Audio-Animatronics
From Freepedia
Audio-animatronics or just animatronics is a form of robotics created by Disney's Imagineers 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 animatronic robot is different from an android 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-anamatronic 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 Pavillion at the 1964 New York World's Fair. Also at the Fair were three other pavillions 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. The electric signal passed through a 'black box', which emitted different volts to move the hydraulic body part. For example, the higher the voltage, the higher the figure's arm would rise. 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 hydrolic human or animal (arms, heads) moving limbs. [1]
List of Disney Attractions that Have Utilized Audio-animatronics
Disneyland Resort California
Disneyland
- Main Street U.S.A
- Grand Canyon/Primeval World
- Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (On Hiatus until 2007)
- Adventureland
- Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
- The Jungle Cruise
- New Orleans Square
- The Haunted Mansion
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Frontierland
- Mark Twain Riverboat
- The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- The Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland (Since Removed)
- Critter Country
- Splash Mountain
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Country Bear Jamboree (Since Removed)
- Fantasyland
- it's a small world
- Tomorrowland
- Innoventions
- Star Tours
- Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters
- America Sings (Since Removed)
- Mission to Mars (Since Removed)
- Flight to the Moon (Since Removed)
- Carousel of Progress (Since moved to Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom)
- Parades
- Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams
Disney's California Adventure
- Hollywood Pictures Backlot
- Superstar Limo (Since Removed)
Walt Disney World
Magic Kingdom
- Adventureland
- The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management)
- Jungle Cruise
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Liberty Square
- The Hall of Presidents
- The Haunted Mansion
- Frontierland
- Splash Mountain
- Country Bear Jamboree
- Fantasyland
- it's a small world
- Mickey Mouse Revue (Since moved to Tokyo Disneyland)
- Tomorrowland
- Carousel of Progress
- The Timekeeper
- Space Mountain
- Stitch's Great Escape
- Delta Dreamflight (Since Removed)
- Take Flight! (Since Removed)
- Flight to the Moon (Since Removed)
- Mission to Mars (Since Removed)
- ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (Since Removed)
EPCOT
- Future World
- Spaceship Earth
- World of Motion (Since Removed)
- Universe of Energy
- Journey Into Imagination
- Horizons (Since Removed)
- The Land
- Food Rocks (Since Removed)
- Kitchen Kabaret (Since Removed)
- World Showcase
- The American Adventure
Disney-MGM Studios
- Star Tours
- The Great Movie Ride
Animal Kingdom
- DINOSAUR (formerly Countdown to Extinction)
Tokyo Disney Resort
Tokyo Disneyland
- Adventureland
- Jungle Cruise
- The Enchanted Tiki Room: Get The Fever!
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Critter Country
- Splash Mountain
- Westernland
- Country Bear Theater
- Fantasyland
- it's a small world
- The Haunted Mansion
- The Mickey Mouse Revue
- Tomorrowland
- Star Tours
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Visionarium (Since Removed)
- Meet the World (Since Removed)
Tokyo DisneySea
- Arabian Coast
- Sinbad's Seven Voyages
Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Paris
- Adventureland
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Le Passage Enchanté d'Aladdin
- Frontierland
- The Phantom Manor
- Fantasyland
- it's a small world
- Tomorrowland
- Star Tours
- Le Visionarium (Since Removed)
