Disney Dan: What’s going on Disney Fans it’s Disney Dan here with another great
episode of... wait a minute... how did I get on the Defunctland YouTube channel…
Kevin: Disney Dan!
What are you doing here!
Are you doing a Distory episode on my channel!
Disney Dan: No, no, I didn’t mean to be…
Kevin: That’s great!
Your character videos get tons of views!
I’m in!
Disney Dan: I’m not sure if that’s...
Kevin: I have an even better idea!
Let’s do a top 5 video!
People love those!
Disney Dan: Really?
Isn’t that kind of click-baity?
Kevin: No I think we’re fine
Disney: Oh.
Ok!
Let’s do it!
There have been plenty of walk-around characters that have roamed Disney Parks throughout the
years.
Some were inspired by attractions, films, and sometimes, nothing.
Unfortunately, some of these characters have been retired, and here are our top 5!
5.
Lucky the Dinosaur and Val the Velociraptor
Lucky the Dinosaur is an 8-foot-tall green segnosaurus that premiered at the Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles on August 28, 2003.
Lucky is 8-feet-tall, and was Disney’s first free-roaming animatronic character.
Lucky pulls a flower-covered cart that houses his computer and battery.
He is led by a cast member dressed as Chandler the Dinosaur Handler.
After his premiere, Lucky roamed Disney’s Californa Adventure park until the summer
of 2005, when he was moved to Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
After this short stint, he was moved to Hong Kong Disneyland in the fall of that same year.
In August 2015, Lucky took residency at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he can be seen
on the Backstage Magic Tour.
Val the Velociraptor is another dinosaur found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
This was not an animatronic, but was instead puppeteered by a cast member.
Professor Woodson is Val’s caretaker, and has been nurturing her since birth.
Val roamed from April 19 to May 3 2014, and was removed most likely due to the costume’s
poor design.
4.
Minnie Moo
On a cool crisp morning in 1984 a miraculous cow was born unto this world, the holy heffer
herself…
Minnie Moo.
Born on a small dairy farm in Edgerton, Minnesota to the Brockberg family, the cow wasn’t
the best milk producer and was close to being put on the chopping block several times, but
inevitably the family always saw something special in her iconic markings that they couldn’t
let her go.
The Brockberg’s niece began writing letters to Disneyland & Disney World in 1988 with
photos of the cow and two years later in 1990 the Disney Corporation purchased the cow for
an undisclosed amount.
KEVIN: Dan, does this really count as a walk around character?
DAN: Well, she certainly would walk around cause she was alive and had legs, and she
was certainly a character, look at how sassy she is eating that hay.
Her first home on the Disney property was at Magic Kingdom’s now long defunct Mickey’s
Starland area in the Grandma Duck’s Petting Farm.
Six years later when the Petting Farm was demolished to make room for the Barnstormer,
Minnie was relocated to the Petting Zoo found at Fort Wilderness.
Minnie lived on property for 10 years as a fan favorite and a real marvel to behold for
the diehard Disney Fans.
At the ripe old age of 15 she finally passed away in 2001 of natural causes.
3.
The Muppets
In August of 1989, Michael Eisner and Jim Henson announced a potential deal to merge
the Jim Henson Company with Disney.
This was just months after Disney-MGM Studios opened to the public.
Thinking that this deal would be solidified, Henson worked with Disney and Eisner to integrate
his beloved Muppet characters into Disney’s theme parks, and what better place to put
them but the brand new park dedicated to the entertainment industry.
Henson began working on a number of projects with Disney parks.
Henson would not be able to fully complete some of these as he would pass away on May
16, 1990.
These projects included Muppet Vision 3D, which Henson did not finish production on,
and would eventually open in Disney-MGM on May 16, 1991, exactly one year after his death.
Henson was able to completely finish the television film The Muppets at Walt Disney World, that
saw the Muppets traveling to all three parks, and even running into Michael Eisner.
Michael Eisner: Welcome, everyone.
I'm in the lobby of the Gland Floridi- Gland.
Gland.
Hello everyone.
I'm in the lobby of the Gwand Floridi, Grand.
Grand.
Hello everyone.
I'm in the lobby of the Grand Floridian resorts n-
Fozzie: Alright who else can we get!
The film would air days before Henson would pass.
Henson and company also did a variety of other promotional materials for the Muppets’ Disney
debut.
But what many do not realize, is that the Muppets also existed as walk-around characters
at the park.
