I completely agree about the projection faces. They are much more disturbing and feel so much more lifeless, to me. I’d take creep face Ariel over the projection style animatronics.
fun, cool, nostalgic: the blacklight effects in dark rides that make everything glow and white t-shirts turn bright purple bad, icky, uncanny: the blacklight effect that exists just to hide the fact that half of the ride is projected and practically just screens
I've seen footage of the projection mapping misaligned. Olaf looked possessed, Ana had half a face, Elsa had none, etc. Even if Tokyo Elsa goes into B mode at least she has a face you know?
That's also how I feel about shooter dark rides. It's interesting technology in a small dose, but I don't want a lot of screens in my face all the time. Especially on a hyper-expensive vacation, I want to see something physically mindblowing, like the Beauty and the Beast ride in Japan.
She has no lipstick, no rosy cheaks, her eyeliner could be less, I see no eyelashes and I think her eye mechanic is a tiny bit too roughly built. She looks a little like a tim Burton character like that. 😅 Or a cheap blinky-eye-puppet.
Well I mean it's been around for a while The crystal ball and singing heads in the haunted mansion being some of the first. I think it comes down to Disney in general just over relying on CGI bleeding into their theme parks
I remember when I was a kid we saw the Buzz Lightyear animatronic in Tomorrowland right after that ride opened, and it was cool (and I believe the first projection-faced animatronic). That was cool, it was nifty, it was new. Not ALL the new animatronics need to or SHOULD look like that.
It works better on Buzz too because he’s a toy and allowed a degree of artificiality that looks weird on Elsa. The lighting in that room also compliments the effect and makes it less apparent. Frozen and mine train makes them look like straight up ghosts
I could never hate him because he's one of my favorites but it's more of the state he's in and that's the Figment animatronics. It hurts me so much to see just how much work he needs done and Disney is over here making so much merch of him. I'm begging you Disney, just please use your Figment money to fix the boy.
Fix the ride as a whole, not only is the science theme kind of bland, it's not what's interesting to people anymore. Fantasy is only growing in popularity, they should be capitalizing on that and restoring the ride to what it was before the science concept took over.
I hate how much the projected faces stand out, they never match the skin tone of the animatronic nor the lighting of the scene. But having a super animated face with a limited body too- like how the cheeks wouldn't move when a character smiled if it's projected
With Ariel I think a big part of it is that she's drawn with hooded eyes that have a visible crease - I think the intent is to make her look dreamy, wistful and romantic. But in attempting to translate it to an animatronic they inset her eyes too much - probably to allow for movement, leading to an uncanny porcelain doll, kind of wearing a mask made of another face effect
i totally agree. i also feel like they could’ve made her irises and pupils bigger to fill out all of the white space and i also think they made her mouth WAY too wide. belle’s animatronic in tokyo had a smaller mouth and fuller cheeks and it did her well. one last thing is that they added NO COLOR to her face. her lips are pale white and her cheeks are too. if they made her lips a bit pink and added some red/blush into her cheeks, she would look more alive than she does now.
I love Dinosaur, personally, but I think the reason for the awkward Carnotaurus head at the end is that he's a replacement--originally, in the "Countdown to Extinction" days, the counterpart of the Indiana Jones boulder was some attempt to depict the giant meteor coming to smash the world. Narratively, that makes more sense, since we've been getting the buildup to that throughout the ride, but I guess they decided they need one more dinosaur scare to punch it up.
Its better than the flying T-Rex in the Jurassic Park ride at the end....I'll never understand how anyone can claim a T-Rex just hovering in mid air, feet obviously touching nothing is so amazing
I'm surprised he didn't mention the pterodactyl puppet in the air in which, even in the dark, you can see the big wires hanging from its top. It wouldn't be so bad, but the narrator screams "PTERODACTLY!!!" which makes the unmoving puppet even more glaring. Maybe it's not considered an animatronic in this list, but it's definitely so bad it's funny.
Splash Mountain has been falling apart for more than a few years. I had a pass in 2013-2014 and dog in a boat in was still spinning but the "take me along" alligator was covered by a black trash bag for months! And Brer Bear stopped moving, and the entire row of dancing birds on the riverboat were often frozen in place.
When did they move the newsboy? He used to be facing the track, right in your face, close enough to nearly touch, and screaming “EXTRA, EXTRA!” at the top of his lungs, and showing you the newspaper he was selling. You’d hear him echoing through the ride. He definitely had a face when Walter Cronkite was narrator.
@@Shoulderpads-mcgee I read two rumors. Either his face was damaged so they turned him around or I also read that before the 2007 refurb the animatronic was really close to the track and people tried to reach out and grab/ touch the animatronic so that’s why they moved it
The thing that gets me about Ariel is her lower eyelid. It makes her look like she had a few dozen too many… coffees… to put it lightly. I don’t think Elsa’s face is shaped quite that way. The other thing could be that we get absurdly close to the Ariel animatronics on that ride. It’s possible that these things look fantastic when they’re five more feet away.
I've always found her lips to be really really weird. It's like she's missing the definition of her lips? Like maybe lipstick or something? I don't know but I've always thought that was the weirdest animatronic I've ever seen. We were so excited to ride the ride and then it was so weird
I think the animatronics at WDW's Ariel's Undersea Adventure needs to be re-skinned because the last time I went on the ride, there were so many cracks on the characters.
that whole ride needs more help than they can give it. it's been reallllll wonky the last several times I've been on it, to the point where I've stopped riding it.
Indiana Jones NEEDS to be refurbished. Fluffy the snake used to scare the crap out of me as a kid, love it now. Make's me real sad when we go by and he won't strike. The boulder room will not even do anything anymore 2/10 times.
Yeah, really disappointing. I visited Disney after Indianas refurbishment and me and my sister were soo upset that the snake + boulder didn’t move at all. Went on the ride 10 times
It will always be a fan favorite and deserves the love of a solid refurbishment. I feel like it's hit or miss as to whether the ride is even open, let alone with all of its parts working.
