Several Disney fans may wish that they could have been alive to meet Walt Disney as he walked through the streets of Disneyland. On July 17, that wish will come true (in a way), with the debut of a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic in “Walt Disney – A Magical Life.” WDWNT was able to experience the full show ahead of its opening date, and bring you our honest thoughts on this controversial addition to The Happiest Place on Earth.
Tom’s Honest Review of the Walt Disney Audio Animatronic
As lifelong Disney fans, we obviously idolize the man, Walt Disney. For many of us, though, we did not live at the same time that he lived, and even for those of us who did, we probably never got the opportunity to meet him. Whether it’s going to Disneyland and walking through spaces he inhabited, or visiting Walt Disney World and gazing in wonder upon his last great dream, there are moments where we can at least feel the presence of the greatest mind the entertainment world has ever known. His most passionate fans also make pilgrimages to obtain a sense of his upbringing on a trip to Marceline, Missouri, or sort through a lifetime of his belongings and accomplishments at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Still, there is always an appetite to learn more about Walt Disney, to walk in his footsteps, and feel more connected to one’s idol.
A natural extension of this has be a representation of Walt in the parks through films. This began with “The Walt Disney Story,” which debuted in 1973 at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The film told the founder’s story in his own words through archival audio recordings. After that attraction ceased operation, it received a spiritual successor in 2001. “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” was a part of the 100 Years of Magic Celebration, and was originally narrated by then-CEO Michael Eisner. Eventually, and still today, the film in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is narrated by actress Julie Andrews, and as of this week, by CEO Bob Iger in Disneyland.
“The Walt Disney Story” and “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” are spectacular films, both delivering the entire life story that is digestible for a theme park audience. In short, you would be hard pressed to do better in the runtime those shows were allotted.
One Man’s Dream is a charming and emotional presentation, one that establishes how special Walt was. The films have done a great job of connecting Walt Disney, the man, to his theme park guests, but Walt Disney Imagineering has likely discussed doing something more many, many times. At least, for the past eight years or so, “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” has been in development.
Walt idolized Abraham Lincoln, and he felt the best way to bring that story to life was to have the former president appear onstage as one of the world’s first Audio-Animatronic figures. It’s a natural thought to say, well, why not bring our own idol to life in the same way for guests? Some may claim that Walt never wanted an Audio-Animatronic of himself constructed, but there is no proven record of that. He was a humble man who didn’t like to talk about himself (he preferred whatever project his company was working on that excited him), so it’s likely he wouldn’t have even wanted a film presentation of his life, but that ship sailed just seven years after his passing.
Several members of the Disney family have been on board with this project, and some have not, but The Walt Disney Family Museum has also been heavily involved. The fact that those individuals and that organization have signed off on this endeavor is good enough for us. We believe that guest’s will watch this and see that it’s an attempt to pay respect to someone that is deeply admired, in the same way that Walt Disney honored Abraham Lincoln.
“Walt Disney – A Magical Life” was first announced at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event in 2024, as part of Disneyland’s 70th anniversary. The attraction includes a film presentation followed by an animatronic of Walt Disney speaking to guests. This is the same model as “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and we think this model for a show makes perfect sense for Walt as well. This attraction slightly updates the existing “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” for that film presentation, and then leads into the most advanced animatronic figure ever constructed.
“Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” offers a great foundation for this experience, and we’re glad to see it return to Disneyland. We think it belongs here, at his park. It just feels right to hear him speak at the Opera House and take a whirlwind journey through the early days of The Walt Disney Company. It puts a smile on our faces to see the Silly Symphony cartoons, early Mickey Mouse shorts, and even the Nautilus from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea get their moment of acknowledgment at modern Disneyland. That smile is even wider when we see candid clips of Walt playing with his children while he explains his idea for the park we are currently in.
The new split marquee at Main Street Opera House perfectly summarizes the love and care that went into this project. Walt Disney Imagineering understood that this experience had to live in tandem with “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.” Not only was Lincoln Walt’s idol, but the show is of such great importance to Disney history and it must be preserved. Lincoln will not perform for a while, but some time from now, the two shows will switch-off in some form or fashion throughout the day. Specifics on how the two shows will rotate have not been confirmed, but we would like to see the two alternate one after the other, so you could theoretically see them back-to-back.
