The Tech Secrets Behind Disneyland's 'Enchanted Tiki Room' (sfgate.com) 23
SFGate spills the secrets of Disneyland's "Enchanted Tiki Room" and its lifelike animatronic singing birds — Jose, Fritz, Michael and Pierre — "whose movements were perfectly synced with the audio track."
"Beneath the room, the heartbeat of the attraction is a $1 million installation of electronics equipment, operated by a roll of 14-channel magnetic tape," the Orange County Register wrote upon its opening. "It is the same system which programs the U.S. military's polaris missile." That system also ran very hot. To keep guests from overheating, air conditioning was installed throughout the building, making the Tiki Room Disneyland's first attraction to be fully air conditioned...
Or, as another article puts it, "While Disney did not delve into the speculative science of cryogenics to preserve his life, he did borrow the mechanical brain of a nuclear missile to simulate life, creating a new type of entertainment in the process."
The article remembers how Wernher Von Braun became a technical advisor (and on-camera presenter) for three Disney-produced TV episodes about space travel — at the same time Von Braun was working as technical director for the U.S. Army rocket program that produced the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile, plus the first submarine-launched ballistic missile with its ground-breaking launch control mechanism: An important aspect of the Polaris launch system hinged on the fact that the conditions under which the missiles might be launched were constantly changing. Different underwater currents, temperatures, and flexing of the metal hull all contributed to the difficulty of a successful launch. In order to minimize human errors and to automate the sequence as much as possible, scientists developed an audio control system. A magnetic audio tape with a series of prerecorded cues precisely timed to account for the submarine's movement, controlled the launch machinery.
This new technology, invented to deliver nuclear destruction, proved exactly what Disney needed for his wonderland developed for children.
The article concludes that Disneyland engineering "transformed Von Braun's military technology" to the point today where "what was once controlled by the artificial brain of a nuclear missile is now run by the equivalent of a MacBook."
SFGate delves deeper into the attraction's strange origins — and how it all came full circle 63 years later... At the intersection of Main Street and Adventureland, a restaurant called the Pavillion — now the Jolly Holiday — bridged the gap. Under one roof, it served food to Main Street guests on one side and Adventureland diners on the other. The inelegant transition created an eyesore that Walt despised... The need for the Tiki Cafe "appeared to be less about food and more about aesthetics," Ken Bruce writes in Before the Birds Sang Words , a comprehensive history of the attraction.
In 1961, Walt gathered with park designers about the concept. The sketch made by legendary theme park designer John Hench was remarkably thorough, with much of its design incorporated into the final product... When Walt saw a plethora of birds in the sketch, he famously exclaimed, "We can't have birds in there ... because they'll poop in the food." Hench hurriedly ad-libbed that the birds would be mechanical, a concept that Walt adored...
Although its powerful air conditioning may be its biggest draw today, many attractions you love owe their existence to the flock of singing birds. Disney engineers' work on the talking flora and fauna laid the foundation for much more complex Audio-Animatronics (a word that Walt Disney coined). Without Jose, Fritz, Michael and Pierre, there would be no Haunted Mansion, no Pirates of the Caribbean, no Rise of the Resistance. Next year, in celebration of Disneyland's 70th anniversary, the park will unveil one of its most sophisticated animatronics yet: Walt Disney himself. It will be the first time Walt appears in a Disney attraction anywhere in the world, completing a journey that started with a mechanical bird and ends with an immortal homage.
Their article also reveals that a year after the Tiki Room opened, one of the birds was programmed to say "Come, there's an island there for you in Hawaii. Soaring birds of United Airlines fly there too!" Because Disneyland had signed a sponsorship deal with United Airlines...
Or, as another article puts it, "While Disney did not delve into the speculative science of cryogenics to preserve his life, he did borrow the mechanical brain of a nuclear missile to simulate life, creating a new type of entertainment in the process."
The article remembers how Wernher Von Braun became a technical advisor (and on-camera presenter) for three Disney-produced TV episodes about space travel — at the same time Von Braun was working as technical director for the U.S. Army rocket program that produced the world's first long-range guided ballistic missile, plus the first submarine-launched ballistic missile with its ground-breaking launch control mechanism: An important aspect of the Polaris launch system hinged on the fact that the conditions under which the missiles might be launched were constantly changing. Different underwater currents, temperatures, and flexing of the metal hull all contributed to the difficulty of a successful launch. In order to minimize human errors and to automate the sequence as much as possible, scientists developed an audio control system. A magnetic audio tape with a series of prerecorded cues precisely timed to account for the submarine's movement, controlled the launch machinery.
This new technology, invented to deliver nuclear destruction, proved exactly what Disney needed for his wonderland developed for children.
The article concludes that Disneyland engineering "transformed Von Braun's military technology" to the point today where "what was once controlled by the artificial brain of a nuclear missile is now run by the equivalent of a MacBook."
SFGate delves deeper into the attraction's strange origins — and how it all came full circle 63 years later... At the intersection of Main Street and Adventureland, a restaurant called the Pavillion — now the Jolly Holiday — bridged the gap. Under one roof, it served food to Main Street guests on one side and Adventureland diners on the other. The inelegant transition created an eyesore that Walt despised... The need for the Tiki Cafe "appeared to be less about food and more about aesthetics," Ken Bruce writes in Before the Birds Sang Words , a comprehensive history of the attraction.
