Walt Disney – A Magical Life

[Disney Irish]

It's okay! Thanks to those of us who didn't it happened in the first place.

Yes I'm sure the couple dozen of us here in this thread had an impact.

 

[Disone]

Yes I'm sure the couple dozen of us here in this thread had an impact.

Along with the many others....

 

[ParkPeeker]

I would really love for them to revise this. It’s an amazing AA. But that’s overshadowed by the fact that it doesn’t capture his likeness (and arguably even his facial expressions.) It’s enough for me to suspend disbelief live and in the moment, but not enough for me to praise the work as anything above just acceptable. And tbf it is quite the tall order to bring to life a figure such as Walt. But that doesn’t look like him and the artists there know this. It’s just enough to get by.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Extremely curious... saw a clip from today, and the face immediately did look better to me. As others have already mentioned, it is seemingly slimmer faced, slimmer necked etc...

 

[Figments Friend]

We need current photos, and a side by side comparison if the above change to Uncle Walt’s face is true.

Get on it, people.
I fully expect to see this in the morning.



-

 

[Magenta Panther]

Well, the thing is breaking down already. Here's a link to BlogMickey and a video of the occurrence. I think I'm going to puke.

VIDEO: Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic Breaks Down on Debut Day at Disneyland

The Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic broke down on its debut day at Disneyland, and videos have been posted to social media showing the incident

blogmickey.com

 

[mickEblu]

I think I realized (one of) the reasons the Walt AAs face bothered me so much. He looks very much like on of my Dads distant cousins. To the point where the AA looks more like him than Walt. At least the one from the original clip.

 

[Andrew C]

Sorry @Andrew C and @Disone looks like many of us are "settling" for this new updated one that debuted today.

Am I supposed to be impressed by it now?

 

[Yidsid2020]

This face does look better than the one that was shown during previews that we all have been commenting on. So I have to assume they either got delayed and just went with a test one for previews or they were intentionally holding back the better version for the actual debut today.

Ah, no...the head is still the same. Most likely they have a number of faces available to them for future replacement as time goes passes. The product that is being used has a 'shelf life' to it as do all of the faces on these figures. Possibly, it is merely a different fitting of the same product. Neck too big, still too far away from the actual subject to be correct, brows are too much, as well as the mustache, profile too wide, and neck is too far away from the shirt when the head turns. With the oversized neck dressed as it is, they haven't found a way to create wardrobe to allow the neck to 'float' as it turns left to right. As it is now, it looks like a stick puppet with a separate head away from its body. Or, it looks like what most ventriloquist figures look like when their head is turned. They didn't hold back.

 

[Purduevian]

Well, the thing is breaking down already. Here's a link to BlogMickey and a video of the occurrence. I think I'm going to puke.

VIDEO: Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic Breaks Down on Debut Day at Disneyland

The Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic broke down on its debut day at Disneyland, and videos have been posted to social media showing the incident

blogmickey.com

Every AA breaks down... I really don't think it's news.

 

[Disstevefan1]

CNN saying Disney is saying Walt is their most lifelike animatronic yet. Yup that makes sense.

 

[Stevek]

It's Disneyland's 70th anniversary and they post half-a**ed stuff. It took multiple viewers half a second to notice a malfunctioning AA. Why not Disney before posting, not to YouTube, but their paid streaming site, Disney+? If this technology were around when Walt was alive, he wouldn't never have allowed it to be added. For him, either it's right or it wouldn't be presented to the public. How times have changed.

What is actually broken. I watched the video, the mouth and eyes were moving. I've ridden it once, don't recall if she is supposed to do anything more. But again, the viewers that are commenting are likely more hardcore fans. The average fan isn't going to have a clue what is and isn't working.

 

[Stevek]

No you’re wrong. We’re distraught over this.

Coming in hot today huh? You know, they used to care about stuff like this. The reason you are here today on this site is because of how much they used to care about stuff like this. Remember that.

Not really coming in hot. I used to be one of those people that walked around the park looking for chipped paint, lightbulbs burned out, etc. Putting everything under a microscope ruined the experience for me. This Tiana thing, while apparently not perfect, is not ruining the experience for me (whether via video or in person) as it is just one small component of the attraction. I can guarantee you that prior to social media, and when Walt was alive, attractions had issues. We just didn't have bloggers, vloggers and hardcore fans that dissected every single aspect of every part of the parks. If I'm going to complain, it's going to be about longer lines, increased prices, lack of entertainment...not one animatronic that appears to have issues in a video most people won't notice.

 

[MisterPenguin]

CNN saying Disney is saying Walt is their most lifelike animatronic yet. Yup that makes sense.

Just another example of the mass media deeply criticizing Disney as it falls off a cliff!!

 

[JohnD]

The average fan isn't going to have a clue what is and isn't working.