As a Disney fan, there are “places of worship” for us at Disneyland. You can feel the history of the Main Street Opera House; it is an old venue but beautifully preserved, and it feels special. That existing aura adds to the weight of this presentation. It’s also worth noting that it was a herculean effort to construct this show in this venue, as all set dressings and the new turntable had to be ushered in through the same double doors we enter and then assembled.
The current exhibit inside the lobby, “Evolution of a Dream,” is mostly concept art, but it chronicles the process of creating Disneyland from idea to reality. As parks fans, we think you’ll want to really take your time exploring and taking in all of these archival materials. Sadly, a lot of the pieces are unlabeled and simply grouped, but there is a lot view and enjoy. In addition, the Cast Members who work in the Opera House are spectacular historians, so you can ask them questions about the exhibits and they will know a good number of the answers.
A highlight is that the actual furniture from Walt’s Apartment is on display, courtesy of The Walt Disney Family Museum. The furniture was removed from his apartment on Main Street a couple of years after his passing, meaning that the furniture in the actual space since the ’70s has not been the real article. The apartment is still an emotionally moving visit, but to see the pieces he and his family used regularly is pretty special.
Another exhibit is one covering the history of Audio-Animatronics technology, paying homage to the story of Walt Disney Imagineering and its creations, from the Dancing Man to today. We love that these pieces are not behind glass and pray that guests don’t make Disney regret this decision. Getting to see these replica figures with no barrier is so personal and touching. The highlight is one particular figure, the “it’s a small world” doll that is a genuine piece from the 1964-1965 World’s Fair, which has resided at WDI for quite some time.
The space also includes awards from Walt’s humanitarian efforts. If you’ve never been to The Walt Disney Family Museum, this is a great way to see what is offered there, but we of course still recommend you take the trip to the actual museum when you have the chance.
Turning to the formal attraction, it begins with the modified “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” film, now narrated by Iger. There’s no two ways about it: this project feels like a Bob-Iger-farewell-vanity-project kind of thing. That being said, Iger was on his way out for the first time in 2018, and this project still had seven or eight years to go at that point. In the panel during the media event, WDWNT was told that Iger was asked by Imagineers to do it, and we will believe that story (until someone, someday, tells us otherwise).
Either way, we wish that he would’ve been asked to re-record a couple of lines. His narration sucks a bit of the power out of several moments in the film. Perhaps we’ve seen the Julie Andrews version one too many times, and perhaps guests who have never watched the film will see it will feel it has the same emotional resonance as Andrews’ narration, but as someone who’s seen previous iteration dozens of time, it has lost a lot of emotion. It’s still a spectacular short, and the small visual updates to it are great.
Our favorite finding was that Bruce Broughton returned to create new arrangements of the “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream” score. Bruce has contributed some legendary pieces of music to Disney Parks, from The Timekeeper, to Ellen’s Energy Adventure, to current-day Spaceship Earth, always delivering something that we can never remove from our memory. The One Man’s Dream score has been one of those pieces for us, so to hear it in a new way is very exciting.
The film ends with concept art of EPCOT Center capping the “Florida Project” portion before leading into the segment with the Walt Disney animatronic, which serves as the new finale. It is odd to see this as the transition in a Disneyland attraction, but the Walt Disney World fan in us can’t help but smile.
The Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic presented is stylized after Walt as he was in 1963, at the height of his career and when he was planning for the New York Worlds’s Fair and envisioning Disney World. At this point, he is able to reflect back on his career and what he’s achieved.
When WDWNT visited Walt Disney Imagineering a few months ago, we were told about how much work was going into crafting this Audio-Animatronic. From his clothing to his physical hands, so much research went into it. We also got to see a working model that was used as a guide for what the final animatronic should look like. Because of that, we had some idea of what to expect, but truly, we had no idea what we would feel when we got to see the real thing.
Once the curtains parted from Iger’s emotionless narration (sorry Bob), Walt is sitting there, and it’s quite the moment. The film is lengthy by today’s theme park standards and will give guests a lot of time to anticipate this moment, but it is worth it for the big reveal.
As far as the set, it’s not a replica of his actual office, but more of an amalgamation of his real office and how it was presented on television. It feels right to a Disney fan, which is all we could ask for.
