AUDIO ANIMATRONICS 101--a history on how it all started!

[RockafireGuy]

Here is the link to the one of the best articles on Disney's pioneering the art of animatronics......

www.disneypov.com/issue06-7/aa.html (http://www.disneypov.com/issue06-7/aa.html)

[dheineCECfan]

Nice article, did Nolan Bushnell and/or Aaron Fechter get inspiration from Disney to do animatronics of their own for their own pizza/video game/animatronic show restaurant rival chains?

[RockafireGuy]

Well; Bushnell got the idea to use that kind of technology in a restaurant after seeing Disney's technology.... the audio animatronic technology was only 15-years-old at the time.
Bushnell, however cut corners when it came to making elaborately animated shows... which is something that's very clear just by looking at the crudety of some of the old PTT robots... especially the early ones. THe reason for cutting corners was a money saving thing I think... Don't quote me....

Anyway... Aaron Fechter; on the other hand, is a different story. He actually tinkered with stuff when he was a teenager in his garage. He always had an admiration for Disney's animatronics if you really want to know. And that's obvious when you look at some of CEI's early shows. Anyway... He went to college and did that thing and I'm sure you've heard how he got a degree in business... we all know about that.... Aaron's real aptitude (when it comes to animatronics) is designing and building control systems. And there were all kind's of animatronic companies popping up after Disney's technology became so popular and well known.
Aaron went to work for some company ( I can't remember who) building control systems. He was contracted to them and not really an employee. Don't quote me here either....
I think he built a control system for a talking moose head and delivered the product.. but they never paid him. After he pretty much lost the battle and had basically been taken... he decided he would go into competition with them... and in Aaron's own words... he said: "I kicked their A####"
But, anyway... I believe any early animatronic work that wasn't done by Disney was definately inspired by Disney.
What's weird is... Creative's fist project wasn't a robot at all.... it was a car... but most of you know that already.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

Yes, Nolan was very influenced by Disney's mavelous Animatronics. It had a direct link to the PTT concept...no doubt at all.

Nolan once even applied to work for Disney at a point before he became "famous" and they turned him down! Guess he showed them.....lol!

[dheineCECfan]

Too bad Nolan didn't work with Disney for its Country Bears shows in the Disney parks.

[RockafireGuy]

Yeah.. too bad. But, His style and Marc Davis' style probably wouldn't have meshed very well. Marc Davis was very particular and opinionated. If he didn't like something.. he didn't care about your feelings.. he told you. And of course.. we all know that The Country Bear Jamboree was actually Marc Davis' baby. Everybody says it was Walt Disney's conception....well.. it was his conception... but Walt never worked on it personally or supervised it. This was Marc Davis' personal project. Marc had been drawing different things one day (when he had nothing to do basically) and drew a picture of a bear playing a tuba. He heard Walt coming down the hall and Walt popped in the door with his usual greeting.... "Hiya Marc". They talked a while and Walt wondered around Marc's studio looking at pictures.
He saw the picture of the Bear and started laughing. He then told Marc he should develope some sort of attraction with bears that sing and play instruments. Marc thought it might be an interesting idea and was very open to it. Walt said "keep up the good work!" and walked out the door.
That was the last time Marc Davis saw Walt Disney alive.
After that... Marc was determined to develop the CBJ and he did so very well. Anyway; Nolan Bushnell's concepts with the PTT characters which were basically his style at the time, wouldn't have meshed very well with the ideas of Marc Davis.
That's just my opinion.. I'm not dissagreeing with you or anything. I just don't think he and Marc would have worked very well together. They were both very independant people.

[Shiney Happy Jenn]

True, and i agree that they would have probably clashed as Nolan certainly had a firm understanding of what he wanted to accomplish, and still does to this day.

I'm not saying he should have been put in charge of WD Imagineering....but he certainly could have worked and done well in that enviroment. One thing that might have been difficult though is that whatever he ended up creating or inventing would have been credited to "Disney" and not himself as "Nolan Bushnell". Not that he's a egomaniac or anything, but i know if i was in his position of being a forethinking inventor like he was that may be a issue with me.

Yes, the CBJ was Marc's baby from day one. I have the Imagineering book that has that story and even repros of those very images that cracked up Walt. Marc always had a great talent with his drawing, and his concept work was great too.

WDI rocks!!!

[dheineCECfan]

I bet Aaron "CEI/Rock-afire" Fechter never met up with Marc "Country Bear Jamboree" Davis at one point, although Aaron made his own CBJ show at CEI calling it "The Hard Luck Bears" a/k/a "The Country Bear Jubillie".

