Josh D’Amaro Explains Why Disney Decided to Make a Walt Disney Animatronic
While the Disneyland 70 celebration has been underway for weeks now, the anniversary’s crown jewel will open today when Walt Disney – A Magical Life premieres on Main Street, U.S.A.
Housed within the Main Street Opera House, the new attraction celebrates the history of the Disneyland Resort. The story begins in the Main Street Opera House lobby, where guests can explore the Evolution of a Dream exhibit.
After learning about the origins of Disneyland, visitors can also explore the Audio-Animatronic exhibit, which details the history of this medium.
Photo: Disney
From there, guests watch a pre-show video narrated by Bob Iger, before heading into Walt’s office and hearing from the man himself. Using Audio-Animatronic technology, Walt Disney has returned to Disneyland.
The Walt Disney Animatronic
When Disney first announced that it was creating a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic, some, including his granddaughter, were opposed to the idea.
Nevertheless, Imagineers plowed ahead and created one of the most advanced Audio-Animatronics in history.
Why Create an Animatronic Walt?
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro discussed the new Walt animatronic and the thought behind its creation.
“Well, first of all, we wanted to make sure that all generations new and older had a chance to get to know Walt, to understand him, to celebrate him, his life and his legacy. Walt had always talked about innovating and pushing the envelope of technology, and that’s continued up until today with our Imagineers,” he said.
” And the Imagineers and I believed that we were at the point where we could bring Walt to life for fans, again, both older and new, to tell his story, that the technology had matched the moment.”
Discussing the attraction, D’Amaro described Walt Disney – A Magical Life as a “passion project” that inspired Imagineers to push the boundaries of technology and storytelling.
“And so the Imagineers really pushed hard and have created a state of the art animatronic which will put Walt on full display for our fans. This was a passion project. It’s something that the Imagineers took very, very seriously,” he said.
“I had a chance to see it again yesterday, and I think it’s going to be a great tribute to Walt, a great tribute to the Walt Disney family, and quite frankly, a great tribute to our guests, both young and old.”
Preserving Walt’s Legacy
While some fans have continued to complain about the new Walt animatronic, there is no doubt that Disney carefully considered what it was doing with the new attraction.
Photo: D23
Hopefully, D’Amaro is right and Walt Disney – A Magical Life introduces young audiences to the man whose theme park has brought joy to the world for 70 years.
