#and Mickey looking at Walt. And they played Feed the Birds

[miss-sternennacht]

[blue-kyber]

Finally watched Once Upon a Studio. It's 12 minutes of pure fun and nostalgia. :)

Seeing them all come to life in the same world was beautiful.

I know Disney has grown some nasty corporate roots - and even when it started, the company had morality issues (the Bobby Driscoll story for one. The tragedy of what they did to him is why they created the Bobby Driscoll claus for child actors. I've seen their talent contract when I worked for a studio in Burbank. It's a book you need a DAMN GOOD lawyer to get out of. The business side of the industry refers to the corporation as The Rat).

But there's no denying that they did create so many animated works that are a part of our childhoods.

The writers, animators, artists, and the talent -- all of the creative people that work hard to make these incredible works of art - are worth far more than their weight in gold.

Without them, there would be no Disney. We wouldn't have the stories we all love so much. We wouldn't have these memories from our childhoods and from our adulthoods to draw on when we need these stories.

It was my dream as a small child - we're talking from 5 years old - to sing for Disney and be in an animated movie.

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Some things I loved about Once Upon A Studio (in no particular order):

Tinkerbell and Mickey interacting as dual mascots

The long-shots following characters through the studio (most notably from Peter Pan to Moana)

TREASURE FREAKIN PLANET

Everyone in that elevator was a character with little patience

The robot from Meet the Robinsons! I forgot his name 🥲

MILO THATCH FROM ATLANTIS

Gaston singing to himself about himself

The Mad Hatter making puns

Tiana correcting Pinocchio that the photo was happening right now and not tonight

Prince Charming losing his shoe on the staircase

Prince Eric’s dog stealing Prince Charming’s shoe and Charming yelled “Eric! Get your dog!”

Cinderella shouting “go Max go!”

Jiminy Cricket being the last solo during the group cover of When You Wish Upon A Star

The first Disney Princess singing with the last Disney Princess (and also Mulan who represents the middle of the Disney Renaissance)

Feed The Birds from Mary Poppins playing in the background of Mickey looking at Walt’s photo 🥲

Mickey saying “After you” to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Oswald was Walt’s first character, so everyone in this lineup came “After Oswald,” including Mickey)

DID I MENTION TREASURE FREAKIN PLANET BTW

Belle and Beast singing together 💕

Winnie The Pooh!!!! And all his friends of course!

Don’t think I didn’t see those Black Cauldron characters lol

The 101 Dalmatians watching that one Chernabog animation and being warned that they’ll get nightmares XD

Kronk

Quasimodo’s beautiful singing voice

Minnie covering her eyes in the boy’s bathroom

The dog from Oliver & Company (I forgot his name 🥲) driving around with Vanellope

Tarzan and Jane!

KIDA FROM ATLANTIS

Timon calling Olaf “frosty”

Genie helping Olaf while making a joke (🙏 Robin Williams)

Lucille from Meet the Robinsons drinking coffee with the tea gang (that Cogsworth was berating)

BOLT! :D (you can also see Penny in the crowd at the end)

The brooms from Fantasia!

THE SKELETONS FROM SKELETON DANCE

Absolutely zero Pixar characters 😔 this is a Disney Only event

There’s a LOT to talk about in this short but this is just a simple list of things that I really liked :3

I hope someone on YouTube makes a list of every cameo cause I wanna see them all identified

Also I didn’t see any references to A Goofy Movie so if anyone happens to find Powerline in the crowd or something lemmie know

Edit: I’ve been informed that A Goofy Movie was straight-to-DVD and therefore doesn’t qualify as real Disney 😔

[disneynerdpumpkin]

Welp, it seems every other Disnerd (and even non-Disnerds!) is making posts about Once Upon a Studio, so as a Disnerd I guess I should jump in on this too!

Seeing all of the Disney characters interact with each other was AMAZING!

I wish we got to see The Nightmare Before Christmas characters tho :( That would've been pretty awesome (and there weren't any Pixar characters smh which makes no sense since they're Disney too, just a different studio partner)

As a Disney Pinocchio fan I was delightfully surprised that Pinocchio was one of the first characters to emerge! (The voice wasn't very accurate, too high-pitched but still so cute!) I honestly thought that they weren't going to put him in at all, cuz Disney tends to not pay attention to Pinocchio nearly as much as the other movies. AND HIS CUTE WIDDLE FACE OH MY GOODNESS MY LITTLE BLORBO!!!!! And he was trying not to laugh when Louis fell out of his picture frame XD like oh my goodness his little opera-gloved hand trying to hide his smile. Pinocchio has broken the cuteness meter

TIANA AND PINOCCHIO INTERACTING WAS SOMETHING I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED IT WAS SO CUTEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEK!!!

