(Redirected from
Animatronic)
Audio-animatronics or just animatronics is a form of robotics created by Disney's Imagineers for several shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequently expanded on and used by other companies. The robots move and make noise, generally speech or song. An animatronic robot is different from an android in that an animatronic works off prerecorded moves and sounds, rather than processing external stimuli and responding to them. Some early examples of Audio-Animatronics were animals at the Jungle Cruise and a talking version of Abraham Lincoln (both at Disneyland). Current examples include Rex (Star Tours, all Disney parks), Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones Adventure, Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea), and Tom Morrow (Innoventions, Disneyland).
Audio-animatronics were originally a creation of Lee Adams, who started his career with Disney as an electrician at the Burbank studio and was one of Disney's original Imagineers. The first Disney robot with this attribution was the Lincoln Exhibit presented at the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Perhaps the most impressive of the early audio-animatronics efforts was The Enchanted Tiki Room (Disneyland Anaheim), where a room full of tropical creatures synchronize eye and facial action with a musical score entirely by electro-mechanical means. The first Disney audio-anamatronic feature in films was the giant squid in the movie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea , also by Lee Adams.
