Michelle Khare Tries Disney Imagineering: Rock Carving, the HoloTile, Animatronics, and a Droid for Disneyland Paris
Michelle Khare
As a child, Michelle Khare wanted to be a Disney Imagineer. She applied to Walt Disney Imagineering after graduating from school and did not get the job. In this episode of Challenge Accepted, narrated by Kevin Perjurer of Defunctland, she spends a week inside Imagineering trying a few of the more than 100 disciplines practiced there: dimensional design, the HoloTile floor, audio-animatronics programming, droid engineering, and color design. Her stated goal is to make something during the week that actually ends up in a Disney park. The episode follows her repeated failures, and how the Imagineers she works with treat failure and changes of direction as normal parts of the process.
Arriving at Imagineering
She is greeted by Josh Gorin, an executive R&D Imagineer. She tells him her dream is to make something that ends up in a park, and he replies that they "might just be able to make that happen." The narration says Imagineering is usually very secretive about its process and calls her access "unprecedented." Before going in, Michelle debates with director Garrett Kennell whether wearing mouse ears would look unprofessional. She decides against them at first and then wears them anyway. Josh says they look great "for today."
The Model Shop: Dimensional Design
Her first stop is the Model Shop with Lori Corral. The narration explains that Walt Disney and the early Imagineers relied on scale models to turn blueprints into something they could understand in three dimensions: how guests would move through a space, how light would fall, and what the sightlines would be. Lori demonstrates sightlines on a 1/8-inch-to-a-foot model. You put your eye at the level of a tiny figure, here a little girl in a yellow dress, and see what she would see. Michelle sums it up as using sightlines to confirm the park looks good from every angle, and Lori agrees that they know what it looks like from every angle.
The challenge is to carve one of the rock spires from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at half scale out of a foam block. She measures, does some calculations, and starts removing material. She says she is nervous because carving is a "destructive medium": once material is cut away, there is no Ctrl+Z. She has never carved anything like this, and Lori says an Imagineer would normally make a piece like this in about 20 minutes. That becomes her time limit. Lori shows her how a rasp creates line work and adds texture. Michelle says working next to Lori made it obvious why Imagineers are considered so talented, because Lori was "casually making a masterpiece" while she struggled to keep up.
Earlier that week Michelle had visited Galaxy's Edge, and she says what impressed her most was the detail, down to droid tracks in the cement and every crack in the spires. Lori notes that the model and the built attraction are very close when compared side by side, and that a model like this is used as a construction reference for the whole land.
Freezing, and the Pivot to a "Two"
Michelle's spire does not come out as intended. Lori says it looks like a "little totem pole" and that the lines feel man-made rather than natural. Michelle admits she struggled with art class growing up because math has one answer, which suits her better than something "so beautifully qualitative." Lori replies that some people are linear thinkers.
Afterward, Michelle reflects that she "froze" because she felt she couldn't make a correct creative choice. Lori then suggested turning the piece into something else entirely: a Little Mermaid–themed rock, the kind you might see at the edge of the sea near the Little Mermaid ride, perhaps at Pixar Pier, with seaweed-like plants and lots of color. Lori also asked how guests would experience it. They decided it was a rock you walk past and added a walkway. A tiny human figure placed next to it suddenly shows the scale. Michelle notes this wasn't the planned shoot at all, and says she appreciated Lori challenging her to change course.
She describes her own thinking as binary: failure is a zero, success is a one. Lori, she says, came in and suggested "a two," and she is happy with her two. Lori explains that this is the actual process. Imagineering doesn't make models to produce a perfect object; models are a study tool. A project heads in one direction, then switches, and changing course is fine. Lori says that when they hand something over, people will often say it's perfect for a different area, or ask to push the theme in another direction.
Lanny Smoot and the HoloTile Floor
Seeing that Michelle was still struggling, Lori introduces her to someone the narration describes as a master of trial and error: Lanny Smoot. The narration credits him with more than 100 patents, work ranging from flying ghosts to "living lightsabers," and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is one of only two Imagineers to receive that honor; the other is Walt Disney.
