Upgrading the animatronic shows

WondersOfLife

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Original Poster
So we all know that AA shows really haven't been the most popular attractions in recent years... They've been normally classified as dated and boring... But GAHHHLEEE!! Has Disney not even REMOTELY considered doing a MASSIVE upgrade to attractions like Carousel of Progress, The Country Bear Jamboree and Tiki Room with the technology that was used for Avatar??? Imagine Carousel with this AMAZING animatronic technology! Heck, even American Adventure and the animatronics in The Great Movie Ride! If they put in a REALLY REALLY GOOD refurb and MASSIVELY overhauled their animatronics with these new big upgrades... Then those classics would be JUST as impressive as they were when they first opened so many years ago!

 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
WondersOfLife said:
Then those classics would be JUST as impressive as they were when they first opened so many years ago!
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...well, yes, but they still probably wouldn't resonate with modern audiences like they did in 1964, and they almost certainly wouldn't draw in the crowds necessary to justify the multi-million dollar price tag of each of those figures.
If Disney were to ever invest the money and time it would take to install figures like this in any of those attractions, it would be part of such a comprehensive overhaul to the attractions' story and look as to make them nearly unrecognizable.

So no, I don't think that Disney has seriously considered making such upgrades.
It's fun to think about, though, and hopefully as Disney builds more of these AAs (what do we even call these things? A-200s? A-1000s?) the price will come down and we'll start to see more and more of them in new attractions. One of the Star Wars attractions is rumored to feature a small army of stormtrooper figures. Perhaps a couple of them will be Shaman-class figures.
 
JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
I would miss some of the old show animatronics if everything went modern. Theres something about watching the more mechanical figures that connects me to the feel and uniqueness of MK.
It will be interesting to see how they do long term, what their breakdown rate will be and the time it takes to get them back up after a failure. The new technology gives us more realism to the show, but the repair headaches and cost must be high too.
 
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WondersOfLife

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
Original Poster
Bairstow said:
...well, yes, but they still probably wouldn't resonate with modern audiences like they did in 1964, and they almost certainly wouldn't draw in the crowds necessary to justify the multi-million dollar price tag of each of those figures.
If Disney were to ever invest the money and time it would take to install figures like this in any of those attractions, it would be part of such a comprehensive overhaul to the attractions' story and look as to make them nearly unrecognizable.

So no, I don't think that Disney has seriously considered making such upgrades.
It's fun to think about, though, and hopefully as Disney builds more of these AAs (what do we even call these things? A-200s? A-1000s?) the price will come down and we'll start to see more and more of them in new attractions. One of the Star Wars attractions is rumored to feature a small army of stormtrooper figures. Perhaps a couple of them will be Shaman-class figures.
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By all means I know it's not likely. Particularly for the reasons you said. But it IS fun think about how AWESOME an audio animatronic show would be today if it were designed with the technology we have offered today and Disney went full out. Like... It would be really impressive.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Wait a second, what about the new rumored Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton President figure they've working on for the Hall of Presidents since before the election?
Is that just going to be a re-skin of the Obama A-100 or are they going to use a Shaman Class figure for the underpinings?
Not to get political, or even critical, but I could see a Shaman Class figure being more, er, fully utilized to portray Donald Trump's typical body language than either Clinton or Obama's.

giphy.gif
 
Princess Leia

Princess Leia

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
Wait a second, what about the new rumored Donald Trump/Hillary Clinton President figure they've working on for the Hall of Presidents since before the election?
Is that just going to be a re-skin of the Obama A-100 or are they going to use a Shaman Class figure for the underpinings?
Not to get political, or even critical, but I could see a Shaman Class figure being more, er, fully utilized to portray Donald Trump's typical body language than either Clinton or Obama's.

giphy.gif
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I thought the plan was to reskin the Obama AA (I know it sounds weird, but idk what else to say), and put the Trump skin on it ("It puts the lotion in the basket"- sorry, again it sounds weird). Then create a low-movement AA for Obama. I don't think Disney wants to to let an A-100 figure go to waste. I also don't think we'll have an answer until next month, Disney hasn't talked about The Hall of Presidents since it closed.
 
Robbiem

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
I'd love to see some upgrades like these. Something like the shaman scene would be great on the movie ride, maybe in place of Tarzan but I wouldn't copy something from another park.

Updating the country bear jamboree would be great. I'd like to add a random element as well so you don't know what set the bears would play, it would really add to the repeatability of the show
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
If you supported the figure from behind, I wonder what kind of animation they could get out of the lower body.
Shaman-Class Fred Astaire on Great Movie Ride, anyone?
 
S

Surfin' Tuna

Well-Known Member
I actually think both the CoP and CBJ would lose something if they were too fluid and too modern. It's their charm that makes them a hit. Watching high-end and 21st century animatronic technology discussing the turn of the century 117 years ago just wouldn't work. Obviously they won't do it, but I think it would be the nail in the coffin of CoP if they did. CBJ might possibly resonate better with young audiences with the upgrade, but I still think it's the nostalgia and/or nostalgic feel that keeps people coming back.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
Surfin' Tuna said:
I actually think both the CoP and CBJ would lose something if they were too fluid and too modern. It's their charm that makes them a hit. Watching high-end and 21st century animatronic technology discussing the turn of the century 117 years ago just wouldn't work. Obviously they won't do it, but I think it would be the nail in the coffin of CoP if they did. CBJ might possibly resonate better with young audiences with the upgrade, but I still think it's the nostalgia and/or nostalgic feel that keeps people coming back.
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What if the Country Bears could actually play their instruments...

 
a goofy username

a goofy username

Active Member
what if the upcoming jungle cruise movie starring the rock becomes a megahit and they update the ride with a shaman-class animatronic of the rock and what if said animatronic gets too intelligent and too powerful and tries to attack guests
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
a goofy username said:
what if the upcoming jungle cruise movie starring the rock becomes a megahit and they update the ride with a shaman-class animatronic of the rock and what if said animatronic gets too intelligent and too powerful and tries to attack guests
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Well then Disney would obviously have to build a Shaman-Class Stone Cold Steve Austin to stop him.
 
KraftServices

KraftServices

Active Member
a goofy username said:
what if the upcoming jungle cruise movie starring the rock becomes a megahit and they update the ride with a shaman-class animatronic of the rock and what if said animatronic gets too intelligent and too powerful and tries to attack guests
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I started out rolling my eyes and ended by laughing really hard.

And I don't know why my next thought was to bring the Abraham Lincoln animatronic to life to fight the Rock animatronic.
 
rct247

rct247

Well-Known Member
If it's any attraction I'd love to see updated with new state of the art animatronics it would be Carousel of Progress. Even jack sparrow quality would be great. COP is supposed to be very human. Father fanning himself is one perfect example. It's terrible now. Cost wise, you couldn't justify it but one can dream.
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
rct247 said:
If it's any attraction I'd love to see updated with new state of the art animatronics it would be Carousel of Progress. Even jack sparrow quality would be great. COP is supposed to be very human. Father fanning himself is one perfect example. It's terrible now. Cost wise, you couldn't justify it but one can dream.
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How the reaction would be if A-100's were being used in CoP at the start of the first scene...
agtmbomg.gif
 

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