And Mickey stopping at Walt's picture, and "Feed the Birds" piano instrumental to accompany it???!?!?!?!?!!!! You better believe I cried :sobs uncontrollably: (for those non-Disnerds that might not have understood, "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins was Walt Disney's favorite song)

Moana, Flounder, Merlin, and Mad Hatter interacting with each other was AWESOME!!!

And the bit when Prince Charming loses his shoe on the stairs and Max grabbing it and running off and him yelling "ERIC, GET YOUR DOG!!!" I can't even I CAN'T EVEN THAT WAS AMAZING OMIGOSH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

and then Cinderella was like "Go, Max, go!" She was legit ENCOURAGING HIM to run away! (I'm pretty sure, from this information, that she plays pranks on her prince often) why was this short blessed upon us?!?!

AND THEY MADE CINDERELLA'S GOWN SILVER!!!!! NOT BLUE!!!!! Cuz it's not blue, it's actually silver (and Disney seems to disregard this a lot of the time)! BUT THEY ACTUALLY MADE IT SILVER akjhkjhroiqrowoewvwpqwomiepovie21ueiuv9upwe9pv;";ad's;dw!

QUASIMODO SINGING "WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR" OMIGOSH HIS VOICEEEEEEEEEE

AND JIMINY CRICKET ENDING "WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR" WITH CLIFF EDWARD'S ORIGINAL VOICE?!?!?!?!?! WHAT IS HAPPENING!?!?!?!!!?!?! WHAT DID WE DO TO DESERVE THIS

the elevator bits were hilarious XD and Baymax looking adorable as ever :D

and they put in TREASURE PLANET AAAAAAHHHHH

they finally had Mickey and Minnie NOT wearing their typical outfits (red shorts and red and white polka dots dress) so that was great!

and of course Winnie the Pooh characters!!! All looking so cute, as usual! Everyone stuggling to get Pooh out of the picture frame was genius!!!

And ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN picking up Scrooge's moneybags and saying "Ooh-de-lally"!!!!!!!

And Allan-A-Dale providing the soft instrumental music for "When You Wish Upon A Star"?!?!?!?!?!?! AND Mirabel?!?! AND Scat Cat?!?!?!?!?!!?!?? AND MULTIPLE CHARACTERS PROVIDING THE VOCALS?!?!?!

AND PETER PAN, WENDY, JOHN, AND MICHAEL'S FLIGHT UPSTAIRS?!??!?!?!

AND ROBIN WILLIAMS VOICING GENIE?!?!?!?!?!!? (tbh I actually didn't know it was him until someone pointed that out. which is funny cuz I was like "this sounds SO MUCH like Robin Williams, who did the voicing?") (so they took one Robin William's voice clips from improvising.) fun fact: Robin Williams improvised so much for Aladdin that they literally had 16 hours of material to work with!

Bruh Timon and Pumbaa calling Olaf "Frosty" was amazing

AND OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT?!?!?!?!?!?! OH MY GOODNESS

DISNEY IS LITERALLY SPOILING THE FANS!!!!! THEY KNOW WHAT THE FANS WANT OHMYGOSH!!!

:internal screaming:

Honestly I would've loved to see some interaction between Geppetto and Pinocchio (DISNEY I'M WAITING TO SEE WHOLESOME FATHER-SON BONDING BETWEEN THEM!!!!!!) I only saw the two of them at the end :(

But seeing all the characters together (except TNBC and Pixar for some reason) was amazing!!!!!!!!

LIKE OH MY GOODNESS I CANT EVEN LIST EVERYTHING IT WAS SO AMAZING (like ima have to come back to this post and add more!!!!)

