Talking Mickey Being Tested in Disneyland

[dlfreak]

Ditto that, it's a (very good) coordinated effort between the voice actor and the character.

[kh_design]

It's really not the talking that creeps me out, it's the blinking...

What if Mickey blinks when a picture is taken?

The people in the character costumes must really study the character they are in and practice their movements and reactions to extreme, they are amazing.

[refurbmike]

Ditto that, it's a (very good) coordinated effort between the voice actor and the character.

Yea. Reminds me of the game where somebody replaces your arms with theres and try to physically act out what you're saying, etc.

[refurbmike]

What if Mickey blinks when a picture is taken?

I'm willing to bet that the eyes are automated to blink when the character is talking. If not, they blink at a regular interval. Either way, the photographer could be instructed to wait until after Mickey blinks to take a picture?

This is merely speculation.

[jupiter]

I'll bet there's some sort of fail-safe there so if his battery runs down he'll go into a "default" face. But Mickey having a stroke would be HILARIOUS. (Not to the kids, but to me.)

[DisneySquirt]

Wow that is truly amazing!! No more telling people that Mickey is saving his voice for the movies!! {that's what I always thought anyway }

[dlfreak]

The photographers are always looking for blinking anyway so if it's Mickey blinking they'll just shoot another one. I think the blinking would just be automated regardless of whether or not Mickey is talking. Also, I'm sure they have control to force the eyes open or closed. For instance, would be cute for Mickey to have his eyes closed for a few seconds if he's talking about some cookies, "Yuuuuum!"

With regards to the coordination, I'm sure there are also quite a few different scenarios that they practice with and repeat often so that the character will know after a few seconds what the voice actor will be saying and can act naturally. Like the thing with the princess photo op I'm sure is a scripted impromptu moment, as is the HIGH-FIVE segment.

One thing I will note about these articulated heads is that I'd heard the original ones used in Florida for Dream Along with Mickey were not used for meet and greets because the heads were very loud. The mechanics inside were audible so it seems like they might have reached a solution with the enginEARing of the articulation.

[1FoolishMortal]

They're definitely newer models. In Dream Along, the characters control the movements with their hands, one for the eyes and another for the mouth. In this test, though, Mickey doesn't appear to be using his hands to control anything.

[cardboardroom]

That's pretty amazing. I kinda expected them to do something like this eventually, because I think I recall seeing a show at MK on YouTube which used animated faces for the characters. But this goes even further than that, because it definitely doesn't appear to be synced up to pre-recorded audio. I'd bet that it's a live voice actor who is able to do the voice well, kinda like Turtle Talk.

[darph nader]

It's about darn time. How many of us always wanted to chat with Mickey,or Goofy,or Minnie?
donald is going to be the biggest trick though.