🏃‍♂️ The Rope Drop: Do You Want to Build a Robo-Snowman?

Disney's new Olaf animatronic has been taking the internet by fire since he debuted at Disney Adventure World last month.

I flew to France to see Olaf up close. Then I interviewed Moritz Baecher, the head of Disney's robotics lab in Zurich. I wanted to learn how they pulled off a robot that emote like he does in the movies and can balance on a moving boat.

What I expected: a cool breakdown of one character.

What I got: a window into the future of Disney's parks.

There are 7 myths people keep getting wrong about the Olaf robot, including one I was guilty of myself (turns out, he's technically not an animatronic).

​I made a full video breaking down each one with details straight from Moritz and Imagineering. ​

But in this week's newsletter, I want to share what I've been piecing together from the interview, a new Fast Company article, and the trail of breadcrumbs Disney keeps dropping — because the bigger picture is even more interesting than the robot itself.

📊 The Analysis: WDI's New Culture

This week, Fast Company published a deep dive on Disney's robotics strategy, and there's one detail that most people are missing.

The Olaf robot project didn't start as Olaf.

It started as StellaLou.
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StellaWho?
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StellaLou is a friend of Duffy the Disney Bear. Duffy never really hit in the US, but he's a sensation in Asia. There's a whole Duffy Cinematic Universe of characters, from Gelatoni to StellaLou, a bunny ballerina.
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If you remember from last year's episode of We Call It Imagineering, Disney showed off a prototype robot that could perform a full pirouette. The bottom foot actually slides during the maneuver (wild for a robot). That robot was a mystery character until the Fast Company article dropped. Turns out, that was for StellaLou (which makes sense now in hindsight)
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But Disney pivoted to Olaf after deciding he would resonate more with global audiences. And they shipped him within months.

​I posted a shortform about this earlier this week, and it connects to something I've been tracking: this isn't the old Imagineering.
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When Bruce Vaughn came back to lead WDI three years ago after spending seven years in the startup/tech world, Fast Company reports he brought that startup culture with him. And the shipping cadence of these free roaming robots tells the story — BD droids took less than a year to debut, then HERBIE in 90 days, then Olaf in four months.

The StellaLou-to-Olaf pivot also shows off this startup culture. They're able to be nimble and shift plans, even when they pull off something as impressive as a pirouetting robot.
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But also, it showcases my biggest takeaway from talking to Moritz. Disney is building a "character agnostic" platform. They're making tech that they can adapt from character to character, and then use tools to solve new issues quickly as they arise.

Like how Olaf's big head caused him to overheat the three actuators in his tiny neck. Moritz told me that they had to innovate in heat management, simulating how the actuators behave and creating a reinforcement learning policy to make sure Olaf manages his own temperatures. Useful for a snowman, and emblematic of the nimbleness of Moritz's robotics team and WDI at large.

Which leads to the question everyone's asking: what's next?

🎢 Theme Park Intel

• Olaf is coming to the US, and to cruise ships. Fast Company confirms Disney plans to roll out Olaf domestically (following the BD droid playbook of starting at one park and spreading) and to cruise ships. That cruise detail is the one people are sleeping on. These small, self-balancing robots open up an entirely new lane for bringing characters to life at sea, where traditional animatronics never made sense. For example, imagine Olaf in the Arendelle dinner show on the Disney Wish.
• New robotic characters are in development. Imagineering's Kyle Laughlin teased robotic Lion King characters (there's a Lion King area under construction at Disney Adventure World). A robotic Sven was also mentioned. And for the Star Wars fans, Laughlin pointed out there are plenty of droids and aliens that would be tough to recreate in costume. Yub nub, anyone? While nothing has been officially confirmed yet, the Ewok possibilities alone are worth getting excited about.
• Robo-Olaf meet and greets are the "North Star." Laughlin confirmed that "huggable moments" with Olaf are the goal. Right now the roped-off appearances are about crowd management, not tech limitations. He's capable of more. Disney's just easing him in operationally.

Dive Deeper: Olaf is Not What You Think

I'm really excited about this week's video. I debunk 7 myths about Olaf, from how he's "not an animatronic" to the reinforcement learning that lets him perform on a rocking boat, to the Star Wars Easter egg hidden in Disney's training tech (Attack of the Clones, anyone?). It's based on my interview with Moritz, who shared amazing insights into Disney's robotic characters.
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If you watch one Guide2WDW video after reading the Guide2WDW newsletter, this is the one.

​You can watch it here.​

See Ya Real Soon!

Disney built a system that can bring any character to life, faster and less expensive than ever before. The question isn't if we'll see more free-roaming robots. It's who's next?

So tell me: what character do you most want Disney to bring to life as a free-roaming robot? Reply to this email. I read every one.

— James

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