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Disney's been doing awesome work with "Living Characters", like a Mickey that moves his mouth or a BB-8 that can roll around. But for various reasons, they never tend to make it into regular usage.

If you have a few hours over Christmas break and want to watch a 4 hour YouTube video (I promise if you're on HN on a Sunday, you'll be delighted by it), I highly highly recommend this video:

"Disney's Living Characters: A Broken Promise" by Defunctland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyIgV84fudM

this_user•24m ago

A lot of it just seems to be marketing. Present the shiny new toy, get the news headlines, people book their stays, and then it doesn't really matter if they ever actually make it into the parks.

gkoberger•18m ago

Eh, maybe. I have a less myopic view... I think their Imagineers just like pushing the envelope, and there's a difference between awesome tech vs things that can withstand the wear-and-tear of millions of guests.

I wouldn't risk a multi-million-dollar Olaf near a small kid who just wants to give their favorite character a hug.

Disney doesn't get enough credit for its innovation over the decades, from multi-plane cameras up to more recent inventions like smokeless fireworks (they donated the patent for this), their holotile floor (basically an endless VR room you can walk around) and more. They do a lot of R&D, and not everything is immediately ready or able to make it into a park.

sharkweek•3m ago

Amazon drone delivery comes to mind…

mattv8•21m ago

4 hours is an awfully big investment... Especially for those of us with multiple young kids and who no longer own their own free time. Care to give the gist?