Walking Animatronic Dinosaur At Disney Park 263
Dan Howland writes "Shades of Jurassic Park: Disney's first walk-around, interactive animatronic character, Lucky the dinosaur, is now strolling around Disney's California Adventure, but will probably move to Disney's Animal Kingdom in the coming weeks. It kinda walks on two legs, just as the rumors promised, but actually pulls a cart for additional balance (and to hide the computers). Videos can be found on the link above. More photos, and a video of Lucky blowing his nose here."
Talking Trash Can (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:5, Funny)
I got fed up and started kicking the damn thing and crying obsenities at it. Little children were crying and concerned parents were rushing to cover their kids' eyes and ears.
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:2)
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:5, Funny)
Was that over by Star Tours? That was R2-D2 you insensitive clod!
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:2)
"Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:2, Insightful) "
ARGH! That was a joke! Now somebody's going to go to Disneyland and look for R2-D2 amongst the trash cans!
Oh wait, that'd actually be amusing. Never mind!
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe even a stampede,
if we're lucky.
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:2, Funny)
They should let it loose in Tokyo. He could smash up some buildings and then have a big fight with Godzilla. Just like in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla [imdb.com]!
That would totally rule.
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:5, Funny)
Jack Valenti?
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:2)
wbs.
Re:Talking Trash Can (Score:3, Informative)
The person guiding the rollabouts is never too far behind, dressed in plainclothes and with their right arm in a blue camera bag. Their left hand conceals a microphone.
For a short while, SMRT-1, a robot who used to be featured at Communicore in Epcot could be found at the Contemporary Reso
that is soooo cool.. (Score:5, Funny)
Sort of felt sorry for the big mouse.. that kid freaked..
Now I can just imagine the kids wanting to ride a dino..
Wow.. I can hear the screaming from here..
Re:that is soooo cool.. (Score:3, Funny)
They walk among us now (Score:5, Informative)
Basically, it's a big remote controlled Robie Robot Jr that looks like a dinosaur. By the way, does anyone else remember the Radio Shack Robie Robot Jr [mindspring.com], or was I the only person to get one as a kid when I was 6?
I had Robie Sr (Score:5, Interesting)
I programmed a sequence for him to wake me up each morning (using his built-in alarm clock) to roll over to my bed side and start yelling at me (in my own voice) to get out of bed. I used to have him hold my police scanner, too, and jacked the audio to the line in. I don't know, I guess everything seemed funnier when the sound was routed through a robot whose mouth lit up as a VU meter. That, and being able to turn his eyes on as headlights was pretty cool, too. I really tinkered with that thing, too. I figured out how to route my voice to his command channel, what pitch to shriek at to emulate commands from the remote, and how to cut the power to the remote with the voice channel open and use him to listen to neighbors' cordless phones. Man, I have been a geek for a long, long time.
[/me slams phone down on the beach and exits frame right]
Re:They walk among us now (Score:5, Funny)
Is that radio control? Tell me that's not begging to be hacked.
"Look out, kids! Looks like Lucky's on a rampage again! Ha ha ha ha!"
Re:They walk among us now (Score:3, Funny)
Awesome (Score:4, Insightful)
I forget who said this...
"Walt Disney has contributed more happiness to the world than all the religions combined."
Now if only the spirit of Walt would appear to take care of this copyright extension nonsense...
Ho, you think so? (Score:5, Funny)
Sure, but has he Walt killed and tortured as many?
I THINK NOT!
Re:Ho, you think so? (Score:5, Funny)
I THINK NOT!
Not yet, you mean. The Corporate Copyright Wars are just around the corner.
Re:Ho, you think so? (Score:3, Funny)
Well, only one in two million people has what we call the "evil gene". Hitler had it, Walt Disney had it, and Freddy Quimby has it.
Re:Ho, you think so? (Score:2)
Don't forget the geek behind Walt (Score:2)
Re:Awesome (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, I can see how you can confuse a multi-billion dollar corporation with a disturbing amount of mindshare, a die-hard fan-base that can make some practicioners of Scientology look sane in comparison, and a nasty track record of using/abusing copyright law (and those who write it) with, say, BSD.
"I forget who said this...
"Walt Disney has contributed more happiness to the world than all the religions combined.""
Whoever it was obviously didn't take into accou
Re:Awesome (Score:4, Insightful)
This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say Disney is dying.
The company that pioneered many aspects of robotics and automation, the company that is largely responsible for the adoption of color TV, the company that created beautiful, movie-length cartoons using state-of-the-art technology at a time when cartoons were thought to be cheap, low-class entertainment, the company that spent vast, VAST amounts of money to try to give people a glimpse of the future's wonders... THAT is what's dying. Hell, maybe it died along with Walt and the corpse just hasn't stopped moving yet.
I think Walt himself would have been happy to release Mickey to the world. The soulless mess that bears his name, though, just can't do that, and that's why I say Disney is dying. This thing that's left behind is not Walt's Disney.
Re:Awesome (Score:2)
welcome... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:welcome... (Score:2, Funny)
Perhaps someone reading is a mechasaur overlord... you insensitive clod!
(Hah! Two slashdot cliches in one thread!)
Re:welcome... (Score:3, Funny)
Sadly, you pretty much have to to get any enjoyment out of Slashdot.
Mirror (Score:4, Informative)
Simpsons did it (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Simpsons did it (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Simpsons did it (Score:2)
Re:Simpsons did it (Score:2)
... and WestWorld did it before the Simpsons.
