Disney Imagineering (is it still called that?) always seemed fascinating when you looked at it as part of a company like Disney. Like it doesn't really make sense to exist within Disney if you think about it too hard but it also is critical to what makes Disney... Disney.
I am always fascinated ever time they release a research video (I remember the one talking about snow simulation for Frozen).
It seems like it could be a fascinating place to work and (from the outside) seems unique given their priorities. It isn't to release a consumer product, a new b2b project, its to support some other narrative purpose.
I do find it fairly fascinating that at one point in the video I was watching it and figured it had to be CGI. I wonder if that is just still not used to this on a regular basis.
The focus on robotics research starts to make more sense when you dig into the financials.
Disney’s FY2022 operating income was $12.7B. $7.9B (!) of that comes from theme parks. That’s 65%.
Everything else Disney does (Pixar movies, Disney movies, Star Wars movies, television, streaming, touring musicals, merchandise, partnerships, IP licensing) is the remaining 45%.
I think that is even underselling it some. The theme parks don't exist without the content. With normal ads it's still possible to enjoy the product without being advertised to first.
That's why I don't care one bit about box office stats for any Marvel or Star Wars movie. It could literally sell 0 tickets and still be worth it for the downstream effects on merchandising and promotional tie-ins.
> Like it doesn't really make sense to exist within Disney if you think about it too hard but it also is critical to what makes Disney... Disney.
Disney himself was a huge fan of technology and both him and the CEOs after him recognized that there's a part of the industry they're in (entertainment) that requires secrecy; literal "magic" is mostly "things you can do that other people don't know how to do." So they keep that research in-house because they want first-mover advantage on illusions, effects, and experiences that nobody else can do.
That's the best way to conceptualize Imagineering: it's a magic factory. In that sense, absolutely essential core-business-model stuff for the park-and-show entertainment sector of the company.
(Some of the more recent CEOs didn't grasp this aspect and actually did outsource some of the work done in the past half-decade. I'm going to be real interested to see what the park scene looks like in the Orlando area in the next decade or so as the technologies third-party vendors developed on Disney's behalf diffuse directly into Disney's competition).
hah right? It's not even subtle with how similar it can be. It just needs to be able to jump on my shoulder in a few generations.
Like ok I get it, Disney isn't going to paint up a prototype or reveal too much of their plans with something like this likely in the works years in advance.
This wouldn't be the first time they showed a prototype that was rather clearly for a specific purpose (like the spider man flying robot)
On the other hand Walt Disney was a creative maniac with a large fortune and desire to invent theme parks. Imagineering is the one valve in the heart of Disney.
I agree 100%, based on the desire for theme parks it fits.
But from the outside looking in what is "Disney". I would wager that for the vast majority of people Disney is Mickey Mouse, Frozen, Lion King, etc. basically media. Obviously I would say that people would also say the parks. But I doubt the word "Tech" is anywhere in the vast majority of people's opinion on what Disney is.
It is wild to think that behind what is a media company, is an organization with strong engineering talent. I mean it seems like that the robot engineering specifically rivals most of what else is out there.
That isn't saying there are not more advanced robotics, Boston Dynamics projects are a big example.
But there is also something to be said that this is probably going to be in a park in just a few years, if not sooner. It isn't going to sit in research stage forever.
But it is a really weird timeline that Disney is associated with advanced robotics and other crazy things that Disney Imagineering does.
Disney corp. and their brilliant animators and technicians invented various parts of animated films during an intense period of RnD, both technical and creative. This culminated in Snow White which was the first animated feature film (afaik) and it was a huge hit.
Hollywood was the Silicon Valley of the 20s and 30s. They were using and inventing cutting edge tech!
I love applying this to our technology companies. Sure, we get products like Google Search and Gmail and Facebook and Messenger and Instagram and Tiktok. Everybody calls them tech companies. Like everyone assumes Disney is media. But in reality they are ad companies. Like Disney is a theme park company.
Disney has always been on the cutting edge of technology. They priced the first feature length animated film. Created the "multi-plan camera" to create depth, they partnered with and later acquired Pixar who pioneered computer animation.
I am always fascinated ever time they release a research video (I remember the one talking about snow simulation for Frozen).
It seems like it could be a fascinating place to work and (from the outside) seems unique given their priorities. It isn't to release a consumer product, a new b2b project, its to support some other narrative purpose.
I do find it fairly fascinating that at one point in the video I was watching it and figured it had to be CGI. I wonder if that is just still not used to this on a regular basis.
Side Note: This robot is CUTE and I want one.