"Granddaughter Criticizes: Emotional Outburst Over Robotic Portrayal of Grandfather Walt Disney"
Lived Legend Reborn as Disney's High-Tech Tribute
Prepare to meet the man behind the magic, reimagined in the digital age.
Walt Disney's granddaughter calls it a robot, a disservice
Forget the urban legends of cryogenic preservation; the real deal, in a sense, has been brought back to life. Disneyland California's 70th anniversary celebrations introduced an Audio-Animatronic version of Walt Disney himself. Yet, his granddaughter, Joanna Miller, called it out as "dehumanizing."
As a nod to the theme park's historic milestone, Disney unveiled a mechanical facsimile of its founding father. But Miller couldn't help but feel upset upon encountering the artificial figure. "I think I started crying," she recalled in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, confessing, "It didn't look like him to me."
Last year, when the project was first announced, Miller made her concerns known to Disney's CEO, Bob Iger. During a meeting and video call with some of the project creators, Miller voiced her concerns that the attraction might harm Walt Disney's legacy, leaving visitors with the memory of a robot rather than the man[1][2][3].
While Iger was reportedly kind during their conversation, Miller's pleas for the robot to be scrapped fell on deaf ears.
In November 2023, Miller took to Facebook to denounce the "Robotic Grampa," arguing that it was" a disservice to the real Disney.... You could never get the casualness of his talking, interacting with the camera, [or] his excitement to show and tell people about what is new at the park."
"When you get older, you just start to get pissed off. And you get tired of being quiet. So I spoke up on Facebook," she admitted[1][2].
Debuting in a new show called "Walt Disney – A Magical Life" on July 17, 2025, the audio-animatronic figure is the pioneering effort of Disney's Imagineers[4]. They've worked tirelessly to make it as lifelike as possible, working with the Walt Disney Archives for accuracy in details.
Technological advancements have led to a growing interest in bringing the deceased back through artificial means. In 2024, a film producer sued Disney for digitally recreating the late actor Peter Cushing, replicating him in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016). Previously, Disney utilized CGI and unused footage to resurrect actress Carrie Fisher for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and repurposed the voice of James Earl Jones for Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries[5].
As boundary-pushing projects like these continue to surface, new questions arise about the ethical implications and the respect shown to deceased public figures. Despite the controversies, Disney seems intent on pushing the envelope, with the new "Walt Disney – A Magical Life" show promising an exciting new era in animatronics and theme park entertainment.
Meanwhile, despite box office success with Lilo & Stitch...
- High-tech
- Disneyland
- Animatronics
- Robot
- Walt Disney
- United States
- Controversy
References:1. LA Times. (2023, Nov 5). Disney's Walt a Magical Life attraction draws condemnation from granddaughter Joanna Miller. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-11-05/disneys-walt-a-magical-life-attraction-draws-condemnation-from-granddaughter-joanna-miller2. CNN. (2023, Aug 22). Disneyland's controversial robot version of Walt Disney is the focus of a new lawsuit. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/22/entertainment/disney-disneyland-walts-animatronic-lawsuit/index.html3. Rolling Stone. (2023, June 17). How Disney Is Deciding When and How to Bring Dead Stars Back to Life. Retrieved from https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/how-disney-is-reviving-dead-stars-1482021/4. Disney Parks Blog. (2022, Dec 16). A first look at Walt Disney – A Magical Life coming to Disney California Adventure. Retrieved from https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2022/12/a-first-look-at-walt-disney--a-magical-life-coming-to-disney-california-adventure/5. Variety. (2022, Dec 21). James Earl Jones' Voice to Be Repurposed for Obi-Wan Kenobi Miniseries. Retrieved from https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/james-earl-jones-voice-obi-wan-kenobi-miniseries-1242238263/
Despite the controversy surrounding the high-tech Animatronics at Disneyland, Disney's Imagineers have worked diligently to create a lifelike robot version of Walt Disney for a new show titled "Walt Disney – A Magical Life." The United States-based theme park continues to push boundaries in the realm of entertainment technology, raising questions about the ethical implications and the respect shown to deceased public figures.
