Journey to discover the “eternal ice” in the new kingdom of Frozen at Disneyland Paris, to discover the “animatronics”, the robots with such human movements and faces that make you feel like the protagonist of the kingdom of Arendelle.
«Let it go, let it go!». It will be impossible not to sing the chorus of the Oscar-winning song that has become the emblem of at the top of your lungs Elsathe snow queen from the cartoon Frozenwhen you are thrown backwards aboard the little boat that transports visitors into the belly of the brand new attraction World of Frozen inaugurated last March 29th Disneyland Paris.
Panorama not only tried it, but went to see how the technology works that makes the impossible possible: the one that moves “animatronics”the electronic puppets which, in the theme park, give body and life to the characters seen on the big screen. Once you have gained the main square of Arendellethe village of the cartoon faithfully recreated in pure Scandinavian style over which the 36 meter high Northern mountain and the castle of Elsayou get on a boat that takes you to live in the world of Frozen in what is an indoor experience.
Thrilling engineering: robots that seem to breathe
One after another the scenes of the film come to life, with the snowman Olaf who sings and dances, Anna who interacts with the brave Kristoffthe two sisters who make peace, i Trolls and exactly Elsa which unleashes its icy fury.
What impresses visitors is the sensation of being in front of “almost sentient” beings. The magic of these new mechanical actors lies in a perfect balance between poetry and engineering: they are no longer simple mannequins, but sophisticated robots that seem to breathe. They hide under the heavy stage costumes miniaturized electric actuators capable of making thousands of micro-corrections per second, allowing characters to tilt their necks or move their wrists with a naturalness that challenges the laws of traditional robotics. «The first attraction of Frozen was inaugurated in 2016 in the park Epcot in Florida and since then technology has made great strides,” he explains Maëva Arlandisengineer at Walt Disney ImagineeringDisney’s creative arm that brings together artists and technicians.
«At the time it was not possible to provide the animatronics with realistic facial expressions, but today we have finally succeeded: the trick consists in projecting the eyes and mouth of each character from the inside onto a portion of the face created with a translucent material».
From rear-projection to patented silicone
This technique of rear-projection eliminates shadows and makes the look of Elsa deep and vibrant, as if seeking eye contact with the human passengers even as he sings his famous hymn. To make the skin more realistic, the Imagineers they use a patented siliconeultra-flexible, which offers no resistance to the internal motors, avoiding the unnatural folds typical of old robots. The solution, seen live, is astonishing, especially if you compare it with the animated faces of the Haunted Mansion (1992)in which the projection was from the outside and was much grainier. «Animatronics have also evolved: originally, as in the attraction Pirates of the Caribbeanhydraulic controls were used for movements, often subject to micro-leaks and rigid movements, while today we use the direct digital controlwhich allows for much more refined and credible accelerations and decelerations of movements.”
Electric motors allow you to Olaf and the sisters to move with a fluid grace, eliminating those jerks that once betrayed the artificial nature of the machines.
The evolution was made necessary by the technological advances of society: at the time robot characters existed only in the Disney parks (the first, the president Lincolndates back to 1965) while today they have invaded daily life. This is why visitors at outdoor shows will be able to come across Olaf recreated exactly as in the cartoon «thanks to the best of available technologies, including the use ofArtificial intelligence to teach him to walk without stumbling”, as he explains Arlandis. «This innovation continues along the path of what has already been undertaken in other parks: in California we have one Spider-Man robot which, thanks to technology Stuntronics and with inertial sensors similar to those of smartphones, it performs leaps of tens of meters landing perfectly, while in Florida the small BDX droids of Star Wars”, explains the executive creative director Michel den Dulk. «The important thing for us is to make the most of technologies to tell new stories and leave visitors speechless».
The Lion King and the future of Disney Adventure World
To continue to amaze the public, the company will continue to expand its business Walt Disney Studiosnow renamed Disney Adventure Worldwith an investment of 2 billion dollars: the next step is to create the first attraction in the world dedicated to The Lion King.
“It’s one of the most loved cartoons of all time,” he explains John Mauroexecutive producer ad Imagineering. «For this reason it seemed natural to recreate the world of Mufasa, Scar And Simba». Which will result in another mountain, the King’s Rockas tall as the one in Frozen, and another indoor attraction. «We always start from a concept and from drawings transformed into 3D models“, explains Arlandis. «Today we also use a room of 360 degree virtual reality where we can “walk” inside the attraction years before the first stone is laid, verifying the millimetric synchrony between the robots’ lips and the stage lights. Once the story has been established, we explore the most suitable technologies, involving animators, costume designers, sculptors and special effects experts, such as the fog used in World of Frozen».
«To test the attraction before building it we do everything, from a scale model with tiny cameras, to testing on mechanical trolleys, while those carrying out the tests live the real experience thanks to a high-quality visor. virtual reality». Only in this way can we be sure that, when the boat slides through the ice and the high note of “Let it go, let it go!” starts, the emotion is so authentic as to make one forget the microchips and fiber optic cables hidden under the queen’s sapphire dress.
