Deacon on Disney - Technology

[rdeacon]

tech•nol•o•gy
–noun

• 1. the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.
  2. the terminology of an art, science, etc.; technical nomenclature.
  3. a technological process, invention, method, or the like.
  4. the sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with the material objects of their civilization.

Technology is a topic close to my heart. I recently read a news article about Disney World’s use of the Nintendo DS as an interactive guide to the parks. As a confessed techno-geek, I find it very exciting how Disney has adopted technology from its inception.

Walt Disney was excited about technology. From the early days of the Laugh-o-grams and the Alice Comedies, to the use of the multiplane camera, and the Imagineers’ use innovative ground breaking technology, Walt grounded his company in the values of technology and innovation.

Walt realized early on that a he wanted and needed to break new ground in order to make an impact. Walt was constantly playing with camera effects, and art techniques to try and expand the quality and impact of his work. Walt also knew a good thing when he found it. After watching the first film to have sound, The Jazz Singer, Walt knew the future of films was to incorporate sound. The first Mickey Mouse cartoon plane crazy fell flat, it was not until Walt added sound effects to Steamboat Willie, using the Cinephone process, that Mickey became a world wide sensation. Just as the Jazz Singer sent shock waves through the Film industry, Steamboat Willie was a revolution in the cartoon world*.

Walt worked thru those early technical hurdles, but continued to push to find new ideas and technologies. Walt pushed to make a full length animated film. This first full length animated feature film was Snow White. During the creation of Snow White Walt and his team looked to add depth and realism to the film. This drive led to the development of the multiplane camera. Walt used this new camera to film the animated short, The Old Mill, which won the 1937 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Walt used the camera to add depth and realism to Snow White. Walt also knew that to fully grab the audience the film needed to be in color. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first full-length animated feature film made in Technicolor and won an honorary Academy Award for Walt Disney "as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field." Walt continued to drive technology to expand the realism and capabilities of animation.

This drive for pushing into new frontiers led to Walt create WED Enterprises in 1952, which later became Walt Disney Imagineering. Walt and his Imagineering team created many technological break troughs. From the early Audio-Animatronics efforts of The Enchanted Tiki Room and Lincoln Exhibit in the 1964 Worlds Fair, to today’s super high tech Test Track and Mission Space.

Disney has continued this technology trend through out their company, parks, and resorts. Technology can be seen in the many areas, including: state of the art attractions, parades, shows, fireworks, films, and products like My Pal Mickey.

As person who loves technology, Disney will continue to wow and amaze me. I love to see the new products and attractions they develop. I look forward to the next great technological leap Disney will make. For now I will enjoy the rides and shows, and be thankful Walt was a techno-geek.

Rich



Notes:
*Walt Disney The Triumph of the American Imagination – Neal Gabler

[wdwannabe]

I can see the hand of technology at work....even more so for my parents lifetime, they are in there 80's...so much has changed...I for one am glad that Walt Disney and others after him are into technology, for without it everything would stay the same.

[cap396]

The technology is indeed impressive. The audio-animatronic figures, 50 years later, are still amazing.

Thanks for the article.

[spaulo]

Hey Rich, you probably need to give the posts unique names, so these threads don't get totally confusing. Just a thought.

[rdeacon]

good point... let me tweak them now


Rich

[Captain Schnemo]

As a film geek, I should probably point out that The Jazz Singer is not technically the first sound film, but enough people regard it as such that I approve of its usage in The Great Movie Ride's finale.

Also I think two key elements are missing from Disney's current use of technology.

One is the drive to create things that have application outside the theme parks. Long before EPCOT, Walt was interested in presenting and creating technology with real world applications. Some of the most exciting examples are the pre-NASA space documentaries, which turned out to be instrumental in the genesis of the American space program. They helped convince both politicians and the population at large that the science fiction of space travel was not only possible, but inevitable.

The failure on point one has resulted in generations of people who think that anything outside the scope of cartoony entertainment is somehow "not Disney"...and that feeds into what I see as the second main problem, the misuse of the few impressive technological advances Disney has been responsible for in recent years.

This is a much belabored point (and I do an awful lot of the belaboring), but Spider-Man at Islands of Adventure is still, almost a decade later, kicking the ass of anything Disney has attempted. It's not just the innovative use of the tech, but the well thought-out and appropriate use. Spider-Man is a perfect fit for the ambiance and energy level of Marvel Island.

Contrast that with Disney's latest (only?) impressive bit of innovation, the interactive cartoon character. That is some neat stuff, but look how it's deployed: further sucking the future out of Future World and inexplicably injecting cartoon monsters and bland show into Tomorrowland. Just because something is fancy and requires a lot of computers doesn't mean that you need to make the tech the star.

Think, for example, how magically they could have used something like that in Fantasyland. Talking directly to your favorite cartoon character (who looks just right and has a voice) is in some ways a much cooler experience than meeting a curiously silent (and disturbingly large) mouse. There could be moments of real tenderness and magic, which would create lasting lifetime memories, as opposed to just another vector for broad comedy.

Abandoning the pursuit and proper implementation of cutting edge tech is one of the major reasons that Disney parks have fallen from cultural keystones to interesting diversions.

[joefox97]

As a film geek, I should probably point out that The Jazz Singer is not technically the first sound film, but enough people regard it as such that I approve of its usage in The Great Movie Ride's finale.

Also I think two key elements are missing from Disney's current use of technology. </snip>

Schnemo brings up some interesting points... the most salient of which, I believe, is the use of technology for technology's sake. I think that there are a number of examples in Disney's recent history. But I will counter with a more recent example -- the refit of Spaceship Earth, while still not "officially" open or complete (I understand they are finalizing a few details still), has embraced the use of technology as a tool to tell a story... they've taken some interesting and "futuristic" technology (more in the story of technology than the application -- touchscreens and snapshot technology are not future tech) and told a great story. The blue light effect is outstanding, and it really does help to provide a transition from the story of the history of communication into the future tech on-screen.

Ultimately, I think that Disney will continue to use technology and apply it in their pursuit of the perfect story and the perfect guest experience; the question will be whether they can make it invisible or seamless or whether it will stick out like Mike W.'s big eye.

Joe

[mageloff]

I feel that technology is a tool. Kind of like any other tool, it is best used as needed. If abused it is not seamless.