How Do Disney's Talking Characters Work? - DIStory Dan Ep. 80 [NOT SAFE FOR MAGIC]

How do the talking characters at Disney work? What sort of high tech magic goes into the behind the scenes of Kylo Ren yelling at you in the hot Batuu sun? #robotics #animatronics #disneyland

Edited by @pleasestopvlogging

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*Character Resources thanks to great blogs like Character Central, Kenny The Pirate, and more.

[rorosrainbow]

Back in 2016, Mickey asked where I was from. I told him we were from England, and he said “WOW! All the way from the UK!” 😭😭 it was so cute

[midnight_rain]

7:48
YOU DIDNT HAVE TO BRING BACK MEMORIES FROM THAT DEFUNCTLAND VIDEO... BUT YOU DID ANYWAY. DUNNO IF THAT WAS DANS OR KENNYS IDEA BUT BRILLIANT, YOU ARE!!

[Bananacustardcostuming]

My friend is “friends with” Iron Man at Disneyland Paris and one of the most common things he gets asked is to wish someone a happy birthday. Unfortunately that suit doesn’t have a button for that, so he just has to say “no” or something else 😅

[infinum]

The end result is simply amazing: when I met Mickey, he greeted me like an old friend. After a short two way conversation, he asked if I wanted a picture. When Mickey said "say cheese", I responded with "havarti" and he immediately said "ha! I like that!".
The team seamlessly makes it seem like you've met the Mickey you've known since you were a kid!

[CyberGrapeUK]

Talking fur characters are fun but I appreciate the non-verbal ability to improvise on the spot. Spontaneous interaction that's different every time is always gonna be more magical for me than a set script.

[RoxasClaimsRiku]

All these things aside, there is also the cost on the performer's body. As someone who was friends with people who were 'friends' of Mickey and Minnie, these things weighed a ton. Most performers did not get past the 5'6" range, if that, so they were usually very petite individuals. The all day meet and greets of the Mickey Mouse at the Theater on Main Street would often result in back issues, neck issues, shoulder issues, and head issues. I have also heard that a lot of people had nightmares regarding their work on the interactive Mickey Mouse.

[MicheleKlinger]

The talking costumes are just SO COOL. I had no idea the tech that went into it.

[George_vv]

I've never heard Safari Mickey be called African Mickey and that is the funniest thing I've heard in a while.

[themilkman]

WE FINALLY GOT THE SNEAKY SPEAKY MICKEY SECRETS

[mel_ottav]

Such a great video! I'm a former entertainment CM at WDW and the talking characters are magical, even when you know all the magic! You pretty much hit it on the head as to why we don't see talking meet and greets anymore. It's a combination of all of the reasons you stated, it all comes down to money. I did cry a bit when I met talking Mickey with my family. They totally freaked out because I told them nothing. There's just something about it that triggers in your inner 5 year old. I hope if they can make the tech more consistent and offer it in more locations that they will bring the talking meet and greets back.

[NathanSpies]

It’s interesting how some of the articulated characters look better than the normal non-articulated characters.

Like Baloo on the cruise looks more like Baloo than the theme park version

[ratbones]

The technology they have developed for these talking characters just blows my mind. Especially the star wars ones. However, I think we should also recognize the impressive work cast members do with the non-speaking static characters. They are able to communicate so much without saying literally anything.

[iseespots]

You did not ruin the magic, you just made it more magical. Great review!!!

[randomsliceofcakeofficial]

1:29 Fun Fact: The creator of the toy, Teddy Ruxpin used the same technology as they did in welcome to Pooh corner as he worked for Disney!

[muppetsretrofan]

This was an amazing video! Could you imagine a talking OSWALD? Honestly, I hope Disney does more with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit soon, he's so underused.

[BobaTea]

Disney Dan you really hit us with the defunctland plot twist with that backstage animal kingdom bit 👀🤣

[dalerose]

I interacted with Stormtroopers once where I made a joke about their lack of marksmanship. They walked away as one said in a sarcastic tone "very clever". It was so spontaneous.

[shinyagumon]

Jokes on you, Dan. BTS tech breakdowns are my kind of Magic!

The combination of puppeteering and dialog trees is so cool and innovative, but I get why they stopped doing it for non-Star Wars characters. Darth Vader is as much about the look as he is about the voice, same with the Troopers or Mando, so using the technology here gives the guests a better experience and is cheaper because they don't have a face that needs to be articulated, keeping maintenance down.

[redvelvetrose]

I kind of wish they would let masked characters like the stormtroopers and kylo ren talk without canned responses. Like how hard can it be to stick a simple vocoder in there to make them sound like the characters? It would be so much cooler to let them adlib like face characters.

[AliFinNoble]

The first time my son met Mickey mouse was at the magic Kingdom. My Mom had suggested it she had known that it was the talking Mickey head but did not let me or my 2-year-old any idea what was about to happen. It was some of the best magic ive ever felt. My son was so shocked and excited. 😊