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Josh D’Amaro, Chairman of Disney Experiences, was recently conducting one of the grand opening ceremonies for Zootopia at Shanghai Disney Resort when his comments were crashed by a surprise guest: Duke Weaselton from Zootopia!
Related: Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland Officially Opens TODAY!
The appearance of Duke Weaselton was not just a fun nod to the new Zootopia land, but according to Disney is “a demonstration of the next iteration of robotic technology, which Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development (R&D) and Disney Research first displayed earlier this year at the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference.”
Disney did not disclose all of the details behind the magic that brought Duke Weaselton, but they were able to relate the appearance required not one, but two robots working together in sync since both the Duke and the kiosk were robots!
For those who need a refresher, Duke Weaselton was a supporting character in the film who makes a living selling bootleg DVD’s. Duke is the character responsible for kicking the donut store in the film, causing the donut on top to roll off and nearly crush Judy, ultimately resulting in Judy discovering the Duke was stealing ‘night howlers,’ the flower responsible for turning animals into the film into savage predators.
What are your thoughts on the new tech? Leave us a comment to let us know!
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