As was the case for generations before them, there’s nothing more exciting for today’s young children than getting a glimpse of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or another beloved character actually greeting them on their first visit to a Disney theme park. Creating this memorable experience requires well-trained employees (or “cast members” as the company puts it) dressed in oversized costumes. Nevertheless, while it may be effective, it was not part of Walt Disney’s long-term vision. A true space-age man, he envisioned a time — certainly not in the distant future — when Disneyland could be filled with reliable, tireless, and completely lifelike robots, animal, human, or otherwise.
At this event, Disney only lived long enough to see his people create a mechanical version of Abraham Lincoln, but his abilities were limited to getting up from his chair and giving a short speech. By the time the “audio-animatronic” revival of the 16th president of the United States was first publicly unveiled at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, rumors of its development had already sparked much ethical and aesthetic controversy. But it worked so well, at least once the initial baffling technical issues were worked out, that some attendees thought they were seeing an actor dressed as Lincoln, and even wondered if the poor guy was tired from doing the same routine all day.
This story is included below from the video above vanished landa YouTube channel focused on amusement park-related failures, especially those related to the Disney empire. The Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show was a success, as was the all-robot Hall of Presidents, which opened at Disneyland in 1971, a few years after Disney’s death. But trying as hard as it can and spending as much money as it can, the company still hasn’t realized the vision its founders were obsessed with: creating, in effect, the life of technology. Of course, Disney wasn’t the first to have such Promethean ambitions. Humans have been trying to pull off that trick for quite some time, as evidenced by the work of minds like Leonardo da Vinci and medieval polymath Al Jazari, which we’ve previously covered on Open Culture.
It takes quite a bit of historical, economic, technological, and even philosophical background to explain Disney’s long and frustrated quest to create an android (or, in some cases, a mouse). That’s it vanished land Creator Kevin Perjuler does a few things in the documentary that makes up the early videos from last year. The above part has just been released. Over a total running time of six hours, he delves into issues of great interest to Disney lovers. What is it that keeps the world’s most ambitious entertainment companies from perfecting their automatons well into the 21st century? But as those of us of a certain age who have fond memories of relatively crude productions like The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean (not to mention non-Disney productions like Chuck E. Cheese) understand, perfection isn’t necessarily the way to win a child’s heart.
Related content:
Medieval Arabic manuscripts include designs for “perpetual flutes” and other ingenious mechanical devices
Armored knight “Robot” designed by Leonardo da Vinci (around 1495)
A 200-year-old robot that plays music, shoots arrows, and writes poetry: Watch the automaton in action
First look at Disneyland’s original prospectus
Disneyland 1957: A short walk down memory lane
Map of Disney Entertainment Empire Reveals Deep Connections Between Movies, Merchandise, Disneyland and More (1967)
Based in Seoul, Colin Mbemust write and broadcastIt’s about cities, languages and cultures. His projects include the Substack newsletter books about cities and a book Stateless City: A Stroll Through Los Angeles in the 21st Century. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter. @Colinbemust.
Source: Open Culture – www.openculture.com
