Mickey TALKS!!

[Doc CW]

Wow thats some impressive technology, with some magic thrown in there I'm sure .

 

[Suellen]

My girls would really love this! Hope they bring it to the world!!

 

[PoohsFan1]

That is incredible. I was going to ask "how do you think they match Mickey's voice?" Robo, you think the CM in the costume is just someone who can match the voice? You're probably right, but I was hoping that whoever was talking had something that made their voice sound like that. I have no idea what the device would be, but if it is just someone whose voice sounds like Mickey, that makes this a very limited act. I would love to see this with all the Fab 5.

I was thinking the same thing....like inside Mickey there is a voice changer that lets whatever voice sound like Mickey's....but who knows, I guess no one will ever know. I am just in awe and excited and hope that this will come to the WDW area as well. I also hope many more characters, besides Mickey, will be able to talk. How cool would it be for those characters at the character meals could finally talk to the guests rather than just blowing kisses, shaking heads, or doing motions to communicate. Disney Imagineers ARE really geniuses (per what one PP said)

 

[bradk]

We went to the Playhouse Disney Live tour, and I excepted the characters to hop around to the music. To my surprise Mickey and the gang's eyes blinked and mouth moved to the recording. I wondered that day why the characters in the park don't do that. Very cool. Disney has to keep reinventing to keep people going.

they do in Dream Along with Mickey, Festival of the Lion King and the MVMCP castle show.

but to pull it off in a close environment such as a meet & greet area takes a lot more technology and the interactivity takes it over the top. you don't really have those needs in a staged show.

I dunno about a wish trip. the older one appears to have something, but it looked more like a mild form of down syndrome to me (i know i'm asking for it big time here). and it can't be a one off because that's a whole lot of tech for one occasion (in which wish trips generally have to cope with non-talking Mickeys like the rest of us), but I'm not sure it's going to be a regular thing anytime soon either.

I think it's more of a proof of concept. When the articulated heads started appearing in the park, I think we all agreed they'd be awesome at meet & greets, but didn't seem like they could be realistically pulled off and this just really proves many of us wrong and that it can be done and Mickey is just the tip of the iceberg.

So in the short term, he probably won't be around much, but this is definitely leading into bigger and better opportunities. This might trump the new fabled Tinker Bell meet & greets too.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

That is awesome! I also hope they bring it to the World in coming years. My family would get a big kick out of that!

 

[nancyoliver23]

That’s so lovely! Wonder how they’ve managed it. My grandchildren are going to love it.

 

[Missus Toad]

My kids if Mickey said their names =

 

[Disneyfn420]

This is so amazing. I've watched it about 5 times already. I hope they can bring it to the parks at some point. Imagine what the lines for meet and greets will be like then..not to mention each meeting will take longer as it won't just be a picture it will have interaction....but it'd be worth the wait!

 

[Must C Mickey]

WOW sooo amazing! I've already fwd'd the article to a dozen people!!!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

That's brilliant. Very sweet videos.

 

[PiperPizzaz]

Yes, obviously I agree it is some kind of test. Don't expect to see it very soon. However, that said they are getting ready to do this. Meet & greet locations. I doubt this would be dining but, you never know.
I have no clue how it is done and I don't want to know. I just can't wait to talk to Chip and Dale!!!

 

[Coach81]

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

Amazing! Thanks Robo and bradk for posting the videos - Stitch Kingdom rocks with all the Disney info!

 

[mickeysgirl17]

That's so awesome! I hope they keep this up and can do it with all the costumed characters in WDW too! Thanks Robo for showing us.

 

[Planogirl]

Remember the voice changers they sold in the toy stores? I'm thinking that you could sound like Darth Vader and a few other characters. I wonder if this is the same system amped up to sound natural? Impressive whatever it is.

 

[WeLoveLilo05]

My jaw just dropped lol....
I wonder how DD would react to Mickey talking to her lol.
I remember when we went to Donald's safari breakfast Mickey actually blushed (face lit up red) when DD kissed him, but i never saw that again.

 

[chartle]

My thought on how it works is that there is an "off stage" CM doing the voice, either someone who can do Mickey or using some sort of voice changer.

Of course the CM in the suit could also be the voice actor, but that would require someone that not only "fit the suit" , under 5'2"(?) and able to act the part, but also do the voice.

The reason I say its most likely off Stage is that it would be difficult to mask the CM's real voice from inside the head.

ETA: If the voice is off stage though, there has to be a lot of coordination between the two CMs.

As for it being like Turtle Talk yes they would use the same type of "waldo" for the head movements http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_manipulator, but at TT they only need maybe 5 or 6 voice actors to do the part and its a pretty easy "surfer dude" voice.

Mickey is a whole other matter, they would need maybe a dozen or more to do the part, seeing that there are multiple "Mickeys" at toon town.

And I wouldn't hold my breath for all the characters to be like this. There are way to many of them to apply this kind of tech.

 

[hkeller27]

SO. COOL.

As a parent, that brought a tear to my eye, what a magical experience for those children!!!

 

[mariepapa]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! My daughter would freak to see Minnie do this. She loooooooooooves Minnie (and Mickey too).

Those Imagineers deserve every penny they get paid!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

I've moved this thread to the Rumors and News board.