Talking Mickey on Porch of Mickey's House at Disneyland

[AmbroPup]

The guy that went over 2 Mickey looked freaked out

[benjaminkapule]

@mrtacoz2004 they do have an interact with mickey attraction.

[Mrtacoz2004]

wow! they should have this at disney world!

[rayblack2004]

lol this thing was programmed by Bethesda lol

[GBev2K]

Somehow the talking Mickey is creepier than the old school pantomime Mickey.

[SeanHenryTV10]

These are selected soundbites. The head is controlled by a wireless signal, onboard memory, or by the performer. The soundbites have the animation linked to them and are sent to the head remotely.

The technical info is available on google patents, just search for patent number US20100144239

[smittyloopster]

@20firebird

[iXNineR]

No, I don;t think it's live. I think it's selected soundbites - if you listen to everything Mickey says, they are such generic soundbites that they could be used in any situation. Plus the cast member in the costume is miming to exactly what the voice is saying - that would be two hard with two people involved. Somehow the cast member is trigering the phrases themselves.

[iluvfez13]

March 4 is my birthday :) Awesome!

[jeenyus720]

I always wondered what would happen if someone said or did something so funny that the guy in the costume physically burst out laughing

[nellie2581]

I love talking Mickey, I think I would like to meet him one day

[camdenma]

Wow he looks Like a real mickey

[Simbaholic]

"Are you having a good time?"

"Thank you!"

xDD

[TheRocketVoltage]

"Are you having a good time?"

"Thank you!"

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!! I'm not even mad, that was funny. <3

[SnorkyO]

Is it only a few set voices or can he say anything?

[archona54]

@SnorkyO - Prototypes usually aren't fleshed out.

[TommyGomezTrinidad]

ha ha ha that's cool

[Elsbelspeace]

you having a good time

THANK YOU!

[iheartvictorious991]

do they really talk 

[tikidung]

Now that I think of it, talking to a cartoon character (maybe actually just a disney character) would be awkward. Theyre always very cheerful when talking.

Mickey-"How are you feeling today Sport?",

Tourist-"Horrible I have to wear a catheter and I'm peeing as we speak, I also feel slighty uncomfortable.

Mickey-"Hotdog!!"

[LemonCurdAddict1234]

@tikidung HILARIOUS! I PEED MYSELF LAUGHING! *fails to see the irony in this statement*.

[20firebird]

@LemonCurdAddict1234 what irony????>

[LemonCurdAddict1234]

@20firebird *sigh* The peeing part... -_-

[TheRocketVoltage]

@tikidung AAHAHAHA!! If this becomes official, I think I'm gonna try that, lmfaoooo!

[jvfunn3000]

I wish thwy'd bring the talking Mickey to Florida. I live in Florida and would love to see the talking Mickey.

[MidwesternDiva]

@jvfunn3000 There are articulated (moving) Mickey heads in a couple of the shows.

[tikidung]

@jvfunn3000 you have disney world!! that should be enough!

[fivebearrugs]

@jvfunn3000 WDW did have talking Mickey and Minnie...they used them in a show at Cinderella Castle last year.

[themrmariodude]

lol

can we take a picture with you?

mickey: This is gonna be great!

[HarvestMoonPlayer98]

Stoned mickey.....?

[TheAnlo100]

did you know the name of the song of world of color

[Samiam10100]

You can tell it's prerecorded. This must have been when they were first testing it out, because I've seen many other videos with Mickey actually answering the person's questions and interacting way better like it's really him.

[Valonaren]

Mickey sounds like a woman!!! but whoa he speaks!!! we don't have that at DL Paris, how is the costume made to move (the mask) and voice?

[MidwesternDiva]

@Valonaren The controls are in the gloves, which are connected to a powerpack in the back.

[candysweet434]

wow now that i know they are using pre-taped phrases, this talking mickey sucks even more.

[SxyChicDisney]

uhh kinda creepy...but still cool that you can actually talk to mickey now

[KateAndSqueak1]

O.o creepy stuff man

[Elsbelspeace]

are you having a good time??

mickey: thank you!

[sonic619760]

Why are mickeys ears so far back?

[missbaseball907]

what the hell is that its creepy when micky says thank you for no apperent reason

[canelaymorusa]

i never new they would speak!

