Rare LIFE Magazine Pictures Show Walt Disney in 1953 with Miniature Robotic Figures, Ancestors of Modern Audio-Animatronics

I've got for you this week-end a set of rare pictures of Walt Disney - all shot in 1953 by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt - that you've probably never seen before, with Walt holding what seems to be at first sight model figures for Audio-Animatronics scenes. Were these done back in the 60's for upcoming scenes of Carousel of Progress, or another attraction? They also look like they were some sort of development from the original "Dancing Man" AA figure. As i wanted to know more i asked some good friends of mine and in fact it was not models but miniature robotic figures. Here it is:

"Walt wanted to see how small you could package animatronics into small vignette displays. There was going to be a traveling show on board a train where you saw charming Norman Rockwell style scenes of American life. This was to be a Barber Shop quartet and their movements would have been synchronized to a sound track. Part of the exhibit opened at a home show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium ( its gate was replicated at DCA and WDW Disney's Hollywood Studio ). From that experience Walt learned that small figures were not good for large crowds. This would become a major change in the course of developing Disneyland."

So, here it is: these miniature robotic figures that you can see above and below were not only the ancestors of AAs but it's even thanks to them that Walt took the decision to build large / real size Audio-Animatronics figures as we know them,

















Pictures: copyright TIME - LIFE