That isn't the point. Walt himself would never stand for that. "Whatever. Her mouth is gaping open. Our guests won't even notice." No, either its done right or not shown at all. I get that AAs breakdown all the time. What you don't do is show a broken down AA on an official Disney video, especially Disney+, a streaming service of which you pay a subscription. It says a lot about the current Disney environment that they would even let this pass. I'm surprised they haven't yet taken it down.

This is what you should be seeing.

 

[Disney Irish]

Ah, no...the head is still the same. Most likely they have a number of faces available to them for future replacement as time goes passes. The product that is being used has a 'shelf life' to it as do all of the faces on these figures. Possibly, it is merely a different fitting of the same product. Neck too big, still too far away from the actual subject to be correct, brows are too much, as well as the mustache, profile too wide, and neck is too far away from the shirt when the head turns. With the oversized neck dressed as it is, they haven't found a way to create wardrobe to allow the neck to 'float' as it turns left to right. As it is now, it looks like a stick puppet with a separate head away from its body. Or, it looks like what most ventriloquist figures look like when their head is turned. They didn't hold back.

First where did I say the “head” was different? We’ve been talking about the face sculpt, not the mechanical head itself. Second I saw it this morning and can confirm 100% it’s a different face sculpt than the one used during the preview videos. Dusty from Micechat confirmed this yesterday, and I can tell as well today. It’s a better fit, the neck isn’t bunched up like it was previously, eyebrows are trimmed and styled as well as his mustache. So all in all this is a 100% improvement over the one shown in the previews. Now is it perfect, no. But it is Walt, everyone in my audience was wow’d when the curtains opened and he sat up from his desk.

Have you seen it in person after yesterday or are you just commenting based on videos and other peoples comments here?

 

[Disney Analyst]

That isn't the point. Walt himself would never stand for that. "Whatever. Her mouth is gaping open. Our guests won't even notice." No, either its done right or not shown at all. I get that AAs breakdown all the time. What you don't do is show a broken down AA on an official Disney video, especially Disney+, a streaming service of which you pay a subscription. It says a lot about the current Disney environment that they would even let this pass. I'm surprised they haven't yet taken it down.

This is what you should be seeing.

Truly, this is something I can get onboard with being ridiculous. There was a time when major AA's not working counted as a ride shutdown. Show is important, and yet they've now released a filmed POV with broken AA's?!

Dumb. Lack of attention to detail. Lack of caring for show.

 

[Yidsid2020]

First where did I say the “head” was different? We’ve been talking about the face sculpt, not the mechanical head itself. Second I saw it this morning and can confirm 100% it’s a different face sculpt than the one used during the preview videos. Dusty from Micechat confirmed this yesterday, and I can tell as well today. It’s a better fit, the neck isn’t bunched up like it was previously, eyebrows are trimmed and styled as well as his mustache. So all in all this is a 100% improvement over the one shown in the previews. Now is it perfect, no. But it is Walt, everyone in my audience was wow’d when the curtains opened and he sat up from his desk.

Have you seen it in person after yesterday or are you just commenting based on videos and other peoples comments here?

Confirmation. The head fits better, the sculpt is still off, there's a confirmation of scores on this site and around the world who have only seen what has been shown online. Those who have seen the display, come out readdressing the same issues (and even a few more). The brows and mustache are better, not right, but better. The 'twinkle' is fixed and a nice touch. The face is better when it is looking at the audience. The profile is off. But, wouldn't have been better to get it 100% perfect prior to putting it on show? Why disappoint the masses who were expecting to see more than an advancement of AA? The AA movements are advanced, that is a given. The movement of the body from the leaning position to an upright stand with the fluidity of the right leg moving was very nice. From the collar of the shirt down movements, they have advanced AA from the past. Who knows, maybe they will continue to exchange the mask/face as the display 'lives on' into the future. The display will continue to be shown (hopefully without future mishaps). It will give them additional time to tailor the pant cuffs, fill in the legs so the pants appear to be full, ease the button on the coat, and possibly come up with a method that will allow the neck of the shirt to move with the neck. Time will tell.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Every AA breaks down... I really don't think it's news.

At least they are consistent

 

[Stevek]

That isn't the point. Walt himself would never stand for that. "Whatever. Her mouth is gaping open. Our guests won't even notice." No, either its done right or not shown at all. I get that AAs breakdown all the time. What you don't do is show a broken down AA on an official Disney video, especially Disney+, a streaming service of which you pay a subscription. It says a lot about the current Disney environment that they would even let this pass. I'm surprised they haven't yet taken it down.

This is what you should be seeing.

Well, that's exactly the point. Do you think things were perfect 100% of the time when Walt was around or that every TV show went off without an error? We're debating about one animatronic on a video when rides had issues all the time when Walt was alive (and since) that had much more impact on guests in the park than one animatronic that was onscreen for 10 seconds. This fanbase picks some interesting hills to die on.