Let’s face it – the overlap of theme park fans and animatronic fans is practically two circles, perfectly overlapped. And why not? For nearly as long as Disney Parks have existed, so have Audio Animatronics – Disney’s patented name for programmable figures whose motion is synchronized to audio (versus simpler, mechanical figures that merely go through mechanical, repeating motion).
Here at Park Lore, we dove deep into our much-shared list of the 25 Best Audio-Animatronics on Earth (as well as Member-exclusive Extra Feature side quests into animatronics that have broken right in front of guests, animatronics you can only find in ride queues, and animatronics that aren’t inside rides at all). We’ve also chronicled the in-depth stories of Lost Legends – industry-shaking attractions that are no longer around. So it simply made sense to find the overlap. Today, we’ll highlight just a few key figures of the countless animatronics that have been lost to time… and why some were for good reason.
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1. The Wicked Witch of the West
Location: The Great Movie Ride (Disney’s Hollywood Studios)
Years: 1989 – 2017 (29 years)
When the park then-known as the Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, one single attraction served as the park’s heart and soul – the Lost Legend: The Great Movie Ride. Billed as “A Spectacular Journey Into the Movies,” this epic, 20-minute dark ride whisked 70 riders at a time through a narrated tour of the greatest (licensing accessible) scenes in Hollywood history. Of course, such a celebration of film couldn’t be complete without 1939’s The Wizard of Oz.
The ride’s Oz segment begins, as sweet Dorothy’s trip did, in Munchkinland. There, the celebrating draws the attention of the film’s legendary villain, the Wicked Witch of the West. Appearing in a steaming, flaming release of smoke (just as actor Margaret Hamilton did in the film), the Audio Animatronic version of the Witch accosts visitors, spars with the guide’s narrator, and delivers her famous line, “I’ll get you, my pretty – and your little dog, too!” With a maniacal cackle and another burst of fog, she’s gone.
Still, the Wicked Witch is remembered as one of the most compelling Animatronic encounters in Disney Parks history. There’s a reason. The Witch was the first of what Disney deemed the “A-100” generation. The A-100 figures relied primarily on electronics versus the hydraulics of old. But just as importantly, they were build with a feature called “compliance” – basically, shock absorption at the joints. So while old figures had to move slowly, the Witch could throw her head back to cackle, point emphatically, and whip her broom around, achieving human-like range of motion and speed that left many riders to wonder if the on-ride role was played by a live actress!
2. King Kong
Location: Kongfrontation (Universal Studios Florida)
Years: 1990 – 2002 (12 years)
Once upon a time, Universal Studios Florida was a park defined by larger-than-life encounters with the “creature features” that made the studio famous. Arguably, none were more stunning than the Lost Legend: Kongfrontation. Expanding upon an encounter with the great ape in Universal Studios Hollywood’s fabled Studio Tour, Kongfrontation left guests suspended in aerial trams as they escaped the King’s carnage, ultimately encountering the crazed, enraged ape in two astounding animatronic encounters. (In the big finale, the banana-breathed Kong seemed to grab the vehicle and pull it off its wire, dropping to the streets of New York below!)
If Kong and all the other opening day disaster rides at Universal Studios had just hung in there a little longer, they probably would’ve become retro-cool icons that celebrated the best of Universal’s classic films. Instead, the park underwent a serious “about face” in the early 2000s, desperate to replace its cinematic classics with newer, hotter intellectual properties. At least Kong’s sacrifice yielded among the best of the “next generation” – the Modern Marvel: Revenge of the Mummy.
Universal Orlando was without a Kong ride for fourteen years. In 2016, they offered up a “mea culpa” in the form of a new ride – Skull Island: Reign of Kong. Rather than bringing Kong to our world, Reign of Kong brings us to his – a fit for the more fantastical, literary Islands of Adventure the ride is placed in. Though it centers on the “360-3D” projection tunnel concept that started as a Studio Tour scene in Hollywood, the Orlando version includes a climactic encounter with Kong as an Animatronic. The figure is impressive – it’s on our list of the 25 Best Animatronics on Earth for a reason – but it’s also a very different experience than the one we saw in Kongfrontation. Rather than an enraged, mad, terrifying ape, it’s a protective, exhausted Kong… certainly not the preferred version of the character.
3. Stitch
Location: Stitch’s Great Escape (Magic Kingdom)
Years: 2004 – 2018 (14 years)
The Declassified Disaster: Stitch’s Great Escape is often recalled as one of the worst attractions Disney has ever hosted. An IP-overtake of the legendary (and terrifying) Alien Encounter, Stitch’s Great Escape was an uneven, awkward, and physically uncomfortable experience wherein the mischievous “Experiment 626” spit on guests, burped in their faces, and bounced on their shoulders. Too juvenile for thrillseekers but still too scary for kids, the attraction somehow managed to last longer than its cult classic predecessor, but finally, mercifully closed for good in January 2018.
Stitch’s Great Escape may have been awful… but the animatronics that served as its centerpiece were incredibly impressive. The Stitch figure was the show’s centerpiece, and held up even under the close scrutiny that an audience of 162 seated around it would entail. Stitch was lifelike in his movements & expression, and at least technically, his ability to literally hock loogies on the audience was impressive.
It’s a shame that the same figure couldn’t have been used for a better show… except, it kind of was! A similar Stitch became the centerpiece of Tokyo Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents “Aloha e Komo Mai” – a character takeover that would earn pitchforks and torches in the U.S., but suits the audience in Japan well.
4. Buzzy
The Wonders of Life pavilion was a latecomer to EPCOT, opening in 1989. That also makes it an early foothold in what would become a major reevaluation of what the park should be. The health-and-wellness focused pavilion was anchored by the Lost Legend: Body Wars – a highly turbulent simulator using the Star Tours ride system (and besting the latter’s opening by mere months). But among the pavilion’s suite of supporting attractions was another substantial offering…
In “Cranium Command,” guests were recruited to step inside the mind of “the most unstable craft in the fleet” – a twelve year old boy. With rookie would-be commando Buzzy at the controls, guests watched through the “eyes” of preteen Bobby as he navigated the daily labyrinth of stressors and challenges young people face, underwritten by a host of organs (most voiced by comedians and Saturday Night Live cast members of the late ’80s). Meanwhile, the “in theater animatronic” Buzzy served as a sweet little hero – and a completely original one at that – who was likable, funny, and well animated.
Unfortunately, Wonders of Life didn’t last long. The pavilion’s sponsor – MetLife – declined to renew its support in 2001, leading to a quick and surprising decline of maintenance. In 2004, Wonders of Life was switched to “seasonal” status – a death knell for rides. When holiday crowds left the resort in January 2007, Wonders of Life closed, too, for the last time. In an odd and infamous incident, it was reported in 2018 (and substantiated in 2019) that the “Buzzy” animatronic had been stolen. A Disney Cast Member with an alleged penchant for stealing and selling ride props was charged in the theft and pleaded “no contest” to the charges, but as far as anyone in the public is aware, Buzzy has never been recovered.