Disneyland is in the middle of celebrating its 70th year, and amidst the nighttime spectaculars and MagicBand+, Disneyland will open what may be its most important tribute: ‘Walt Disney – A Magical Life’ – the latest attraction that will be housed right near the front of the park in the Opera House.
And I just spent time at the attraction twice over. It starts with a 10-minute movie that tells the story of Walt Disney, featuring archival footage and narration from Disney himself, as well as other parts spoken by Bob Iger, Disney’s current CEO.
Then, however, the curtain rises and you see a recreation of Walt’s office and, more remarkably, what appears to be Walt Disney. Standing in front of the approximately 400-seat theater is the latest audio-animatronic creation by Walt Disney Imagineering. It was a tall order that had been in the idea stage since July 2018 and under development for a full seven years.
When animatronic Walt comes to life, speaking and moving, even leaning up from the desk, settling his arms as we humans do, and then actually taking a step or two forward as if he’s coming out to the audience, it’s magic. True to Disney, it’s a remarkable feat of engineering and effectively creates an immersive moment.
The Walt Disney in ‘A Magical Life’ looks like the real-world counterpart who died in 1966. He moves like a human with full finger articulation and takes steps quite naturally. It’s less transformer-like than some other animatronics, including Disney’s own Lincoln, with much more fluid body movements and a certain sense of grace.
Seated in the audience, I couldn’t figure out exactly how it works – there’s no visible harness or backing, not even leads from the desk. This is the first entirely electric figure to complete that lean-to-stand motion fully.
With both mannerisms and likeness, Disney Imagineering took great care to ensure a faithful recreation here, working in part with the Disney Archives and the Walt Disney Family Museum. This extends to matching how Disney would move and meander, as seen in videos, but also to the clothing and fabric materials used in the chosen attire. Disney Imagineering shared that this version of Walt is from the 1963 timeframe. Take note of the pants hems, which match Disney’s pants from that era.
The team behind this audio-animatronic also shared that special attention was paid to two distinct areas. First, with the eyebrows, as the man was very expressive in this regard, requiring the team at Imagineering to spend time studying facial muscle groups to ensure the eyebrows move in just the right way.
There’s also a notion that Walt Disney has a gleam in his eye, which required the team to study human eyeballs and learn about the cornea bulge of the eye, which is responsible for that sparkle. That’s successfully created here, and I could see both on-axis centered and off, though the effect was more present from the head-on viewing.
The idea here was to go beyond just something that looked like Walt Disney. That effect can be achieved by watching a video, as the team has done with archival footage. Disney’s R&D team told us this was all about immersion and performance.
“Most importantly, we were passionate about creating an Audio-Animatronics figure designed specifically for this attraction, delivering a portrayal that has his nuances, hand gestures, facial expressions, and more- all of the attributes that make this figure’s performance feel uniquely Walt and not simply creating a figure to look like Walt,” explained Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz, a Portfolio Executive Creative Producer at Walt Disney Imagineering.
It really goes back to the story – I think for fans of Disney, this attraction will be a treat, giving them an opportunity to go back in time and see what Walt was like in his office. The choice of dialogue for the animatronic performance goes back to him describing how important the people are at the company, not forgetting where it all started – Mickey Mouse –, and sharing some aspects of his life. For folks who watched ‘Wonderful World of Color,’ which Walt Disney hosted on a regular basis, it’ll be especially nostalgic.
It’s also evident that Disney wanted to create something truly unique here and to push the technology. Instead of placing the Walt Disney figure behind the desk, it’s in front, leaning on the desk, and then standing and taking steps forward toward the audience.
Beyond having a connection to the brand, the technology here, particularly the use of robotics within an audio-animatronic, is incredibly impressive. It’s better than most other ones I’ve encountered. There was also no AI voice recreation used here – rather, the audio was selected, cut, and stitched together from films and shows, and other recordings of Walt Disney’s voice.
If you have the chance to visit Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Walt Disney – A Magical Life’ will be running daily beginning on July 17, 2025. After a period during the 70th Celebration in the park, it will run on and off with ‘Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.’ There’s also a feat of engineering involved, as Disney Imagineering had to re-engineer the stage to create a turntable that allows both Walt Disney and Mr. Lincoln to run within the same venue.
One fun fact – the new turntable stage and its various parts were made in Glendale, CA, as a complete object. Imagineering had to break it down to load it into the Opera House at Disneyland through a small double door, then rebuild it. All for something that’s not visible, but will allow the shows to run.
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