animatronicappreciation

[animatronicappreciation]

Robinson's Barnyard Follies was an animatronic musical comedy show featuring a cow named Milky Pearl, a donkey named Donkey Gritts, and a pig named Sergeant Sausage. They were used at fairs in a bunch of states in the early 90s. The idea for them came from Carlotta Robinson and they were built by the Creegen Company. Apparently each character had 15 movements and the pig could be controlled to have live conversations with the audience with someone voicing him

I really hope there's footage of these guys out somewhere and I also want to know what happened to them

[animatronicappreciation]

Here's something that was submitted to me a while ago but I forgot to post 😅

Someone who wants to remain anonymous sent me this photo that was taken in the basement of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The name tag says Mitzi. I'm not the best at identifying bots without their cosmetics, but I think the name is correct.

- Mod Coyote

[animatronicappreciation]

Here’s a really old video I took back in 2013.  I worked a summer job at Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX.  They had a beautiful animatronic dinosaur exhibit outside.  They’ve had this exhibit going every summer for years (and, to my knowledge, still do it!)  You’d take this very short trail under a tent with the waves of the bay gently crashing nearby and dinosaurs all around.  The sound design for the dinos was weirdly soothing.  Some of them were starting to show their age, but they still moved beautifully.  The only downside was being outside in the middle of the day during July/August in Texas.  Working there actually cured me of my fear of animatronics; the more shifts I worked there and the more I noticed the patterns in their programming (for lack of better terms), they got less scary and more charming!

In this video, you can see the Troodons, the T-Rex, the Apatosaur momma and baby duo (I remember one mom patting the nose of the big Apat like it was a horse so that she could show her baby there was nothing to fear…I was supposed to stop her, but it was such a lovely image that I couldn’t), the Carnotaur, the Struthiomimus (I think?  Its been awhile), and the Acrocanthosaurus.  There was also a Baryonyx (that spat water and guarded a pool that was taken over by tadpoles in July, which was really neat), a pair of Dilophosaurs, and a Stegosaurus.  There were probably others, but I don’t remember them.  I’m old.  xD

Not the best video, but hopefully you all enjoy it!

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This is AWESOME!!! Thank you so much for all your documentation! :D I’m glad working with these guys helped ease your automatonophobia. I relate!

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

Have you seen that the Mesa, Az natural history museum got two new dinosaur animatronics in November? I've always loved their Dinosaur Mountain and was surprised they added more

We're on a dinosaur kick with these last few posts, evidently!

These are neat! :D They show up in the Dinosaur Mountain section of the video.

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

I work at a zoo and recently they set up their animatronic dinosaurs of Dinopalooza! Here’s a guy from my path onto my stations. sorry for swingy camera, i was surrounded by frightened children!

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What a silly face! Shame he was scaring the kids; awesome that you get to work around these guys, though! :D

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

I'm not sure where they are now but the Calgary Zoo used to have so animatronic dinosaurs in their dinosaur exhibit. I remember when I was very little that you could press buttons on and they would roar and move and all sorts of stuff!

It seems they've had lots over the years! I think we got an ask about them a few years back. Here's an older video about the installation:

2021 shows some new additions, as well as what appears to be the originals with new skin/paint.

This quetzalcoatlus is making me actually lose my mind. Oh my god. He looks like he just told a crappy joke and is waiting for applause.

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

Do you guys know if there are any chuck e cheeses that still have munches make believe band? Specifically in michigain 🥺

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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Michigan's CECs are all botless. :(

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

https://youtu.be/6__rQSXZcFM

Have you guys seen this animatronic Wheatley? It’s super cool!

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Going through some older inbox stuff-- I remember seeing this video when it came out! :0 SUCH an impressive build!

The downside is that now you have Wheatley in your home. Why would you do this to yourself?

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

STOP THE PRESSES; WE'VE GOT OLLIE OAK FOOTAGE.

You may remember Ollie from a post we made a while back; the only content we had of him then were three very poor quality videos in which he was barely functional, plus a very small photo of him.

Now, we have professional demo footage of him FULLY FUNCTIONAL! This also confirms the rumor that the Hamburglar could pop out of his leaves!

His showtape is... weird, I'm not gonna lie. Very weird. Still, though, he's such a unique animatronic oddity that I can't help but love him. It breaks my heart that he's long gone, but at least now he can be even further appreciated online.

