Characters Talking

[colliera]

Actually . . .

Not to step on your toes, so to speak, Pixie Duster - but that very technology was under development in WDW Central Shops when I did the Backstage Magic tour. At the time someone at a development level didn't think it was something that shouldn't be done. It just hadn't been done. This was back in 1998 or 1999 as I also saw the globe from Reflections of Earth in dry dock before it was moved out to EPCOT for its Y2K celebration.

I have no idea if the reason it hasn't been seen yet is a developmental problem, a change in plans, or they are just holding this in reserve for the "right" timing to implement. Maybe if you know someone in CS that was around at that time they could put light on the subject. I'd be curious to know what happened.

BTW, kids don't appear to have any problem at all with Bear in the Big Blue house talking or singing.

 

[wdwvip3]

Oh duh

Easy answer to all of this... and I can't believe why I didn't think of it before...

While working with my Disney friends and over hearing the wonderful-life-saving (most) greeters that are with us the reason that the characters don't speak face to face but do in the shows and parades... (dun dun dun... here we go folks) They are saving the voices for the shows and parades. If they were to talk all day long to everyone they saw, how in the Magic Kingdom would they be able to muster up enough for the shows and parades that last throughout the day and parks...??? :hammer:

The answer was very clear... Duh to all of us! :sohappy:

 

[Mary Poppins]

Re: Actually . . .

Originally posted by colliera

BTW, kids don't appear to have any problem at all with Bear in the Big Blue house talking or singing.

This isn't any different than what has already been discussed in this thread. Bear will not speak when (the very few times) he is meeting with guests.

 

[Marijil]

Originally posted by mkt
oh.. I was part of that magic for many years of my life and to this day I hold its sanctity sacred... that being said, kids read these boards... and that's why I believe in keeping the discussions either over their head, or keeping the magic alive. In this day, children are exposed to countless things I wasn't... namely violence, cursing, and civil unrest worldwide. They still have their imaginations intact... leave it intact. They know about cursing, they know about fights, and they know that the Disney Characters are real. Don't deny them that knowledge.

alright... enough ranting, I want a McRib.

that is why they should be limited....one at a time...in the park(trying to keep over the heads)....too much ruins it

 

[Pixie Duster]

Re: Actually . . .

Originally posted by colliera
Not to step on your toes, so to speak, Pixie Duster - but that very technology was under development in WDW Central Shops when I did the Backstage Magic tour. At the time someone at a development level didn't think it was something that shouldn't be done. It just hadn't been done. This was back in 1998 or 1999 as I also saw the globe from Reflections of Earth in dry dock before it was moved out to EPCOT for its Y2K celebration..

ok what? I never said a thing about technology or anything pertaining to your response....

 

[Sir Hiss527]

Could we just close this thread it's so stupid...?

 

[crazydaveh]

I think the way they have it now, with some characters talking, and others not, works fine. I don't want the Buzzlightyear character saying "To infinity and beyond" with a slang southern or northern accent!

I like how the talking characters interact with guests, it's fun to try and get them out of character, and sometimes you can, but most of the time, they try hard to stay in character form!

Though last Summer, the Peter Pan characters were running around, when Wendy was chasing the old man(Iforget his name) and tripped and fell and almost let out a bad word... It was a natural instinct that anyone would of done, with most of the guests around only caring that the young girl was ok.

 

[barnum42]

Originally posted by Disneyfan81
How come some of the characters at WDW talk and some don't? I've noticed those in full costume such as mickey and goofy don't talk but those such as cinderella and snow white can. I understand about voices, but why let the princesses talk?

Having scanned this topic I do not appear to have seen this reason:

A character may appear to be in two places at the same time. This I believe is possible by a special blend of Pixie Dust that causes a time warp enabling the character to appear to be in two places at once. However the character can itself only occupy one continuous time line.

So for an example, say little Jimmy spoke to Mickey outside the castle at 10:00am, then saw him in Toon Town at 4:00pm and mentioned back to something that they discussed at 10:00 am, Mickey may not know what he is talking about. This could cause confusion in Jimmy either causing him to think that Mickey did not pay attention to their earlier conversation, or even worse, it’s not the same Mickey.

Now as we know it is the same Mickey. But due to the complexities of the space time continuum and the necessity of Mickey and his pals to occupy several places almost simultaneously, sometimes in Mickey’s personal timeline the first time segment of the day he is seen in may appear to guests in Magic Kingdom to be 4:00pm. This means that to Mickey it is the first thing he is doing in his day, even though to Jimmy it is the second time he has met Mickey on that same day. Mickey will not get to meet Jimmy at the castle until later in Mickey’s day when he will jump back in the timeline as seen from a guest’s perspective. That is, when Jimmy first meets Mickey 10:00am at the castle, to Mickey’s perspective he has already spoken to Jimmy.

So, anyone who has stayed with me through this explanation and has managed to understand it (possibly after re-reading and drawing diagrams) will realise this is a horrendously complex situation. Now think how confusing this would be to Jimmy and just how much time would be taken up by Mickey having to explain this to Jimmy. A lot fewer people would get to meet Mickey, as he would be spending too much time explaining the whole time warp thing to dumbfounded guests.

So it makes much more sense for him to remain quiet and avoid these confusions.

As far as the face characters talking, I believe there were problems trying to get them to travel backwards in the time line. So their perspective of the day is in the same order as the quests, so if they meet Jimmy later in the day they can remember what happened earlier and so avoid the whole confusion issue of backwards time warp.

Does that clear the matter up for everyone?
:animwink:

 

[Pixie Duster]

I much prefer the 'needing rest thier voices' as a better explanation. As for the characters that speak to guests and during performances, will those guys ar ejust powerhouses

 

[Wilt Dasney]

barnum42:

Well, DUH!! EVERYBODY knows that--nobody bothered to mention because they all figured it was so obvious. Next you'll be telling us how the ice at the drink carts keeps the sodas cold! :hammer: :animwink:

 

[Maerj]

Guys-

I did post the actual reason for this, but I eliminated due to the encouragement of other memebers who wish to "save the magic" for children. So, in order to respect their wishes, I deleted the explanation and dropped the subject. Perhaps it would be good if we just dropped this subject entirely. If anyone really has a burning question concerning the characters, you should private message mkt or someone and ask!

 

[barnum42]

Originally posted by Maerj
Guys-
I did post the actual reason for this, but I eliminated due to the encouragement of other memebers who wish to "save the magic" for children. So, in order to respect their wishes, I deleted the explanation and dropped the subject. Perhaps it would be good if we just dropped this subject entirely. If anyone really has a burning question concerning the characters, you should private message mkt or someone and ask!

I thought I just posted the actual reason :animwink:

I think MKT will confirm the reason is in there. Feel free to PM me if I got it wrong.