In 1961, Walt gathered with park designers about the concept. The sketch made by legendary theme park designer John Hench was remarkably thorough, with much of its design incorporated into the final product... When Walt saw a plethora of birds in the sketch, he famously exclaimed, "We can't have birds in there ... because they'll poop in the food." Hench hurriedly ad-libbed that the birds would be mechanical, a concept that Walt adored...
Although its powerful air conditioning may be its biggest draw today, many attractions you love owe their existence to the flock of singing birds. Disney engineers' work on the talking flora and fauna laid the foundation for much more complex Audio-Animatronics (a word that Walt Disney coined). Without Jose, Fritz, Michael and Pierre, there would be no Haunted Mansion, no Pirates of the Caribbean, no Rise of the Resistance. Next year, in celebration of Disneyland's 70th anniversary, the park will unveil one of its most sophisticated animatronics yet: Walt Disney himself. It will be the first time Walt appears in a Disney attraction anywhere in the world, completing a journey that started with a mechanical bird and ends with an immortal homage.
Their article also reveals that a year after the Tiki Room opened, one of the birds was programmed to say "Come, there's an island there for you in Hawaii. Soaring birds of United Airlines fly there too!" Because Disneyland had signed a sponsorship deal with United Airlines...
Polaris? (Score:1)
""It is the same system which programs the U.S. military's polaris missile"
The Polaris missile went out of service long ago, replaced first with Poseiden and then Trident.
Re:Polaris? (Score:4, Informative)
""It is the same system which programs the U.S. military's polaris missile"
The Polaris missile went out of service long ago, replaced first with Poseiden and then Trident.
However, when the Tiki Room was created, Polaris was the missile system.
Re: (Score:3)
I admit having to read these parts twice to understand that the Tiki Room has been around for 63 years (emphasis mine)!
Re: (Score:1)
The article is about the history of the Tiki Room. Wernher Von Braun is long gone. From context, it implies that Polaris missile development was decades ago.
I’d more say the article is about stolen/borrowed U.S. Army tech, being used to create the Tiki Room. Regardless of how it operates today, that’s exactly how it started. And Von Braun was hardly “long gone” when the tech was stolen/borrowed.
If my stance seems harsh, imagine if Von Braun was originally a Disney employee who ended up “loaning” the U.S. Army the technology to control long-range ballistic missiles. History might be looking at Disney through an Oppenheimer-
Re: (Score:2)
Polaris was a Navy project (Score:2)
Polaris was a Navy project. Von Braun worked for the U.S. Army rocket development program. Von Braun, working on liquid-fuel rockets for the Army, has nothing to do with developing the Polaris missile, a solid-fuel rocket developed for the Navy.
Have they changed that song? (Score:2)
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Must be AI writings again (Score:2)
Simulating life, my ass! Putting some clothes on a couple of mechanical arms is hardly a simulation of any sort, let alone life.
Re: (Score:1)
Hey, it's just a simulation within the simulation we live in. Don't set your expectations too high.
Target audience. (Score:1)
Simulating life, my ass! Putting some clothes on a couple of mechanical arms is hardly a simulation of any sort, let alone life.
From ages 2-7, you and a bazillion other kids thought that cheesy shit was real as fuck. Don’t lie.
Ah, the Tiki Room AC. Memories. (Score:2)
1 million dollars (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I checked Wikipedia because neither article was clear on what is currently running that particular attraction so I checked Wikipedia.
BTW: is - present tense / was - past tense
"Afterward, the original show and storyline remained, but were now enhanced with a digitally remastered audio track,[c] a new sound system indoors and out, and completely new Audio-Animatronics figures that looked the same as the previous ones, but had a completely different internal apparatus."
"The original Tiki Room *was* controlled
Re: (Score:2)
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If you're too lazy to read TFS, you deserve to be modded into oblivion
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M-I-C..a defense contractor. (Score:1)
The article concludes that Disneyland engineering "transformed Von Braun's military technology"..
Thats one creative way of describing your transformative technology that was based on what would be considered stolen technology today. Article reads like the origin story of the birth of NDAs and non-compete clauses.
Imagine if it were reversed, and it was Disney who created and provided long-range guided missile technology to a warmongering world..
Re: (Score:2)
The article concludes that Disneyland engineering "transformed Von Braun's military technology"..
Thats one creative way of describing your transformative technology that was based on what would be considered stolen technology today.
No, it's a creative way to slide Von Braun, and rocket technology, into an article that had nothing to do with Von Braun, or rocket technology.
Again: Von Braun worked for the Army missile program. Polaris was a missile developed by the Navy missile program. The two programs were competitors. Von Braun would have had nothing to do with the Polaris guidance and navigation system (which was developed by MIT's Charles Stark Draper Lab [computerhistory.org]. Not by the Army missile program.)
In any case, magnetic tape was widely used
Uncanny valley (Score:2)
"Next year, in celebration of Disneyland's 70th anniversary, the park will unveil one of its most sophisticated animatronics yet: Walt Disney himself."
They might want to stop right there. No matter how good the "Imagineers" may be, this is taking a huge risk and they can't afford to overestimate their abilities with this. Unless they plan to keep this one at a 'safe' distance from the audience like the Hall of Presidents animatronics.
"the equivalent of a MacBook" (Score:2)
> the equivalent of a MacBook
Oh?
Is it a Dell?
A RPi4?
What kind of bus? How are they muxing?
Call me crazy but I was hoping for more seeing this on /.
Anyone who got to see Disney in the 70's was truly fortunate. The magic is replaced with marketing now.