Lanny shows her the HoloTile floor, which he describes as the only multi-user omnidirectional treadmill floor in the world. Asked how many people have walked on it, he says he doesn't know if there's a record, but "not many." Michelle has to work up through the speed settings to show she can keep her balance before trying the maximum, which the narration says few people get to try.
At first nothing happens. Then the floor "wakes up." She says it feels strange because on a normal treadmill she waits for the belt to move before stepping, while this floor is, in Lanny's words, "undoing each of your steps." The narration explains that the system tracks her motion in real time with sensors and adjusts the direction, speed, and orientation of its tiles to keep her centered whichever way she walks. At the next setting, Lanny warns that the floor will be more responsive, and that if she walks in circles she could tip toward the middle because the floor keeps pulling her back to center. Michelle is struck by how fast it reacts to changes in speed or direction. Lanny says the acceleration "will easily match a human being's movement." She then goes to full speed and compares the experience to trying on the Iron Man suit, with Lanny as Tony Stark.
She then proposes testing the floor in other ways, for example by sleeping on it. Lanny says he can guarantee that no one has ever slept or tried to sleep on the HoloTile. When she says she's giving him "new data points," he jokes that she's giving him a heart attack.
A Lightsaber and the Source of Invention
To lure her off the floor, Lanny shows her another invention. He mentions that guests can build a lightsaber at Galaxy's Edge, then says, "but you can't build this one," and reveals a lightsaber whose blade appears physically. Michelle calls it "some Mary Poppins stuff." The video does not explain how it works.
When she asks how he keeps pushing the envelope, Lanny answers with one word: curiosity. He says that if he wants something like a HoloTile floor or a lightsaber and it doesn't exist, he wants to make it so he can enjoy it and share it. Michelle says seeing his joy reminded her of watching a Disney Channel program as a kid in which Imagineers talked passionately about their work. That program is what made her want to become one.
The Animatronics Lab: Animating One Second of Surprise
With nothing yet headed for a park, she moves to the animatronics lab and meets Avi Tuchman and Kamryn Massey. The narration describes audio-animatronics as Imagineering's storytelling robots. A figure head sits in the room, and Michelle doesn't notice it at first. Asked which character it belongs to, they don't say.
The two explain their roles. Kamryn works earlier in the process, coordinating with many teams to build a "digital puppet" that Avi then animates. Avi defines animation as creating emotion and acting "through the texture of motion." Success isn't just correct motion on the figure. It's believability, motion that feels alive instead of robotic. The narration adds that guests shouldn't think about the mechanics at all, and that even something as simple as an eye blink can take a long time and a lot of skill.
The narration contrasts this with the past. Over 60 years ago, figures were programmed by a human puppeteer, mainly original Imagineer Wathel Rogers, using a control harness that "might look like something from outer space," and recording movements took rooms full of hardware. Now it can all be done from a single laptop.
Michelle picks a surprised expression, which she jokes is basically a YouTube thumbnail face. Avi explains keyframes: snapshots of important poses placed on a timeline, with the computer interpolating the motion between them. He sets one keyframe for the starting pose and one for the open mouth, plays it, finds it a little slow, and moves the keyframes closer together to speed it up. Michelle then animates the eyes on top of the mouth curve, starting with eyes closed and eyes open.
Escaping the Uncanny Valley
When the eyes and mouth move in perfect sync, the result looks wrong. The narration describes the uncanny valley as the point where an artificial creature just doesn't look right, which it calls a dangerous place for a character. Avi's fix is to grab the jaw curve and shift it about three frames to the right so the eyes and mouth are slightly offset, which looks more natural. When Michelle asks whether he makes faces in a mirror at his desk, Avi says that when he gets stuck he films himself in slow motion and scrubs through the footage on his phone.
Michelle says she quickly realized how intricate the work is. You decide which parts move, how fast, and how they relate to each other, and shifting a keyframe by a single frame can change how the performance feels. At one point she makes a mistake and has to undo. The mouth then feels delayed and needs to move further left. After about an hour on one expression, they play it on the physical head. It lasts about one second.