[RockafireGuy]

Nope; he never met up with Marc either. In fact; Aaron Fechter has sort of a sour sentiment toward Disney.
He too tried to get into Disney and failed years ago.
He wasn't even accepted for junior apprenticeship at Disney.
Back during CEI's hey day.... he would be very quick to tell you that he thought CEI's animation rivaled Disney's. As I've said before, his main aptitude is in building control systems. He could have actually been a big help in creating Disney's new sophisticated computer control system that uses absolutely NO electronic tone technology (which is old news to Disney). By the time both Nolan Bushnell and Aaron Fechter started their ventures, The Country Bear Jamboree had been in operation in WDW for about 7 years and Disneyland's version had been in operation for about 5 years.
So, neither Aaron or Nolan could have worked on the CBJ... it was before their time. I don't think Aaron Fechter would have meshed very well is Marc Davis either if you want to know.
Aaron seemed to always complain about Disney being such a BIG corperation that they would not except anyone to work on animatronics unless they had an engineering degree. Air has been known to state that Disney wasn't like that in it's early days.... actually.. that's not the case. When Walt founded WDI, then known as WED; he hired top Engineers from General Electric and other known companies. Walt Disney has always employed engineers with degrees to work on the mechanical aspect of things. There never was a time when Disney's engineering division didn't hire certified Engineers. So Aaron was basically mis-informed on that subject. Aaron had no room to talk either. He too hired some VERY talented engineers with degrees to back them up to further develope and improve on his "Electronimation". So, CEI had fully certified engineers as well. Anyway.. getting to my next statement... Nolan Bushnell never actually met Marc Davis either. Niether Aaron or Nolan did as far as I know. But; I don't think Aaron would have meshed with Davis either. And like I said; the Country Bear Jamboree had been in full operation for several years when both Nolan Bushnell and Aaron Fechter were bitten by the "animatronics bug".

[RAERocks]

Darryl --- why would either AIR's or Bushnell's opions be vital to the country bears? Heck the RAE and the earlier Hard Luck Bears were highly patterned off the Country Bears --- right down to the curving stages.

Most people don't even know that the CBJ wasn't even originally designed for the theme parks. Disney was getting involved with the design of a Ski Resort in partnership with a Ski Company. Disney was brought on to the project to give it flair and theming, etc. The CBJ was going to be a performing show in the main ski lodge. The ski lodge project went bust.

That's when Marc decided to pitch the idea for the theme parks. The idea was green lit and expanded to the current 6 stage show.

Pretty cool evolution, but then again almost all of the storied Disney attractions evolved in the weirdest of ways.

And on the note of getting hired to work by Disney---

-If you say "I really love animatronics and want to work on them, maintain them and/or design them" WDI/parks and resorts will trash your application.

-If you say "I'm the biggest Disney theme park lover on the planet and I want to help design its theme parks and attractions" -- WDI will rip your resume and applications to shreds and then proceed to put them in the trash can.

If you want to work with Disney....make note.

RR

[RockafireGuy]

I agree with you completely RAE...
You DO NOT use the forward approach when applying at Disney. Basically all they want to know is your experience, what field you work in, your educational background, etc. It's like applying for any other job. I never said that I personally want to work for Disney. Although it would be nice.. but I don't need to be told how to apply there.. I already know the do's and don'ts. Besides.. I don't have the right educational background.. so I basically don't even think about it. They don't care to hear how much you LOVE them when you apply. After all.. that sounds a bit like sucking up. However.... when you are about to become a Disney theme park cast member... you go through something called Disney college.. where they tell you all about the history of the company. I know this because I attended a seminar and thought about going into the intern program...but I changed my mind. I know ALL about the ski resort story........and how CBJ was originally intended for the "Mineral King Ski Resort". I just didn't think the story applied here.

Besides.. about working for Disney... if you're REALLY talented and good at what you do.. you won't have to apply at Disney or anything.. You won't have to find them...one of their headhunters will find you.

[RAERocks]

Actually, I wasn't implying you wanted to work for Disney. I was directing that more towards the AIR and Bushnell never making it into Disney...and possible reasons why.

Congrats you know about Mineral King. I'm not a skier, but the designs for the place looked pretty cool. All of the models and concept art are still housed in archives. There are even veiled references to it at Blizzard Beach, if you know where to look.

What intern program were you considering? Was it through WDWCP?

RR

[RockafireGuy]

Yep! That's it! I decided not to because I had a grade or two that just wasn't good enough:( ; so I didn't even bother with the interview. :rolleyes

LOL! plus... at the seminar.. I think I pretty much ruined my chances with one slip up on words.....LOL! This is funny.....

YOu see; the lady from Disney asked if anybody could name all of the parks at WDW and I was the only one who raised my hand. I was going good at naming them until I accidentally said "Universal Studios" instead of "Disney's MGM Studios" LOL! I don 't know why I said that!!!!! :o I never make a slip up like that unless I'm in a situation where I'll be humiliated...LOL! :lol You could just hear everybody in the room go... eeeewwwwwwghhwww.... a BIG groan from the whole crowd.... I wanted to dig a hole in the floor and jump in.. LOL! :lol :b I don't know why I said that... I knew what to say... it's just that something different came out...LOL! HOW embarassing! :o