Interestingly enough, Michael Crichton came up with both WestWorld and Jurassic Park, so the whole 'amusement park gone crazy' idea is not new at all.
Remember folks, when you call something a 'Simpsons reference', it's almost always a reference/satire of something previous. I pity those of you who get culture from the Simpsons, yet lack enough culture to understand the references.
Yeah, but... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:2)
*slaps self*
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:2)
Bad Movie (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bad Movie (Score:2)
Oh thank God...for a second there I thought you said it was a cross between Jurassic Park and Waterworld.
Re:Bad Movie (Score:2)
No go, how the hell would one market a T-rex with scuba gear and a wetsuit?
Re:Bad Movie (Score:2)
A Dinasour? (Score:2, Funny)
I don't think it walks (Score:4, Insightful)
it's still pretty slick looking though, but it would be much cooler if it really walked on its own.
-Jon
Re:I don't think it walks (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I don't think it walks (Score:2, Funny)
Ha ha, you say, we already have the oval office!
Re:I don't think it walks (Score:3, Insightful)
Solution: Segway. (Score:2)
You're welcome.
Re:Solution: Segway. (Score:2)
Re:I don't think it walks (Score:2)
obligatory (Score:2, Funny)
It's all fun and games... (Score:5, Funny)
Ben
Re:It's all fun and games... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's all fun and games... (Score:2)
Well I don't know about you, but I've got money on it happening...go Lucky!
Re:It's all fun and games... (Score:2)
until it starts eating the tourists.
Then it's time for the merchandising!
Disney's California Adventure(TM)
Hmmm, maybe those t-shirts won't sell as well as Disney had predicted...
-Mr. Fusion
Hrm (Score:5, Funny)
Cache (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Cache (Score:2)
Hmmmm. (Score:2, Interesting)
Uh Oh (Score:2, Funny)
Archaeologists (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Archaeologists (Score:2, Funny)
Scenes cut from Jurassic Park (Score:4, Funny)
What kind of dinosaur is Lucky supposed to be? Looks suspiciously like a velociraptor. All I can think of when I look at the photos of Lucky is how funny it would be for him to leap on another animatronic dino and start eating him. Like this: Scenes cut from Jurassic Park: Velociraptors Devour a Barney [ibiblio.org] (from Dr Fun [ibiblio.org]).
Not a velociraptor. (Score:3, Informative)
Why walking? (Score:2)
Re:Why walking? (Score:2)
This dinosaur is sweet! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, wait a minute. We're supposed to be boycotting these evil, copyright abusing bastards... and I already compromised on Finding Nemo, so I can't do it again.
How about if I sneak into the park and promise not to have fun while I'm there?
Cart (Score:5, Funny)
Shodan? (Score:2)
Nice intro to famlies... If it's safe. (Score:3, Interesting)
Quote From Jurassic Park (Score:5, Funny)
Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but John, if the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.
Re:Quote From Jurassic Park (Score:2)
There you have it, the real reason they shut the doors when a ride's down for service.
I, for one, (Score:2, Redundant)
Slashdotted, but here are direct links (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Slashdotted, but here are direct links (Score:2)
An itinerant booger. Go ahead, ask me another one...
Stand back.. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Stand back.. (Score:2)
Linux wouldn't be much of an improvement. Imagine that thing grinding to a halt whenever some kid tells it to go fsck itself.
How long before... (Score:2)
pay closer attention (Score:2)
"In an amazing show of spontaneity and interactivity, Chandler breaks from the script to point out a flying pteradactyl (a helicopter) to Lucky, who then lifts his head and gazes up into the sky"
I guess the writer for the sight never learned stage magic. Lucky is quite cool, but Chandler's hand goes into his bag for controls before Lucky gives any reaction to the copter.
Re:pay closer attention (Score:2)
According to the article, the dinosaur is controlled by two seeming bystanders, not the dinosaur handler himself.
Oh look... (Score:5, Interesting)
Nevermind. Lucky's going to florida. Now the only attractions are the peeling paint and the disintegrating rides.
-transiit
sigh.. (Score:2, Funny)
"Oooh, ahhh..." (Score:3, Funny)
Ian Malcolm: "Oooh, ahhh, that's how this all starts. But later there's running and screaming."
power supply cart/balance cart (Score:4, Interesting)
For a real walking robot dinosaur take a look at Troody [mit.edu].
Too late (Score:3, Interesting)
Real life is so '90s (Score:2)
I'm dissapointed... (Score:2)
In my opinion... (Score:2)
Finally! (Score:2)
That is really cool (Score:3, Insightful)
Disney Animatronics Tech Articles (Score:5, Interesting)
Wild mouse in the funhouse (2000) [memagazine.org]
The fantastical meets the practical (1997) [memagazine.org]
When will we LEARN from history? (Score:2)
"Lucky." Yeah, right. See how lucky we are when this thing starts going Yul Brynner on somebody's ass.
Ichy and Scratchy land (Score:2, Funny)
Re:GREAT!!! now for R2D2 and C3PO ! (Score:5, Interesting)
Or in Reality Land... (Score:2)
Ooooor, in reality land, there's a guy a block away with a walkie-talkie and a pair of binoculars :-)
(or, gasp, they've got canned phrases/noises!)
Re:Or in Reality Land... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Lost dog (Score:2)
It's not off-topic, it's just unfunny.