Episode 66 - Animatronic Mania w/ Darrin Hughes

Doug_Barnes · Episode 66 - Animatronic Mania w/ Darrin Hughes

Hello everyone! Darrin Hughes- the Creative Principal of i2i Animation Inc. and former Walt Disney Imagineer joins us in the Season Pass Discussion Room. We discuss the art and technical aspects behind the world of Audio Animatronics and take a look inside some of Darrin’s projects including Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, the re-imagined Spaceship Earth, It’s Tough to be a Bug, Sonny Eclipse, Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story Mania and More! I guarantee this is the only podcast that you’ll hear a huge Yeti be compared to a small Sinbad… Enjoy!

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Wylder

Great Show.

The interview with Darrin was very entertaining. In the interview he said, they tried to save the paperboy AA. Anyone who has been stuck next to that paperboy, for any time, will not feel bad about him being turned around and stuck on the corner or even removed. That little kid yelling "Extra, Extra, New York Daily" at the top of his lungs, was the one thing about the ride I disliked. As far as I am concerned, that greatly improved Spaceship Earth. As for the rest of the ride, I will miss Jeremy Irons voice over, but they did a great job rehabbing the scenes.

Loved the show, I look forward to hearing more great interviews on the Season Pass.

Lee5

I agree. The Spaceship Earth audio-animatronics are freaken incredible! I could do without Judy telling me about the ABCs and the ending though.

Great interview, love Imagineering and learning what happens in there is always amazing.

From what I heard from others about Everest however is that they simply don't run the Yeti anymore because of how much of a pain it is to maintain. During the 10th anniversary for Animal Kingdom, you better believe the had the Yeti going 100%. Next day, it was back to B-Mode.

Wish they would put up with the Yeti, it really is amazing when they have it going, but apparently they only do when someone high up in the company is there, to make them feel like it's always going on. Conspiracy? ;]

MarkE

Thanks so much for an excellent interview! I haven't seen the Updated Spaceship Earth yet so I'm looking forward to it on my next visit to Epcot. I have so much admiration for the work of imagineers. I also loved hearing of Darrin's background in animation.

Nothing compares to hearing about the creative energy and hard work behind the scenes that go into making timeless attractions that generations can enjoy.

Awesome, awesome show!!

wazomike

easily one of the best interviews you guys have done. right up there with the barry braverman one. i just loved this episode i've listened to it twice already.

e_tapley0687

Great episode!

Thanks a ton for getting another Imagineer for us! It's so interesting hearing how they become Imagineers and what they actually do after they become one.

So the Yeti.... Is this permanently down? I only experienced it once, where it worked how it was supposed to. It was a really neat experience and I'd hate for ppl not to see it in action.

Lee5

red darrin · Episode 66 - Animatronic Mania w/ Darrin Hughes

Just a sidenote: I agree that the Newsboys' scream was quite annoying. What was tough about sending him offstage is that the creative team made an effort to rectify that issue and recorded new dialog with new (theoretically less offensive) voice talent. And the new dialog was more pertinent to the story. Not that it matters much. After all his previous trangressions, I suppose he deserves to sit in the corner for awhile. But the motivating reason was just that we were out of time, money, and parts. One other note on the comments on SSE on the show is that most of the figures at the beginning used the old tracks (Shaman, Pharoah, Greek Teacher, Romans, etc.). The new AA dialog didn't kick in until up the path at the Newspaper & Telegraph Office scenes.

Umbaday!!!

- Darrin

Doug_Barnes

Thanx for the update Darrin.

Am I to understand that the current "restricted" Paperboy might have a different part in the near future?

red darrin

Well, I doubt it, for a few different reasons. It's more likely that he will remain in his current state indefinitely/until the next rehab, where his fate will depend on the will/intent/budget of that project team. C'est la vie...

- Darrin

Wylder

I guess they tried to get him working right after the rehab. I saw him on his original corner, with a softer voice. Then he was moved back to the back corner. The next time I went, he was missing. Then finally, he was back and facing the other way, on the back corner. As I said before, I will not shed a tear for the paper boy. I used to cringe every time we neared his corner. His voice drove me up a wall.

Final Score on rehab

Judie Dench -2
Paper boy gone +1
Chariot no longer going off into the distance -2
Video at the end +2
Woman in go go boots +1
rest of the updated scenes +5

Total +5 (not bad)

The imagination rehab got a -51 (my score)

red darrin

Your scoring sounds pretty fair to me!!

- Darrin

Rollerman87

I'm loving listening to this podcast (About 20 min. until done). I love learning about the backside of parks. From working as a Ride Op and being around the maintenance guys, I know what it's like for the designers and maintenecae guys to butt heads, so it was really funny to hear that Very Happy

And, as a future engineer, it was funny to hear about the bouts between you animators and the engineers Very Happy

Awesome interview!

EDIT- I was laughing so hard with the "commercials" at the end! The Scaremento Giclee had me rolling. Darrin is talking about the control of the animatronics, and you just burst in with this commercial! Hilarious!

everythingdaniel

Congratulations to the Season Pass for making it on Screamscape!

http://www.screamscape.com/html/industry_news.htm#InternetFun

wazomike

wow that's awesome
congrats to everyone thats helped make this possible! Very Happy