[brittloveschloe]

ohh i love it how cute 

[PanoNiGHT]

Creepy Dx



[pika23]

I saw a clip a few minutes ago where he talked to a little 2 yr old girl...and commented on her princess shirt...that was more of an authenticker(is that even a word?)experience then this one...

[pika23]

I liked the first video from California with the down syndrome woman

[gilouie]

Based on that wrong response .."are you having a good time?....Thank you!!! ??? I figure this is some type of soundboard like technology. The person inside the suit does no talking at all and there's a staff member controlling the lines from a near location. Or the suit could have a microphone with a transmiter on it so someone in some room can hear the conversation and control the feedback from a computer.Speech mouth movement is preprogramed to the S.B lines etc. Its really not hard at all.

[macarnagee]

My little girl and boy would flip if they met Mickey... that is why we are going to be surprising them in a few months. I can't wait! We are either going to get annual passes or stay for for a few days.

[puppylover569]

mickey misinterpreted the 2nd interview question at 0:05

[VeeVeeNorCalBabe]

Don't you have to pay extra to have the talking Mickey?

[Estrellita1996ful]

This is AWESOME!!! Disney Imagineers really outdid themselves this time, glad they did! I was wondering when they'd actually have Mickey talk! I hope tah see him the next time I go to Disney!

[kolidescope]

The more I watch these videos, the more I'm sure that there's someone else providing the dialogue "offstage" or in hiding while the person in the costume tries their best to roll with it. :/ Not sure if I like that. It makes for an unsettling discontinuity between speech and movement...

[invaderchizsh]

i hope i see him when i go 2 disney soon

[ChrisMolyneaux93]

Wait, so either Disney hired someone who can do Mickey's voice PERFECTLY, or there's some compute technology which alters the voice to sound like Mickey's.

[softballfreako]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 It's a simple voice translator. :)

[avtarlover123]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 yeah a voice changer lol !

[NicholasMoreau]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 I'd put money on it being a series of questions, answers, and phrases (all pretaped) that the behind the scenes folks can choose from. That's why the question at 0:05 was replied to strangely, they just hit the wrong option on the menu, or whatever. They likely heard the question perfectly, just didn't have a good answer to reply.

This is not a voice changer, or a live voice actor, or a machine that generates sound based on typed out phrases. These are all preset clips.

[xKiNGSNiPER2x]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 Hey man, all i could say is...Its Disney!

[paklack]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 This is obviously someone picking out the appropriate prerecorded line for Mickey to respond with. The other one that responded appropriately is a voice-changer.

[VANISHMANS123456]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 or it's recorded

[appleguy1804]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 no, it is a computer technology :P it's been done before in disneyland. It was a talking trash bin before, they just take it to the next level. So the guy or lady in the suit talks to the microphone, then digitally (Disney - no surprise in such technology) converts it to Mickey's voice.

[Jones409330]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 They Use computer technology they have a microhpone that make there voice like mickey

[neptuneniq]

@ChrisMolyneaux93 new technology

eventually disney is gonna develop it for alot of the disney characters. so in the future when u go to disneyland, you can interact with all of them

[vanzetti7]

Please don't kill me Mickey.....

[TombraiderTy]

I'm curious how it works between performer and dialogue... Like, Mickey's responses aren't always proper to the question asked ("Are you having a good time?" "Thank you!"), but his movements do seem more proper. Perhaps the actor inside the costume has a small screen in front of his eyes displaying what will be said, which he translates into how to act?

[ooohfishy]

@TombraiderTy for Mickey's odd response... Mickey is after all 80 something years old... I think the battery for his hearing aid expired... :)

[bucks699]

im sure the guy insides having fun with that 65 pound animatronic head on

[walee1990]

HE'S NOT BLINKING!!!

[mrdaps]

@walee1990 haha now THAT is talent. ;)

[wolphintv]

@walee1990 I know, right? He's not as horrifying as I expected, but he'd be an awful lot cuter if they swapped out those weird eyes.

[itselguapo]

@walee1990 hes so awesome.... he doesn't need to blink.... blinking is for mere mortals.... Which he is not.... he.... is a god!!! Oh and it'd look fucking creepy the sound of him blinking ever hear and animatronic blink..... while in the middle of a conversation.

[mattdbower]

@walee1990 I bet they realized that It was better off not to have him blink for picture-taking purposes.

[trollheimer]

Helloooooo to all the people who came here from Huffington Post.