The face projections probably look odd because they are over lit and too bright in contrast to the bodies so there is very little light and shadow contouring on the faces
I didn’t know about the projection faces when I went on Frozen for the first time. It’s such a confusing decision. It’s a *DARK* ride. You know what’s not dark? Projectors!!!
Lmao I always look up at him and all I can think of is when animatronics like Ursula lost her head… could he lose a foot and it just land on someone? Rational thought says no, but weird intrusive thought brain says definitely, and that I will be the one it happens to 😂
So glad you think Ariel looks funky too! She always looks like she’s in pain to me. Especially in the under the sea scene she looks like she’s grimacing and suffering. The Carnotaurus head makes me sad because the scene originally showed the meteor hurtling towards you. It’s a much more visibly impressive effect and feels much more threatening. Like I can’t even articulate how neat it looked. There’s footage online of the original countdown to extinction version and I highly recommend it! And I’m glad stinky foot pirate is notable here. I’ve always had a soft spot for him. An animatronic I have beef with is paintbrush chimp in the updated jungle cruise. It’s the last chimp on the stolen boat that’s swinging with a paint brush in its hand. The chimp is “smiling” by pulling back its lips and showing all the teeth. This is actually a sign of aggression in apes and a threat. The face sculpt is also far more highly detailed than the older animatronics and it ends up making the chimp look demented and unsettling.
Yea, it’s weird tho Rise has already been open for a few years and this keeps happening so much. Although, Disney ride breakdowns have become more frequent as well. Disney needs to do some serious maintenance 😂
he used to, there's a lot of pictures of it on google. i heard that he broke and instead of fixing him they just turned him around and kept it like that but i dont know how true that is
So nice to learn I'm not alone with the dislike of projected faces. They really do take me out of the experience whenever I see them on a ride. Love the video and your funny, insightful comments!
when i visited disneyland in 2019 with a school group (such a amazing opportunity shskdjdk) we managed to get stuck on splash mountain,right near that boat scene with the chickens. slowly we all came to notice things didn’t quite work right, but it was kinda funny in a weird way lmao
I really enjoy your videos because not only are they informative and fun, it’s clear just how passionate you are about Disney and especially the parks. Amazing work as always! ❤
The Projection Faces look atrocious, they did my girl Anna dirty. I want nothing more than for Disney to go back and update the Animatronics on Frozen Ever After for the newer ones like seen at the overseas parks
I know I’m in the minority here when it comes to Rise, but I seriously don’t know how anyone finds that Kylo animatronic so impressive. Poor guy looks like he’s trying to work out with invisible force dumbbells or something, only to then moonwalk on over to his exit while flaying his arms around lmaooo
I agree, it looks so bad. Maybe if they somehow actually had him fly backwards or something. I think just having some smoke blasts come from the floor or whatever you call those, like what was used in alien encounter etc. would help a lot in that scene.
I just want to share this story about the Hall of Presidents because it’s one of the only things I remember about my childhood trip to Disney World. We went there with my grandmother, (mostly just to escape the horrible Florida heat) and when they show ended, my grandmother remarked how impressive it was that they found so many actors who looked just like the presidents. She was especially impressed by the Lincoln actor. I, then 7 years old or so, had to kindly explain to her that they were not, in fact, actors, but rather very well done animatronics. It took… longer than you would hope to convince her.
On WDW Splash Mountain, the hopping Brer Rabbit animatronic has been broken for years now I think. First, you'd find him frozen in place which looked awful. Now they just keep him tucked away in the corner in his lowest position, but if you look, you can see his ears.
It used to weave back and forth… not a huge range of motion. It started out as a very smooth rocking motion, but within just few years it was kind of jittery/jerky…. then they just turned it off relying more on the hissing sounds… this is just my personal experience, not sure if they turn it on or not currently.
The projection faces have the advantage of having access to a wider range of expressions and the steady hand of an animator doing those expressions. They can actually make them form the words to the song, change expressions mid song, etc. The tradeoff is that when a projection animatronic breaks down, it completely takes you out of it. A standard broken animatronic can typically easily transition to just being a figure (aside from some major malfunctions). A broken projection face is way more obvious. On top of that, you have these awkwardly glowing faces on a DARK ride even when they work properly and I think they just aren't worth it. I'd rather see sculpted faces, which feels more like its actually there, rather than weirdly glow-y but well animated faces. One of the few situations where animation of this level is actually the cheaper option, rather than an expressive robot face, oddly enough.
I think they just moved him because he was kind of in the way during ride evacs. People could get too close and touch him etc. I think it would look better if he wasn't facing the wall though.
i worked at frozen ever after on my dcp earlier this year, and while i (unpopularly) actually quite like the projection faces i can't deny it was pretty creepy doing a track walk on opening shifts before their faces were turned on...
I havent been to the kingdom in about 5 years. The Hall wasnt open, but I can imagine the conflict of adults acting like children. I agree with you 100% about the projection faces. We wasted a fast pass on the Frozen ride and I instantly missed the Maelstrom. The entire ride feels half done. The wait... the wait was more entertaining than the creepy characters on the ride.
I would like to see the 2D skeletons painted on the walls on the Indiana Jones replaced with screens. I usually don’t like screens being used but I feel it might work better than non-moving paintings.
just got back from disneyland and i have to say that the kylo ren animatronics on rise of the resistance will forever be an insane my favorite animatronic. besides the hatbox ghost
i'm so sad about the projection faces on the Frozen animatronics!! it's my fav movie and i'm still excited for the ride but you'd think they'd shell out the extra $$ to make the ride about one of their best performing movies ever to be a little more solid!
Coming back to this video after my mom and I discovered her old Disney trip from 1993 and she filmed parts of Spaceship Earth and there is a clip of the paperboy and he isnt facing the wall and his face was seen!!