She asks them to be honest about whether it would go in a park. Avi says that with some polish, it could get there. He explains that early work is always rough, meant to capture the vibe and intent before the extra effort goes in, and that with more time it could become park animation. The narration concludes that her one second will not have a Disney debut, which leaves one last chance.
Building a BDX Droid
The final stop is the BDX droids. Michelle meets three of them, Oskar, Bes, and Red. Josh says they have spent time at Disneyland and on a cruise ship, that Imagineering needs more of them, and asks her to help build another one. The droid she works on is missing a leg, and Adrene d'Arcy-Lepage guides her through assembling it. When Michelle asks whether a successful build would go into a park, the answer is: "If it can walk, then it could actually go."
Michelle says her building experience is limited to IKEA furniture. She starts with the hip motor, chooses the wrong screw at one point, and learns that parts tightened at even a slight angle will make the leg fall, fail, or look wrong. Next comes the foot on the ankle motor. Then a motor's zero position turns out to be off. Michelle asks whether it was her fault, and Adrene says it's fine and corrects it by turning the motor output. After that come the last motor, the fragile wiring, and sliding the full leg into place, which she says feels like surgery.
For the test, they hang the droid in a safety harness and run it through all its degrees of freedom. It immediately throws an error: a communication problem with the right ankle pitch. That means rewiring, taking the leg apart, and doing it again. The narration calls this the reality of Imagineering: trying something that seems impossible, failing, and trying again. Michelle adds that if Challenge Accepted has taught her anything, it's that allowing yourself to fail is the only way to grow.
On the second attempt there's no error. The leg moves, the droid stands, and then it walks. Adrene says, "You did it. It works." They declare it park ready. Michelle is told the droid will debut during the May the 4th celebration at Disneyland Paris, where, according to the narration, Discoveryland is turned into a Star Wars fan celebration every year and the interactive BDX droids are debuting this year.
Color Design
First the droid needs to look the part. In color design, the goal is to add touches that make the droid feel alive and belong to its universe. The process shown has three steps. Sanding introduces some damage. Dry brushing makes it look as if the paint has worn off to reveal old metal underneath. A wash is brushed on while the surface is wet and then wiped off, staining the surface and adding another layer of aging. Michelle paints the droid's front plate and is impressed by how quickly it goes from clean to weathered.
The Debut at Disneyland Paris
At Disneyland Paris, Michelle explains why the moment matters to her. Meeting the droids for the first time made her very happy, and she wants to be part of something that makes other people happy too. Before the droid show in Discoveryland, she visits her droid, notes that the leg works, and points out the front plate she painted at Imagineering. She says it's exciting to see the painting, engineering, and robotics come together, and then watches the droid perform in front of a crowd. She calls it "my baby."
She describes seeing guests react to something she helped build as a full-circle moment. Imagineering was the first job she wanted as a kid and the reason she pursued a creative career. She ends by saying she is grateful to have worked with some of her childhood idols to create magic for a new generation, the same magic that inspired her at their age, and that she hopes it might help them discover their own creative spark.
There once was an idea to assemble a group of remarkable people. An inventor, a sculptor, an animator, an engineer, a model maker, and more. All tasked by Walt Disney to build the world's first immersive theme park. They would go on to call themselves the Imagineers.
Over the last 70 years, the Imagineers have been designing, building, and testing some of the most advanced technology the world has ever seen. And it was the work of these very people that made 10-year-old Michelle believe that one day she could be one of them. This week, Michelle will have the rare opportunity to learn from the legendary Imagineers themselves.
We're giving you new data points. No, you're giving me a heart attack. To try everything from dimensional design. This is quite challenging. To animatronics. We're going to be animating this. Whoa. To even getting to engineer her very own Star Wars droid. Oh my god.
And if she does well enough, just maybe, something she creates will end up in the actual park. You will allow this to be in a park? If it can walk, then it could actually go.
