Animatronics

Animatronics (combining the words Animation and Electronics) describes the technique of electronically animating three-dimensional characters, either in movies, live theatre, museum & heritage or theme park attractions.
The term ‘Audio-Animatronics’ is a Disney trademark and describes the synchronisation of mechanical figures and an audio soundtrack. The early ‘AA’ figures were triggered by audio frequency pulses recorded on magnetic tape. Different frequencies operated different reed switches, which operated the robotic figures.

[photo, above, shows a Digital Animation Control (DAC) console, on display at Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida]
[photo, right, shows a ‘bare’ animatronic figure at the Walt Disney: One Mans Dream Museum, Orlando, Florida]

Live shows

• Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular
• How to Train Your Dragon: Live Spectacular

Notable Animatronics in theme parks

• Disneyland – Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
• Disneyland – Haunted Mansion
• Disneyland – Pirates of the Caribbean
• Disneyland – Enchanted Tiki Room
• Disney Parks – Lucky the Dinosaur
• Walt Disney World Resort – Epcot – The American Adventure
• Universal Studios Hollywood – Jurassic Park: The Ride

Notable Movies featuring Animatronics

• E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982)
• Gremlins (1984)
• Jurassic Park (1993)

How much do animatronics cost?
It’s impossible, unfortunately, to put a price on ‘animatronics’ as each animatronic is built for a particular purpose, to a particular budget. It’s possible for one person to build a basic animatronic for a few hundred dollars, but it’s also possible to build one for a million dollars. The manufacturer Garner Holt has an FAQ page where they answer this very question. The high cost of more detailed animatronics is the huge amount of labour involved. There’s obviously a vast difference between a puppet with a few cable controls and a self-propelling animatronic like the Muppet Labs at Disney parks (video above).

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