In a recent interview, Walt Disney’s granddaughter Joanna Miller has made another public statement against the new animatronic version of the company founder.
Walt Disney’s Granddaughter Makes New Statement
Disney first announced the project to create an animatronic version of Walt Disney during 2024’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. The animatronic would be part of a new show called “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” in the Main Street Opera House at Disneyland Park. While originally intended to debut alongside most of the other Disneyland 70th Celebration entertainment offerings, the date for the show was pushed back to the day of the actual Disneyland Resort anniversary on July 17, 2025.
Disney claims Imagineers are pushing the technology of Audio-Animatronics in every way possible to capture Walt’s exact likeness and mannerisms. During our later visit to Walt Disney Imagineering, the figure was also described as the product of several “moonshots” built upon the technology behind the lifelike animatronic figures seen in several recent attractions, such as Anna & Elsa’s Frozen Journey or Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
The announcement of a Walt Disney animatronic was immediately met with controversy. Some of the Disney relatives, including Walt’s grandson Chris Miller and Walt’s granddaughter Tamara Miller, spoke positively of the animatronic.
We believe that our grandfather would have been enthusiastic about the project and fascinated by the advancements of the audio-animatronics technology that was first developed during his days at WED (now Imagineering) — a technology that he was always passionate about.
Tamara Miller
Walt Disney’s grandnephew Roy P. Disney also appeared at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event for the announcement, saying he was also supportive.
However, not all of the reactions to the idea were positive. Most notably, Walt’s granddaughter Joanna Miller quickly spoke out in anger against the project. In a Facebook post from last year, she wrote that the animatronic was “an imposter” and called the animatronic version of her grandfather “dehumanizing.” She also claimed retired Imagineers were also privately against the project, saying a version of Walt was “out of bounds.”
Miller has now shared some new statements with the Los Angeles Times, in which she maintains that the project is not respecting Walt’s wishes. She says that while she may not be speaking on behalf of her siblings or other relatives, “I do speak for my grandfather and my mother.” Additionally, she discussed more of the reasoning behind her earlier Facebook post.
You just start to get p***ed off. And you get tired of being quiet. So I spoke up on Facebook. Like that was going to do anything? The fact that it got back to the company is pretty funny.
Joanna Miller via the Los Angeles Times
Miller also claimed in previous posts to have heard reports of Walt specifically asking that there never be an animatronic version of himself. “MOST IMPORTANTLY,” Miller wrote, “I learned that GRAMPA TOLD SAM MCKIM THAT HE NEVER WANTED TO BE AN ANIMATRONIC.”
Sam McKim was an Imagineer and Disney Legend who contributed to classic attractions including “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” Carousel of Progress, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Haunted Mansion. The recently-opened Disney Vacation Club Lounge in Magic Kingdom was dubbed McKim’s Mile House in his honor.
Current Disney Imagineers later came out and denied Miller’s claims, saying “In all our research, we never found any documentation of Walt saying that.” The new show featuring the Walt animatronic is still set to premiere in July as scheduled.
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