Background Research: Na’vi Shaman at Disney’s Pandora: World of Avatar

Disney has always been at the forefront of technology in the world of themed entertainment. Pandora: World of Avatar, which opened late last May at Disney’s Orlando location as part of the Animal Kingdom, recreated the planet from James Cameron’s 2009 movie as an immersive experience for guests to walk around, exploring the bioluminescent wildlife, the famous floating mountains, and the dark and mysterious jungles, all meticulously created by Disney’s Imagineers.

The Imagineers have created the illusion of a world teeming with life with clever tricks of suggestions and glimpses of far off projections. However, many have argued that the highlight of this incredible feat by the world’s most successful themed entertainment company is not a piece of new technology rather one that Disney has been exploring since the days of President Lincoln in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Disney has always been on the forefront of animatronics and Pandora has revealed the most advanced animatronics ever created.

That is the bare bones of the Shaman of the Songs, whom guests come face to face with in a stunning moment at the end of the Na’vi River Journey.

One lesson our class could take away from the Imagineer’s work on Pandora is their ability to seamless mix old and new technologies to create the best experience for their users. WDI executive producer Lisa Girolami states that Disney’s success in the world of themed entertainment comes from doing whatever best serves the current illusion or interaction “…whether it’s a 100-year-old magic trick like Pepper’s Ghost, or advanced animatronics” (qtd. in Bishop)

However, for a class interested in the physical interaction between the outside world and advanced computing, and for myself, as someone fascinated by the rapidly evolving world of entertainment, the most interesting thing about the Shaman of the Songs is not what she is about the potential future she represents. In April, roughly around the same time as the finishing touches were being put on Pandora, the news broke that Disney had filed a patent for “a robot that will move and physically interact like an animated character” that has been “adapted for soft contact and/or interaction with a human” (Elderkin).

The prototype described is a soft, air-filled body that will keep children safe. While specific characters are not cited in the patent application, it seems fairly obvious that the prototype will be a Baymax robot from Big Hero 6.

The advanced ability of the Shaman of the Songs to interact with people, in combination with the obvious push from Disney towards more advanced and interactive animatronics speaks of a future where human and robot characters blend seamlessly together to create impossible experiences for the guests, a future that may be closer than it seems.