Ananimatronic is apuppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way.[1] Animatronics are the modern adaptation of theautomaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters infilms,video games, andtheme park attractions.
Animatronics are a multidisciplinary field integratingpuppetry,anatomy andmechatronics.[2][3][4] Animatronic figures can be implemented with both computer and human control, includingteleoperation. Motionactuators are often used to imitate muscle movements and create realistic motions. Figures are usually encased in body shells and flexible skins made of hard or soft plastic materials and finished with colors, hair, feathers and other components to make them more lifelike. Animatronics stem from a long tradition of mechanicalautomata powered byhydraulics,pneumatics andclockwork.
Before the term "animatronics" became common, they were usually referred to as "robots".[5] Since then, robots have become known as more practical programmable machines that do not necessarily resemble living creatures.[6] Robots (or other artificial beings) designed to convincingly resemble humans are known as "androids". The termanimatronics is aportmanteau ofanimate andelectronics. The termAudio-Animatronics was coined byWalt Disney in 1961[7] when he started developing professional animatronics for entertainment and film.
An animatronic fire-breathing dragon, suspended above the concourse at Scotiabank Theatre inWest Edmonton Mall, Alberta, CanadaThe Fairy Tale Tree in theEfteling
Before electronics, animatronics were simply puppets made to work with clockwork. These are known today asautomata. For most of human history, it has not been possible to create a moving figure resembling a person that was not directly puppeted by another person.
In therenaissance era, the first clockwork automated humanoid figures were created.[8][9][10] These were complex with many movements, however the figures were extremely large as they contained large cam shaft mechanisms in the base with the introduction of electricity. The mechanisms to create a humanoid figure got smaller and smaller, however very few of the created figures looked human.[10]
The first audio animatronic to convincingly imitate a human was Walt Disney'sAbraham Lincoln attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the1964 New York World's Fair. This marked a change in the industry, as computers were a pivotal part in creating the figure.
1939 (1939) – 1939 (1939):Sparko, The Robot Dog, andElektro, performs in front of the public. Both were manufactured by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Elektro was one of the first robots, using basic sensors and tube logic to receive commands and roughly know when it crashed into a wall. It could blow up balloons, smoke cigarettes, synthesize text, and move its legs and arms. In 1939, Elektro received a pet, and the first mainstream animatronic, Sparko.[11] However, unlikeElektro, Sparko had no built-in computer and was not remote controlled, instead using an external computer controlled by an operator.[11] Unlike many depictions of robots in that time, Sparko represented a living animal, and thus became the very first modern day animatronic character,[12] along with an unnamed horse which was reported to gallop realistically. The animatronic galloping horse was also on display at the1939 New York World's Fair, in a different exhibit than Sparko's.[13]
1961 (1961):Heinrich Ernst develops the MH-1, a computer-operated mechanical hand.[14]
1961 (1961):Walt Disney coins the term "Audio-Animatronics" and hisWED Enterprises team begins developing modern animatronic technology.[15]
1964: In the filmMary Poppins, animatronic birds are the first animatronics featured in a motion picture. The first animatronic figure of a person, that ofAbraham Lincoln, is created by Disney for itsAbraham Lincoln attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the1964 New York World's Fair.
1978: AVG Technologies is founded by Alvaro Villa, former head of electronic animation research and development for the Walt Disney Company.
1980:ShowBiz Pizza Place debutsThe Rock-afire Explosion, an animatronic band manufactured byAaron Fechter's Creative Engineering Inc. (CEI) to directly compete with Chuck E. Cheese.[20] CEI's preceding animatronic bands, theWolf Pack 5 and theHard Luck Bears, solidify their presence in numerous amusement parks around the world.[21]
1981:Efteling renovates itsSprookjesbos walk through ride, adding 92 animatronics.
1982: Ben Franklin is the first animatronic figure to walk up a set of stairs.
1982: David L. Brown establishes the firstBullwinkle's Family Food N' Fun Restaurant inSanta Clara, California, with prototype animatronics provided by Fred Hope's The Only Animated Display & Design Company.[22] AVG Technologies supplied further animatronics for the chain starting in 1983, and later byDreamation in 1998.
1982: The first Celebration Station opens with aW.O.O.F. Radio animatronic show by Creative Presentations, Inc. ofSchaumburg, Illinois. Celebration Station later opened locations with Sally Corporation'sDaniel and the Dixie Diggers withJethro P. Hogg starting in 1991, along with a retrofit of the latter known asThe Rockin' Rascals forKnoxville, Tennessee by 1993.
