Talking with Technology

Let’s face it. As people who live in a world surrounded by technology, we like to interact with technology. First it was stuff like the clapper, then voice dial on phones (mine still doesn’t know what I’m ever saying). Now the vacationing tycoon, Walt Disney Resort theme parks are giving guests a chance to interact with their entertainment on a whole new, technological level.

Guests flock to the Disney parks from around the world, I admit to being one of those flockers. In 2007 the Disney Parks were number one in attendance with 116.5 million guests (the runner up had 32.1 million guests). With such high park attendance, the company has to stay on top of what guests want, and what guests what is technology in their attractions.

Of course Disney did not fail to meet these expectations when they introduced two interactive attractions based on Disney and Pixar films: Turtle Talk with Crush and the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. Both attractions rely on the interaction of guests.

Turtle Talk with Crush provides guests with the unique experience to talk with Crush from Finding Nemo. Crush addresses individual guest, asks questions, answers questions from guests in real-time.



What astounds guests about this show is that it is performed in real-time, so each show is unique, based on interactions with guests. Yelp and other review sites are brimming with comments circling around: "How do they do that??" and guesses as to how it was all possible

This is the reaction Chief Creative Executive of Disney Imagineering, Bruce Vaughn, wants to get out of guests. Vaughn sees this form of entertainment to be just the beginning of what future Walt Disney attractions will be like.

“It’s the link between the virtual and the physical that is going to be exciting. I think this is something Walt Disney had in mind from the very beginning."

It's all made possible through a form of animation called digital puppetry.

A camera allows a puppeteer to see the audience, enabling “Crush” to identify people by the colors they are wearing and their hair: “I would like to talk to the squirt wearing the purple shell with brow fur”

Crush’s movements and how he speaks is improvised as the show goes and controlled through a 3D animation computer by a puppeteer. The actor providing the voice of crush is able to sync his voice with the system so the Crush people see is essentially lip-syncing.


It’s similar to the technology used in movies like Polar Express, the newest Christmas Carol, Avitar, Lord of the Rings, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The only difference is that, because it is in real-time, these guys can't edit it and the puppeteer and actor have to work fast during each show.

The Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor utilizes the same technology as Turtle Talk, but allows for an additional way to interact with the show.

The premise of the show is just a comedy club staring monsters, and the laughs from the show help to power the monster city of Monstropolis. As the character Roz phrases it in the show, “laughter gives us power. If you humans don't laugh loud enough, we may not have enough power to open the exit doors.”

Throughout the show the “monsters” talk with members of the audience and can control a camera to put audience members on the stage and a part of the show.
Guests are also encouraged to text (before the show, please)jokes for show. By Including their name and hometown, selected guests become a part of the show.

I was excited to see how much people were getting into the show, even at 11:00pm when I saw it the first time. The kids that were still awake were ecstatic when their jokes are presented, and the adults in the audience made up most of the laughter “Monsters, Inc.” was after. I saw groups of adults jump right back in line when we left the theater, still laughing. The gauge on the laugh canister responds to how much the audience was laughing, and helped put everyone in the show.

Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix, a columnist for MousePlanet, said that Disney is working on incorporating technology and interactions into the attractions that have been there from the beginning. These projects are still in the works, and Bruce Vaughn will not say if these are going to be used in the parks, but they have the possibility of increasing guest interaction.

A few of the considered technologies are using hand held devices to find Injun Joe’s treasure of Tom Sawyer Island or capture ghosts in the popular Haunted Mansion. Even if these projects don’t get released, they have opened up many doors for other developments in the parks.

It seems clear to me that interaction is where technology is going, especially when it comes to entertainment and attractions. These new innovations are making audiences happy and active when they visit destinations like Walt Disney World.

In years to come I will be excited to see what the imagineers come up with next and how they continue to bring the guests further and further into the Disney magic.