There used to be a dragon animatronic in the movie theatre concession lobby at one of my local malls (West Edmonton Mall). She used to sit on top of the concession. The only parts that moved were the neck and jaw (Maybe the eyes, but it was hard to tell; the eyes did have lights in them that kind of resembled lasers). She roared, breathed fire, and had fog coming out of her nostrils (This effect didn't always work). I loved her so much and was devastated when they removed her. What made the dragon weird wasn't the animatronic itself, but rather, that she was just there. No story or explanation of her being there. There were other hanging props around the lobby too, such as King Kong (no longer there), Yoda, and Batman. You might have noticed that I referred to the dragon as 'her'. Like I said, she was situated on top of the concession, the main concession. Down the long hallway of theatres, is another smaller concession stand (which I personally haven't seen operational in years). On top of said small concession stand, are two baby dragons heads. Only from the neck up, they are statues and don't move. Despite the animatronic dragon being gone, these two babies are still there. My theory is that the main dragon is their mother, and the animatronic show was her protecting her nest. But that's just me. Amazing animatronic in my opinion, overall.
if you think the carnotaurus at the very end of dinosaur is bad just wait until you hear what they do when they main big carnotaurus isnt working. there's a tiny little decapitated carnotaurus head on a stick on the opposite side of the track that they shine a blacklight on, and it doesn't move at all, and the big one just gets covered with a tarp with leaves on top of it
With Ariel, it’s a mixture of things that made her look awful and I’m glad you bought it up. I think the shimmer of the material the mask is made of is the first thing that makes it look bad, the eyes are sunken and have a small (noticeable) gap, which gives it an unnatural doll like look. The mouth is also an issue, the way it shows it’s teeth (that also don’t exactly match up with the original animation) is also to blame. The hair was the thing i noticed way back when I first saw the bot in videos also, very unnatural.
I was in Disneyland a couple days ago and my dad and I went on splash mountain as one of our first rides of the day since it was a 5 minute line. The ride operates fine, but a majority of the lights on the ride are off (which made it much scarier imo cuz you can't really see)
Not Disney but down the road... I absolutely love Hagrids, but some of the animatronics need some help. Specifically the Blast Ended Skrewt should have some fog covering the pole that lifts and turns it. And Fluffy's left head is no longer moving (I believe it worked in the first few months then they stopped fixing it?).
That D23 demo Hatbox Ghost always looked off to me too; he gives me more of a Phantom of the Opera vibe, as that's how the character is described in the original novel (a tall, thin, and well-dressed man with a face resembling a skull) lol
All the Aladdin figure/animatronics in Disneyland Paris Aladdin walkthrough attraction, the faces are a thing of true horror and hilarity crossed into one…
The newsie animatronic absolutley at one time did in fact face the ride vehicles at one time. I do remember seeing his face riding Spaceship Earth in the late 80s/early 90s.
I still don't know if the Hatbox Prototype was a joke or something they were actually that thing putting in the ride. Becuase I don't see Disney doing that kind of ironic stunt, especially since these things aren't cheap.
Surprised no one has said this, but honestly with Ariel, I think it looks like she has no makeup. She has lashes but they’re not very visible, and her lips have no color, which is especially strange looking
I think has the problem that people assume it's something other than what it is. The assumption is that a Disney dark ride about dinosaurs is or should be a relatively gentle, immersive educational ride. But it's actually a thrill ride with a scariness level that is pretty high for Disney. If you come in expecting that, it's pretty great. But I think a lot of riders who *would* like that overlook it completely, and I know a lot of little kids ride it and come off crying.
@@MattMcIrvin the need to read the blog signs that say DARK PLACES AND SCARY DINOSAURS lol but I guess no one say the terror part of extra terrorestrial either
Dallin, while everyone can admit that the Indiana Jones version in Disneyland is superior, I will have to insist that you refrain from any further slander against DINOSAUR. While it could definitely use some serious TLC, DINOSAUR is, and always has been, a certified banger! Any further disrespect will result in a VERY strongly worded comment on a future video! 😉
@@jrios29 one of the most frequent *“complaints”* I’ve heard about the ride is that it’s too scary, which is what makes it so underrated imo. Plus the fact it’s in Dinoland which doesn’t get much traction either (imo the land is underrated as well). Like I said in a comment of mine I posted, I’ll never understand it 🤔🤷♂️
Sorry but Dinosaur is one of the worst Disney World rides imo. It scarred me so much as a kid that even though I'm an adult, I refuse to ever go on it again
What is that new microphone? I would totally watch an equipment breakdown video where you show what camera and microphones you use. I really like your behind the scenes videos. I loved your How Was Disney World's 50th REALLY?! video
I concur. 😂 I think the whole “faceless” people are simply a total cop out on Disneys part. They didn’t want to put in too much effort. The half head dinosaur snacks of copying the dinosaur that tries to attack you on universals Jurassic park river adventure right before you zoom down the splash hill. And the first time my kids and I saw Ariel’s face we were freaked out. It just feels like overall for the last twenty or so years Disney has tried to skate by on the sale of their merch and Disney+. They haven’t really done anything to bring people back into the parks that inspires or wows me. Cosmic rewind is a copy cat to space mountain with a guardians theme. Frozen ride? Seriously? All the little girls love it, but what about the rest of us? And Ratatouille is a joke. We don’t want to see screens! We want to see cool animatronics. But unfortunately Disney has been digging this hole for a while with either laying off (or pissing off) their top imagineers who have just gone on to do awesome things at Universal. When you have no creative people left, you’re left with roses breaking down all the time, becoming stale and outdated, and park goers getting angry or bored and going on to other theme parks.
Completely agree. After going nearly every year for 25 years, I stopped about 7 years ago. The parks have become stale, & new attractions are not very good. Just not worth what they’re charging.
Projection faces suck..period Indiana Jones at DL absolutely has some amazing things going for it..then the ride starts...so many non-working effects that it just come off like a carny ride that just got put together wrong from the last stop it made...so incredibly sad...it used to be a fav but i was just there and it is now....well can we talk about how fun the Main Street vehicles are? they really are fun
It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been able to afford to go to Disney… so it broke my heart to hear the Indiana Jones snake doesn’t move anymore. It’s always been my favourite scare. I’m legit sad rn
Honestly, I think the face screen thing works perfect for the dwarfs. It also really worked for run away railway. It’s really cool to me. But on frozen, I as why. Why did you do that Disney?!?!
