the same thing!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

It was a 70th anniversary addition. As to "necessary" to celebrate Disneyland's 70th anniversary is open for debate.

Because they wanted to be sure they had something before they forgot who the park was based around by the 100th anniversary by 2055.

 

[JohnD]

I also think it gets to the point that a lot of the noise right now is hyperbole, or hysterical, and not at all as big a deal being made out. Perhaps it’s not perfect, that’s fine.

I’m sure many would argue the first Abe animatronic was not perfect either, and nothing like the one we see today.

But this is certainly a big leap in more life like, human figures. I am sure in the future when they decide to build a new version of him, it’ll be even better and closer.

But sometimes it’s okay to just live in the moment, and allow for a little suspension of belief.

Yeah. I'm with you. Is he perfect? No. No AA is perfect. Will he satisfy insiders no matter what Disney did? No. Nothing short of a reincarnated Walt would satisfy. I know, its also not enough to say it satisfies the average guest either who has little knowledge of the man and implies Disney Co. designed for lowest common denominator.

So what are we left with? Designing around a face, torso, and legs robot which allows for certain face shape and torso and very good lifelike movements. I think its impressive with what they were able to come up with.

 

[CoastalElite64]

How could they miss this! Hopefully fan reaction is loud enough for them to redo the face.