Disney’s Living Characters Initiative Rolls Out Latest Advancement in Interactive Animation, the Muppet Mobile Lab

Last week Walt Disney Imagineering was at Disney's California Adventure testing the latest in their Living Characters, the Muppet Mobile Lab. Below are several videos and pictures from that test. Also below is a transcript an Interview with Bruce Vaughn, Vice President of Research and Development for Walt Disney Imagineering conducted Friday, March 2, in Disney’s California Adventure. The interview is also available on video below.

LP: We are talking today with Bruce Vaughn, the Vice-president of Research and Development for Walt Disney Imagineering. What is it we’ve just seen?

Vaughn: You just saw the next generation of our Living Characters Initiative, the Muppet Mobile Lab, which is a fully independent, autonomous show with two animatronic figures on it.

Vaughn: Yes.

Vaughn: Of course, the official answer is magic. Actually, I’ll tell you a little bit more. At R&D we initiated this Living Characters program a number of years ago. You’ve seen examples of that with Lucky the Dinosaur, and on the virtual side with Turtle Talk with Crush. The goal is to bring our characters to life in new and unique ways for our guests. Not to replace what we have, but to have certain characters come out in different forms in the space outside the attractions, the themed areas. To do that we had to do quite a few advancements in technology, both from the software and hardware side, in order to make that happen.

Vaughn: Yes, you did.

Vaughn: Absolutely. Bunsen and Beaker are not restricted just to the Muppet Mobile Lab. They can also come out and interact at the same scale that they do, as a living character, in a variety of different places.

Vaughn: They could be on a parade float, they could be in a theater, they could be in a ride vehicle…

Vaughn: It’s inspired by Segway. Segways are wonderful machines, the self balancing has such a magic to it that we thought it would be great that if Beaker and Dr. Bunsen did have their own Lab it would want to have that quality to it. So definitely there was inspiration.

What takes Bunsen and Beaker and the Muppet Mobile Lab beyond what we’ve done in the past with Lucky is that it’s more than just characters walking around autonomously—it’s a show on wheels. So they spray water, they shoot confetti and streamers, they have smoke on board, they have suds on board, flashing lights, music, all sorts of things, all contained in “the egg.�?

Vaughn: Yes.

Vaughn: This is part of the R&D process. Disney is a unique entertainment company for having a Research and Development group focused on the advancement of story telling. So this is actually part of the R&D process. We’re not done with it. We’re out here testing some of the technology, but we’re mostly testing the show. We’re developing and creating the shows as we do it. So every day that we’re out here with the guests, we’re taking notes, going backstage, rewriting things, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. Because this is a whole new genre for us. That process will go on for a few months, and then we’ll see!

And it won’t just be the Muppets, we hope. We hope it will be a variety of characters, from Pixar, from Disney Animation, the Disney Channel, as well as things like the Muppets.

Vaughn: Yes. All part of the Living Characters Initiative.