[awestruck-atrophy]

not feed the birds playing while Mickey looks at the photo of Walt im sobbing im sobbing im sobbing

[mislamicpearl]

I watched Disney’s Once Upon a Studio and wow it was so adorable! Nearly every character that showed up made me aww. Some of the stand-out moments to me:

JIM ON THE SOLAR SURFER YEEEEEESSSS!!<3<3<3 Disappointed there wasn’t more of him but it still makes my heart soar to see him~

Why was that small interaction of Prince Charming going “Eric, get your dog!” just everything?? PLEASE the princesses and their princes all being BFF’s is CANON your honor!!

Also the fact that he lost his shoe on the stairs and both he and Cinderella laugh. <3

Just seeing Wilbur and Lewis standing together was so cute.

Um, WOW they actually almost made me cry with that Mickey talking to Walt’s picture scene??? While “Feed the Birds” played over it???

Eeeeeee Stitch and Lilo!! Stitch just being a little menace for no reason and Lilo calmly dragging him away! SO! CUTE!

YEEEEESSSS they let the Rooster from Robin Hood start the song!! My heart is squealing with nostalgia!

And Mirabelle also joining in with her accordian! I know I keep repeating myself but SO CUTE!

BRO Belle and the Beast are such a BEAUTIFUL couple my God, just seeing them sing together…

And Tarzan and Jane didn’t even do or say anything but just looking at them confirms their being the BEST Disney couple!

Awww, having Snow White, Mulan, and the girl from Wish sing together as three generations of Disney princesses was so sweet.

Quasimodo getting a solo like he deserves!!!

Sooooo are we gonna get an HD version of that picture at the end or what? Make it a puzzle!!

[thesmithsfiend]

IN 1989 I GREW UP WITH A TELEPHONE LINE BUILT INSIDE MY LEFT EAR DRUM TO GET A CALL FROM THAT FUCKED UP CUNT NAMED ASHLEY CRIMMINS A CRANK WHORE WITH A BIG BAG OF CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH WE SIP ON CUPS OF HATE RUBBER MADE SHOES BUILT TO FIT RIGHT ONTO KATES OVER SIZED FEET TO GO WITH THAT BIG NOSE AND CROOKED TEETH HEY DAD IM ALL GROWN UP PLAYEN MY GUITAR TO THE WALL A NATURAL FUCK UP LACK LUSTER MOM COMES TO SEE ME TOO BAD MY MINDS OUT OF TOWN TILL THURSDAY ITS OK THO CUZ I LEFT YOU SOME FOOD A DIRTY NAPKIN AND A TABLE FOR TWO EXCUSE ME WHILE I HIDE IN THE OVEN SMILING IM JUST PRETENDING HOW WALT DISNEY IF HE WERE DESCENDING DOWN A CULT OF MICKEY MOUSE MASK WEARIN CANNIBALS KILLING ONLY YOUNG BOYS AND FATTENING THEM WITH DANIMALS YOGURT KATE WHAT YOU DOIN ? YOUR INNER DEMON IS SHOWEN FEMINISTS WHO MAKE PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICHES FORCE FEED ME THEM UNTIL I DIE

EVERY WORD THAT COMES OUT OF HER MOUTH IS A LIE

A THOUSAND DOLLAR PRINCESS CUT ON HER  FINGER AN UNEASY TASTE IN MY MOUTH STILL LINGERS KATE AND HER BAND OF FEMINSIST WILL SOON FALL I GOT MY GUN LOADED WITH BULLETS CARVED A LETTER A FOR ASHLEY K FOR KATE AND T FOR TAZ THE EMPTY FEELING EXPLODES ALL OVER HER BOOKS AND RESIDING TOES PAINTED BLACK JUST LIKE HER FINGERNAILS THROW ALL MY WRITINGS IN A GARBAGE PALE TO BURN OUT ON THE FRONT LAWN DO IT EVERYTIME AFTER I WRITE A SONG FROM THE WICKED SICK THOUGHTS IN MY HEAD STRAP ME UP IN A STRAIGHT JACKET KATE THERES BLOOD ON YOUR PANT LEG IS IT FROM JENNIFER ELY FUCKING MORIBUND THE BURGER MEISTER IN BED BED NOBS AND BROOM STICKS STICKY NOTES AND SITUATIONS NEVER GET THE GLANCE I WAS HOPING FOR SEND MY SOUL WITH U P S AND IL GIVE YOU NO QUARTER SHED A TEAR FOR KATE WHOES LONG GONE I HEARD SHES MOVED TO OHIO AND PLAYEN IN A CHIC BAND CALLED THE OHIO VEGANS I LIKE THE SINGER SARAH MACLEARY WHO VISITS THE LAST KNOWN SPOT OF KATES FEMENISTS HEAD QUEARTERS IN BALTIMORE

