The latest film from the Russo Bros., “The Electric State,” has some unique backstory to it — namely that Walt Disney’s early animatronics for Disneyland took a turn… and eventually rose up against their makers.

New Russo Bros. Movie About Animatronic Uprising

Profiled in Vanity Fair, Joe and Anthony Russo recently discussed their upcoming Netflix film, “The Electric State,” pitched as a coming-of-age road trip movie in the aftermath of a robot uprising.

The film takes place in 1994, following the aftermath of a battle between humanity and artificial intelligence that ended in a stalemate. Millie Bobby Brown stars as Michelle, a young woman searching for her kidnapped brother once believed to be dead. Along for the ride is Chris Pratt as Keats, a veteran of the human-robot war who became a long-haul trucker with a smuggling side hustle alongside a former enemy — a construction machine named Herman (voiced by Anthony Mackie).

In this era, robots have been exiled to an “exclusion zone” in the southwestern desert, while human society attempts to rebuild without assistance from the mechanical beings it once created.

The alt-history proposed for the film is that Walt Disney’s early animatronics for Disneyland “took a surprisingly advanced turn,” and paved the way for intelligent robots just a few decades later. (Disneyland opened its gates on July 17, 1955.) Eventually, though, these robots “revolted against their creators.”

These robots had the most benign appearance possible, and they end up feeling that they’re being mistreated and have a desire to be treated as equals with humans, which leads to a war.

And now you have this strange dichotomy playing out where these very pleasing and palatable service bots are now trying to kill you.

Joe Russo, in an inteview with Vanity Fair

What is interesting about the film is its alternate take on history, and its apparent connections to Walt Disney and Disneyland. It’s no secret that the Russo Bros. are very much connected to Disney through Marvel, after directing “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” and recently announcing their return to the fold for “Avengers: Doomsday” with “Iron Man” actor Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, as well as “Avengers: Secret Wars.”

It’s likely that an explicit depiction of this backstory will not play out in the events of the film, but it no doubt adds some extra flavor to the sci-fi narrative, especially for Disney Parks fans.

The movie is an adaptation of the 2018 book of the same name, written by Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag. The goal of the film, according to the Russo Bros., is to ultimately pose the question of what gives something humanity, and whether humans are capable of inhumanity.

It could be an assaultive theme if the story were set in the present day. Sometimes we find that when you couch it in a fable, and you remove it from its immediacy, you can create space for people to process it differently. What Simon Stålenhag did that was so clever is that humans are using technology to dehumanize themselves, and he tells a story about technology that aspires to become human. At what point do they cross, and at what point does the technology become more human than the humans?

Joe Russo

“The Electric State” also stars Jenny Slate as Penny Pal, a cheerful mail robot; Brian Cox as Popfly, a malfunctioning baseball-pitching machine; Woody Norman as Michelle’s missing brother in human form; Alan Tudyk as his Cosmo robot avatar; as well as Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci, and Giancarlo Esposito.

Woody Harrelson also makes an appearance as none other than Mr. Peanut, the leader of the exiled robots. Yes, that Mr. Peanut, the mascot for Planters.

“The Electric State” does not yet have a confirmed release date, though the Vanity Fair report indicates it will hit Netflix in early 2025.

What do you think of the connections between Disneyland’s early animatronics and “The Electric State”? Would you want to see them try to tackle that fictional uprising history? Share your thoughts with us in the comments and on social media.

Source: Vanity Fair

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