Fab: Are there more Disney characters here than there were at opening?

LW: Yeah. Not consciously, but because of the Disney Interactive piece. I think the guests asked us for characters, too. They came in and said: "We're in Disneyland, where are the characters?" But only where it makes sense. Tom is the host of the show.

Fab: I'd buy a shirt with him on it-

LW: I'll write that down! No, I don't think we'll ever sell things inside here, but maybe out in Tomorrowland. (Note from Fab: the rumor about shop space opening in Innoventions is one of those that just won't die, and I have yet to find any truth in it.) So, did you see the AIBO? The one in the ring show?

Fab: I saw the new one, outside.

LW: You have to see the new home show. If you get a chance, see the new home show. 'Cause we've got the AIBO "dog" there.

Fab: The house of the future?

LW: Yeah!

Fab: (laughs) Oh, that's cool.

LW: It's a different one than the one outside, and we've got him programmed - he does a Christmas show…he does Elvis impersonations, jokes, and we had the most fun programming him! The three of us were in the room, acting out the dance movements, we've got the programmer and the script writer, and we're just doing bad jokes, songs, and..

Fab: So, he does that over and over, or does he change?

LW: For Christmas, because he's part of the ring show, he doesn't change. But the one outside is programmed to do a wide variety of activities - about 50 different voice commands.

Fab: He's just a baby, right? You started with him yesterday.

LW: Well, I think we've loaded AIBO Life into it, so he acts as if he's a mature animal; if not, he'd just sleep a lot.

Fab: He was being a little stubborn this morning.

LW: Well, it's the first time he's been seen in public. He was only introduced at COMDEX Monday, we saw him Monday and asked them to send him here.

Fab: Wonderful. Now, do you have him for good, is he a loaner from Sony, or..?

LW: Everything we have in the building is a loaner, for the ring shows, so long as something is interesting to the guest and the company's interested in working with us.

Fab: So if someone says: "Oh, that's neat! I want to buy that!"

LW: We direct them to the website. Again, we're not Best Buy; so it's a fun thing and it's a show, and so the last thing you want to do at the end is say: "here," (holds up an invisible box) "pick up six on your way out."

Fab: Well, it is Disney….

LW: Yeah, and we have the shops outside.

Fab: But you don't have AIBOs and flat-screen TVs and things like that there.

LW: Yeah, it's kind of hard to put it in your backpack.

Fab: My parents used to tell me stories about how long, long ago, before I was born, they would go to Disneyland and one time they tried out a video phone in Tomorrowland.

LW: I used to do that myself.

Fab: What I liked was the phone bank where the Disney characters would talk to you. How do you strike that balance, bringing back well-loved and remembered things, but dealing with a new generation of kids who are jaded and need shiny things constantly waved in front of their faces?

LW: Well, there's 227 experiences inside the building. So, the phone, if you went up and saw in AT&T, the Colossal Phone, that's when I grew up, I remember you used to go into this big glass booth with the giant phone, this is the new generation of that phone, now.

We talked a little about his other project, Hong Kong Disneyland, and about his work in the development of Disney's California Adventure. I'll have the rest of the story next week; it's past eleven and I have to get to the midnight showing of Harry Potter.

-- Fab

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-- Michelle Smith

-- Posted November 16, 2001