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Credit: DisneyThe Disney family has spoken out against The Walt Disney Company’s decision to instate a new animatronic of Walt Disney at Disneyland Park.
As was announced last year, Disneyland is set to debut its first-ever Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic on July 17, 2025, coinciding with the park’s 70th anniversary.
The new show, Walt Disney – A Magical Life, will be housed in the Main Street Opera House, offering guests an immersive experience into Walt Disney’s life and legacy. This groundbreaking attraction showcases advanced animatronic technology, bringing the legendary founder to life in a way never before seen.
But his descendants aren’t entirely happy about the decision.
Walt Disney’s Granddaughter Condemns Animatronic
Walt Disney’s granddaughter, Joanna Miller, recently spoke to the Los Angeles Times to condemn the move, claiming that they even spoke to Disney CEO Bob Iger about their concerns.
“I strongly feel the last two minutes with the robot will do much more harm than good to Grampa’s legacy,” Miller told the publication she previously wrote in a letter to Iger. “They will remember the robot, and not the man.”
Miller previously met with Iger and members of Walt Disney Imagineering to see the animatronic – which reportedly brought her to tears – and hear more about the project. “[Bob Iger] was very kind,” Miller said. “He let me do my spiel.” However, she wasn’t convinced by said spiel, or by Iger’s promise to protect Walt’s legacy. “They’re different people. He’s a businessman, grampa was an artist.”
She says she simply wants the company to honor Disney’s wishes – not to be turned into a robot.
“In all our research, we never found any documentation of Walt saying that,” Imagineer Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz said. “It’s anecdotal, and we can’t confirm private conversations.”
The challenge is that those who knew about his preferences – Miller’s mother, father, and close Imagineers like Marty Sklar – have passed away, leaving Miller as the only voice.
She acknowledges the family’s biggest mistake was selling the rights to Disney’s name and likeness in 1981, limiting their influence over how he’s represented. Imagineering, however, says it has collaborated with the Disney Family Museum and descendants involved with the museum in creating the animatronic.
Miller first heard about Disneyland’s Walt animatronic last summer, just before Josh D’Amaro announced it at D23. The show will feature a film followed by a lifelike animatronic delivering Disney’s own speeches. D’Amaro claimed that Walt Disney – A Magical Life has the support of the Disney family, including Walt’s grandnephew Roy P. Disney, who attended the announcement.
She previously described the animatronic as “dehumanizing” in a Facebook post, arguing, “People are not replaceable. You could never get the casualness of his talking.” She also claimed that her grandfather was staunchly against such a concept.
“When you get older,” Miller said, “you just start to get pissed 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.”
Walt Disney Imagineers Criticize Company’s Decision
Miller has shown support for Imagineering and its creative endeavours, gushing in the same interview with the Los Angeles Times about its achievements with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. She reportedly has letters and emails of support, including from former Imagineers, who also claim that Disney is making the wrong move with the animatronic.
While the Los Angeles Times contacted several Imagineers to comment on the story, they declined, citing their ties to The Walt Disney Company. One source, speaking anonymously, said Disney’s legacy is “precious yet vulnerable” and praised Miller for defending her grandfather without personal gain.
This isn’t the first time the family has voiced concerns about a Walt Disney animatronic. Miller’s mother, Diane – Walt’s daughter and the driving force behind San Francisco’s Walt Disney Family Museum – opposed the idea. Miller, a longtime board member, said the concept was once considered for the museum.
“When we started the museum, someone suggested, ‘Let’s do Walt as an animatronic,’” Miller recalled. “My mom said, ‘No. No. No. No.’ She believed Grandpa deserved new technology for the museum, but not to become a robot himself.” According to Miller, her mother “wanted to show him as a real human.”
She rejected the idea that the company’s motive is to preserve Disney’s legacy. If it were, she believes that his Disneyland TV show would be on Disney+. Miller fears the animatronic will reduce Disney to a caricature. Unlike Lincoln, who lacks filmed footage, Disney deserves more. She wishes they’d created an immersive exhibit instead of a robot.
Miller added that it pains her to take a stand against The Walt Disney Company, worrying that it will revoke her park access – an entitlement granted when her father, the late Ron W. Miller, stepped down as CEO in 1984. However, she insisted that she has to speak out against the move. “He’s ours,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “He’s our family.”
How do you feel about Disney’s decision to immortalize Walt Disney as an animatronic?