One of the most impressive things Disney has ever done is perfect the technology for audio-animatronics. From drawing characters to appear on the big screen and making some of them into tangible, physical robots that can speak, move and listen was an incredibly huge step to take in the evolution of technology. It’s also fascinating to think about how Walt was around to create the first ever feature-length hand-drawn animated movie, and witness robotics take form and build his own for his theme park. There was a multitude of audio-animatronics at the Disneyland park on opening day on July 17, 1955, and some of those same ones are still around today. Let’s take a look at some of the oldest animatronics that still grace the Anaheim park now.

Walt Disney and sculptor Blaine Gibson. Image from: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/arts/design/blaine-gibson-sculptor-of-figures-in-disney-parks-dies-at-97.html

The Beginnings of Audio-Animatronics

Walt’s fascination with moving characters first came from a trip he took with his family to Europe in 1949, where he picked up a few wind up toys and a mechanized toy bird that would sing from a cage. He became interested in the mechanics of them all, and acquired a few of his Imagineers (Roger Broggie, Wathel Rogers and Charles Cristadoro) to begin Project Little Man, which was a 9-inch tall figure of a man that would imitate the dance movements of actor Buddy Ebsen. This project would be the first test of a Disney audio-animatronic ever made, and the size of the figure proved to be a challenge. Designers also struggled to make the movements of the little human realistic, and started to find the idea of creating robotic animals was more appealing. The first ever official Disney audio-animatronic can be seen in 1954’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, as the big squid.

Squid from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Image from: https://themindreels.com/2012/10/10/20000-leagues-under-the-sea-1954/

Jungle Cruise (1955)

With the Imagineers new found interest in creating animal audio-animatronics, the opening day Jungle Cruise attraction was the perfect place to test some simple movements. Initially, the parks team had thought about bringing in live animals, similar to a jungle safari or zoo, but they realized they would have no control over what the animals would be doing each day, and it would be difficult for the skippers to give consistent tours. So, artificial animals became the go-to solution. The special effects crew that had worked on the giant squid for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea came to the rescue and began designing the animals for the attraction.

The method used for the animals in the Jungle Cruise was hydraulic technology, which meant that they had oil in them under high pressure, and the force of the liquid made the operational movements possible. These animals had much less realistic movements than some have today, such as nodding heads, jaws opening, ears wiggling, and trunks lifting. The giraffes, rhinoceri, monkeys, alligators, elephants, hyenas, and the iconic hippos have remained a part of the Jungle Cruise since the very beginning. The sacred bathing pool of the Indian elephants was an addition by Marc Davis, and they are still around today. Even more animatronics in a similar fashion would be made for 1960’s Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland.

“Well they were definitely mechanical, you could see the joints of their faces and jaws.”

— Marc Davis

Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room (1963)

A few years after the opening of the park, it was time to continue the adventure into mechanics and advance the technology they had started with the Jungle Cruise. In 1963, Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room opened, and it was one of the most significant revelations of its time. The mechanical singing birds were a huge hit, and was a unique way to bring the focus to this technology.

These birds were not powered by hydraulic technology, but rather a system that used audio to trigger movements. An electronic pulse would be sent through the bird when a tone or vibration would play to trigger a movement. In order to keep the movements controlled and be used for consistent entertainment, a musical soundtrack was created. The soundtrack included songs such as The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room by the Sherman Brothers, Let’s All Sing Like The Birdies Sing, Hawaiian War Chant, and Heigh-Ho. Because of this new found way to have the birds and the audio synced, they could add even more detailed movements to the birds that didn’t exist with the animals in the Jungle Cruise. You could see chests breathing, eyes blinking, and tongues moving. The main birds of the attraction, Jose, Fritz, Michael and Pierre, have been a part of the show since opening day and still hang high above audience’s heads to sing their classic tunes. Today, there are over 150 audio-animatronics inside the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Greatest Moments With Mr. Lincoln (1964)

After Project Little Man proved to be a major challenge due to his size and the inability to hide any of his wires and electronics, the natural next step was to create a human-size animatronic that could house all of its mechanics inside of it. The very first prototype was named after the Chinese philosopher Confucius, and he would be a figure that would stand in the lobby of a Chinese restaurant that was being dreamed up for Disneyland. Guests could speak to him in real time, and he would respond and offer wisdom that could apply to the question guests had asked. They didn’t get very far with this idea, as the Chinese restaurant never opened, and they had only made Confucius’ head. They did make his eyes blink, and after much research watching people move their mouths, they did get him to open and close his mouth. The audio syncing part was where they stopped, not because they had given up, but because an even more important figure was to be made: Abraham Lincoln.

Walt’s dream was to have a room full of animatronics that would all move and speak on their own, and with his fascination with history and politics, he had set his sight on creating The Hall of Presidents. Because of how ambitious this idea was at the time, he had to scale it back and choose just one of the Presidents, and he chose one of his personal heroes, Abraham Lincoln. The 1964 World’s Fair would be where the Lincoln animatronic would make his debut. He would be able to move fluidly, deliver his speech, sit up from his chair and sit back down, and move his arms and head in conjunction to the audio. The mold of his face was sculpted using the actual life mask of Abraham Lincoln by Leonard Volk before Lincoln passed. He was built using a combination of the technology used for the Jungle Cruise animals and the Tiki room birds. This exhibit was so successful and mindblowing to all audiences that it was moved to Disneyland on Main Street to open on July 18, 1965. The attraction closed temporarily in 1973, but reopened due to popular demand in 1975.