This is the story of a young girl giving her one shot to live out her childhood dream. And to honor that young girl who once dared to dream big. As Walt Disney once said, we keep moving forward, opening up new doors, doing new things because we're curious. We call it Imagineering.
Challenge accepted.
I'm so excited to go inside and see what actually happens behind these doors. Garrett, should I wear the ears? I don't think you should wear the ears. It's spirited. Is this unprofessional at Disney? Is this lame? See, now, Garrett, if you try to disagree with my ears, you're going to have thousands of people in the comments saying ears, ears, ears.
Because in the CSI episode, you wanted to wear the detective's cap. And I should have worn a double-billed Sherlock hat, and you didn't let me. And I was okay because it was a professional choice. But this is Disney. I got to play it cool, right? No ears. No ears. Just my ears. Human ears.
Hi, Michelle. Hi. Welcome to Walt Disney Imagineering. Thank you. My name's Josh. I'm an executive R&D Imagineer here. I'm so excited. My dream would be to do something this week in one of the departments I'm trying that will actually end up in one of the parks. Well, let's see. We might just be able to make that happen. Yes.
Also, I did elect, after much debate, to wear these mouse ears. Is this professional? I think for today it looks great. Okay. You want to come inside and check it out? Yes. I'm so excited. Come on in. Thank you.
Michelle is getting an unprecedented level of access inside the hallways of Imagineering. We are typically very secretive about our process. I actually applied to Disney Imagineering right after I graduated school, but I didn't get the job. And so, I'm really, really excited to be here this week to get a small taste of what once was my dream job. Michelle is going to try her hand at just a few of the over 100 disciplines here at Walt Disney Imagineering.
Oh my gosh, Lori. Hi, I'm Michelle. It's so nice to meet you. Hi there. This is the coolest thing ever. Oh my gosh. Welcome to Disney Imagineering in the Model Shop. Wow, this is so cool.
Walt Disney and the Imagineers were famous for using scale models to bring their blueprints to life. This is a 1/8-inch-to-a-foot scale model. They believed that seeing something in three dimensions helped them better understand the feel of a space, like how guests would move through it, a way to test light and even sight lines.
What do you mean by sight line? So, let's say you're this little girl in this yellow dress, right? And then you bring your eye down and see what she can see from that point of view. Oh, wow. So, you're using the sight lines to confirm that every angle the park is viewable in looks nice. Yes, we know what it looks like from every angle.
In this challenge, we're going to ask Michelle to take a spire from Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and scale it down to half size using her own dimensional design skills. Let's grab a measuring tool and see how tall this thing actually is and get started. Okay, let's try this one. Okay.
And after a few quick calculations, we are ready to start carving. Start to take away material from around this circle. So, you can just—okay, just bring it. I'm very nervous about dimensional design because this is a destructive medium. Once I cut something out of this rock face, I can't Control-Z to put it back.
Have you ever carved anything like this before? No, I haven't. This is definitely my first time doing this. So, we would normally maybe make this piece in 20 minutes. 20 minutes, maybe. That is so fast. I feel like I need a whole day. And not only can I not undo anything, I also have to complete the spire within 20 minutes because that's the expectation of a dimensional designer.
This is a rasp, and you can make line work using this tool. Oh, that already adds so much, doesn't it?
Working next to Lori made it immediately obvious why Imagineers are considered some of the most talented people in the world. While Lori was casually making a masterpiece, I was struggling to keep up. I think you've got about 10 minutes left. Oh my god. Oh my god.
How's it going? I'm trying to just get the general shape of this. I see it. And this. But this is quite challenging.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to visit Galaxy's Edge. What I was most impressed by was the attention to detail. From the droid tracks in the cement to each and every crack in a spire. You can look at these attractions side by side, model and what's in the park, and so very, very close. They would take this entire model. It'll be used as construction for all the areas of creating this land.
I definitely did art class growing up. I struggled with the idea of making something even if it's bad. Just the organic process of going for it, right? Because I feel like in math class there's one answer, and that's easier for my head to wrap around versus something so beautifully qualitative like this. I hear that, though. Some people are linear thinkers.