I think that Kylo animatronic and the overall scene is really weak. If you are in the right vehicle you don't even see the tie fighter hit the ship which causes the whole flailing Kylo to happen, which looks horrible in my opinion.
One complaint. That clip of Elsa isn't her animatronic broken down. The ride broke down and so her animatronic gives a little wave and smiles at the guests here or there as part of her programming. Thought you were a research guy!
Disney World Cast Member here. On Dinosaur, the carnotaurus head at the end of the ride actually used to slide towards you up until the late 90’s. The head is mounted onto a roller cart that would slide down as your falling to give the illusion it’s coming towards you. This was stopped and left stagnant due to an accident that happened on Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland involving a moving mechanic of the ride striking and injuring a guest. This set a precedent for rides and safety going forward that you can’t have anything swoop in towards guests. This is the same reason the pterodactyl earlier in the ride stays stagnant, as this also used to swing towards the guests. Hope this puts your mind at ease 😊
I might not be remembering exactly, but isn't there some backstory to why the boy is turned around on Spaceship Earth? I swear I remembering told there was a reason for it...
Ariel's & Elsa's eyes (plus projection) ruins it. LOL! Statue of Liberty does spiel. Guess they wanted Dwarf's face to shine like diamonds. Problem IS when that part of the system goes down = nightmare FUEL. Pirate with dangling leg. I often wondered If that leg in over 55 yrs. has accidentally dropped off? Man! That would make a souvenir If you could get it out of the park!
Imagine sitting on your doom-buggy, relaxing, and looking at all of the ghosts, and you enter the graveyard. All is fun, and delightfully ghoulish, when you hear an adult man screaming and clapping for a mummy.
I honestly don't mind the projection face dwarfs, I think they look ok and very film accurate, but I do agree about the Frozen figures, they look awful. Japan saw those and said....Ah, No. Also, when you were talking about Ariel, I thought you were going to talk about her orginal soft serve ice cream hair. I remember seeing that in person when it opened thinking, wtf?
![ALLY - OH MY! [ REACTION ] 'Amarin Nitibhon' #ALLY_OHMY #ALLY #allynitibhon #แอลลี่](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nX9qpHjVfbQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Shocked at the lack of Disco Yeti. What *should* be an amazing animatronic is...you know, Disco Yeti.
Maybe a part 2 perhaps.
Haha I just saw him today! At least. He still freaked me out mostly cuz of his stillness in the dark
I was one of the few to ride it while it still worked and it literally felt like it was going to grab you. It's a shame what happened
@@boosted_donkey same bro it was insane I miss it so much
He’s rad! Living the dream! Party in Everest ! 🤟
I completely agree about the projection faces. They are much more disturbing and feel so much more lifeless, to me. I’d take creep face Ariel over the projection style animatronics.
fun, cool, nostalgic: the blacklight effects in dark rides that make everything glow and white t-shirts turn bright purple
bad, icky, uncanny: the blacklight effect that exists just to hide the fact that half of the ride is projected and practically just screens
I've seen footage of the projection mapping misaligned. Olaf looked possessed, Ana had half a face, Elsa had none, etc. Even if Tokyo Elsa goes into B mode at least she has a face you know?
Yeah
I think the projection face animatronics goes to show that the newest and coolest tech isn't always the most effective.
That's also how I feel about shooter dark rides. It's interesting technology in a small dose, but I don't want a lot of screens in my face all the time. Especially on a hyper-expensive vacation, I want to see something physically mindblowing, like the Beauty and the Beast ride in Japan.
She has no lipstick, no rosy cheaks, her eyeliner could be less, I see no eyelashes and I think her eye mechanic is a tiny bit too roughly built. She looks a little like a tim Burton character like that. 😅 Or a cheap blinky-eye-puppet.
When it works it looks fine when it glitches out nightmare fuel
Well I mean it's been around for a while
The crystal ball and singing heads in the haunted mansion being some of the first. I think it comes down to Disney in general just over relying on CGI bleeding into their theme parks
I remember when I was a kid we saw the Buzz Lightyear animatronic in Tomorrowland right after that ride opened, and it was cool (and I believe the first projection-faced animatronic). That was cool, it was nifty, it was new.
Not ALL the new animatronics need to or SHOULD look like that.
It works better on Buzz too because he’s a toy and allowed a degree of artificiality that looks weird on Elsa. The lighting in that room also compliments the effect and makes it less apparent. Frozen and mine train makes them look like straight up ghosts
I could never hate him because he's one of my favorites but it's more of the state he's in and that's the Figment animatronics. It hurts me so much to see just how much work he needs done and Disney is over here making so much merch of him. I'm begging you Disney, just please use your Figment money to fix the boy.
Fix the ride as a whole, not only is the science theme kind of bland, it's not what's interesting to people anymore. Fantasy is only growing in popularity, they should be capitalizing on that and restoring the ride to what it was before the science concept took over.
The popcorn bucket money should be paying for a fix 😔
I hate how much the projected faces stand out, they never match the skin tone of the animatronic nor the lighting of the scene. But having a super animated face with a limited body too- like how the cheeks wouldn't move when a character smiled if it's projected
With Ariel I think a big part of it is that she's drawn with hooded eyes that have a visible crease - I think the intent is to make her look dreamy, wistful and romantic. But in attempting to translate it to an animatronic they inset her eyes too much - probably to allow for movement, leading to an uncanny porcelain doll, kind of wearing a mask made of another face effect
i totally agree. i also feel like they could’ve made her irises and pupils bigger to fill out all of the white space and i also think they made her mouth WAY too wide. belle’s animatronic in tokyo had a smaller mouth and fuller cheeks and it did her well. one last thing is that they added NO COLOR to her face. her lips are pale white and her cheeks are too. if they made her lips a bit pink and added some red/blush into her cheeks, she would look more alive than she does now.
