InPark Magazine – It’s a dimensional thing: Garner Holt: Animatronics are expressive, caricatured collections of plastic and metal. Since their theme park beginnings at Disneyland in the mid-1960s, animatronics (in the modern sense, quite a ways from old-school automata) have sought to deliver performances of expressive immediacy, whether from songbirds or pirates or bearded presidents. Walt Disney, in his role of philosophical and fundraising father of animatronics, recognized that the new technology was merely the extension of the animated shorts and full-length films he pioneered and perfected decades before. “Our whole past has been in the world of making things move,” Disney said. “From a drawing through all kinds of little props and things. Now we’re making these human figures, dimensional human figures move, making animals move, making anything move through the use of electronics. It’s a dimensional thing. It’s a new door.”
2 comments:
No no no.. So weird.. But so cool. I remember back to when I was a kid and went through this exhibit. to be honest, I don’t really think I truly understood that they were plastic... These artists have an eye for detail and for the lack of a better word, are amazing con artists. Think about it, these artists are essentially just created a replica of a person or thing. It is also very cool to see the range of motion that these devices have. Although you can see a slight delay they are still able to achieve every range of motion that a human body can. I think it is important to understand that these puppets are supposed to provide entertainment and everyone can agree that they are doing exactly that. It has been a long time since I have seen these works of art and I would be very interested to see what has changed since the last time that I saw them.
Animatronics are the way for the future for themed entertainment I believe. It brings humans to a lifelike state using both technology and art. The production of animatronics is truly a work of technological genius and artistic craftsmanship. The tech involved to make an electronic skeleton to move like a human being is so intense. We have hundreds of muscles that react in a split second to stimuli due to thousands of nerve endings that shoot electrical signals to our brain. And to mimic these human reactions in a heap of metal and electrodes is remarkable. Then on top of the amazing tech, you have the artistry that goes into crafting the outside to make it look like a human being. The art that goes into the skin tone and the wrinkles, and the plasticity of the skin that is requires for movement. I wish this article went more in depth in the creation and the process of building the animatronic. That is something that I would be really interested in reading.
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