Audio-Animatronics
From Free net encyclopedia
Audio-Animatronics or just animatronics is a form of robotics created by Walt Disney Imagineering for several shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally speech or song. An audio-animatronic is different from android-type robots in that an animatronic works off prerecorded moves and sounds, rather than processing external stimuli and responding to them.
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Creation & Early Development
Audio-animatronics were originally a creation of Lee Adams, who started his career with Disney as an electrician at the Burbank studio and was one of Disney's original Imagineers. The first Disney audio-animatronic was the giant squid in the movie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea which was created by Lee Adams. However, perhaps the most impressive of the early audio-animatronics efforts was The Enchanted Tiki Room (Disneyland Anaheim), where a room full of tropical creatures synchronize eye and facial action with a musical score entirely by electro-mechanical means. Disney's 1963 animatronics of the Tiki Room robot birds used tones recorded on tape which vibrated a metal reed that closed a circuit to trigger a relay which sent a pulse of electricity to a mechanism that causes a pneumatic valve to move a part of the figure's body (beak, wing, etc.). The artificial audio-animatronic birds' movements were all triggered by sound, hence the prefix 'audio-'. Figures' movements had a neutral "natural resting position" that the limb/part would return to when there was no electric pulse. The movements were all On/Off moves, such as an open/closed eye or beak. On/Off movement was called a digital system.
Other early examples was the Lincoln Exhibit presented at the State of Illinois Pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Also at the Fair were three other pavilions featuring Audio-animatronics. They were Pepsi/UNICEF's "it's a small world", General Electric's Carousel of Progress, and Ford's Magic Skyway.
Inner Workings
Pneumatic muscles were not powerful enough to move larger objects, like an artificial human arm, so hydraulics were used for large figures. On/Off movement would cause an arm to be either up over the artificial man's head (On switch), or down (Off switch), but no movement in between. To create realistic in-between movement in large figures, an analog system was used. This gave the figure's limbs/parts a full range of in-between motion, rather than only two positions. The digital system was used with small pneumatic moving limbs (eyelids, beaks, fingers), and the analog system was used for large hydraulic human or animal (arms, heads) moving limbs.
List of Disney Attractions that Have Utilized Audio-animatronics
The technology of the AAs at the theme parks around the world vary in their skill. They range from the blinking and mouth movements at Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room to full body movement, from the mouth to the tip of the fingers at Stitch's Great Escape at the Magic Kingdom. Current technologies have paved the way for more elaborate AA figures, such as the figure of Benjamin Franklin at The American Adventure at Epcot, which is capable of walking down a flight of stairs, or the "Roz" figure in the newest Disney's California Adventure attraction "Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!", which can interact with guests.
Disneyland Resort
Disneyland
- Main Street U.S.A
- Grand Canyon/Primeval World dioramas (part of the Disneyland Railroad)
- Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (In 'Hiatus', with a planned return in 2007)
- Adventureland
- New Orleans Square
- The Haunted Mansion
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Club 33 (the condor AA is in the club, but is [and always was] inactive)
- Frontierland
- Mark Twain Riverboat
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland (Since Removed)
- Critter Country
- Splash Mountain
- Country Bear Jamboree (Since Removed)
- Fantasyland
- "it's a small world"
- Matterhorn Bobsleds (attraction opened 1959; Audio-Animatronics added 1978)
- Tomorrowland
- Star Tours
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (opening in 2007)
- Submarine Voyage thru Liquid Space(Since Removed)
- Innoventions
- America Sings (Since Removed)
- Flight to the Moon (Since Removed)
- Mission to Mars(Since Removed)
- Carousel of Progress (Since moved to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom)
- Parades
Disney's California Adventure
- a bug's land
- Hollywood Pictures Backlot
- Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D
- Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
- Lucky the Dinosaur (Since Removed)
Walt Disney World Resort
The Magic Kingdom
- Adventureland
- Liberty Square
- Frontierland
- Fantasyland
- it's a small world
- Mickey's PhilharMagic
- Mickey Mouse Revue (Since moved to Tokyo Disneyland)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Since Removed)
- Tomorrowland
- The Carousel of Progress
- Space Mountain
- Stitch's Great Escape
- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
- Delta Dreamflight (Since Removed)
- Disney's Take Flight (Since Removed)
- Flight to the Moon (Since Removed)
- Mission to Mars (Since Removed)
- The Timekeeper (Since Removed)
- ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (Since Removed)
Epcot
- Future World
- Spaceship Earth
- Innoventions
- Universe of Energy
- Journey Into Imagination
- The Land
- Living with the Land
- Food Rocks (Since Removed)
- Kitchen Kabaret (Since Removed)
- Horizons (Since Removed)
- Communicore (Since Removed)
- World of Motion (Since Removed)
- World Showcase
Disney-MGM Studios
- New York St.
- Hollywood Blvd.
Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Discovery Island
- DinoLand U.S.A.
- DINOSAUR (formerly Countdown to Extinction)
- Lucky the Dinosaur (Since Removed)
- Asia
Tokyo Disney Resort
Tokyo Disneyland
- Adventureland
- Grand Canyon/Primeval World dioramas (as part of Western River Railroad)
- Jungle Cruise
- The Enchanted Tiki Room: Get The Fever!
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Critter Country
- Westernland
- Country Bear Jamboree
- Mark Twain Riverboat
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Fantasyland
- Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour (Since Removed)
- it's a small world
- The Haunted Mansion
- Pooh's Hunny Hunt
- The Mickey Mouse Revue
- Tomorrowland
- Star Tours
- Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
- Visionarium (Since Removed)
- Meet the World (Since Removed)
Tokyo DisneySea
- Arabian Coast
- Sinbad's Seven Voyages
- Magic Lamp Theater
- Port Discovery
- StormRider
- Mermaid Lagoon
- Mermaid Lagoon Theater
- Lost River Delta
- Indiana Jones Adventure: The Temple of the Crystal Skull
- Mysterious Island
Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Park
- Frontierland
- Adventureland
- Fantasyland
- It's a Small World
- La Tanière du Dragon
- Discoveryland
- Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast (opens April 7th, 2006)
- Le Visionarium (Since Removed)
- Les Mystères du Nautilus
- Star Tours
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
Hong Kong Disneyland
- Adventureland
- Jungle Cruise
- Lucky the Dinosaur
- Fantasyland
- Tomorrowland
External links
- Serenade Studios, LLC - Hyper-realistic Animatronics, sculptures, set pieces and interactive systems for all entertainment venues including theme parks, museums, retail establishments, retaurants and the haunt industry.
- KX International, Inc. - Animatronics and control systems
- Spooky F/X - Halloween and Haunted House Animatronic "pop ups".
- Animatronics.org - includes information on the mechanics, electronics, and programming of modern animtronic systems
- Chris Hillman's Animatronics Links - massive collection of links to over 3,000 animatronics web sites
- LifeFormations - Animatronic characters and control systems
- micromagic systems - Animatronics and Robotics for Film and TV.
Additional Information
Animatronics also gained some popularity in the 1980's through use at Family Entertainment Centers such as ShowBiz Pizza Place and Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. fr:Animatronique ja:アニマトロニクス pt:Animatronic