There’s a lot of discourse online about whether or not it looks like him. We personally never met the man, so we’re going purely off of footage and photographs we’ve seen throughout our lives. What we will say: we got to see the show twice, once at the front of the theater and once toward the back. It was undoubtedly more effective when viewed from the front section, which is where we’d recommend you sit. There were moments where Walt would hit certain poses and would seemingly lock eyes with you, and for us, it struck us as, “That’s Walt Disney, that’s him.” Alternatively, some moments and movements left us unsure.
When he speaks, it has to sound like he’s speaking to you directly. The figure utilizes archival audio to allow Walt to speak in his own words, but they are several different recordings pieced together to make the three-minute presentation. In the back of the auditorium, it comes across as quiet, and doesn’t sound exactly like him. In the front, though, it does sound much more like it’s coming from the figure and sounds more like the man we know and love. We hope Imagineering will figure out these audio issues so that everyone in the building has the same experience.
It must be daunting to have to choose what words that Walt spoke (and were recorded) should be in this spectacle, but we found that the right choices were made and they balance his accomplishments while humanizing him. There are also several “Walt-isms” that capture various quirks known to those who met him when he was alive. They could not have possibly done a better job selecting these clips, and that’s saying a lot given the weight of the task.
I don’t know that we have ever felt more polarizing feelings in a theme park show than this one. There are moments where it feels like Walt is really there, and there are moments where it doesn’t quite achieve the look of the company’s founder. Of course, it’s much easier to critique something than it is to create something, and so we think in those moments, where it feels like it’s really Walt, that’s a powerful, emotional experience. Imagineering did a great job, but perhaps this was an impossible dream — there was no way to do this and make everyone happy. That being said, I do think an in-person viewing in required to make a judgement, but still believe there will be some who walk out with mixed feelings. Perhaps it will just be those of us more passionate fans, but the negativity will surround this attraction in some circles.
There is a point at the end of the show where Walt leans back on his desk, looks up at Mickey Mouse and has the much-lauded “glimmer in his eye”. Perhaps it’s a bit corny (or even very corny) and takes some of the realism from the show, but this made us choke up. This great man admiring what he was able to accomplish and then looking at the happy guests in his park is going to undoubtedly touch people.
The highlight for the entire experience, for us, is, of course, the technological advancements in the figure. There is so much going on in Walt’s face, and he is the closest thing to a human being we’ve ever gotten with this technology. If you let yourself lose the need to have this figure’s face be an exact 100% match for Walt Disney and just observe how expressive and lifelike this figure is, it is mind-blowing. We almost think the “lean-to-stand” technology (believe it or not, a first with this figure) is more impressive than Lincoln’s “sit-to-stand” just because it feels so much more natural to human’s movement.
His mannerisms also feel spot-on to us, again purely going off of footage we’ve seen over our lifetime. His poses all felt very right to us, even if at some angles his face did not.
To address the elephant in the room, there is something perhaps unidentifiably off with Walt’s face. We’ve heard some say he’s ” too puffy”, perhaps the eyes are too far apart, but whatever it is, it’s not constant. Again, there are moments where Walt puts on a grin and turns a certain way where it is undeniably him, but at the same time, there are moments where he turns or changes expressions and suddenly becomes someone else. It’s unclear if the improper facial dimensions were a necessity for the technology to make him so expressive, but that would be our uniformed guess. Either way, e’d say it’s about 80% of the way there to being correct, and hopefully they will revisit this in the future to please more fans.
In conclusion, we believe that, as a full presentation, the existence of this attraction is important. However, no matter what we thought it was going to be, we don’t think it could have ever lived up to the anticipation. Anything short of Walt Disney coming back to actual life and meeting each of us was bound to disappoint a few people, and we don’t say that to deride the negative feelings many are showing towards the show, we just think that is unrealistic dream of so many of us share, to meet our hero that we sadly can not.
Are the full three minutes that the animatronic appears onstage perfect? No. Does this experience deserve to exist, and should it exist? Absolutely.
For purely the fact that it will teach an entire new generation of people of the real man who made so many dreams come true, this is a necessity at Disneyland and the park most fitting for this tribute. This was a valiant effort, albeit not perfect, but it will mean a lot to so many people, both Disney fans now and Disney fans to come.
Watch Tom’s Honest Review in full below:
And see the full Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic sequence:
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