Yeah, the black outline of her eyes is weird, too.
I love Dinosaur, personally, but I think the reason for the awkward Carnotaurus head at the end is that he's a replacement--originally, in the "Countdown to Extinction" days, the counterpart of the Indiana Jones boulder was some attempt to depict the giant meteor coming to smash the world. Narratively, that makes more sense, since we've been getting the buildup to that throughout the ride, but I guess they decided they need one more dinosaur scare to punch it up.
Its better than the flying T-Rex in the Jurassic Park ride at the end....I'll never understand how anyone can claim a T-Rex just hovering in mid air, feet obviously touching nothing is so amazing
@@lutherheggs451 Besides, the Dinosaur building is *supposed* to be dark enough that you can't see he's mounted to the wall like a moose trophy.
I'm surprised he didn't mention the pterodactyl puppet in the air in which, even in the dark, you can see the big wires hanging from its top. It wouldn't be so bad, but the narrator screams "PTERODACTLY!!!" which makes the unmoving puppet even more glaring. Maybe it's not considered an animatronic in this list, but it's definitely so bad it's funny.
Splash Mountain has been falling apart for more than a few years. I had a pass in 2013-2014 and dog in a boat in was still spinning but the "take me along" alligator was covered by a black trash bag for months! And Brer Bear stopped moving, and the entire row of dancing birds on the riverboat were often frozen in place.
Yeah, someone said in the comments of an earlier video, the Tiana retheme was a long time coming.
When did they move the newsboy? He used to be facing the track, right in your face, close enough to nearly touch, and screaming “EXTRA, EXTRA!” at the top of his lungs, and showing you the newspaper he was selling. You’d hear him echoing through the ride. He definitely had a face when Walter Cronkite was narrator.
Yes, he used to be right next to the track. I will have "Extra, extra, New York Daily" in my head all day now...
Yeah I saw a video of the ride from 1992 on TH-cam and the news boy was still facing the track.
So is it possible that he HAD a face but no longer?
@@Shoulderpads-mcgee I read two rumors. Either his face was damaged so they turned him around or I also read that before the 2007 refurb the animatronic was really close to the track and people tried to reach out and grab/ touch the animatronic so that’s why they moved it
@@Kayyleeeeee banished to the time out wall because others can’t keep their hands to themselves 😔
The thing that gets me about Ariel is her lower eyelid. It makes her look like she had a few dozen too many… coffees… to put it lightly. I don’t think Elsa’s face is shaped quite that way.
The other thing could be that we get absurdly close to the Ariel animatronics on that ride. It’s possible that these things look fantastic when they’re five more feet away.
The faces of the singing dolls in Small World have been ripping open more recently. Creepy!
I think Ariel's problem is around the forehead and chin. It almost looks like they aged her up to be in her 20s instead of 16.
She also needs lips/lipstick
Glen Keane said if you draw her jawline wrong, she looks like Mick Jagger :D.
I think her eyes too, it’s uncanny valley esc to me. Meanwhile the other animatronics like Eric and triton don’t seem that way to me
I've always found her lips to be really really weird. It's like she's missing the definition of her lips? Like maybe lipstick or something? I don't know but I've always thought that was the weirdest animatronic I've ever seen. We were so excited to ride the ride and then it was so weird
@@brentparker7359the Imagineers should have just invited Alyssa Milano to sit for the face model.
I think the animatronics at WDW's Ariel's Undersea Adventure needs to be re-skinned because the last time I went on the ride, there were so many cracks on the characters.
that whole ride needs more help than they can give it. it's been reallllll wonky the last several times I've been on it, to the point where I've stopped riding it.
i went back in february this year and was devastated that nearly every ariel had exposed wiring/exoskeleton in her ride…
was the first ariel not moving for you too? she hasn’t worked for the last two times i’ve gone in 2021 and 2022
@@seraphssong Ariel wasn't working for me as well, which is a bummer. People who visit the park pay good money for these machines to work.
Indiana Jones NEEDS to be refurbished.
Fluffy the snake used to scare the crap out of me as a kid, love it now. Make's me real sad when we go by and he won't strike.
The boulder room will not even do anything anymore 2/10 times.
Is that the snake’s nickname?
Yeah, really disappointing. I visited Disney after Indianas refurbishment and me and my sister were soo upset that the snake + boulder didn’t move at all. Went on the ride 10 times
It will always be a fan favorite and deserves the love of a solid refurbishment. I feel like it's hit or miss as to whether the ride is even open, let alone with all of its parts working.
@@emolgana Facts that over 50% of effects don't work anymore.
The face projections probably look odd because they are over lit and too bright in contrast to the bodies so there is very little light and shadow contouring on the faces
I have to say after hitting some other non Disney theme parks this last week I appreciate Disney's Animatronics that much more. Well, most of them.
I didn’t know about the projection faces when I went on Frozen for the first time. It’s such a confusing decision. It’s a *DARK* ride. You know what’s not dark? Projectors!!!
Still impressed most by the practical/organic effects, like the pirate effect in the cave in the early portion of POC
I'm glad you brought up the barefoot pirate. It's always odd seeing him there and he weirds out my sister (which I love).
Lol my mom too. The foot is so 😖 grimy
Lmao I always look up at him and all I can think of is when animatronics like Ursula lost her head… could he lose a foot and it just land on someone? Rational thought says no, but weird intrusive thought brain says definitely, and that I will be the one it happens to 😂
@@averyeml YES... I know he's secured but every time we passed under him my only thought was "what if he tipped over right onto us" 💀
I keep thinking he's gonna drip mud on our heads.
I don't know why, but recently your humor is even more pointed and I find myself giggling exponentially more! I just love the new videos.
So glad you think Ariel looks funky too! She always looks like she’s in pain to me. Especially in the under the sea scene she looks like she’s grimacing and suffering.
The Carnotaurus head makes me sad because the scene originally showed the meteor hurtling towards you. It’s a much more visibly impressive effect and feels much more threatening. Like I can’t even articulate how neat it looked. There’s footage online of the original countdown to extinction version and I highly recommend it!