RAIN DRIPS OVER SEDER PINK HOUSES I HOPED FOR MORE THEN THIS TO BE LEFT WITH FADING MEMORIES DRIP IN A BUCKET KATES BROKEN RING FINGER IN HER LEFT POCKET

HEY MAN WANNA GO TO A MOVIE ? GRAFFITTI IS ALL THAT SHE LEFT ME FILL IT UP WHEN I CAN TAKE IT TO BED WITH MY DOG SAM WALKING OVER LAND MINES THE LONGING OF HER I CANT SEEM TO FIND DARK CORNERS TO SINK MY HEAD INTO DUST OFF THIS ANCIENT PIANO READ NOTEBOOKS AND CHOKE ON THE WORDS SINGING WITHOUT A MOUTH IS FOR THE BIRDS SWEAT DRIPPS OFF ME AND INTO THE COFFEE MAKER ADDED BEANS AND A CUP RUNNITH OF YOU SHE IS A DEMON NUMBER 666 ON HER SEEIN LIES REEGRET AND OPEN CEREMONIES WHORES DANCE UNDER MY FEET TO ABUSE ME THROWING METAL APPLE SANDWICHES IN MY FACE PLAYEN MY PIANO U ON A STAGE MADE OF BONES AND OLD ANCIENT ARTIFACTS MY THROATS SORE AND MY MOUTHS DRY FROM THE CRACKS OPENING UP AND GOO DRIPS FROM HER LEFT NOSRTIL FALLIN ON HER SHOE SO SHE THUMBS TACK A PICTURE ON THIS OLD WONDERWALL IF I FOUND THE TIME I COULD CALL HER TO SAVE MY SOUL FOR THE WEEKEND BUT FUCK IT IL JUST PLAY SO THAT WE CAN LIVE THIS LIFE OF LUXERY TAKE OFF THE MASK SO YOU KNO ITS ME WE FALL FROM WINDOWS OUT OF HIGH RISE APARTMENTS KATE WEARS HER NUSRE OUTFIT AND PAUSES RIGHT NEXT TO THE STAIRS LOOKING UP ONLY TO SEE ME THE GOD OF FUCK UPS SPIN THE BOTTLE AND ASK ME A QUESTION WHERE DO YOU COME FROM ?

[mrdaps]

15 years ago today what would eventually become DAPS MAGIC began. Originally called DAPs for Disney Magic, the seeds for this organization were planted in the form of a dream and a small group of people rallying around this dream. The result was a Yahoo! group and a splash page to accompany it. Soon this would grow into a full-fledged website. DAPS MAGIC was created as a place to celebrate a mutual love of Disney (and later geekdom, in general, was added). Today, that is still what DAPS MAGIC is about.

Mission Statement:

To be a family friendly website offering positive Disney and geek information, news, and activities by celebrating a mutual love of Disney and geekdom.

The mission of DAPS MAGIC is as much about making happy memories as it is about talking and reporting about the memory makers. Through the years the pursuit of this goal has led to many memories for me (Mr. DAPs) and the team. We hope that the first 15 years were just the start of many years of memories. Here are a few of our team members’ favorite memories and thoughts:

Mr. DAPs

There are so many different memories I could come up with. Walking into Disneyland on its 50th anniversary and getting welcomed by Cast Members lining Main Street, USA. Each of these memories is always accompanied by the people that they were made with. The team we have on DAPS MAGIC has created memories of D23 Expos, talking Mickey experiences, new shows and fireworks, historic Disney events, creating content, meeting amazing people, and building friendships that will last a lifetime. If I had to choose just one memory, it probably would have to be the first time I met Richard Sherman and hearing him play Feed the Birds on the piano he played the same song for Walt Disney with. 

DAPS MAGIC has always been about sharing the magic but it is also about sharing the magic together! I look forward to many more memories together!

