Talking Mickey shared the stage with Disney Parks Chairman Tom Staggs during the Disney Parks presentation on Friday, then made appearances on the show floor on Saturday. Here's a look at Mickey's banter with Staggs:
Talking Mickey's certainly convincing, with mouth movement in synch with his speech and eye blinks that reinforce the illusion of liveliness. But adding speech to Mickey's repertoire fundamentally changes the way that this icon interacts with his audience.
Without speech, Mickey relies on elaborate pantomime to communicate. But if Mickey's to become a full-time talking character, he won't be able to move and gesticulate in exactly the same way. It'd be too much. A talking Mickey has to tone down his movements to avoid coming across as Manic Mouse instead.
In the presentation with Staggs, I though Mickey was trying to find a balance - reacting with mime while Staggs was talking, then calming his movements a touch when he spoke. After all, the current Talking Mickey isn't always taking. He uses speech as a change of pace, an attention-grabbing interlude to his physical communication.
I couldn't help comparing this Talking Mickey with the (silent) Mickey we met in Orlando last month. We visited the new Town Square meet and greet in the Magic Kingdom, where Mickey and Minnie greeted us in their green room. Minnie spied the "Happy Anniversary" buttons that my sister and her husband were wearing, and moved in. She grabbed my sister by the wrist of her left hand, then dragged her over to Mickey. (My sister willingly played along.) Minnie pulled my sister's left hand up toward Mickey's face, pointing to the diamond ring on my sister's finger. She seemed to glare at Mickey, tapping her foot in apparent frustration, as Mickey shrank, took two steps back and shrugged his shoulders.
It was brilliant mime acting. And completely hilarious.
But how does that scene play with Mickey being able to speak?
Obviously, it wouldn't be fair to have a talking Mickey appear with a non-talking Minnie, or other characters who aren't officially mute. We'd lose the fun of such scenes if Mickey were greeting us alone. But if Mickey and Minnie both could speak, how would the meeting have changed? Would the characters have been as physically engaged with us? If they'd tried, would we have let them?
Would little children find a talking Disney character more intimidating, and potentially frightening, or less?
I don't know. All I know is that speech changes the social dynamic between a theme park character and the guests he's meeting. I'd love to hear what you think about this, and especially to hear from anyone who has played a character in a theme park. I think it's fascinating to think about how guests (especially little kids) will change their reactions in response to a talking theme park character.
Your thoughts?
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On a related (or unrelated) note, I thought of the mime at Seaworld who does his routine before each of the Clyde and Seymore shows. Very funny and well-done entertainment. In our current age of technological wonders, we can still find enjoyment in simpler and time-honored art forms.
But what they really need to work on was that Tom Staggs character.....he just didn't seem very lifelike to me....
Indeed, Mr. Newman beat me to the punch. Mr. Niles' offering made me think of the great Marcel Marceau. I'm somewhat self-conscious about offering praise to Monsieur Marceau. While working on 'Men In Black: Alien Attack' I'd heard the design team wanted to include a mime in the "zap-every-alien-who-moves" attraction. Not because the mime was supposed to be an alien, but rather because the fiedish creative types desired to learn how many people just wanted to shoot a mime.
But this topic is somewhat timeless. Remember the plot from 'Singing in the Rain?' Where a movie studio struggles with the challenges of ushering a valuable starlet from silent films to "talkies?"
Would Chaplin have ever become Chaplin had he spoken in 'The Kid' or 'City Lights?' Would a talking Harpo had upset the balance and chemistry of the Marx brothers -- reducing the rich and anarchic nature of their performance?
I know so many people who work in the entertainment department at Walt Disney World. And at every opportunity I remind them that what they do every day is every bit as big as broadway.
When I offered that opinion to a friend who does not work at Disney, he responded, "No, it's bigger."
I read somewhere that Disney is being very cautious about introducing talking characters to the parks. And I am condfident enough in the company to believe it won't pull the trigger until it is absolutely certain it would produce a positive experience for the guests. Espcecially since there has been no request by park patrons to add speech. This is Disney's own initiative. Their own choice.
What's more in a Youtube/camera phone world, caution should be the basis of any approach.
If people, especially children, were meeting Mickey with the moving mouth and eyes, I'm sure a few would be slightly "put off" more so than now.
Its a balancing act that Disney will need to thoroughly test to get perfect, but it is a nice addition, although I agree it would need to be part of every character meet and greet to make it work.
The only problem I foresee is that every Mickey now needs to be a talking Mickey. Kids that are initially introduced to this new character will need to be spoken to in future meet-and-greets, so Disney has to go all in with this new character for it to really work.
If Disney can make this possible, I think its only fair to give the speaking ability to other characters from non-Disney amusement parks, even beyond that to sports teams, TV shows and live theater. The possibilities are endless.
But what I really want to know is how the technology behind talking characters actually works.
If it's done the right way, I don't think the experience will be scary for children. If the characters talk in the right tone and know how to deal with children and other people, it will work out just fine.
as for the specific video.. not sure the actor quite understood the character, the movements didn't really say Mickey to me..
(and yes, this may very well be the ONLY time I will refer to a costumed character as such.. they are REAL!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD5tLmJ9NBc
Though I think the character dialogue was probably pre-recorded, this proves that there may be more talking characters on the way.
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