And I’m glad stinky foot pirate is notable here. I’ve always had a soft spot for him.
An animatronic I have beef with is paintbrush chimp in the updated jungle cruise. It’s the last chimp on the stolen boat that’s swinging with a paint brush in its hand. The chimp is “smiling” by pulling back its lips and showing all the teeth. This is actually a sign of aggression in apes and a threat. The face sculpt is also far more highly detailed than the older animatronics and it ends up making the chimp look demented and unsettling.
Rope dropped Rise 3 times in the last 1.5 years and each time we completely bypass the preshow and Kylo is always down….sucks
Yea, it’s weird tho Rise has already been open for a few years and this keeps happening so much. Although, Disney ride breakdowns have become more frequent as well. Disney needs to do some serious maintenance 😂
I swear the newspaper boy in spaceship earth WAS facing us on that newspaper corner for a very short time. I feel like I have memories of it.
He used to face the crowd as if selling the paper to us.... Loooong time ago
Yes he was facing forward, but rumor has it broke so they just turned him around.
Same... Mandela effect??
he used to, there's a lot of pictures of it on google. i heard that he broke and instead of fixing him they just turned him around and kept it like that but i dont know how true that is
Yeah he did in at least 1992. I saw it on a TH-cam video of space ship earth from that time
So nice to learn I'm not alone with the dislike of projected faces. They really do take me out of the experience whenever I see them on a ride. Love the video and your funny, insightful comments!
Hating projection-faced animatronics: it’s not just you.
when i visited disneyland in 2019 with a school group (such a amazing opportunity shskdjdk) we managed to get stuck on splash mountain,right near that boat scene with the chickens. slowly we all came to notice things didn’t quite work right, but it was kinda funny in a weird way lmao
I really enjoy your videos because not only are they informative and fun, it’s clear just how passionate you are about Disney and especially the parks. Amazing work as always! ❤
The Projection Faces look atrocious, they did my girl Anna dirty. I want nothing more than for Disney to go back and update the Animatronics on Frozen Ever After for the newer ones like seen at the overseas parks
I know I’m in the minority here when it comes to Rise, but I seriously don’t know how anyone finds that Kylo animatronic so impressive. Poor guy looks like he’s trying to work out with invisible force dumbbells or something, only to then moonwalk on over to his exit while flaying his arms around lmaooo
I agree, it looks so bad. Maybe if they somehow actually had him fly backwards or something. I think just having some smoke blasts come from the floor or whatever you call those, like what was used in alien encounter etc. would help a lot in that scene.
@@mushieslushie I’d even say the smoke effects would’ve added to the explosion behind him
Totally agree, he looks like he is having a seizure. It’s kinda sad. 😢
he looks like hes balancing on a tightrope to me lmao
the arm movement is okay at best, but the rest looks SO STIFF, like he needs a good chiropractor to snap crackle pop him back into motion.
I just want to share this story about the Hall of Presidents because it’s one of the only things I remember about my childhood trip to Disney World. We went there with my grandmother, (mostly just to escape the horrible Florida heat) and when they show ended, my grandmother remarked how impressive it was that they found so many actors who looked just like the presidents. She was especially impressed by the Lincoln actor. I, then 7 years old or so, had to kindly explain to her that they were not, in fact, actors, but rather very well done animatronics. It took… longer than you would hope to convince her.
On WDW Splash Mountain, the hopping Brer Rabbit animatronic has been broken for years now I think. First, you'd find him frozen in place which looked awful. Now they just keep him tucked away in the corner in his lowest position, but if you look, you can see his ears.
Holy cow! I totally thought the snake on Indiana Jones moved but I couldn’t prove it!
It used to weave back and forth… not a huge range of motion. It started out as a very smooth rocking motion, but within just few years it was kind of jittery/jerky…. then they just turned it off relying more on the hissing sounds… this is just my personal experience, not sure if they turn it on or not currently.
@@arandil1 yeah that sounds about right. Just one of those things.
Ariel’s eyes have always unsettled me on the DCA ride
Very valid point on the indy snake. It’s been immobile for way too long.
The projection faces have the advantage of having access to a wider range of expressions and the steady hand of an animator doing those expressions. They can actually make them form the words to the song, change expressions mid song, etc.
The tradeoff is that when a projection animatronic breaks down, it completely takes you out of it. A standard broken animatronic can typically easily transition to just being a figure (aside from some major malfunctions). A broken projection face is way more obvious.
On top of that, you have these awkwardly glowing faces on a DARK ride even when they work properly and I think they just aren't worth it. I'd rather see sculpted faces, which feels more like its actually there, rather than weirdly glow-y but well animated faces. One of the few situations where animation of this level is actually the cheaper option, rather than an expressive robot face, oddly enough.
3:25 He does have a face. The LEGEND is that when Disney were renovating Spaceship Earth, they accidentally BROKE his face.
I think they just moved him because he was kind of in the way during ride evacs. People could get too close and touch him etc. I think it would look better if he wasn't facing the wall though.
i worked at frozen ever after on my dcp earlier this year, and while i (unpopularly) actually quite like the projection faces i can't deny it was pretty creepy doing a track walk on opening shifts before their faces were turned on...
I havent been to the kingdom in about 5 years. The Hall wasnt open, but I can imagine the conflict of adults acting like children. I agree with you 100% about the projection faces. We wasted a fast pass on the Frozen ride and I instantly missed the Maelstrom. The entire ride feels half done. The wait... the wait was more entertaining than the creepy characters on the ride.
The Carnatuarus was originally a giant asteroid hurdling towards you when the ride opened as Countdown To Extinction
I would like to see the 2D skeletons painted on the walls on the Indiana Jones replaced with screens. I usually don’t like screens being used but I feel it might work better than non-moving paintings.
just got back from disneyland and i have to say that the kylo ren animatronics on rise of the resistance will forever be an insane my favorite animatronic. besides the hatbox ghost
That smug faced stone still Elsa casually waving a hand cracks me up every time.
