Animated Faces for Characters at WDW

[TrapaJon18]

Daisy Duck has this technology also, cause she was in the Disney Live show, but I guess it doesn't matter since she's not in this one

So i wonder how many other characters do they have in the works.

[doppio]

I love the new articulate faces. Awesome.

[Ben]

What I find interesting is the investment into these animated character faces, yet a number of the dark rides (like Pooh and Monsters Inc), all use static ride figures. I wonder if the investment is because shows draw more people to the parks rather than dark rides... which would be surprising to me.

By the way... I do like the facial movements.

[TP2000]

Yes, those faces are very cool! They could use those in Fantasmic! and the parades with impressive results.

That show, on the other hand, was tough to watch. Very corny. Worse than the Disney Ice Capades.

[Mickey4ever]

that was different! To see MM eyes and mouth move. I wonder if it will scare the kids more (toddlers). And what if it get stuck???? Otherwise pretty cool.

[ZeekSlider]

Daisy Duck has this technology also, cause she was in the Disney Live show, but I guess it doesn't matter since she's not in this one

So i wonder how many other characters do they have in the works.

Apparently, Timon in Paris has this technology as well. Someone at MiceChat posted a YouTube video of Hakuna Matata from Paris, and his eyes blink and mouth opens in the same manner as the Fab Four. The costume also uses the same "pointer" controls.

I'm starting to think this technology has been around for a while but was just never tested HERE in the US. They probably started at smaller venues just to see if it would work and then gradually work their way to the theme parks.

[MagicWDI]

Yes, those faces are very cool! They could use those in Fantasmic! and the parades with impressive results.

That show, on the other hand, was tough to watch. Very corny. Worse than the Disney Ice Capades.

Gotta agree with the whole post. Very cool to see what has been talked about for so long now. It looks pretty cool and convincing.

As for the show... I'll pass.

[1FoolishMortal]

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?

Judging by audience reactions in the videos, I'd say it's pretty successful so far. The show itself was already surprisingly successful to begin with; adding these characters just contributes more to the show. What a great move on WDW's part!

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

For sure!!



This is speculation on my part, but I'm guessing they decided to change Hook & Smee into face characters because it would've looked odd with one set of rubber heads having moving parts & the other set frozen in time. Even though this may have been a budget related move, I'm glad they changed Hook & Smee to face characters because they just seem a lot better like that.

That makes me wonder, though, what they're going to do in the other shows at the parks. Obviously, not all rubber-heads work well as puppets....so are we going to see other characters become face characters as well? The Queen of Hearts, anybody?

[ZeekSlider]

That makes me wonder, though, what they're going to do in the other shows at the parks. Obviously, not all rubber-heads work well as puppets....so are we going to see other characters become face characters as well? The Queen of Hearts, anybody?

From a designer's standpoint (and yes, I may be an artist, but I do know a little about design), the human characters may be turned into face characters. The only exception I see is probably with Lilo, but other than that Frollo has already been tested as a face character in TDL. It's only a matter of time before Queenie, Jafar, and the rest of the human characters loose their rubber heads in favor of prostetics and make-up.

That being said, if the new puppet technology is going to be implimented with every of the costumed characters, some heads are going to end up being redeigned for animation purposes. Stitch's head comes to mind pretty readily, as he's kind of got a wide mouth to begin with. Other heads would probably be Woody and Buzz, as well as possibly Flick and Atta. Personally, I'd like to see them put this technology already in effect with Chip and Dale, but given how small their mouths are already, their heads would probably get redesigned so that their mouths are a little bit more visible.

[AnimationGuy]

Wow, I'm really late into this, but I'm throughly impressed with this.