1982:Warner Communications, five years after losing ownership of Pizza Time Theatre, creates the Gadgets chain of restaurants (initially named "Gizmos"). These featured Sammy Sands, an animatronic pianist, and theLooney Tunes Revue, both manufactured by Advanced Animations ofSouthbury, Connecticut.[23] More than satisfied by the results of the two productions, Warner purchased Advanced Animations from founders Bob Marquis and Dan Long, renaming the company to Warner Technologies, Inc. under their leisure division.[24] Along with Sammy Sands and theLooney Tunes Revue for Gadgets, Warner Technologies continued manufacturing shows for other clients, most notably theElectric Mice Orchestra.[25]
1986: Warner Communications sells Advanced Animations back to Bob Marquis and Dan Long, relocating toStockbridge, Vermont.[24] Shortly after, VP Productions (laterVP Animations, LLC.) forms inWatertown, Connecticut by previous Advanced Animations alumni, including Scott Pokorak. VP would become known for their work in producing animatronics for Dandy Bear in Florida and Stew Leonard's across Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. They also created theRockin' Rollin' 50's Show along withMick Jaguar and the Sly Cats for a handful of smaller venues.[26]
1987:Stew Leonard's inNorwalk, Connecticut implements theFarm Fresh Five animatronic band, initially manufactured by Advanced Animations. More animatronics were added to Norwalk and locations afterward, such as theHank and Beau characters by Sally Industries.
1989: The second generation of Disney's generic animatronics, the "A-100", portraying the Wicked Witch of the West fromThe Wizard of Oz is developed forThe Great Movie Ride attraction at Disney-MGM Studios.
1990: ShowBiz Pizza begins to convert the Rock-afire Explosion into "Chuck E. Cheese & Munch's Make Believe Band" and cuts ties with CEI.
1997: Garner Holt Productions begins supplying a 32 movement Chuck E. Cheese animatronic for Chuck E. Cheese's "Studio C" stages. To cut manufacturing and maintenance costs, this number was reduced to 16 movements starting in 2002.
1998:Tiger Electronics begins sellingFurby, an animatronic pet that speaks over 800 English and "Furbish" phrases and can react to its environment.
2005:Engineered Arts produces the first version of their animatronic actor,RoboThespian.
October 31, 2008 – July 1, 2009: The Abraham Lincoln animatronic character is upgraded to incorporate new technology atThe Hall of Presidents.[citation needed]
2019: Disney releases a number of new characters based on their third-generation platform "A-1000".[27]
There are quite a few ways to build an animatronic, however most follow this basic structure:
An animatronics character is typically designed to be as realistic as possible and thus, is built similarly to how it would be in real life. The framework of the figure is like the "skeleton". Joints, motors, andactuators act as the "muscles". Connecting all the electrical components together are wires, such as the "nervous system" of a real animal or person.[28] Steel, aluminum, plastic, and wood are all commonly used in building animatronics but each has its best purpose. The relative strength, as well as the weight of the material itself, should be considered when determining the most appropriate material to use. The cost of the material may also be a concern.[28] Several materials are commonly used in the fabrication of an animatronics figure's exterior. Dependent on the particular circumstances, the best material will be used to produce the most lifelike form. For example, "eyes" and "teeth" are commonly made completely out of acrylic.[29]
One method of constructing animatronics can be found in the Chuck E. Cheese's Studio C animatronic by Garner Holt Productions, made of latex rubber, metal, and plastic, supported by an internal skeleton.[30] On the other end of the spectrum, an all-metalbunyip animatronic in Australia uses water to actuate the creature's mouth.[31]
Latex: Whitelatex is commonly used as a general material because it has a high level of elasticity. It is also pre-vulcanized, making it easy and fast to apply.[32] Latex is produced in several grades. Grade 74 is a popular form of latex that dries rapidly and can be applied very thick, making it ideal for developing molds.[33]Foam latex is a lightweight, soft form of latex which is used inmasks andfacial prosthetics to change a person's outward appearance, and in animatronics to create a realistic "skin".[33]The Wizard of Oz was one of the first films to make extensive use of foam latex prosthetics in the 1930s.[34]
Silicone: Disney has a research team devoted to improving and developing better methods of creating more lifelike animatronics exteriors withsilicone.[35]RTV silicone (room temperature vulcanization silicone) is used primarily as a molding material as it is very easy to use but is relatively expensive. Few other materials stick to it, making molds easy to separate.[36][37] Bubbles are removed from silicone by pouring the liquid material in a thin stream or processing in a vacuum chamber prior to use.Fumed silica is used as a bulking agent for thicker coatings of the material.[38]
Polyurethane: Polyurethane rubber is a more cost effective material to use in place of silicone. Polyurethane comes in various levels of hardness which are measured on theShore scale. Rigidpolyurethane foam is used in prototyping because it can be milled and shaped in high density. Flexible polyurethane foam is often used in the actual building of the final animatronic figure because it is flexible and bonds well with latex.[33]
Plaster: As a commonplace construction and home decorating material, plaster is widely available. Its rigidity limits its use in molds, and plaster molds are unsuitable when undercuts are present. This may make plaster far more difficult to use than softer materials like latex or silicone.[37]
