Walt Disney Comes Back To Life As Hologram For Company’s 100th Anniversary
A dose of Disney magic swept the stage as Walt Disney himself manifested to deliver an address to fans 57 years after his death. No fairy godmothers or tears that brought back people to life were involved in this feat—just sophisticated imaging technology.
As part of its 100th anniversary, the Walt Disney Company is hosting a retrospective called the Disney100: The Exhibition, reliving precious relics and moments of its past across 15,000 square feet of the Franklin Institute’s grounds in Philadelphia. And who better to present this spectacle than its founder, Walt Disney?
Flexing its mastery in animation and theatrics, the entertainment giant has enlisted Sorcerer Mickey to enchant his creator into existence. At the wizard’s command, the man of the hour appears as a hologram on the Disney MagicStage, one of the exhibit’s highlights, and he opens up to his audience about the company’s method to success.
“There’s a lot of satisfaction in developing ideas into reality,” proclaims the mogul’s likeness, though he emphasizes that magic has no part in its formula. “There’s really no secret to our approach—we keep moving forward, opening up new doors, doing new things.
“Because we’re curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. We’re always exploring and experimenting,” the virtual phantom of Walt Disney elaborates with realistic facial expressions and hand gestures.
FIRST LOOK: Walt Disney greets guests of #Disney100: The Exhibition via the Disney MagicStage. pic.twitter.com/ZcxPHW4l9L
— Disney D23 (@DisneyD23) February 15, 2023
The Walt Disney Company summoned its namesake by tapping into its expansive archives, where two audio recordings of the founder were uncovered and used as fodder for a vocal script, according to a press release.
To revive his image, the archives passed on circa-1960s footage of Mr Disney to DisneyResearch|Studios, which applied a “super-resolution AI upscaler” to the historical videos to convert them to high definition. The team also worked with Disney StudioLAB and Industrial Light & Magic to conjure the icon into reality.
The showcase—running from February 18 through August 27—will also feature 10 immersive, “imaginatively-themed” galleries spotlighting the sources of inspiration for several Disney films, along with more than 250 original artworks, artifacts, props, and costumes.