11:43 Dallin as a pirate is just Guybrush Threepwood.
I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS WEIRDED OUT BY PROJECTION-FACED ANIMATRONICS
That point about the Hall of Presidents is spot on
i'm so sad about the projection faces on the Frozen animatronics!! it's my fav movie and i'm still excited for the ride but you'd think they'd shell out the extra $$ to make the ride about one of their best performing movies ever to be a little more solid!
The snake currently in Indiana Jones that has been there for about a year is a replacement snake that doesn’t move while they fix the moving one
Coming back to this video after my mom and I discovered her old Disney trip from 1993 and she filmed parts of Spaceship Earth and there is a clip of the paperboy and he isnt facing the wall and his face was seen!!
Agree 100% on the projection faces. So much nope there. Thank you.
There used to be a dragon animatronic in the movie theatre concession lobby at one of my local malls (West Edmonton Mall). She used to sit on top of the concession. The only parts that moved were the neck and jaw (Maybe the eyes, but it was hard to tell; the eyes did have lights in them that kind of resembled lasers). She roared, breathed fire, and had fog coming out of her nostrils (This effect didn't always work). I loved her so much and was devastated when they removed her. What made the dragon weird wasn't the animatronic itself, but rather, that she was just there. No story or explanation of her being there. There were other hanging props around the lobby too, such as King Kong (no longer there), Yoda, and Batman.
You might have noticed that I referred to the dragon as 'her'. Like I said, she was situated on top of the concession, the main concession. Down the long hallway of theatres, is another smaller concession stand (which I personally haven't seen operational in years). On top of said small concession stand, are two baby dragons heads. Only from the neck up, they are statues and don't move. Despite the animatronic dragon being gone, these two babies are still there. My theory is that the main dragon is their mother, and the animatronic show was her protecting her nest. But that's just me. Amazing animatronic in my opinion, overall.
if you think the carnotaurus at the very end of dinosaur is bad just wait until you hear what they do when they main big carnotaurus isnt working. there's a tiny little decapitated carnotaurus head on a stick on the opposite side of the track that they shine a blacklight on, and it doesn't move at all, and the big one just gets covered with a tarp with leaves on top of it
That boatload of singing chickens on Splash Disneyland gives recycling a bad name.
With Ariel, it’s a mixture of things that made her look awful and I’m glad you bought it up. I think the shimmer of the material the mask is made of is the first thing that makes it look bad, the eyes are sunken and have a small (noticeable) gap, which gives it an unnatural doll like look. The mouth is also an issue, the way it shows it’s teeth (that also don’t exactly match up with the original animation) is also to blame. The hair was the thing i noticed way back when I first saw the bot in videos also, very unnatural.
The newspaper boy on Spaceship Earth used to face the ride cars. For some reason he was turned to face the wall after a refurbishment.
I was in Disneyland a couple days ago and my dad and I went on splash mountain as one of our first rides of the day since it was a 5 minute line. The ride operates fine, but a majority of the lights on the ride are off (which made it much scarier imo cuz you can't really see)
Not Disney but down the road... I absolutely love Hagrids, but some of the animatronics need some help. Specifically the Blast Ended Skrewt should have some fog covering the pole that lifts and turns it. And Fluffy's left head is no longer moving (I believe it worked in the first few months then they stopped fixing it?).
I just want to say: aww Dallin, you will be a real Laffite animatronic one day!! Just keep wishing on a star.
That D23 demo Hatbox Ghost always looked off to me too; he gives me more of a Phantom of the Opera vibe, as that's how the character is described in the original novel (a tall, thin, and well-dressed man with a face resembling a skull) lol
15:15 lol “30th of October as I film this” he meant September. 😅
All the Aladdin figure/animatronics in Disneyland Paris Aladdin walkthrough attraction, the faces are a thing of true horror and hilarity crossed into one…
So many videos from you lately! Thank you! I love animatronics!
The newsie animatronic absolutley at one time did in fact face the ride vehicles at one time. I do remember seeing his face riding Spaceship Earth in the late 80s/early 90s.
Surprised you didn’t mention the Yeti in Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom
I still don't know if the Hatbox Prototype was a joke or something they were actually that thing putting in the ride. Becuase I don't see Disney doing that kind of ironic stunt, especially since these things aren't cheap.
I think the paperboy bit a cast member, and now he's in time out. That's my theory anyway lol.
The projection faces are TOO BRIGHT
Surprised no one has said this, but honestly with Ariel, I think it looks like she has no makeup. She has lashes but they’re not very visible, and her lips have no color, which is especially strange looking
Dinosaur is such a good ride I’ll never understand the hate or slander for it
Dinosaur is aight, it’s got nothing on Indiana jones though
it makes me hella dizzy
I think has the problem that people assume it's something other than what it is. The assumption is that a Disney dark ride about dinosaurs is or should be a relatively gentle, immersive educational ride. But it's actually a thrill ride with a scariness level that is pretty high for Disney. If you come in expecting that, it's pretty great. But I think a lot of riders who *would* like that overlook it completely, and I know a lot of little kids ride it and come off crying.
@@MattMcIrvin the need to read the blog signs that say DARK PLACES AND SCARY DINOSAURS lol but I guess no one say the terror part of extra terrorestrial either
the ariel in the first scene at disney world has been broken since 2021. been there twice and she’s still stagnant
That hippo on it’s a small world scares me
Dallin, while everyone can admit that the Indiana Jones version in Disneyland is superior, I will have to insist that you refrain from any further slander against DINOSAUR. While it could definitely use some serious TLC, DINOSAUR is, and always has been, a certified banger! Any further disrespect will result in a VERY strongly worded comment on a future video! 😉
Yessir! Dinosaur is such an underrated ride fr
@@NinthShinigami And I don't know why?! Dinosaur was the most popular E Ticket in Animal Kingdom for so many years!