Original Abraham Lincoln figure from World’s Fair. Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/3908243801

Though it would be amazing to say that the Lincoln figure we see today is the one from 1965, it just wouldn’t be true. He has undergone quite a few upgrades over the last few decades, including upgrades to his limb movements, costume and skin in 1984, and the mouth movements have changed over the years to accommodate the changes in the excerpts of the speeches he gives. In 2001, his beard was lengthened and was given eye glasses, and in 2009, the hydraulic mechanics were replaced with electronics.

“The final result is so lifelike that you might find it hard to believe.”

— Walt Disney on the Abraham Lincoln figure

Greatest Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Image from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33AcW84vZrk

The early 1960s in preparation for the 1964 World’s Fair was the most promising time for the evolution of audio-animatronics, as several of Disney’s exhibits featured advanced figures, just like Lincoln. The Carousel Theater of Progress would make its debut here and eventually be moved to Walt Disney World, and It’s a Small World would also be built specifically for World’s Fair and be moved to Disneyland to reopen in 1966.

It’s A Small World (1964)

It’s no secret that It’s A Small World is the home to hundreds of audio-animatronics… 240 to be exact. As mentioned above, it also debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair, originally called Children of the World, sponsored by Pepsi. Disney put together the Children of the World attraction in 11 months with the art stylings of Mary Blair, animatronic design genius of Marc Davis, and sculpting techniques of Blaine Gibson. The iconic music was written by Disney’s trusted composers, the Sherman Brothers, who had just finished working on the Mary Poppins soundtrack. Walt loved the “it’s a small world” song so much, that he had renamed the attraction after it. The attraction was an instant hit at the World’s Fair, bringing in over 10 million tickets.

Walt Disney and it’s a small world. Image from: https://parade.com/280410/walterscott/learn-about-the-inception-of-disneys-its-a-small-world-ride/

Mary Blair’s design work would be handed off to the sculpting department, then into the dressing department, where Imagineers like Harriet Burns would sew and create little costumes for each figure. They wanted to ensure each figure was unique and that the countries were represented accurately, through skin colour, hair texture, eye shape, and more. Because there were so many figures to look after, especially with the move from New York to California when the attraction was uprooted, it was around this time that Imagineer Wayne Jackson came up with a system to label all types of audio-animatronics so that parts could easily be found and replaced.

“A1, hydraulic humanoid figures, A2 was animals, A3 was Small World, A5 were your dinosaurs..”

— Wayne Jackson

Pirates of the Caribbean (1967)

The year 1967 was siginificant for the growth of the audio-animatronic world, not only was it the year the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction opened, but it was also the year that Disney officially trademarked the name “audio-animatronic” as their own.

The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction is home to over 120 audio-animatronics, most being pirates, some being cheeky dogs with jail cell keys, others being skeletons. Marc Davis was the lead designer for this ride, and he did heavy research on pirates as he wanted them to look “authentic”. One of the original sketches is the pirate-skeleton laying in bed with the magnifying glass that we see today. The auctioneer pirate was one of the first animatronics in the attraction, and they tried to emulate what they did with Lincoln for it. Roger Broggie and Wathel Rogers would be brought back to work on the mechanics of each pirate, and the entire team would be the ones to oversee the opening of Pirates, as Walt had passed away before he could witness the final attraction.

Some of the original figures and designs that are still up and running today are:

The old man rocking on the porch at the beginning of the attraction
The talking skull warning you about Davy Jones
The skeletal helmsman at the shipped wrecked wheel
The wine drinking skeleton
The magnifying glass skeleton
The skeleton atop the mountain of jewels
The ducking pirates on the pirate ships in the bomb scene
Majority of the pirates in the wishing well scene
The 2 pirates on the bridge during the auction scene
The chasing women and men pirates
The starving kitten pirate
The donkey, dog and instrument playing pirates
Most of the pirates in the fire scene
The shooting pirates in the final scene

Pirates of the Caribbean. Image from: http://www.disneyphotoblography.com/2017/03/pirate-scenes.html

There are thousands of other audio-animatronics that were introduced in the late 1960s, through the 1970s, and even up until today with the incredible feat of the Spider-Man figure that jumps around Avenger’s Campus. Some of the old figures apart from the ones mentioned above are still around, including the animals from America Sings and Country Bear Jamboree inside Splash Mountain, and some of the skeletons and ghosts in the Haunted Mansion.

Reference list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_attractions_using_Audio-Animatronics#Disneyland

https://allears.net/2020/03/30/taking-a-look-back-at-the-history-of-animatronics-in-the-disney-parks/

https://disneyparks.fandom.com/wiki/Audio-Animatronics#Creation_and_early_development

https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/early-days-audio-animatronicsc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBgTMcEPRVI

https://d23.com/audio-animatronics-disneyland-magic-kingdom-walt-disney-world/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU1l7-IE8xs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LI3zmr-sdo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_Enchanted_Tiki_Room#Facts_and_figures

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_Enchanted_Tiki_Room_(album)

https://d23.com/a-to-z/great-moments-with-mr-lincoln/