Are animatronics becoming extinct?

B

BKLMickey

New Member
Original Poster
With rumors floating around about the closing of Cranium Command and Food Rocks are animatronic attractions becoming extinct?

In EPCOT we've already lost Horizons & World of Motion for more ride/thrill style attractions. Some of the most beloved attractions in all the Disney Parkks are "E" ticket animatronic attractions. I hope the don't go comepletely by the wayside. When done properly they are first class entertainment.
 
G

General Grizz

New Member
VERY GOOD observation, BKLMickey. Before I go into reasoning and such, I'll post just a few facts 'n' figures...

World of Motion (1982) - 188
Journey into Imagination (1983) - 26
Horizons (1983) - 54
Spaceship Earth (1982) - 65
Food Rocks (1994) - 22
Cranium Command (1989) - 2

Now let's consider the changes and rumors...

Test Track (Replacement of WoM) - 0
JIYI (1999, Replacement of JII) - 0
JII w/Figment (after 1,000,000+ complaints) - 3
Mission: SPACE (Replacement of Horizons) - 0
Soarin' over the Land (Possible rep. of FR) - 0 (Most Likely.)
Unused Area (Replacing CC/WOL) - 0 (If indeed this is true).

That means by 2005, we will most likely have 3 Audio-Animatronics in Future World, excluding Ellen, dinosaurs, and Living with the Land animals.

This means WE WOULD HAVE LOST 350+ AUDIO-ANIMATRONICS FROM FUTURE WORLD ALONE...

...unless...

Spaceship Earth's refurbishment keeps animatronics figures.

We MUST write to Disney and AT&T. Will SE's 2005 change kill all of the animatronics? We do not know. But based on the other attractions, and the fact that new screen technology is being developed for Spaceship Earth, we may not have a single one. Just in case, we must speak out NOW before it is too late.

Thanks a lot!
 
nicholas

nicholas

New Member
Wow! It seems so much more drastic when you actually have the facts and figures staring you in the face. Future World is turning into an Animatronic Graveyard.
 
wanabeimagineer

wanabeimagineer

New Member
You know how when people don't want trees to get torn down by construction companies they like tie themselves to the trees or they live in them for a while? Well who's willing to do the same for our beloved animatronics? :lol:
 
Yen_Sid1

Yen_Sid1

New Member
Disney thinks audio-animatronics are too expensive to maintain. Instead of re-engineering them to make them more reliable. They just them off or remove them.
 
Yen_Sid1

Yen_Sid1

New Member
Disney thinks audio-animatronics are too expensive to maintain. Instead of re-engineering them to make them more reliable. They just "turn" them off or remove them.
 
J

JLW11Hi

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by Yen_Sid1
Disney thinks audio-animatronics are too expensive to maintain. Instead of re-engineering them to make them more reliable. They just them off or remove them.
Click to expand...

And yet they can afford a random AA every once in a while in an obscure place such as the queue to Buzz Lightear's Space Ranger Spin! Not that that's wrong, I love that AA, but if they can do it here, why can't they do it everywhere?

And where the heck are those swashbuckling pirates in PotC???
 
MonorailBlack

MonorailBlack

Member
well here's a question.....who likes Aerosmith on the screen on RnRC or would you prefer audio-animatronics of the band? Who knows, maybe the band decided this. (If anyone knows please inform us!) Maybe the manner of RnRc are things to come.
 
Scooter

Scooter

Well-Known Member
I enjoy most of the audio-animatronics at WDW.

Especially the ones that teach..like World of Motion and Spaceship Earth.

Having said that, they can get rid of the really old boring ones that people fall asleep in.

I think Small World should become a paint ball target range and it should be Open season for Bear hunting at the Country Bear Jamboring:lol:
 
Davis224

Davis224

New Member
Audioanimatronics were invented by Disney for the Worlds Fair. He coined the phrase itself. To get rid of them would be a travesty.
Especially from EPCOT, that was his project, I mean they were all his projects, but if you read his auto/biography(s) EPCOT was what he was always the most thrilled about.


So getting rid of them, I don't think so.

I'll sign any petition started to keep them there!
 
Testtrack321

Testtrack321

Well-Known Member
I think Test Track & M:S could use some AAs to spice it up a little. I was thinking mabey an AA figure watching the testing with a clip-board around the break test and stuff.
 
N

nrose101

New Member
I hope not, the animatronics are always what I think of when I think of Dinsey World. I think they need more, and also more dark rides like before.
 
C

CarpeDM

New Member
While the number of AA is being reduced, I think the imagineers are putting their effort into making them much more complex. Efforts were under way to make a completely self-contained, reactionary AA character- one that could walk without being tethered to a computer and provide simple reactions to guests.

The prototype being talked about was going to be a dinosaur that would walk through the park.
 
Yen_Sid1

Yen_Sid1

New Member
Originally posted by CarpeDM
While the number of AA is being reduced, I think the imagineers are putting their effort into making them much more complex. Efforts were under way to make a completely self-contained, reactionary AA character- one that could walk without being tethered to a computer and provide simple reactions to guests.

The prototype being talked about was going to be a dinosaur that would walk through the park.
Click to expand...

Efforts "were" under way. But because of budget cutbacks, those plans were shelved along with plans of a totally interactive dinosaur "Acrocanthosaurus" in the Cretaceous Trail area of Dinoland. In fact, it is sitting in a parking lot out in Tujunga, CA next to the River Iguanodon.
 
Dizknee_Phreek

Dizknee_Phreek

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by MonorailBlack
well here's a question.....who likes Aerosmith on the screen on RnRC or would you prefer audio-animatronics of the band? Who knows, maybe the band decided this. (If anyone knows please inform us!) Maybe the manner of RnRc are things to come.
Click to expand...

ok, here's a question for you...do you like the animatronics in PotC and HM, or would you prefer big screens all through the attractions with actors acting out the scenes? i'm not trying to be smart, but it's the same principle here. pre-shows, such as the Aerosmith one, are just that...shows. they're not meant to envelope you in an attraction...they just allow you to see what's in store for you, and also set up a storyline for attractions that otherwise would seem rather pointless. animatronics, however, help to make you feel as though you were a part of the attraction itself, because they are 3-D human-like creations....you just can't get the same mood or effect with flat screens.

now, as for the major question...yes, i do think that animatronics are becoming extinct...as much as i hate to admit that. i think it's horrible how Disney's letting so many of them go to waste. i'm all for the petition, picket line, hang cuffing myself to one of them (especially one in SSE)...whatever it takes! this means war! count me in!
 

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