Pneumatic actuators can be used for small animatronics but are not powerful enough for large designs and must be supplemented withhydraulics. To create more realistic movement in large figures, an analog system is generally used to give the figures a full range of fluid motion rather than simple two position movements.[39]
Mimicking the often-subtle displays of humans and other living creatures, and the associated movement is a challenging task when developing animatronics. One of the most common emotional models is theFacial Action Coding System (FACS) developed by Ekman and Friesen.[40] FACS defines that through facial expression, humans can recognize six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise. Another theory is that of Ortony, Clore, and Collins, or the OCC model[41] which defines 22 different emotional categories.[42]
In 2020 Disney revealed its new animatronics robot that can breathe, move its eyes very much like humans, and identify people around it in order to select "an appropriate" response, as opposed to previous Disney animatronics that were used in purely scripted,non-interactive situations, liketheme park rides.[43]
Some colleges and universities do offer degree programs in animatronics. Individuals interested in animatronics typically earn a degree in robotics which closely relate to the specializations needed in animatronics engineering.[44]
The film industry has been a driving force revolutionizing the technology used to develop animatronics.[46] Animatronics are used in situations where a creature does not exist, the action is too risky or costly to use real actors or animals, or the action could never be obtained with a living person or animal. Its main advantage overCGI andstop-motion is that the simulated creature has a physical presence moving in front of the camera in real time. The technology behind animatronics has become more advanced and sophisticated over the years, making thepuppets even more lifelike.[47]
Animatronics were first introduced by Disney in the 1964 filmMary Poppins which featured an animatronic bird. Since then, animatronics have been used extensively in such movies asJaws andE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[48]
The 1993 filmJurassic Park, directed by Spielberg, used a combination of computer-generated imagery in conjunction with life-sized animatronicdinosaurs built byStan Winston and his team. Winston's animatronic "T. rex" stood almost 20 feet (6.1 m),[49]40 feet (12 m) in length[50] and even the largest animatronics weighing 9,000 pounds (4,100 kg) were able to perfectly recreate the appearance and natural movement on screen of a full-sizedTyrannosaurus rex.[51]
Jack Horner called it "the closest I've ever been to a live dinosaur".[50] Critics referred to Spielberg's dinosaurs as breathtakingly and terrifyingly realistic.[52][53]
The 1999 BBC miniseriesWalking with Dinosaurs was produced using a combination of about 80%CGI and 20% animatronic models.[54] The quality of computer imagery of the day was good, but animatronics were still better at distance shots, as well as closeups of the dinosaurs.[54] Animatronics for the series were designed by British animatronics firm Crawley Creatures.[54] The show was followed up in 2007 with a live adaptation of the series,Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular, which also featured animatronics.[55]
The Hug, a 2018 horror short film directed by Jack Bishop and Justin Nijm, and starring Nick Armstrong and Roman George, follows a bratty birthday boy at Pandory's Pan Pizza Palace, aShowBiz Pizza Place-like restaurant, who has an awkward situation with Pandory the Panda, the pizzeria'sgiant panda animatronic mascot. It premiered atHulu as part of its "Huluween" film competition.
Five Nights at Freddy's (commonly known asFNAF), a horror video game series, features various animatronic entertainers as antagonists who try to kill the player character. Inthe first game of the series, the animatronics' violent attitude towards humans is explained as faulty programming. However, as the series continues, their behavior is linked to the murders of children by William Afton, one of the founders of the in-game restaurant and the series' overarching villain. Afton would go on to possess an animatronic of his own after his death.[61][62] Since the original game,Five Nights at Freddy's has evolved into a large media franchise comprising various sequels, spin-offs,a novel trilogy,[63][64]an anthology series of short stories,[65][66][67] anda film adaptation.[68]
^Ayala, Alfredo Medina (22 October 2010). "Autonomatronics TM".Advances in New Technologies, Interactive Interfaces, and Communicability First International Conference Papers. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 6616 (1st ed.). Huerta Grande, Argentina: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 8–15.doi:10.1007/978-3-642-20810-2_2.ISBN978-3-642-20809-6.
^Ribeiro, Tiago; Paiva, Ana."The Illusion of Robotic Life"(PDF). Porto Salvo, Portugal: INESC-ID.Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 August 2014. Retrieved9 August 2014.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^Magid, Ron (June 1993)."Effects Team Brings Dinosaurs Back from Extinction".American Cinematographer.74 (6):46–52. Archived fromthe original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved21 October 2014.But this system achieved its most remarkable results in Jurassic Park's star attraction, a 40-foot-long, 9000-pound animatronic machine that perfectly recreated the appearance and fluid motion of a full-sizedTyrannosaurus rex.
^Cohen, Matt (2012-04-05)."Why Jurassic Park was meant to be seen in 3D". THE WEEK Publications, Inc.Archived from the original on 2014-08-01. Retrieved21 October 2014.Spielberg's dinosaurs were breathtakingly — and terrifyingly — realistic.
^Neale, Beren (17 September 2014)."How Jurassic Park made cinematic history".3D World (182).Archived from the original on 18 October 2014. Retrieved21 October 2014.Seeing Jurassic Park made me realise that my destiny was in digital
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