Mickey TALKS!!

[*DisDude]

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.

Forced me to join!

Reminds me of one of my first trips when I was 9. Had a character lunch at the Garden Grill. Before we left we bumped into Minnie. Now I have no idea exactly what it was, and this was the only time I experienced something like that, Minnie "kissed" me on the cheek and it felt like a vacuum was turned on. Still makes me say "whaaaaa?" looking back on it.

Wow, this sure changes the experience.

I hope they eventually have all the characters with this technology.

Agreed.

 

[bradk]

i don't honestly think it's fair to compare this technology to autotune, although both make modifications to vocalizations, the Disney technology literally allows the device to be trained on an individual's voice and then to let any other individual sound *exactly* like that first individual on the fly. no pre-recordings, no splicings, just absolute free-form talking.

that said, I believe there is a bit of a disconnect with the technology. it has a little bit of a cold feeling to it. especially if you look at the Disney Parks video and Mickey talks about how he can hardly wait, it just sounds odd. Could be the way the line was actually said, but there was just something unnatural about it.

Also, I believe the Mickey you hear is Bret Iwan, not Walt Disney, not Wayne Allwine. Bret's voice has already been demonstrated in the latest Feld entertainment shows and a couple of other places, I've also heard him on the All Star Dance Mickey. It's pretty darn close.

And yes, this puts a whole lot of voice actors' jobs at risk. Although the patent had the intent to preserve the integrity of someone's lifelong work (for example, Jimmy Macdonald could be 'providing' Mickey's voice today or Jim Henson could still be 'voicing' Kermit the Frog or Mel Blanc could be 'doing' Bugs Bunny), it has some diabolical, unintentional purposes as well. Imagine being able to use Owen Wilson's voice in the Cars TOONs. I imagine there's some legal issues that will arise as well, but it won't be too far of a stretch when you can just pay off Tom Hanks one time to train the device for a lot of money and then hire actors to use that same voice for countless films, promos and attractions.

So that's why I think there may be some hesitation to use a technology they've had for quite some time, independent of the costumes. I'm wondering if it was used at all for the Mobile Muppet Labs and wonder why it's not used for Turtle Talk, Stitch Encounter or the new Jack Sparrow experience on the Disney Dream.

 

[skiingfast]

that said, I believe there is a bit of a disconnect with the technology. it has a little bit of a cold feeling to it. especially if you look at the Disney Parks video and Mickey talks about how he can hardly wait, it just sounds odd. Could be the way the line was actually said, but there was just something unnatural about it.

The one thing I noticed is that when Mickey poses for picture and says cheese it came out strange(I'm not sure which of the three videos this was in). I suspect it is because the CM said this with a unusual cadence.

 

[acwsmom]

Wow! That's amazing! Actually made me tear up a little and my kids' jaws dropped when they saw it. I really hope they start to use technology in the parks soon! It would make the whole experience so much more personal and magical!

 

[DisneyDude_82]

I CALLED IT!! I was talking to a friend or something about this a while back, I was just randomly talking about how it would be interesting to see Disney to something with talking characters! If I remember right they said most likely wouldn't happen but I was right!

I noticed the mouths and eyes moving during the stage show in MK in WDW when we were there in Feb. I thought it was really cool...never thought they would get to adapting it to the meet and greets themselves and I'm not sure if was new but I think I noticed it with Timon in the Festival of the Lion king as well.

This would be AWESOME, when and if they get this going in WDW and DL. The only draw back I could see is, lines being longer of a wait, just cause now you can talk to them.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I'll bet the people at Disney are as excited about this as we are. Imagine seeing your idea brought to life that way. I was skeptical about Mickey talking until I saw the video. That was amazing! Way cool. I would love to see it become a regular part of the park experience.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I know I am probably in the minority here but I just don't see this being a good thing. Mainly b/c I think that the technology to implement this would mean that they will have to have meet and greets in locations where the technology is readily available. I don't see this happening in restaurants or the impromptu run ins we have had with Mickey in the parks. As a result - I think they would have to limit character interactions and meeting them could be even more difficult.

I don't see how you can explain that in some places Mickey will talk to you and in other places he doesn't. Or why does Mickey talk to you but Buzz Lightyear doesn't. It certainly will lead to having to explain the concept of costumes at an earlier age.

My kids realized the difference as soon as Mickey started moving his mouth in the shows and decided he must be the real Mickey while everyone else is in a costume. I think until they can implement this with characters across the board and in any situation it is unlikely Disney will implement talking Meet and greets as it will shatter some of the illusion of Disney Magic.

 

[princess-lola]

I watched the two videos that are on Youtube of the talking Mickey Mouse and all I can say was I was completley spellbound by him!!!