Disney will roll out its first ever Walt Disney Animatronic figure as part of its new show Walt Disney: A Magical Life this spring.
The company has officially announced that the show will debut in the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland on May 16, 2025. The attraction will feature a cinematic presentation followed by the animatronic Walt addressing the audience from his office. It will occupy the Main Street Opera House exclusively for the initial rollout before playing in rotation with the long-running Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show.
Concept art for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln via Disney Parks Blog
READ: Walt Disney’s Granddaughter BEGS Disney To Stop Developing Walt Animatronic
This marks the first time Disney has featured an audio animatronic figure of the company’s founder, and it comes with a large share of controversy.
When the Walt animatronic was announced at the D23 expo earlier this year by Parks and Experiences head Josh D’Amaro, it received immediate pushback from Walt’s granddaughter Joanna Miller, advocating both for her own wishes and that of her late mother.
There is only one or two ways you could respectfully bring back Walt as an AA, and this is decidedly NOT it.
But don’t take my word for it, see what his daughter (via his granddaughter) both have to say: #D23Expo pic.twitter.com/UuKehqPkNB
— Joshua L Harris (@JLHomni) August 12, 2024
“Everyone please stop the madness,” she wrote shortly after the announcement. “Do not let them turn Grampa [sic] into a ROBOT!”
Miller then dropped a major bombshell, sharing that her mother, Walt’s daughter Diane Disney, had stopped previous attempts by the company to enact this plan.
“Mom tried to stop this years ago and they respected her wishes,” Miller said.
Walt Disney in Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1966), Walt Disney Productions
It would also seem that now, with Diane Disney a decade gone, they felt as though her feelings were no longer valid.
“There is plenty of film so people can see and hear him talk,” Miller continued on. “He has told you everything on TV show lead ins and specials.”
Miller also stated recently that her thoughts on this matter haven’t softened.
“The idea of a robotic Grampa [sic] to give the public a feeling of who the living man was just makes no sense,” she said. “It would be an imposter. They are dehumanizing him. People are not replaceable.”
However, her brother, Christopher Miller, seems a lot more open to the idea of seeing his grandfather re-created as a puppet of the Disney corporation dancing on the strings of Josh D’Amaro and Bob Iger.
Walt Disney in Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1966), Walt Disney Productions
“Their work to that point was stellar and they were very eager to be as accurate as possible in creating this,” he said, referencing what he saw of the project. “We came away confident that this is the right group to take on this important project.”
Disney also issued a statement on the upcoming show:
“Creating an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney is an enormous responsibility and one that we take incredibly seriously. We are bringing the same care, research, and respect to Walt Disney as Walt himself did when he advanced the technology he pioneered by creating the Abraham Lincoln figure for the 1964 New York World’s Fair and ultimately ‘Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln’ at Disneyland Resort. We continue to push the artform and technology in every way possible to ensure that this tribute is done right.”
However, Joanna Miller noted that Matt McKim, a retired imagineer and son of imagineer Sam McKim, told her that Walt had confided in his father that he never wanted to be turned into an audio-animatronic figure. This is a sentiment echoed by several other former imagineers.
Do you believe it’s disrespectful for Disney to create a Walt Disney animatronic figure? Will you see Walt Disney – A Magical Life when it opens? Sound off in the comment section below and let us know!
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