Editing Animatronics (section)

== History ==
Before electronics, animatronics were simply puppets made to work with clockwork. These are known today as [[Automaton|atomata]]. For most of human history, it has not been possible to create a moving figure resembling a person that was not directly puppeted by another person.

In the [[renaissance]] era, the first clockwork automated humanoid figures were created.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-03 |title=Automaton {{!}} Definition, History, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/automaton#:~:text=Accounts%20of%20automatons%20in%20China,Hydraulic%20Elegancies%E2%80%9D)%20was%20published. |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Automata |url=https://themadmuseum.co.uk/history-of-automata/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=The Mechanical Art & Design Museum |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Early Humanoid Robots |url=https://cyberneticzoo.com/robot-time-line/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=cyberneticzoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref> These were complex with many movements, however the figures were extremely large as they contained large cam shaft mechanisms in the base with the introduction of electricity. The mechanisms to create a humanoid figure got smaller and smaller, however very few of the created figures looked human.<ref name=":0" />

The first audio animatronic to convincingly imitate a human was Walt Disney's [[Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln|Abraham Lincoln]] attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the [[1964 New York World's Fair]]. This marked a change in the industry, as computers were a pivotal part in creating the figure.

* {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1939}}|event=Sparko, The Robot Dog, and [[Elektro]], performs in front of the public. Both were manufactured by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Elektro was one of the first robots, using basic sensors and tube logic to receive commands and roughly know when it crashed into a wall. It could blow up balloons, smoke cigarettes, synthesize text, and move its legs and arms. In 1939, Elektro received a pet, and the first mainstream animatronic, Sparko.<ref name="c421">{{cite web | title=Sparko the Robot Dog | website=cyberneticzoo.com | date=2009-12-22 | url=https://cyberneticzoo.com/robots/1940-sparko-the-robot-dog-american/ | access-date=2024-05-28 | archive-date=2024-03-31 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331054043/https://cyberneticzoo.com/robots/1940-sparko-the-robot-dog-american/ | url-status=live }}</ref> However, unlike [[Elektro]], Sparko had no built-in computer and was not remote controlled, instead using an external computer controlled by an operator.<ref name="c421"/> Unlike many depictions of robots in that time, Sparko represented a living animal, and thus became the very first modern day animatronic character,<ref name="sparko">{{cite web|title=Robots: Electro and Sparko|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102693533|access-date=7 August 2023|archive-date=7 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230807100833/https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102693533|url-status=live}}</ref> along with an unnamed horse which was reported to gallop realistically. The animatronic galloping horse was also on display at the [[1939 New York World's Fair]], in a different exhibit than Sparko's.<ref name="horse">{{cite journal|title=A Mechanical Horse Gallops Realistically|journal=Popular Science|date=Jan 1939|volume=134|issue=1|page=117|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCkDAAAAMBAJ&q=1939+worlds+fair+mechanical+horse+gallops+realistically&pg=PA117|access-date=10 August 2014|last1=Corporation|first1=Bonnier|archive-date=9 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809010353/https://books.google.com/books?id=hCkDAAAAMBAJ&q=1939+worlds+fair+mechanical+horse+gallops+realistically&pg=PA117#v=snippet&q=1939%20worlds%20fair%20mechanical%20horse%20gallops%20realistically&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>|end_date={{end date|1939}}}}
* {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1961}}|event=Heinrich Ernst develops the MH-1, a computer-operated mechanical hand.<ref name=mh1>{{Cite book|doi=10.1145/1460833.1460839|hdl=1721.1/15735|chapter=MH-1, a computer-operated mechanical hand|title=Proceedings of the May 1-3, 1962, spring joint computer conference on - AIEE-IRE '62 (Spring)|pages=39|year=1962|last1=Ernst|first1=Heinrich A|s2cid=18024020|chapter-url=http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/15735/2/09275630-MIT.pdf|access-date=2018-08-07|archive-date=2024-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809010352/http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/1721.1/15735/2/09275630-MIT.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
* {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1961}}|event=[[Walt Disney]] coins the term "Audio-Animatronics" and his [[Walt Disney Imagineering|WED Enterprises]] team begins developing modern animatronic technology.<ref name=autonomatronics>{{cite book|last1=Ayala|first1=Alfredo Medina|title=Advances in New Technologies, Interactive Interfaces, and Communicability First International Conference Papers|volume=6616|pages=8–15|location=Huerta Grande, Argentina|date=22 October 2010|publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg|isbn=978-3-642-20809-6|edition=1st|doi=10.1007/978-3-642-20810-2_2|chapter=Autonomatronics TM|series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science}}</ref>}}
