• The Tiki Room was the first use of automata at Disneyland
    • Automata important to Disneyland in order to provide a sense of realism; “live” animals and living fictional characters
    • Combination of movement and sound creates the illusion of life
    • Required lots of experimentation to get it just right
  • Historical Automata
    • The emperor’s throne in Byzantine was a famous piece of historical automata, begins moving and looks life-like despite being made of gold
    • Emphasis on birds “singing”
      • Birds are one of the most common animals to create automata out of, mechanical movements
    • 1550 saw the creation of an automata of a monk, can make a lot with simple, analog machinery
    • Many of the Byzantine automata were lost to time because conquestors would melt down machinery for its metal
  • Mid-Century Automata
    • Automata became popular in fine art due to Parisian exhibitions and renewed interest
    • Inspired Disney, created Abraham Lincoln audio animatronics among others
  • Liveliness and Animation
    • Disney’s animation follows many of the same concepts as automata
    • Want to create animation that is as lifelike as possible; emphasizes each minute movement
    • Many of the machinery used in automata and animation came from industry and war efforts; “replacing the human being” for efficiency turned into for entertainment
  • Color and Life
    • Women were only allowed to color in and paint frames, disallowed from joining creative departments