How the Abraham Lincoln Animatronic Impacted Modern Society (Essay Sample)

Without the invention of Walt Disney’s Abraham Lincoln animatronic, technology as we know it would be nowhere near as advanced as it is today. Animatronic technology was originally designed for military purposes, but the design got tweaked by Disney until it eventually took the form and use of an Abraham Lincoln replica. This technology helped Disney’s vision of animatronics and so he vitalized the invention of animatronics and placed it in the early America section of Disneyland after inventing it for the New York World’s Fair which got the ball rolling for improving technology.

The Abraham Lincoln animatronic takes the ultra-realistic image of Abraham Lincoln and makes it come to life using internal wires and metal functions concealed in a skin of foam latex, real clothing, and plastic parts. The Abraham Lincoln animatronic “has 46 facial motions, including moving tongue and eyes, and seven neck motions. They have convincingly textured skin and hand-punched hair” (Buck, 2017). Garner Holt, the lead engineer for the animatronic, stated that the most challenging factors in creating Lincoln were shaping consonants with its mouth and creating a glint in its eye. Animatronic technology was so successful that a line of animatronic presidents was created for the Hall of Presidents at Disney World and Holt was later tasked with the project of designing Chuck E. Cheese. The Abraham Lincoln animatronic amazed onlookers at the 1964 New York World’s Fair where it was first shown to the world.

The theme of the 1964 World’s Fair was “Peace Through Understanding.” Disney created the animatronic, titled Great Moments with Abraham Lincoln, because Abraham Lincoln was one of the most impactful people towards ending slavery. They got the idea for the character of Lincoln from a show that year on television called The Wonderful World of Color and the idea for an animatronic from a small robotic bird in a trinket shop in New Orleans.  Disney also brought the Carousel for Progress, Magic Skyway, and It’s a Small World attractions to the World’s Fair. 

The most prominent significance of the Abraham Lincoln animatronic is how much of an impact it made on technology. One could simply look further into Disney attractions to see how much it affected, for example, the robotic birds in the Tiki Room attraction. In terms of worldwide impact, robots have continued to improve, with technological advancements that tangent into inventions as impressive as self-driving cars and uses in television such as the characters in Mary Poppins and Lord of the Rings. 

Animatronic characters are much easier to work with in television than CGI and similar technologies. They are easier to direct and for actors to act with because they can work and interact with something physical. They have impacted TV immensely by bringing unimaginable creatures to life. Another example of animatronics used in television is the dragons in Lord of the Rings. This series was nearly a cultural reset, considering the $47 million it earned in revenue on opening weekend followed by two sequels and the impact it had on technology in TV. This would not have been possible without the invention of the Abraham Lincoln animatronic which paved the path for animatronic technology. 

Yet, all animatronic-based technology was possible with the even earlier versions of animatronics used in military training. Although Disney was inspired by technology used in the military, the military continued to improve its technological use of animatronics in later years. Recently, Garner Holt Productions has built and created many animatronics for the Infantry Immersion Trainer at California’s Camp Pendelton. Through realistic reactions and props, animatronic villagers are dispersed throughout a village simulation for military training. 

Using a similar process, medical students for the military practiced on interactive animatronics through the “Medical Simulation Training Center (MSTC) [program] at Fort Carson in Colorado … so they're prepared for almost every medical situation during combat” (Niemykski, 2016). These animatronics show enough symptoms of injuries that those in training are familiar with how to treat nearly every medical possibility. With more recent technology, the animatronics record how they are treated and send immediate feedback to the students.

Another example of the improvement of technology since the Abraham Lincoln animatronic is the more recent invention of Xenobots, which are self-healing, reproducing, and living robotic cells. These cells are adaptations of African clawed frog cells, pieced together in a petri dish rather than using genetic modification. Scientists use the same programming technology to manipulate Xenobots so that they can make shapes that would be more successful in holding together. For the time being, Xenobots have little to no use other than serving as an experiment in aid towards future scientific advancements in medicine.

Technology would not be anywhere near as advanced as it is in the present without the creation of the Abraham Lincoln animatronic. From television characters to military training to Xenobots, technology has faced many improvements. The society in which we live would be less technological and the science we have and study would be significantly less advanced without the invention of Abraham Lincoln animatronic.

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