
How Disney built and programmed an animatronic president (2014) - rbanffy
https://arstechnica.com/the-multiverse/2014/06/how-disney-built-and-programmed-an-animatronic-president/
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robbiet480
When it originally opened in Disneyland, Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
required a massive bank of computers which filled the basement floor and
required air conditioning, the only building that had it, making it an
excellent way to cool off during the hot summers. Another fun fact, it was so
expensive that Walt funded the project himself and it required a separate
admission ticket to experience it. Finally, a minor correction to the article:
The Tiki Room was originally envisioned as a restaurant but was changed to be
an attraction before opening because the Imagineers realized people probably
wouldn't respond well to birds defecating in their food (which they obviously
couldn't since they were automated).

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Animats
In 1963? No. The first minicomputer, the PDP-8, didn't launch until 1964.
Those birds were driven by audio tones on magnetic tape driving a reed
receiver.[1] Reed receivers were used in early radio controlled aircraft.[2]
They probably needed a big machine room for all the control gear, and it might
have looked like a computer because of all the magnetic tape gear, but it
wasn't.

The Lincoln system used a multichannel analog instrumentation recorder. Those
could record signals down to DC, because they had FM modulators and
demodulators. (You can't record DC on magnetic tape directly.) I saw a copy of
the original system running in an art gallery in SF in the late 1980s, set up
by some retired Disney employee.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_Enchanted_Tiki...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney%27s_Enchanted_Tiki_Room)
[2]
[http://www.rchalloffame.org/WhoFirst/First01/files/BIGrelayl...](http://www.rchalloffame.org/WhoFirst/First01/files/BIGrelayless-1.jpg.jpg)

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robbiet480
You're entirely right, I misremembered the control gear as computers. As a
disfan, I feel extreme shame.

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robbiet480
The fantastic Walt Disney Family Museum [0] in the Presidio of San Francisco
features a working animatronic programmer that you can use to see what the
process was like for an Imagineer to program a figure. I highly recommend the
museum, especially since it's run by the Disney family and not the Walt Disney
Company.

0: [https://www.waltdisney.org/](https://www.waltdisney.org/)

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peter303
The rides since the 1990s with TV screens and shaky chairs are rather boring
compared to earlier animatronics like Pirates. I generally never have done
them a second time. You'd think with modern assembly line motion capture,
robotics and computers that animatronics would be a cinch.

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maverick2007
As a massive theme park fan, this has been especially pronounced lately (if
you want an example about how bad it's gotten, check out Fast and the Furious
Supercharged at Universal Studios Florida) but there have been rides since the
90s that mix physical sets and screens really well. If you want to check those
out, my two favorites are The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman and Harry Potter
and the Forbidden Journey, both at Islands of Adventure in Orlando.

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jadell
Fast and Furious Supercharged is a terrible ride (and according to a friend of
ours who works at Universal Orlando, the employees agree.) King Kong, also at
Islands of Adventure, is the same ride type, and even uses the same vehicle,
but is a vastly superior ride. I think a lot of it it comes down to the
"story" the ride is trying to tell, and how well it tells it. Spiderman and
Harry Potter Forbidden Journey are also excellent.

I know it's a different ride type than we're talking about, but I'm looking
forward to heading down to Universal Orlando this fall and for the new Harry
Potter ride. Hopefully we won't have to wait 10 hours in line, like the folks
who rode it opening day. Just my opinion, but with the exception of the Avatar
ride as DisneyWorld, I find the rides at Universal to be much more
entertaining and engaging.

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tacon
Firesign Theatre had fun with a routine about "breaking" an animatronic
president. As the president crashes, he mutters stuff from PDP-10 jargon. "uh,
Clem" is from earlier in the routine, where the park visitors were asked to
say their names.

Firesign Theatre - The Breaking of the President (1971)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5x2xBa8p0A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5x2xBa8p0A)

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TimTheTinker
The Lincoln Memorial in my hometown (Redlands, southern CA) hosted Disney’s
animatronic Lincoln and had a running show for several months last year. It
was _really_ good. Though my (then) 3-year-old son still shivers with fear
when he recalls the “talking statue” :-)

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reaperducer
I can't count the number of times my wife and I have been to Disney properties
(Anaheim, Orlando, France, Japan, Hong Kong so far), and even though she's
seen everything Disney has to offer, the animatronic Abraham Lincoln is still
the thing that most impresses her.

Every time we go to the Hall of Presidents, she eagerly sits through the
entire show waiting for the magic moment when Mr. Lincoln stands up. It's the
highlight of the trip.

She's as addicted to Facebook as the next person of her age, but this is still
the apex of modern technology.

(Then she drops me off at "daycare," which is the little film gallery showing
old cartoons, while she goes shopping. Though I hear that is being desecrated
with a gift shop, too.)

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tobr
Is that this one? [https://youtu.be/dJg2Caz3TF0](https://youtu.be/dJg2Caz3TF0)

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rhcom2
Very much in the uncanny valley. I think it's because it's only the head and
face moving, with the shoulders acting like Mr. Lincoln forgot to take the the
coat hanger out of his jacket.

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reaperducer
Point of trivia: Never hold Abraham Lincoln's hat. He was notorious for using
it as a combination trashcan and briefcase.

Surface history books tell you that he carried legal documents in there. But
contemporaries knew him also for putting apple cores in there, and other
assorted things.

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feedbeef
Don't miss Defunctland for more Disney attraction lore. [1]

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defunctland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defunctland)

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inflatableDodo
If they continuously upgrade the hardware, one day it may get elected.

edit - of course, by then we'll call it multivac -
[https://www.multivax.com/last_question.html](https://www.multivax.com/last_question.html)

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webwielder2
[https://youtu.be/JVbliFdOuOM](https://youtu.be/JVbliFdOuOM)

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bredren
Tiki room was a big family favorite of ours. Interesting to get the backstory
on what inspired the experience.

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exabrial
I mean the last 3-4 presidents I could totally believe this.