Do you want to take your piece and set it on that base there, and we'll put this piece in the background, and we'll see how they look together? It's totem, huh? To me, little totem pulley. I can see the shape that you got. Look at that. The lines are—it feels man-made. It doesn't feel natural. Well, with time. With time. Yes.
The initial task Lori gave to me was to replicate one of the spires from Galaxy's Edge. And I didn't accomplish that. I feel like I totally botched the scene we were filming. And when I struggled to do that, I just froze. I froze because I felt like I couldn't think of the right thing to do and that I couldn't make a correct creative choice.
And something I really appreciate is that Lori, when she saw me struggling, suggested that I turn my spire into a different segment of the park. You know what? Why would you think about a Little Mermaid-themed rock? Something you would see on the edge of the sea near the Little Mermaid ride, maybe at Pixar Pier. So, you would want some seaweed type of plant life, lots of color.
Now, that was not supposed to be what we were going to film together at all. And to even have the creative flexibility to change the course of our filming plan is something I appreciated Lori challenging me to do. Do you want to create a pathway? Okay. Of how we experience this. How do we experience this? I feel like this is rock you're walking past. Oh, okay. So, maybe there's a walkway.
My brain is very binary. Either I fail and it's a zero, or I succeed and it's a one. But Lori comes in and creatively suggests, how about a two? But you know what? I'm happy with my two. It does feel like it's coming to life a bit. It does. Let's give you a person. That really changes the scale, doesn't it? It's a very large experience. All right. So, you've created a model, kind of.
Yeah. When we walked in this room and just saw the blocks of foam, obviously we originally were trying to replicate the existing rock and turned into something else, but I am so surprised how much it transformed in such a short amount of time. Right. And that's exactly what the process is. So here we don't create models to make a perfect thing. We create models as a study tool.
So we're going in one direction, and then we switch directions, and now it's become this, and now it's become that. So, it's okay for things to change course. Often we'll hand something over, and they go, "Oh, that's perfect for this other area that I was thinking of," or, "Let's make it all look this way," or, "Let's move the theme in this direction or that direction."
But Lori could tell I was still struggling. So, she offered to introduce me to someone who has mastered the trial and error process of creation. But I didn't realize she meant living legend, Lanny Smoot.
Hi, Lanny. Hi, Michelle. So nice to meet you. Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you. I'm such a big fan. I'm a big fan also. You do all kinds of stuff. I can't believe it.
Lanny Smoot is one of the most prolific inventors of our time. With over 100 patents to his name, he has helped develop everything from flying ghosts to living lightsabers. Lanny is also one of only two Imagineers ever inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Thank you so much for this amazing honor. The other was Walt Disney himself.
This is the HoloTile floor. This is the only multi-user omnidirectional treadmill floor in the world. So, I think we're going to allow you to do something sort of special. Michelle's going to get a chance to try her hand, or should I say feet, at walking on the HoloTile, as well as some interactive fun.
They are also going to allow me to try the HoloTile's max speed setting, something not many others get to try. But I have to work my way up in speed to prove to Lanny that I won't lose my balance. How many people have actually set foot on the HoloTile and tried to walk on it? I don't know if we have a record of that. Not many. It's not a lot. All right. Well, I'm happy to be a guest on this experience. All right. Okay. Can I go? Okay. Here we go.
Okay. Sorry. One second. Okay. So, just start walking around. Nothing's happening yet. Nothing's happening. And you'll slowly feel it start to move under your feet. Whoa, it's waking up. Oh. Oh, now we go. This is such a strange feeling because on a treadmill, I almost wait for the belt to move way before I feel comfortable taking a step. Yes, this floor is undoing each of your steps.
With every step I take, the HoloTile uses LiDAR sensors to motion track me in real time. The floor then makes its own decisions to adjust the direction, speed, and orientation of tiles to keep me in the center no matter which direction I walk.
