New Bots Revealed and Interest in Possibilities Piqued with New "We Call It Imagineering"
The latest episode of Walt Disney Imagineering’s (WDI) webseries, We Call It Imagineering, has arrived and celebrates all things R&D at the magic making division, with a special focus on robotics.
Immediately, we get introduced to the department, with current WDI president Bruce Vaughn taking us (alongside appearances by Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro) through different areas and projects. Throughout the quick intro, we see all kinds of developments throughout the division’s history, including Lucky the Dinosaur, stunttronics and the Spider-Man figure at Disney California Adventure, and of course - those BDX Droids that keep popping up.
Do You Want To Build A Snowbot?
It all leads up to a big reveal and the next phase in robotics tech to be employed by Walt Disney Imagineering at the Disney Parks. We’re introduced to Olaf from the 2013 cultural phenom that was Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen, walking around on his own, perfectly sized and scaled to the humans around him (Sorry to the costumed character version in the parks, but honestly, yikes.) From there, we get the big news that this Olaf figure will be found walking around and greeting guests in the new World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris, as well as the existing version of the land in Hong Kong Disneyland early next year.
At a certain point Vaughn also shared that back in the early 90s, which he was present at WDI for, they kept the R&D department a secret, but now with shows like We Call It Imagineering, they want to present it to the world mostly to show that they are using the latest tech and driving innovation. Personally, I was triggered at a certain point because as they’re talking about robotics and getting ready to show off more prototypes and advancements, we got a lot of cut scenes from Pixar’s WALL-E. Bringing WALL-E to life at the parks is a rare instance and has been notoriously difficult, with each publicized appearance since early testing getting scrapped or cut short. But yet, now we get footage of a humanoid-esque droid being experimented with, tested, and even doing the Moonwalk with ease.
We also get a moment where we sit with Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. It was nice to see the partnership between NVIDIA and WDI acknowledged, especially since in the past some of these kinds of collabs would just fall under the WDI umbrella, not really saying “with the help of Company X.”
“Disney has been at the forefront of some of the coolest technology invented. Although it’s technology in service of entertainment, many of those capabilities really revolutionize the rest of the industry… How is it possible that Disney did all this technology and shrunk it into a little tiny snowman, just to make me happy? The magic is so incredible,” Huang said.
Hey, Have You Seen the BDX Droids?
But in case you haven’t got enough of them yet, let’s go back to those BDX Droids. As we see more of them, we are also reminded that there are new missions coming soon to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World based on the upcoming film, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Because the project renders in real time and uses the UNREAL engine (further validating my calling the attraction “the world’s most themed video game chair”), they are able to update the experience easier than others. As for the integration of the new film, much of The Mandalorian uses digital assets, many that were lifted and put directly into the new experience, including locations and visuals from the upcoming movie. This is also thanks to the partnership with NVIDIA.
Set to debut on May 22nd, 2026, the same day for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, the new storyline takes guests to see Hondo Ohnaka, who has gotten wind of a deal going down on Tatooine between ex-Imperial officers and a band of pirates. There’s a generous bounty for their capture, so guests will borrow the iconic ship and team up with Mando and Grogu to track them down and explore the galaxy.
Marvel-Ous Advancements and References
We leave the Star Wars universe and head to the world of The Fantastic Four: First Steps for our next bot, taking a look at the Humanoid Experimental Robot, B-Type, Integrated Electronics. AKA H.E.R.B.I.E. This bot was built in only a few months, balancing on a ball that allows him to pivot, adjust his angle, and roll in any direction with precision and ease. We get a peak at how the whole mechanism works, and how his personality comes to life with small details and expressive features, and also learn that design of the character for the actual film was changed based on the idea that they could build him to be featured day and date with the film’s release inside Disneyland park.
From H.E.R.B.I.E. We go back to Bruce Vaughn where we talk even more about the BDX droids, and how their prototype nature led to so many more advancements. While they talk about the evolution, and how they won over Jon Favreau - soon making their appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu, we learn about their programming and how they can recognize shapes, figures, and humans in front of them. There is even a moment where we see their controllers putting down their remotes. Does this mean we’ll see them walking around fully on their own?
From more BDX Droid content, we then learn about some behind the scenes magic at WDI with the implementation of J.A.R.V.I.S. Named after Tony Stark’s fictional AI, J.A.R.V.I.S (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) is an internal AI-powered tool created by Imagineers, for Imagineers, bringing more than 70 years of Imagineering research, learnings, documentation and collective knowledge to every Imagineer’s fingertips, instantaneously equipping them with critical resources and data needed that would normally have to be sourced manually. Having a system that can
deliver relevant information to project teams in mere seconds theoretically paves the way for shorter project timelines, just forget about that time it took over half a decade to copy and paste that Shanghai coaster at Magic Kingdom.
More guest facing content is shown, including the evolution of stunttronics and the Spider-Man bot at Disney California Adventure. While we talk about that, we get glimpses of a Rocket Raccoon-esque figure getting launched and sliding across a table. While we get those visuals, nobody ever mentions it. Think about that for a minute.
"We Didn't Need Dialogue, We Had Faces"
In a moment that might prompt some serious theme park enthusiasts to have a South Park-inspired “Simpsons Did It!” reaction, we get a look at the next evolution of Audio-Animatronics. A blank mold on the figure paves the way for projection technology to animate a lifelike face - which might feel similar to how Victoria Frankenstein works at the THEA Award winning Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment at Universal Epic Universe. Here we learn how the projection is targeted via the use of calibration crown, and can see how the tech can have the figure “cry” or “bleed.” I can also see the tech used to rapidly age and de-age or curse or uncurse (thinking Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean here).
The tech also could help bring harder to bring to life characters to the real world, with Disney citing Mike Wasowski and Hades as an example. Which I’m sure has nothing to do with an upcoming land or that new Disney Cruise Line ship.
The Unsinkable Animatronic
Easily what might have had my attention more than anything else was footage shown of new aquatic robotics. In the tests, we see figures leaping and jumping out of the water, which might make some fans think of some upcoming Avatar experiences, including a dolphin-like figure that can dive deep and then jump out using pump propulsion. What might catch the eye of many, especially those who love a good lagoon show, is a robotic figure that uses a powered hydrofoil to have a manta ray style figure glide just above the surface. How much Moana is slated for the future? A bit right? Just saying…
It’s also worth noting that there are other tests shown where it looks like Star Wars-style craft (in terms of shape) are gliding along the water. Either way, this whole moment in the episode reeks of “Do something at the Rivers of Light theater, PLEASE.”
Put The Phone Down, But Keep Your Glasses On
We also learn of a collaboration between Meta and WDI, using the Ray-Ban glasses as a launchpad not only for guests, but for more behind the scenes developments. Vaughn thinks of those times when he goes to an empty chunk of land and they have to use their imaginations to see what the space could hold - whereas now they can literally see it in front of them through the glasses.
As for guests, they suggest that the glasses could be a bridge, or maybe even "extended reality", to get people to look up from their phone (but through their smart glasses, so kind of the same principle) and have a virtual park guide in their ears. Providing real time information while in the park.
The episode is a great sneak peek, but for fans, will likely serve as not only excitement building for what’s to come officially but all the possibility of what has yet to be revealed as coming to Disney Parks around the globe. Check it out in full below, and to visit any of these Disney destinations, be sure to reach out to our friends at Mouse Fan Travel.