Merlin

As I reflect back on the past 15 years, I find it nearly impossible to pick a single favorite memory, as there have been innumerable memories that have all become favorites. For me, the memories really begin with first suggesting and then creating and coding the first DAPs Website:

Knowing that we could do better, we figured out how to make the site look a little cleaner and professional than just images and static content by creating version 2 of the site. This included “DAPs for Disney Magic Review”, or D.D.M.R as we abbreviated it, where we compiled Disney news from various sources and placed it all in one central location. Of course when I say “we”, I mean that Mr. DAPs did most of the work to maintain this while I filled in on nights he wasn’t able to make it happen. It was a lot of copy and paste work, but our first news was underway and I was pretty proud of my first real coding automation for a website!

A couple of years later, we redesigned the site and moved it to the current location. The process was exciting and I had a lot of fun and struggles to learn how to code a rudimentary, custom content management system so we could begin to automate more of the site and allow for many more options on the site:

With all this work, we found that there were many others who shared our vision of “a place on the internet that people young and old could share their love of Walt Disney and his legacies in a safe and fun atmosphere.” As we grew, we had a lot of fun camping out for things like Disneyland’s 50th celebration kickoff (and an overnight stay waiting for the actual day). We were just having fun sharing good times and memories going to the parks, making videos and friends, and generally just enjoying the positivity and magic that often comes with all things Disney!

Soon, we had all sorts of news categories, an automated Caption of the Week contest, Mr. Potato Head Adventures & Darth Tater, the No Name Game, and more! We also had plenty of fun with things like attending the D23 Expo, where I got to see Dick Van Dyke sing (and dance!) live in front of my very own, captivated eyes!

As the website and it’s complexities grew, it became apparent that I would not be able to keep up with all the necessary coding upkeep with the custom system I had built and so we eventually moved to an open-source content management system so that we could have more flexibility, and so the next generation of the site was born. While the logo remained the same, the entire look of the site was a little more standardized, inching us closer to today’s look. Here is a shot of the site during our 10th year of DAPs:

Throughout all these years, I have enjoyed videoing so many events and shows and have loved each and every one of them! Some of the waits were grueling and some of the editing and rendering seemed endless at times, but I could never keep myself from coming back for more! The fun of sharing the Disney magic with others has always been too much to ignore, and I don’t know what I would do without Disneyland’s All-American College Band each summer and Candlelight each December!

Somewhere along the way, we started getting invited to some of the Disney Press events and I started feeling like I was royalty when pampered by Disney! I got to walk past Disney legends, hear Jodi Benson sing from The Little Mermaid, and I was absolutely blown away when World of Color opened with its overwhelming display of lights, water, and projections! I still have my original “Glow With the Show” ears and will never forget seeing a see of them for the first presentation of the show!

So much has changed over the years, and we continue to work on the site along with the many other outlets we now have. I don’t go a day without checking for what DAPs has to say on my Facebook feed, while many others interact on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter. Our YouTube channel is constantly showing new and exciting things, from allowing me to enjoy the parks from home to feeding my inner geek with Geek’s Corner, to live vlogs (video blogs), to the Disney Reporter segment… there’s always something new at DAPs, and I love being a part of it!

Caitlyn

I’ve been a part of the DAPS MAGIC team for almost 7 years now, which is crazy to think that when I joined, I was still just a college student, living in the Bay Area and watching DAPS videos on YouTube to live vicariously through them since I couldn’t be at the parks regularly. To narrow down a favorite memory proved to be pretty tricky, as I have so many fond memories.

Before I lived here, getting to hang out with the DAPS team was something I always looked forward to on trips. I would purposely try to plan my flights as late as I could on Sunday nights, or try to stay till Monday morning so I could be a part of the Sunday crew, and dinner at Earl of Sandwich always was a highlight. It was hours of sitting and laughing and just enjoying each others company. Two other memories stuck out to me that I wanted to share. One of the first times I really got to hang out with Mr. DAPS was at the 2013 D23 Expo. I was still fresh to the team, but we had so much fun walking around the expo halls, and also got to see the first episode of Agents of SHIELD – which kind of blew our minds! That weekend made me feel like I was really part of a cool team of people.

My most favorite memory was from July 17th, 2015 – The 60th Anniversary of Disneyland. It was miserably hot that day, but a few of my friends and I came into town for the celebrations, and we met up with Mr. DAPS and a couple of others from the team bright and early that morning. They opened the gates way earlier than normal, so we camped out at the castle for I want to say around 4 hours for the celebrations! The waiting paid off, and we got to see and hear Richard Sherman come out and play “Feed the Birds” while Ashley Brown sang. We all sang “Happy Birthday” to Disneyland, while characters poured out from the castle. It’s one of those memories that still brings tears to my eyes because of how incredibly special it was to be a part of it, but that I got to enjoy it with some even more incredible people!

