IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008 - 22

live version of WALL*E. While
some Audio-Animatronics still
use hydraulic pumps and
Pixar Animation Studios'
golden touch at the box
motors, many of the newer
office looks to continue
figures are all electric,
with the June release
which has significant
of WALL*E, a trashcompacting robot that
advantages when it
journeys across the
comes to making these
universe.
figures mobile.
"WALL*E is a freePHOTO COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY
roaming Audio-Animatronics character. He has been
designed so that he can visit
any Disney park, where
appropriate.
He
might be seen wandering
the hiccups. He has an amazing range of
through
Tomorrowland
or
neck movement. But what makes Lucky
Kristin Jones
make a red carpet appearance
really remarkable is that, unlike the
ensures that
WALL*E has a
at a film premiere," Jones
characters in the Pirates of the
good head on his
says.
"The
goal
is
to
make
the
Caribbean ride, he isn't attraction based;
shoulders.
Audio-Animatronics WALL*E
he's the first Audio-Animatronics figure
look just like the big-screen
able to walk freely through a theme park.
star, as if the movie were
"The new generation of Audio-Animamade about the real robot
tronics characters has made great strides
WALL*E." She adds, however,
from our earlier figures both literally and
that "the real world WALL*E
figuratively speaking," says Shelley
is subject to the laws of physiShort, vice president of research and
cal reality that don't exist in
development for Walt Disney Imagineeranimation, which provides
ing. "Mechanically, lighter-weight intermany challenges."
nal components mean more agility and
fluidity. From a creative perspective, that
purpose in life (besides collecting knicktranslates to the potential to move our
knacks) when he meets a sleek search
Sneeze, Snort, Bellow, and Laugh
characters more freely, have more naturobot named EVE," according to the
In 2003, Walt Disney Imagineering
ral movement, and interact with a guest
movie's official Web site. "EVE comes to
established the "Living Character Initiaat close range."
realize that WALL*E has inadvertently
tive" to tackle just these kinds of chalBecause visitors can get up
stumbled upon the key to the planet's
lenges. The goal is to develop
close and personal with
future and races back to space to report
what Jones describes as
Lucky, Imagineers had
her findings to the humans (who have
"live, interactive characAudioto make sure he was
been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe
ters in both physical
Animatronics
realistic to the
to return home). Meanwhile, WALL*E
and virtual worlds
touch, and so they
chases EVE across the galaxy and sets
to interact with
figures of Captain Jack
worked with speinto motion one of the most exciting
guests in new and
Sparrow and Barbossa
cialists in the
and imaginative comedy adventures ever
more personalwere added to the Pirates
field of skin techbrought to the big screen."
ized ways." Lucky
of the Caribbean
nology. They also
the Dinosaur,
attractions at
had to ensure
nine feet tall and
Engineers as Storytellers
Lucky wouldn't be
450 pounds, emerged
Like filmmakers, Imagineers "are first
Disneyland and Walt
too scary or menacfrom this program in
and foremost storytellers, so we always
Disney World in
ing. "It was a delicate
2003. Lucky can
start with the story," says Kristin Jones,
2006.
balance to achieve realism
sneeze, snort, bellow, and
an electronic engineer who's responsible
and something onto which we
laugh, and sometimes he gets
for all of the electrical systems on the

PHOTO COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY

Imagineers, a project that began in
October 2007, WALL*E is a live version
of the title character from Pixar Animation Studios' feature film of the same
name. His first public appearance is
scheduled to coincide with the release of
the film, which hits theaters on June 27.
The movie WALL*E is the story of a little
trash-compacting robot, left alone on
Earth after overpopulation and consumerism have forced humans to evacuate into space. After hundreds of years,
"WALL*E (short for Waste Allocation
Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

SUMMER 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - June 2008