Disney's Animatronics: A Living History

Defunctland
6 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2024–2025
YouTube
4M views · 1 year ago · documentary · evergreen

A Defunctland documentary on the history of Disney's animatronics, from early automata to the figures in the theme parks. It is split into chapters, including one on the Lincoln animatronic.

HN people recommend it as a high-quality, entertaining history of animatronics and early robotics at Disney, often alongside news about new Disney robots.

Interiors & exhibition designDesign history
#disney#animatronics#imagineering#robotics#themeparks

7 comments from Hacker News

C
@ChrisbyMe2025 · in “Who Hooked Up a Laptop to a 1930s Dance Hall Machine?”
I actually wrote the post so thank you! I hadn't found that guys website and will check it out. There's a really interesting history of automata at Disney too, someone made a very good video about it here if you haven't seen it! ▶ this video
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j
@j-bos2025 · in “Disney Imagineering Debuts Next-Generation Robotic Character, Olaf”
And if you'd like an entertaining a history of early AI and robotics, half as long, check out the prequel "Disney Animatronics: A Living History" ▶ this video I actually found it more relevant to our current tech bubble than the Living Characters doc.
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r
@robrtsql2025 · in “Imagineers defend new Walt Disney robot”
I apologize in advance because you'd probably prefer text, but this is a very high quality video on the subject: ▶ this video The video is segmented into chapters--if you're not interested in the whole thing, the section about the Lincoln animatronic is chapter 4, about an hour into the video.
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r
@ryanhecht2025 · in “Imagineers defend new Walt Disney robot”
Great exploration of this in Defunctland's latest piece: ▶ this video (There's a "part 2" on Disney's "Living Characters" coming this year!)
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j
@jonny_eh2024 · in “Disney's Animatronics: A Living History [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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s
@sbuttgereit2024 · in “Disney's Animatronics: A Living History [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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c
@csours2024 · in “We're All Bozos on This Bus: Eliza and the Firesign Theater”
See also Disney's Animatronics: ▶ this video You can start at minute 39 to skip background info
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