DAPS has brought so many friends into my life, some that are practically family to me, and for that, I am grateful.

Caitie

A favorite memory of mine is my first time on GEEKS CORNER. I got to teach Mr. DAPs, the coffee lover, everything I knew about coffee as a barista. It was one of the most intimidating, yet rewarding, moments of my life. That was when I truly moved from being a fan of DAPS MAGIC to being staff. The wackiness will always be something that I look back on fondly!

DC Sarah

DAPS MAGIC has been a part of my life for just about a decade now. It was where I got my real start in blogging, met some of my favorite people, and really grew as a Disney fan. 

Throughout my time as a contributor to DAPS MAGIC I’ve been able to write about some really fun things (Hawaiian Friday Haikus- I mean who doesn’t love a year’s worth of weekly haiku about The Enchanted Tiki Room) and meet some great people (Richard Sherman, Bret Iwan, Bill Farmer, and more). I’ve seen movies, attended conventions, and become a part of a Disney family. None of which would be possible without DAPS MAGIC! 

Mr. DAPs is and always will be like a big brother to me. Our decade long friendship would have never happened if DAPS MAGIC hadn’t existed. I am forever grateful for the fun, opportunities, memories that DAPS MAGIC has given me!

Cameron

An easy highlight was wrecking the old TARDIS. What started as just a silly way to improve the set turned in to an entertainment of its own! Sledgehammers and destruction aside, I appreciate all the non-documented moments. We’re on camera and paper a lot, but we still can find entertainment and comradeship without a focus.

Annie

Some of my favorite memories of being a DAPS contributor is actually when we have come together as a cohesive team and strategize for the future. Creativity and brainstorming are some of my favorite things to do within a like minded group and the DAPS Magic team members are rich in both! Be it articles, events, Vlogs, or even simple photos of coffee cups in front of the Matterhorn, there is something about starting with a single idea that is then built upon as different minds mull it over. Together we’ve come up with some awesome plans of action and have seen our vision grow to fresh life.

Luke

I got a bottle of clam juice for my birthday on GEEKS CORNER’s pre-show because, $1. I popped the bottle open and got an immediate reaction of “No!” I took a sip which was followed up by another “NO!!!”

William

I’ve enjoyed the community that I’ve got to meet that has a passion for Disney, and I appreciate the opportunity to get to write about fun and unique topics that show how great it is to be a Disney geek!

Mikey

Being asked to share a DAPS MAGIC memory is a task that may be worth its own episode of Mikey’s DAPS Quest. But seriously, I’ve had so many great moments and memories being connected to and surrounded by such an amazing team of people. Though one of the things that stands out the most to me was finding the GEEKS CORNER show on YouTube, which was the launching point of my love of DAPs. Not long after finding GEEKS CORNER, I learned that they would live stream the show and would allow us outsiders to join in the conversation. The moment my first comment was read on the show, I knew that these guys were the real deal. Little did I know at the time that this would lead to all new opportunities to share my love of all things Disney, through the late, great DAPScast, Mikey’s Daps Quest, and whatever else the future may hold here. I have forged friendships which will last a lifetime through DAPS MAGIC, and love them all dearly. Here’s to fifteen amazing years, and to many many more to come!

15 years in and DAPS MAGIC is really just starting its adventure. As we look forward we aim to provide better coverage, better videos, better adventures, and more memories! We hope that you’ll join us as we continue this adventure. Thanks for sharing the magic with us!

What are your favorite DAPS MAGIC memories? Share in the comments below!

DAPS MAGIC Celebrates and Remembers 15 Years of Sharing the Magic! 15 years ago today what would eventually become DAPS MAGIC began. Originally called DAPs for Disney Magic, the seeds for this organization were planted in the form of a dream and a small group of people rallying around this dream.

[auskultu]

LIFE, 15 September 1967

Disneyland's amazing robots must have posed quite a problem for Actors’ Equity: they can do practically anything human actors can except receive fringe benefits and draw overtime.