* {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1963}}|event=The first [[Audio-Animatronics]] created by Disney, the Enchanted Tiki Birds of [[Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room]], debut at Disneyland.}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Famous Animatronics |url=https://roborobotics.com/Animatronics/famous-animatronics.html |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=roborobotics.com |archive-date=2024-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528153534/https://roborobotics.com/Animatronics/famous-animatronics.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Early Days of Audio-Animatronics© {{!}} The Walt Disney Family Museum |url=https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/early-days-audio-animatronicsc |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=www.waltdisney.org |archive-date=2024-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240603022104/https://www.waltdisney.org/blog/early-days-audio-animatronicsc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-11 |title=The Oldest Audio-Animatronics in Disneyland |url=https://www.thedisneyclassics.com/blog/audio-animatronics-disneyland |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=The Disney Classics |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528153534/https://www.thedisneyclassics.com/blog/audio-animatronics-disneyland |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 1964: In the film [[Mary Poppins (film)|''Mary Poppins'']], animatronic birds are the first animatronics featured in a motion picture. The first animatronic figure of a person, that of [[Abraham Lincoln]], is created by Disney for its [[Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln|Abraham Lincoln]] attraction at the Illinois State Pavilion of the [[1964 New York World's Fair]]. 
* 1971: [[Walt Disney World]] opens with the [[Country Bear Jamboree]] and [[Mickey Mouse Revue]] attractions, containing 24 and 81 Audio-Animatronics, respectively.
* 1977: [[Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre]] opens under [[Warner Communications]] as the first restaurant with animatronics as an attraction in [[San Jose, California]], created by [[Nolan Bushnell]] and designed by Harold Goldbrandsen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Calkins: Yes, he had his 80th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. And it made all the sense in the world. |url=https://dailymemphian.com/subscriber/article/42986/calkins-chuck-e-cheese-80th-birthday |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Memphis Local, Sports, Business & Food News {{!}} Daily Memphian |language=en}}</ref> Bushnell, hoping to expand Pizza Time Theatre into a chain, purchased all assets from the uninterested Warner for $500,000 by 1978.
* 1977: [[John Wardley]] debuts "Charlie Plucket" Animatronic on BBC's [[Tomorrow's World|''Tomorrow's World'']].
* 1978: AVG Technologies is founded by Alvaro Villa, former head of electronic animation research and development for the Walt Disney Company.
* 1980: [[ShowBiz Pizza Place]] debuts [[the Rock-afire Explosion|''The Rock-afire Explosion'']], an animatronic band manufactured by [[Aaron Fechter|Aaron Fechter's]] Creative Engineering Inc. (CEI) to directly compete with Chuck E. Cheese.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=History Page - The Rock-afire Explosion |url=https://www.showbizpizza.com/rae/history/index.html |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=www.showbizpizza.com}}</ref> CEI's preceding animatronic bands, the ''Wolf Pack 5'' and the ''Hard Luck Bears'', solidify their presence in numerous amusement parks around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CEI Entertainment |url=https://showbizpizza.com/info/promo/cei/cei_1980promo.pdf |access-date=May 25, 2025 |website=showbizpizza.com}}</ref>
* 1981: [[Efteling]] renovates its [[Fairytale Forest|Sprookjesbos]] walk through ride, adding 92 animatronics.
* 1982: Ben Franklin is the first animatronic figure to walk up a set of stairs.
* 1982: ''Daniel and the Dixie Diggers'', the first animatronic band from [[Sally Corporation|Sally Industries]] of [[Jacksonville, Florida]], debuts at the Mark Twain's Riverboat Playhouse in [[Kendall, Florida]].
* 1982: David L. Brown establishes the first [[Bullwinkle's Restaurant|Bullwinkle's Family Food N' Fun]] Restaurant in [[Santa Clara, California]], with prototype animatronics provided by Fred Hope's The Only Animated Display & Design Company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Instagram |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq0EsGgO2Nk/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.instagram.com}}</ref> AVG Technologies supplied further animatronics for the chain starting in 1983, and later by [http://www.dreamation.com/index.htm Dreamation] in 1998. 
* 1982: The first Celebration Station opens with a ''W.O.O.F. Radio'' animatronic show by Creative Presentations, Inc. of [[Schaumburg, Illinois]]. Celebration Station later opened locations with Sally Corporation's ''Daniel and the Dixie Diggers'' with ''Jethro P. Hogg'' starting in 1991, along with a retrofit of the latter known as ''The Rockin' Rascals'' for [[Knoxville, Tennessee]] by 1993. 
