The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presideo of San Francisco has a new “resident.” He looks familiar, but the specifics of his personality and mannerisms are for you to decide.
At the heart of the museum’s newest exhibit is Pepe del Presideo, a replica of the Audio-Animatronic Barker Bird formerly perched outside the entrance to Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. Museum guests will first experience a brief show and film about the history of Audio-Animatronics, then guests will be invited to use an authentic programming joystick to interactively experience the fine art of three-dimensional animation for themselves.
The original Disneyland Barker Bird, whose name by the way was Juan, flew the coop after continually attracting a flock of gawkers and restricting access to Adventureland.
Walt Disney once said of Audio-Animatronics, “it’s just another dimension in the animation we have been doing all our life.” The new interactive exhibit, is a gift to the museum from Garner Holt Productions, Inc., the world’s largest creator of animatronic characters, and the primary animatronics provider for Disney theme parks.
The Walt Disney Family Museum is located at 104 Montgomery Street, The Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94129. They can be found online at at http://www.waltdisney.org/.
Written by Tim Middlebrow