Walt Disney died some weeks before the pirate attraction opened last spring and thus never got to take the completed 15-minute boat ride through the ransacked Caribbean town. Rut he was lovingly acquainted with all 119 "Audio-Animatrons” in its mechanized cast—64 human figures and 55 animals—and with the complicated steps in their evolution from the old-fashioned waxworks-type display they once inhabited.

It was some years ago that Disney put his artists and engineers —his "imagineers,” as he called them—to work on his idea for a boat ride through a pirates-cs.-townspeople display as an attraction for his vast amusement park near Eos Angeles. The frozen-in-position result might have appealed to a Madame Tussaud, but it was not for the man who made a little line-drawn mouse named Mickey frisk into modern folklore.

The imagineers went hack to work, drawing upon space-and computer-age technology to try to create human and animal facsimiles that would move. As the imagineers got better and better results with their new science of Audio-Animatronics, more anti more experimental models began to show up in other Disneyland displays. Today the park is littered with evolutionary rejects.

The Enchanted Tiki Room, for example, contains 225 partially automated birds, tiki gods and flow ers, most of them using prototype gadgetry. A second generation of robots starred at the New York World’s Fair in the Ford, General Electric and Pepsi-Cola pavilions. The most celebrated Audio-Animatron at that fair was an Abraham Lincoln who awed millions as he rose from his chair to deliver, w ith gestures and facial animation, a six-minute oration. The Great Emancipator now on view at Disneyland is his Audio-Animatronic grandson.

The latest of the robots are molded of vacuum-drawn clear plastic that does everything but bleed. The visceral works are a miniaturized labyrinth of mechanical, electronic, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, all hooked together in tangles of wires, rods, pipes and motors.

The complicated movements performed by the individual robots are programmed into computers that are slightly modified versions of the ones used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. W ith a precision that would do credit to a moon shot, these coordinate everything that transpires during the sacking and burning of the village—and none of the Audio-Animatrons ever misses a cue.

Great attention has been paid to detail. For example, one drunken pirate sits on a pier, happily playing his piccolo, his fingers running over the little holes in the instrument as his cheeks puff out at the proper moments. If you were to duplicate his finger movements while blowing on an actual piccolo, you would play the same ditty, note for note.

In another display, the village maidens are being sold at auction. While the girls fidget nervously, boozy pirates chase other girls past crates of chickens. These mechanical birds react just as real chickens would, flapping their wings and squaw king. To achieve this effect, the imagineers spent months subjecting actual chickens to all sorts of upsets and then programming their responses into the computers. Similarly, all the actions of the pirates and townspeople were first performed by real actors while sensors and cameras recorded their movements and facial expressions. Once the action had been translated into electronic impulses the robots took over.

The imagineers spent weeks work ing on one pirate w hose main action required him to fire a pistol across the heads of the customers in the boat. 1 his particular action, like many others in the ride, was pegged to the anticipated reflex action of the customers who were supposed to duck the "bullet” and then turn to see it plunk into a sign hanging over a tavern. The customers would flinch on cue, but then they would look up at the tavern doorway instead of the sign. After much experimentation the imagineers made adjustments to the angle of the pirate’s shooting arm. Now the customers duck and then look squarely at the sign as the "bullet” sets it to swinging.

At another point the boat gets caught in a crossfire that starts when a pirate aims a cannon and lets fly. When the pirate cranes his neck to see if lie’s on target, the 20 people in the boat do the same, just as the cannonball supposedly hits a building and sets it afire. In the answering volleys it is all the customers could to keep from cringing on the floor of the boat.

Another bit of customer reflex is taken into account when the boat passes alongside the courtyard w here a pirate is dunking the town magistrate. When the magistrate’s w ife throws open the shutters of a nearby building and screeches at him not to tell where the money is hidden, another pirate gives her a blast with his flintlock. Naturally the boat passengers turn to see what happens to the lady—just in time to sec a flowerpot near the window shattered by the musket ball. Moments later, as the attention of the passengers is attracted elsewhere, the shutters close and the flowerpot magically puts itself back together for a replay when the next boat approaches.

If repeat visitors should ever start complaining that they are onto all the surprises, it will be simple to feed a new plot into the computers. Whatever the revised script might call for, the pirates w ill be up to it: the cast can carry out millions of combinations of actions—and these can encompass a lot of villainy.