* 1982: [[Warner Communications]], five years after losing ownership of Pizza Time Theatre, creates the Gadgets chain of restaurants (initially named "Gizmos"). These featured Sammy Sands, an animatronic pianist, and the ''[[Looney Tunes]] Revue'', both manufactured by Advanced Animations of [[Southbury, Connecticut]].<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxvoo5CzzI0 |title=Failed Animatronic Restaurants- Looney Tunes Revue at Gadgets |date=2024-02-25 |last=TPMvids |access-date=2025-04-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref> More than satisfied by the results of the two productions, Warner purchased Advanced Animations from founders Bob Marquis and Dan Long, renaming the company to Warner Technologies, Inc. under their leisure division.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Advanced Animations - |url=https://darkridedatabase.com/company/advanced-animations/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250318102538/https://darkridedatabase.com/company/advanced-animations/ |archive-date=2025-03-18 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=darkridedatabase.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Along with Sammy Sands and the ''Looney Tunes Revue'' for Gadgets, Warner Technologies continued manufacturing shows for other clients, most notably the ''Electric Mice Orchestra''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Advanced Animations Inc. |url=https://archive.org/details/emo-pamphlet |title=Electric Mouse Orchestra Pamphlet 1983 |date=1983}}</ref> 
* 1986: Warner Communications sells Advanced Animations back to Bob Marquis and Dan Long, relocating to [[Stockbridge, Vermont]].<ref name=":2" /> Shortly after, VP Productions (later [https://www.vpanimations.com/ VP Animations, LLC.]) forms in [[Watertown, Connecticut]] by previous Advanced Animations alumni, including Scott Pokorak. VP would become known for their work in producing animatronics for Dandy Bear in Florida and Stew Leonard's across Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. They also created the ''Rockin' Rollin' 50's Show'' along with ''Mick Jaguar and the Sly Cats'' for a handful of smaller venues.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=ZYPFVA1v0DKRRGXR&v=i__E3E1y4dk&feature=youtu.be |title=Brercast episode 1 with David Masse and Scott Pokorak |date=2020-06-08 |last=Brercast |access-date=2025-04-17 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
* 1987: [[Stew Leonard's]] in [[Norwalk, Connecticut]] implements the ''Farm Fresh Five'' animatronic band, initially manufactured by Advanced Animations. More animatronics were added to Norwalk and locations afterward, such as the ''Hank and Beau'' characters by Sally Industries.
* 1989: The second generation of Disney's generic animatronics, the "A-100", portraying the Wicked Witch of the West from ''The Wizard of Oz'' is developed for [[The Great Movie Ride]] attraction at Disney-MGM Studios. 
* 1990: ShowBiz Pizza begins to convert the Rock-afire Explosion into "Chuck E. Cheese & Munch's Make Believe Band" and cuts ties with CEI.
* 1997: Garner Holt Productions begins supplying a 32 movement Chuck E. Cheese animatronic for Chuck E. Cheese's "Studio C" stages. To cut manufacturing and maintenance costs, this number was reduced to 16 movements starting in 2002.
* 1998: [[Tiger Electronics]] begins selling [[Furby]], an animatronic pet that speaks over 800 English and "Furbish" phrases and can react to its environment.
* 1999: AVG manufactures approximately 140 animatronics for [[Universal Islands of Adventure]]. These were for the [[Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls]], [[The Cat in the Hat (ride)|The Cat in the Hat]], and [[Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges]] attractions.
* 2001: The largest animatronic figure ever built was the ''[[Spinosaurus]]'' for Steven Spielberg's franchise [[Jurassic Park (film)|''Jurassic Park'']].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}
* 2005: [[Engineered Arts]] produces the first version of their animatronic actor, ''RoboThespian''.
* October 31, 2008 – July 1, 2009: The Abraham Lincoln animatronic character is upgraded to incorporate new technology at [[The Hall of Presidents]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}
* 2019: Disney releases a number of new characters based on their third-generation platform "A-1000".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-27 |title=Sixty Years of Innovation: Audio-Animatronics Technology Begins at Disneyland Park |url=https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2015/04/sixty-years-of-innovation-audio-animatronics-technology-begins-at-disneyland-park/ |access-date=2024-05-28 |website=Disney Parks Blog |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809010422/https://disneyparksblog.com/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>