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Animatronics

Mechatronic puppets

  • 15 min read
  • 4 chapters
Animatronic figure of Chuck E. Cheese in operation at the Laguna Hills, California Chuck E. Cheese location, September 14, 2017. In the background can be seen a "Pizza Time" clock.
Dan Harkless · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Animatronics are a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy and mechatronics. Figures can be implemented with both computer and human control, including teleoperation. Motion actuators are often used to imitate muscle movements and create realistic motions. Figures are usually encased in body shells and flexible skins made of hard or soft plastic materials and finished with colors, hair, feathers and other components to make them more lifelike. Animatronics stem from a long tradition of mechanical automata powered by hydraulics, pneumatics and clockwork.

History

Before electronics, animatronics were simply puppets made to work with clockwork. These are known today as automata. For most of human history, it has not been possible to create a moving figure resembling a person that was not directly puppeted by another person.

In the renaissance era, the first clockwork automated humanoid figures were created. These were complex with many movements, however the figures were extremely large as they contained large cam shaft mechanisms in the base. With the introduction of electricity the mechanisms to create a humanoid figure got smaller and smaller, however very few of the created figures looked human.

Animatronics have not always been known by that name. Before the term became common, they were usually referred to as robots, as at the time, robots and animatronics performed virtually the same function. Since then, robots have become known as more practical programmable machines that do not necessarily resemble living creatures. Robots (or other artificial beings) designed to convincingly resemble humans are known as androids. The term animatronics is a portmanteau of animate and electronics. The term Audio-Animatronics was coined by Walt Disney in 1961 when he started developing professional animatronics for entertainment and film.

The first audio animatronic to convincingly imitate a human without direct human puppeteering was Walt Disney's Abraham Lincoln attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair. This marked a change in the industry, as computers were a pivotal part in creating the figure.

In the modern era, animatronics have become cheaper to produce, so much so that many companies make small animatronic toys. For example, FurReal Friends's lineup of animatronic animal plushies.

