New Living Character Meet and Greets being tested at DL

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Awesome work on that Mickey voice! It sounds like Wayne alot...I do hope this becomes as a big step..Can you imagine seeing every character talking in the park...The lines would be worse than Snow White & the dwarfs at MNSSHP...Here's hoping a Donald & Goofy are in the works!

 

[danv3]

Wow. That's pretty incredible. I do think it would freak some kids out, but it has a lot of possibilities.

 

[djkidkaz]

I think that the person talking is the person inside the costume. It would be too hard to match mannerisms with what someone else is saying. Plus you'll notice how close he gets to the lady to make sure he hears her name.

I don't think anyone mentioned it but this would be perfect for the new Mickey meet n greet going up in the Magic Kingdom to replace ToonTown. Its a great way to try to turn away the negativity of demolishing Mickeys house. "Well his house is gone, but you can now actually have a conversation with him."

 

[HMF]

Good thing Mickey was in a good mood.

 

[Disneyson 1]

Yes, the consensus and a supposed "in-the-know" says this is done with a synthesizer. And WOW. THis is freaking amazing. Can't wait for characters like Donald or Goofy!

 

[DMC-12]

So what happens if and when his head shorts out.. and he starts to have a seizure of sorts? :veryconfu:lookaroun

I imagine that "two weeks" scene from Total Recall (youtube it). :lol::lookaroun

In closing... yeah, this is amazing and maybe a teensy bit creepy. :king:

 

[xdan0920]

There is no doubt that the person inside the costume is the one doing the talking. The technology certainly exists to make this a reality. Frankly I am surprised it has taken this long to emerge. I also believe they will have this technology integrated with all characters at some point in the not too distant future, both inside and outside. Bravo Disney.

 

[WeLComeHomE OKW]

This is absolutely amazing. I'm so impressed.


ITS THE FUTURE. Ive always wanted characters to be able to do this. I hope they can expand this to all the characters soon.

 

[dizpins14]

I'm not entirely convinced Mickey's friend is controlling everything. It appeared Mickey's movements became more specific when he spoke about the princess posses. Those line felt scripted and might have been practiced with those movements.

The main reason I have for believing it is a two person operation is, how can Mickey's friend talk into a microphone without the guest hearing a second voice? Because not only would the costume need to be slightly sound proof from the inside out but it would also have to allow Mickey's friend to breath, hear the guest, and see.

If this is a two person job, then I don't see a major expansion of this technology beyond select Meet and Greets. The cost of having two performers would be too great for Disney to implement this. Not only would you need two friends per character but also character interactions will be longer and more teams of friends would be needed to meet guest demand.

 

[sponono88]

OCRegister.com has a new article about this:

Michele Himmelberg, a Disneyland Resort spokeswoman, confirmed that Disney is testing the talking Mickey. But she declined to comment about whether the character would be added to the park permanently.

For now, the talking rodent is greeting guests at Mickey’s House in Mickey’s Toontown. On Wednesday afternoon, Disney had some groups of visitors in line sign releases before they entered the back room to meet Mickey. As employees handed out releases, they said that the park was doing research on how Mickey was doing. (Note: I was in line with my son, but our group wasn’t selected to be part of the research group. So, we didn’t see the talking Mickey.)

http://ocresort.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/05/disneyland-tests-talking-mickey-mouse-character/43547/

 

[imagineer boy]

The main reason I have for believing it is a two person operation is, how can Mickey's friend talk into a microphone without the guest hearing a second voice? Because not only would the costume need to be slightly sound proof from the inside out but it would also have to allow Mickey's friend to breath, hear the guest, and see.

I think maybe they wear a sort of mask over their mouththat muffles their real voice and converts it to a Mickey voice. Just a theory. :shrug:

 

[unkadug]

Is the sounds emanating from within the head or out of some external speakers?



If somebody says it is Mickey's voice and therefore coming out of his mouth, I think I'll slap somebody! :lookaroun

 

[_Scar]

It must be a two person operation because they would want 0% chance of the illusion being caught. What if it malfunctioned? Then you'd hear a 30 year old guy talking? No, it just doesn't add up

 

[imagineer boy]

Is the sounds emanating from within the head or out of some external speakers?



If somebody says it is Mickey's voice and therefore coming out of his mouth, I think I'll slap somebody! :lookaroun

Judging by the video, when Mickey moves around the room his voice does as well. It makes sense because I'm sure someone would notice Mickey's mouth moving, yet the sound coming out of somewhere in the back of the room.

 

[dxwwf3]

I'm definitley not someone who spends any time at character meet and greet spots, but has a chance to be one of the best advancements in theme park history. This is the future for sure. This is stuff people have always wished could happen (or at least I've always thought about it) and now it is finally a reality. Fantastic work!

 

[jtizzle1023]

I think there has to be some voice changer thing because he moves way to well to have an operator to the talking and moving the mouth at the same time. This is the new quest to find how it works

 

[SMRT-1]

looks GREAT!

 

[ryanduggers]

Boy, Pluto is gonna go postal now......

That video is incredible!!!!!!

When does the new M&G open? I could see that as something to draw attention away from HP if handled correctly & timed right.

I agree that this is definetly the future, but Pluto really gets the shaft with this tech.

Sing with me "Plutos got a gun......" :ROFLOL:

 

[goofykid]

Wow

This is amazing!!!:ROFLOL:

Imagine Goofy doing this! He could bite your head off:dazzle:

 

[hrcollectibles]

Perhaps this is the kind of interaction we will be seeing if the RFID technology.. Perhaps thats how Mickey knew the names of the girls