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

Getting around to answering backlogged asks, but here's a new video from TPM showcasing several bots we've been asked about in the past with new/deeper information! Learn about the Barker Bird(s), Aladar, Tom Morrow, Alec Tronic, TerrosauX, Uh-Oa, Skye Cyberguy, Starnac, and Little Red!

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UbYZk9QPipE do you guys know anything about these animatronics? ______

That’s Daniel from Daniel and the Dixie Diggers, by Sallycorp! :) Not sure where the chicken is from!

- Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

okay not sure if this link is gonna get through bc of anon, but the looney tunes river ride animatronics have actually been seen used as props as recently as 2023! thought that other anon might wanna know these guys are still kicking

https://www.parkz(.)com.au/forums/topic/19512-looney-tunes-river-ride-animatronics-are-back-on-show/#comment-224802

Oh, this is so sweet! I hope the others are alright as well, wherever they may be. At least these ones get to see guests again!

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

i love the work you put into running this blog, keep up the good work! my question is, do you have any info on animatronics from the Pittsburgh area? It's my hometown, and the local amusement park Kennywood used to have a Laffin' Sal to my recollection!

The most notable instance I found is a store called Wholey's, which has a few animatronics! Specifically, a band of Three Little Pigs (and a chicken!) and a bull head named Bob.

Additionally, the Carnegie Science Center used to have an exhibit called Roboworld, complete with a robot hall of fame featuring famous robots from various media, and it was hosted by a "RoboThespian" named Andy.

The exhibit has since closed, but it seems everything has been relocated around the museum rather than removed! :D

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

OH! Someone on tumblr is also working on a fnaf dark ride, @fazbears-fright-ride has an animatronic mangle currently

This is an old ask, and sadly it seems the blog has gone completely inactive by now. That being said, what was made while it was active is SUPER cool!

Shoutout to @fazbears-fright-ride, wherever you may be.

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

Here's some footage of them as well!

-Mod Rat

do you have more info. on Fifi La mue and the Mardi gras cats? I think they are really cool :)

here are some images I have of them:

Sure! Here's some information that friend of the blog @amazing-animatronics dug up about them:

"I found this mention in NY Daily News which says there were 7 cats and gives us their names:

1 million for seven computer-driven audio animatronic cats that sing, talk and “play” instruments. Fifi La Mue & the Mardi Gras Cats made their debut on Friday in the Bourbon Street Corridor and immediately became a fave attraction with visitors. The robots stand 3 feet tall in glittering costumes, and each has its very own stage. Besides Fifi, there’s Paws McCalico, Scratchpost Mulligan, Catfish Goodman, Fats Wailer, Landon LaFitte and Pee Wee.

This article from 2002 (when they were removed) also talks about them:

Those were actually state-of-the-art animatronics when they were first installed,“ explains Showboat spokesman Susan Tulino as we walked by the shuttered hovels of the unemployed cats. “But some of them were not in very good repair, and we decided they had run their course.”"

And here's the showtape for this show (audio only):

Here's what friend of the blog Kevin "Pasq Notrook" wrote for the description of this video: "Fifi La Mue & the Mardi Gras Cats is a show created by Landmark Entertainment Group for Showboat Atlantic City casino and hotel, it was located at the entrance. The soundtrack was produced by Ted King, voice of Paws McCalico. The voice of Fifi La Mue was provided by Diane Michelle. The characters have since been removed from Showboat Atlantic City and sold to animatronic builder Eric Princz."

Sorry for a copy-paste response, since you've likely already seen these posts, but this is pretty much all that's known about this show at the time. Hope that helps!

-Mod Possum

[animatronicappreciation]

I dunno if these two count, but these are two of my bots! A porg named, well, porg, and a dino who either was never named or i forgot his name lol. I also have a little live pets duck and baby pterodactyl somewhere around here, and i may have my little bird and my turtles as well, but i dunno if they're still here

Sadly i can't send in two videos, but i can reblog with the vids if yall want! [Also. Send name suggestions for the dino]

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They absolutely count! What a couple of cutie pies! ❤️

Old submission, but if the dino is still unnamed, we welcome replies with name ideas!

-Mod Rat

[animatronicappreciation]

I swear on my life I remember answering an ask about this ride a while ago. Like, I remember someone asked who did the artwork/designs for it. I SWEAR it happened, but it's absolutely nowhere. I'm a little freaked out, honestly.

ANYWHO, here's a neat look at the simple but charming animatronics from the Mischief Mansion at Flamingo Land! Whoever asked about this, if you exist, this is for you!

-Mod Rat