  • 1939–1939: Sparko, The Robot Dog, and Elektro, performs in front of the public. Both were manufactured by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Elektro was one of the first robots, using basic sensors and tube logic to receive commands and roughly know when it crashed into a wall. It could blow up balloons, smoke cigarettes, synthesize text, and move its legs and arms. In 1939, Elektro received a pet, and the first mainstream animatronic, Sparko. However, unlike Elektro, Sparko had no built-in computer and was not remote controlled, instead using an external computer controlled by an operator. Unlike many depictions of robots in that time, Sparko represented a living animal, and thus became the very first modern day animatronic character, along with an unnamed horse which was reported to gallop realistically. The animatronic galloping horse was also on display at the 1939 New York World's Fair, in a different exhibit than Sparko's.
  • 1961: Heinrich Ernst develops the MH-1, a computer-operated mechanical hand.
  • 1961: Walt Disney coins the term "Audio-Animatronics" and his WED Enterprises team begins developing modern animatronic technology.
  • 1963: The first Audio-Animatronics created by Disney, the Enchanted Tiki Birds of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, debut at Disneyland.
  • 1964: In the film Mary Poppins, animatronic birds are the first animatronics featured in a motion picture. The first animatronic figure of a person, that of Abraham Lincoln, is created by Disney for its Abraham Lincoln attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the 1964 New York World's Fair.
  • 1971: Walt Disney World opens with the Country Bear Jamboree and Mickey Mouse Revue attractions, containing 24 and 81 Audio-Animatronics, respectively. The park also opens with The Hall of Presidents, which started with 37 animatronics and adds a new animatronic for each new president.
  • 1977: Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opens under Warner Communications as the first restaurant with animatronics as an attraction in San Jose, California, created by Nolan Bushnell and designed by Harold Goldbrandsen. Bushnell, hoping to expand Pizza Time Theatre into a chain, purchased all assets from the uninterested Warner for $500,000 by 1978.
  • 1977: John Wardley debuts "Charlie Plucket" Animatronic on BBC's Tomorrow's World.
  • 1978: AVG Technologies is founded by Alvaro Villa, former head of electronic animation research and development for the Walt Disney Company.
  • 1980: ShowBiz Pizza Place debuts The Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic band manufactured by Aaron Fechter's Creative Engineering Inc. (CEI) to directly compete with Chuck E. Cheese. CEI's preceding animatronic bands, the Wolf Pack 5 and the Hard Luck Bears, solidify their presence in numerous amusement parks around the world.
  • 1981: Efteling renovates its Sprookjesbos walk through ride, adding 92 animatronics.
  • 1982: Ben Franklin is the first animatronic figure to walk up a set of stairs.
  • 1982: Daniel and the Dixie Diggers, the first animatronic band from Sally Industries of Jacksonville, Florida, debuts at the Mark Twain's Riverboat Playhouse in Kendall, Florida.
  • 1982: David L. Brown establishes the first Bullwinkle's Family Food N' Fun Restaurant in Santa Clara, California, with prototype animatronics provided by Fred Hope's The Only Animated Display & Design Company. AVG Technologies supplied further animatronics for the chain starting in 1983, and later by Dreamation in 1998.
  • 1982: The first Celebration Station opens with a W.O.O.F. Radio animatronic show by Creative Presentations, Inc. of Schaumburg, Illinois. Celebration Station later opened locations with Sally Corporation's Daniel and the Dixie Diggers with Jethro P. Hogg starting in 1991, along with a retrofit of the latter known as The Rockin' Rascals for Knoxville, Tennessee by 1993.
  • 1982: Warner Communications, five years after losing ownership of Pizza Time Theatre, creates the Gadgets chain of restaurants (initially named "Gizmos"). These featured Sammy Sands, an animatronic pianist, and the Looney Tunes Revue, both manufactured by Advanced Animations of Southbury, Connecticut. More than satisfied by the results of the two productions, Warner purchased Advanced Animations from founders Bob Marquis and Dan Long, renaming the company to Warner Technologies, Inc. under their leisure division. Along with Sammy Sands and the Looney Tunes Revue for Gadgets, Warner Technologies continued manufacturing shows for other clients, most notably the Electric Mice Orchestra.
  • 1986: Warner Communications sells Advanced Animations back to Bob Marquis and Dan Long, relocating to Stockbridge, Vermont. Shortly after, VP Productions (later VP Animations, LLC.) forms in Watertown, Connecticut by previous Advanced Animations alumni, including Scott Pokorak. VP would become known for their work in producing animatronics for Dandy Bear in Florida and Stew Leonard's across Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. They also created the Rockin' Rollin' 50's Show along with Mick Jaguar and the Sly Cats for a handful of smaller venues.
  • 1987: Stew Leonard's in Norwalk, Connecticut implements the Farm Fresh Five animatronic band, initially manufactured by Advanced Animations. More animatronics were added to Norwalk and locations afterward, such as the Hank and Beau characters by Sally Industries.
  • 1989: The second generation of Disney's generic animatronics, the "A-100", portraying the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz is developed for The Great Movie Ride attraction at Disney-MGM Studios.
  • 1990: ShowBiz Pizza begins to convert the Rock-afire Explosion into "Chuck E. Cheese & Munch's Make Believe Band" and cuts ties with CEI.
  • 1997: Garner Holt Productions begins supplying a 32 movement Chuck E. Cheese animatronic for Chuck E. Cheese's "Studio C" stages. To cut manufacturing and maintenance costs, this number was reduced to 16 movements starting in 2002.
  • 1998: Tiger Electronics begins selling Furby, an animatronic pet that speaks over 800 English and "Furbish" phrases and can react to its environment.
  • 1999: AVG manufactures approximately 140 animatronics for Universal Islands of Adventure. These were for the Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, The Cat in the Hat, and Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges attractions.
  • 2001: The largest animatronic figure ever built was the Spinosaurus for Steven Spielberg's franchise Jurassic Park.
  • 2005: Engineered Arts produces the first version of their animatronic actor, RoboThespian.
  • October 31, 2008 – July 1, 2009: The Abraham Lincoln animatronic character is upgraded to incorporate new technology at The Hall of Presidents.
  • 2019: Disney releases a number of new characters based on their third-generation platform "A-1000".
  • 2025: Garner Holt Productions acquires Advanced Animations as a subsidiary, revealed in that year's IAAPA expo.

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