A little over a week after Henson’s death, on May 25, 1990, a stage show featuring these
walk-around characters entitled Here Come the Muppets premiered at Disney-MGM.
Announcer: What a thrill!
The star who has all of tinsel town green with envy!
Kermit: We're here!
Announcer: The Muppets have arived at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park!
Meet Kermit, Fozzie Bear...
Miss Piggy: Ahem.
Announcer: Umm.
Miss Piggy.
And all of your favorite Muppets as they come to permanently leave their mark in the spectacular
world of glitz and glamour!
Kermit: Come on everybody it's time to start the show!
Miss Piggy: Starring mwah!
Announcer: Here come the Muppets only at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park!
This featured some pre-recorded video elements as well as pre-recorded dialogue for the characters.
The queue of the show had a video featuring Rowlf the Dog and Sam the Eagle.
The show itself had a fairly standard plot, in which Kermit had to get the Muppets together
and on stage for their show.
This show lasted until September 2, 1991, when it was replaced by another stage show,
Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
A few weeks after its closure, on September 16, 1991, a second show featuring the walk-around
muppets would premiere near Muppet Vision 3D.
This was called Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses.
There was no plot to the show other than the Muppets sort of shooting a movie with a little
audience participation, and it just featured the Muppets singing some of their old songs
and doing covers of others.
This lasted until 1994.
After Jim Henson’s death, the Disney-Muppet merger fell through, canceling plans for other
Muppet attractions.
The Muppet walk-around characters slowly disappeared from MGM.
The Muppets would reappear in the parks in the form of Beaker and Dr Bunsen Honeydew
in Muppets Mobile Lab, as part of the living character initative.
These high tech audio aniamtronic characters still infrequently roam the parks, but the
old full-sized walk-around characters can no longer be found.
2.
Figment and the Dreamfinder
Less than a year after the futuristic EPCOT park opened, a fun little attraction featuring
a mischievous purple dragon and his magical bearded creator debuted at the Imagination
Pavilion in Future World.
The new featured attraction, Journey Into Imagination took guests into the wild and
fantastic world of creativity and wonder alongside the Dreamfinder and his tiny companion Figment.
Outside the Imagination Pavilion in the garden of jumping fountains and unique hedges, you
might occasionally run into the Dreamfinder himself carrying around Figment.
The live face actor would wear the ornate Dreamfinder outfit with matching top hat & oversized
beard and puppeteer a life sized Figment puppet nestled under a false arm.
The Dreamfinder meet and greet was available in the EPCOT park from the opening of Journey
Into Imagination up to 1998 when the character and puppet were ultimately retired to make
way for the new renovation of the attraction into the much despised Journey Into YOUR Imagination.
The character was replaced with a full sized costumed Figment that would roam around outside
the attraction to meet guests, which too has been retired and is no longer seen in the
parks.
The Dreamfinder still holds a special place in many Disney fan’s hearts as a real symbol
of their childhood and memories of their first visits to the resort in the 80s & 90s.
One of the original Dreamfinder cast members has even authored a book detailing some of
his favorite stories and experiences while working as the legendary weaver of imagination.
1.
Push the Talking Trashcan
Push is a motorized Trashcan that began roaming Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom in the February
of 1995.
It is operated by a puppeteer in normal clothing standing about 20 feet from the guests, with
a transmitter hidden in a gym bag and a microphone held at the mouth.
The microphone also has a high pitched modulator that changes the puppeteers voice as he speaks
to guests.
The technology used in Push would lead to other animatronic walk around characters such
as the aforementioned Lucky the Dinosaur and Muppets Mobile Lab.
Push also has a cousin, Pipa, who is a recycling bin that encourages recycling in Animal Kingdom
at Rafiki’s Planet Watch.
The most technologically advanced aspect of Push might be the fact that he was also a
functioning trash-can should a guest try and throw something away.
Push was known for his silly antics when interacting with guests, including flirting, trying on
hats and glass, and even campaigning for mayor of Tomorrowland.
Despite campaigns to save it, Push was retired at the Magic Kingdom in February of 2014 after
contract negotiations with its original designer fell through.
So there you have it, our top 5 defunct walk-around characters.
Special thanks to Disney Dan for joining us, and don’t forget to go check him out his
channel if you haven’t alreday.
Who know, I might be on there in the near future.
Disney Dan: Kevin, we talked abotu this.
I’m not just doing the evolution of walk-around Tigger just so you could talk about the court
case!
Disney Dan: I will find a platform to talk about that court case, so help me Go-