[d2damas2000]

mrdaps, you think i can get to the talking mickey mouse when i go to disneyland on june 23-28?

[mrdaps]

@d2damas2000 I have never seen this happen outside before and from what I gather when talking Mickey comes out, it is for testing. That being said, he isn't going to be on any of the guides until if/when talking Mickey becomes a regular thing. So, while I'd love to say "yes, absolutely" I really have no way of knowing when they are going to test talking Mickey.

[d2damas2000]

@mrdaps so i'll never know what happens until june, right?

[mrdaps]

@d2damas2000 That is probably true. :)

[mrdaps]

Yea, pretty much. :)

[ForbiddenDouchebag]

I can't tell if these new talking mascot heads are charming or creepy.

[mrdaps]

@ForbiddenDouchebag haha maybe a bit of both... I do think it is pretty awesome that they are moving forward and creating new things to enhance the magic!

[robhigg2203]

@ForbiddenDouchebag after seeing hearing one of the spongebob's outside grauman's chinese theatre shout out random stuff in a rather frieghtning way (6 years ago) this doesn't seem all that bad.

[LunaChanNekojin]

@ForbiddenDouchebag Both

[imagineerboi]

This is a little disapointing, because he is clearly using pre-recorded vocals rather than improvised stuff like we've seen in the "play testing" videos.

[mrdaps]

@imagineerboi it's progress through from not talking at all, don't you think?

[imagineerboi]

@mrdaps Yeah, but its a bit awkward when Mickey doesn't give you the right responses to your questions.

[mrdaps]

@imagineerboi haha be careful talking to me in person then. :p I sometimes make mistakes too. ;)

[TheSuperMarioFan10]

you went 10 days before i'm going! i'm going on the 14th!

[mrdaps]

@TheSuperMarioFan10 Have fun on the 14th! :)

[TheSuperMarioFan10]

@TheSuperMarioFan10 thanks! wanna be friends?

[mrdaps]

@TheSuperMarioFan10 and yes, would love to be friends! I'm on twitter and facebook as well. Just look up mrdaps. :)

[TheSuperMarioFan10]

@mrdaps well i don't go on twitter much... but ill look up your name on facebook!

[luvrboi17]

I don't like this version at all...... the 1st version was sooooo amazing!

[mrdaps]

@luvrboi17 why not??? It's amazing! Mickey Mouse is walking and talking in Disneyland like he owns the place! :)

[luvrboi17]

@mrdaps because in the 1st test he blinked and when he talked it was live... you can tell his words are pre programed. : /

[brb1006]

@luvrboi17 But i all way's wanted this to happen!

[mrdaps]

@brb1006 yea, talk about the magic coming alive!

[mrdaps]

@luvrboi17 beats being silent don't you think?

[luvrboi17]

@mrdaps when mickey says thanks to someone saying how has your day been....... ???? lol

[badcourtthingy]

march 11, 2011... eh? ;)

[mrdaps]

@badcourtthingy haha thanks for that... I think I got confused with the year/date/something hehe. :)

[aDisneylander]

Fantastic Video !!!

[mrdaps]

@aDisneylander Thank our friend Chris! He did an awesome job!

[kiwigurl17]

I like the fact that Disney is trying new ways to bring the magic, and talking Mickey is amazing, but I still like the non speaking mickey. It is just the classic way in my head I guess. I really hope they will keep the fuzzies non speaking, and maybe let them talk for special events only. That's just my opinion though. Kudos to Disney though for pulling this off!

[mrdaps]

@kiwigurl17 Thanks for the positive comments! I think there is definitely something nostalgic about the non-talking Mickey. It's what I've grown up with and what I'm used to. However, I will admit that watching this gives me chills! :) Can you imagine if they used this in Fantasmic!?!?

[kiwigurl17]

@mrdaps That would be AWESOME in Fantasmic!!!

[1FoolishMortal]

This looks slightly different than the last test they did. Seems like Mickey is pulling from a bunch of different pre-determined phrases instead of having the actual live actor. That seem to be the case?

[mrdaps]

@1FoolishMortal heck if I know... or perhaps it is something to do with being outside?

[brb1006]

@mrdaps You so got to add in the description to mention that any people who is going to Disneyland should not miss this.

[aurotia]

Wow!! This is fantastic!!!! =D

[mrdaps]

@aurotia isn't it though? :)