@@jrios29 one of the most frequent *“complaints”* I’ve heard about the ride is that it’s too scary, which is what makes it so underrated imo. Plus the fact it’s in Dinoland which doesn’t get much traction either (imo the land is underrated as well). Like I said in a comment of mine I posted, I’ll never understand it 🤔🤷♂️
Sorry but Dinosaur is one of the worst Disney World rides imo. It scarred me so much as a kid that even though I'm an adult, I refuse to ever go on it again
Gotta say I do not appreciate the dinosaur preshow slander. Weird dino head? okay. But Dr. Seeker is a legend
Thank you for travelling through time to bring us this video. What’s it like in the future? Are there Peoplemovers everywhere?
What is that new microphone? I would totally watch an equipment breakdown video where you show what camera and microphones you use. I really like your behind the scenes videos. I loved your How Was Disney World's 50th REALLY?! video
Agreed!
I believe the new mic is a Hyper X Quadcast S.
I concur. 😂 I think the whole “faceless” people are simply a total cop out on Disneys part. They didn’t want to put in too much effort. The half head dinosaur snacks of copying the dinosaur that tries to attack you on universals Jurassic park river adventure right before you zoom down the splash hill. And the first time my kids and I saw Ariel’s face we were freaked out. It just feels like overall for the last twenty or so years Disney has tried to skate by on the sale of their merch and Disney+. They haven’t really done anything to bring people back into the parks that inspires or wows me. Cosmic rewind is a copy cat to space mountain with a guardians theme. Frozen ride? Seriously? All the little girls love it, but what about the rest of us? And Ratatouille is a joke. We don’t want to see screens! We want to see cool animatronics. But unfortunately Disney has been digging this hole for a while with either laying off (or pissing off) their top imagineers who have just gone on to do awesome things at Universal. When you have no creative people left, you’re left with roses breaking down all the time, becoming stale and outdated, and park goers getting angry or bored and going on to other theme parks.
Completely agree. After going nearly every year for 25 years, I stopped about 7 years ago. The parks have become stale, & new attractions are not very good. Just not worth what they’re charging.
Projection faces suck..period
Indiana Jones at DL absolutely has some amazing things going for it..then the ride starts...so many non-working effects that it just come off like a carny ride that just got put together wrong from the last stop it made...so incredibly sad...it used to be a fav but i was just there and it is now....well can we talk about how fun the Main Street vehicles are? they really are fun
Got to remember that quote " You know what's more interesting than great? Stupid! "
It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been able to afford to go to Disney… so it broke my heart to hear the Indiana Jones snake doesn’t move anymore. It’s always been my favourite scare. I’m legit sad rn
Honestly, I think the face screen thing works perfect for the dwarfs. It also really worked for run away railway. It’s really cool to me. But on frozen, I as why. Why did you do that Disney?!?!
I think that Kylo animatronic and the overall scene is really weak. If you are in the right vehicle you don't even see the tie fighter hit the ship which causes the whole flailing Kylo to happen, which looks horrible in my opinion.
One complaint. That clip of Elsa isn't her animatronic broken down. The ride broke down and so her animatronic gives a little wave and smiles at the guests here or there as part of her programming. Thought you were a research guy!
As bad as the projection faces are I’ll take that any day over just projections/screens.
Disney World Cast Member here. On Dinosaur, the carnotaurus head at the end of the ride actually used to slide towards you up until the late 90’s. The head is mounted onto a roller cart that would slide down as your falling to give the illusion it’s coming towards you. This was stopped and left stagnant due to an accident that happened on Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland involving a moving mechanic of the ride striking and injuring a guest. This set a precedent for rides and safety going forward that you can’t have anything swoop in towards guests. This is the same reason the pterodactyl earlier in the ride stays stagnant, as this also used to swing towards the guests. Hope this puts your mind at ease 😊
Also a fun fact, the roller rail that was used for the carnotaurus head is the same rail that is used for the Expedition Everest roller coaster 😉
The tiny T-Rex head on Primeval World makes me laugh every time.
The pirate singing in front of the donkey has a scary hand that haunts my dreams.
my problem with the projection faced animatronics is that every time I see them I imagine what they look like without the projections playing
One of my favorite animatronics are the kissing frogs on The Little Mermaid lol they make me smile every time I see them.
I might not be remembering exactly, but isn't there some backstory to why the boy is turned around on Spaceship Earth? I swear I remembering told there was a reason for it...
ive heard that he broke and instead of fixing him they just turned him around but i dont know if thats true
He said 30th of October when he was filming this video.😂
I think he meant September.😂
Ariel's & Elsa's eyes (plus projection) ruins it. LOL! Statue of Liberty does spiel. Guess they wanted Dwarf's face to shine like diamonds. Problem IS when that part of the system goes down = nightmare FUEL. Pirate with dangling leg. I often wondered If that leg in over 55 yrs. has accidentally dropped off? Man! That would make a souvenir If you could get it out of the park!
Im pretty sure they were trying to start an urban legend with the boy facing the wall
THE THUMBNAIL!”they need help” great videos offhand
Imagine sitting on your doom-buggy, relaxing, and looking at all of the ghosts, and you enter the graveyard. All is fun, and delightfully ghoulish, when you hear an adult man screaming and clapping for a mummy.
I applaud hardest for the John Tyler Animatronic.
I like John Tyler, you know?
Tippecanoe and Tyler too!
The countdown was my favorite and brought me SO many laughs this morning!! Thanks D.
I honestly don't mind the projection face dwarfs, I think they look ok and very film accurate, but I do agree about the Frozen figures, they look awful. Japan saw those and said....Ah, No.
Also, when you were talking about Ariel, I thought you were going to talk about her orginal soft serve ice cream hair. I remember seeing that in person when it opened thinking, wtf?
Two words… Constance Hatchaway 🤦♀️
The beating heart bride was so much more effective.
Yea, the Frozen AA face projections dont match the color and brightness of the rest of their body and its such a distraction.
That severed Carnotaurus head scared my cousin so badly that he pooped his pants, it's been 10+ years and he will never live that one down haha
I’ll say it. It’s because Ariel doesn’t have lashes!!!!