Animatronics Regain Favorability Among Theme Park Fans

The Universal Parks have been known for their screen-based attractions for a few years now. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, The Simpsons Ride, Fast and Furious, and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man are just a few of these attractions found throughout the Universal Parks.

Disney has started to follow this trend in recent years, most notably with Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway as well as on a smaller scale via projection-mapped animatronics. Frozen Ever After in EPCOT is one example of using projection mapping, where the bodies are movable animatronics but their faces are animated and projected onto a screen. While it can allow for more expression, it also causes more problems if the technology goes down, including an awkwardly frozen face or no face at all.

Disney fans were worried when it was announced that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure would be using a combination of audio-animatronics and projection mapping for various parts of the attraction. As more rides turn to screens and projection mapping, fans are arguing that not only is it actually starting to date the attractions, but it’s no longer as immersive as it once was.

We spend hours every day staring into a screen, whether that be our phones, computers, or television. VR headsets are becoming commonplace, as is augmented reality. We spend so much of our time surrounded by screens that when faced with them at a theme park, it’s no longer a special experience. Especially as technology improves and screen resolutions and graphics improve, the 3D technology and screens that were once so innovative are quickly becoming old.

Audio-animatronics, on the other hand, occupy real time and real space and aren’t necessarily something we encounter on a daily basis. To see a robot move fluidly enough to be mistaken for a person is a feat of technology, especially when we still have older versions to compare it to. In a thread on Twitter, @Pavelwen makes the argument that “Each movement they make, their clothes and hair will crease differently. A screen performance is not unique to your individual memory. It starts, it finishes, always the same.”

As our everyday technology improves it’s no longer something special we can only find at a major theme park, which makes animatronics so much more special. There’s a timelessness to them even as they age that makes them hold up against other ongoing trends in the theme park industry. Even as screens and projection mapping become the norm, audio-animatronics will still hold their own.

Do you prefer audio-animatronics or screen-projected rides? Share your thoughts in the comments below!