Animated Faces for Characters at WDW

[Iframedroger R]

thank you Fab.

dlfreak, i was wondering if it was robotic or manual.

[TrapaJon18]

I dont kno if this was said but the mouths are controlled by the CM, if you take a look at the video on page 2 you can clearly see that there is a control button in the hands of the costuems, because they press their index finger and thumb together to make the mouth move.

the button is on their right hand

[dlfreak]

You know what? I think you're right! It looks like the eyes are controlled in the left hand and the mouth is controlled on the right hand. Now THAT is amazing! Sounds difficult.

I noticed it most on Minnie when there is a close up on her you can see her "snap" her fingers. At 01:27...

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[Iframedroger R]

that seems really difficult to accomplish!!!!

[Pinocchio85]

Those look fantastic. I hope they come to DLR soon.

I think Fantasmic would be a good place to start.

[1FoolishMortal]

That looks really difficult!


Props to the CM's playing the characters, though. It's gotta be tough managing all the dance moves, other motions, mouth movements, eye movements, etc. and do it in a convincing way. They do a really great job considering they have to manage all of those things!

[tcsnwhite]

ahh, some were saying its controlled off stage by a person or two, some say pre-programmed. But know that I watch that video and a few others more closely, it has got to be in the gloves. You guys are right! It looks like a slight touch of two of the fingers together activates the mouth, the other eye blinks. It's a lot of finger movement!!! And a lot of coordination.
Wow, that has got to be a lot more work for the character, but I think it is all worth it. I wonder what the perspective is from the folks putting on the show and those actually using the technology? successful, working, or pain in the butt?

[tcsnwhite]

Those look fantastic. I hope they come to DLR soon.

I think Fantasmic would be a good place to start.

I think once they assess how successful it turns out to be, and work out any bugs/issues, then we will see it start to spread to the various parks. From what they made it sound like, it should/could go to all or most of the parks. This was just the first testing ground in the parks, with the Feld's Disney Live! show being the first real test. They said it's for scripted/pre-recorded live shows and parades, not for meet and greets...obviously.

So far it has been the fab five, or err, four only. It will be interesting to see what other fur characters get this treatment. Take POD for instance. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy don't really have scripted dialogue in that parade, but they could, I guess, blink and move the mouths to the Welcome song. Other characters like Pinocchio, Queen of Hearts, and Timon are 'fur' characters with scripted dialogue in POD. I wonder if they could possibly get the upgrade?

and I bet the Japanese audience would eat this up in a heartbeat!!

[ZeekSlider]

Wow, that has got to be a lot more work for the character, but I think it is all worth it.

I hope this means they are getting paid more for "clicking" their fingers together to make everything move.

I wonder how they handle props. Doesn't Donald get a sword when he is playing Pirate? How does that work if one hand controls the mouth and the other controls the eyes? One of the elements would be kind of shot.

[nxdxtattoo]

I just came across this video of a wdw performance. and Its almost too real. Kinda creepy

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...68533822&hl=en