So, what's going to happen now is it'll be about 50% more responsive than what you just experienced. So, I'd start slowly and a little carefully. Twice as fast. Twice as fast. And in this case, again, the floor is trying to keep you in the middle. So, when you circle, you can tip over into the middle. You don't want to do that. Okay. You ready? Yes. Okay. Three, two, one, and—yeah.
Whoa. Okay. Oh, this is so strange. It's amazing how quickly it responds to if you change speeds or direction. Acceleration is incredible. It will easily match a human being's movement. So, let's go full speed. Okay, great. And three, two, one, go.
This is so cool. If the Imagineers are the Avengers, then Lanny is Tony Stark. Because getting to walk on the HoloTile has felt like trying the Iron Man suit. And so, now that I've proved to Lanny I can handle myself at top speed, I wanted to see if Lanny would let me try one last thing with his invention.
What is it that you want to do? Well, we've seen people walk on the HoloTile. We've seen people sit on the HoloTile, but I had a few other ideas of ways we might be able to push your invention. Like what ideas?
Has anyone ever slept on the HoloTile floor? I can guarantee you 100% no one has ever slept on the HoloTile floor or tried to sleep on the HoloTile floor. We're giving you new data points. No, you're giving me a heart attack.
And in an effort to get me off his precious HoloTile, Lanny tempted me with another magical invention. I heard you mentioned Rise of the Resistance. Yes, sir. So, now that you've been on it, if you go out of there and go down, you know you can build a lightsaber, right? Yes. But you can't build this one.
What? Oh my gosh. How? This is some Mary Poppins stuff. How did you do this, Bill?
How do you keep pushing the envelope? Curiosity. I like to have something like a HoloTile floor or a lightsaber myself, and if it doesn't exist, I want to make it so that I can enjoy it and share it.
Seeing the love and joy in Lanny's face when he talks about his inventions reminds me of when I was a kid watching Imagineer That on the Disney Channel. It was seeing all the incredible Imagineers so passionately speak about their work that inspired me to want to be an Imagineer myself one day.
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But the pressure is on because I still have yet to create something that will actually make it into the park. And so I'm really hoping I find some luck at my next stop in the animatronics lab.
Hi. Hello. Hi. I'm Michelle. It's so nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. At Imagineering, Audio-Animatronics are our version of our storytelling robots. They bring our characters to life in entirely new ways. Nice to meet you. Oh my god. I literally did not even see that when I walked in.
What is this? So, this is an Audio-Animatronics head, similar to something you might see in one of the parks. I know NDAs and secrets are a big thing around here. Is this from a particular character? So, this is—oh my gosh. Today, we're going to be animating this. Whoa.
So, you program, you animate. What is the difference between the two? I'm a little bit more at the beginning of the process. I'll work with a lot of different teams to build a digital puppet for Avi to animate on top of. Animation is creating emotion and acting through the texture of motion.
So the way we would define a success, right, motion on the figure is great. Then do we believe it, right? Do we have that believability? Do we have that texture of motion that makes it feel alive as opposed to robotic? So I'm going to program an emotion, and you will tell me if you would allow it into the park. Yes. Yes. Okay.
Animating a Disney animatronic is a big task. We really want guests to not think about the technology or the mechanical system and have an emotional connection with a character. Even animating something as simple as an eye blink can take a really long time and a lot of experience and skill. So, this is the show that you just saw.
This one's a bit freaky. It's definitely different to see them like this. Yeah. So we're going for a particular emotion, expression, whatever comes to mind. So I pick the emotion. Yeah, that'd be great. Okay. So I've selected the eyes. These boxes are basically the various puppet strings. Yeah. That you have to move and explore. So now I'm lifting one eyebrow.
The technology to animate and puppet these machines has become impressively intuitive compared to where it started.
Over 60 years ago. At one point, Disney animatronics were programmed by a human puppeteer, mainly original Imagineer Wathel Rogers.
Now, this contraption here might look like something from outer space, but it's actually a control harness for programming the actions and gestures of our Audio-Animatronic figures.
It took entire rooms full of hardware to be able to record the movements that would be used in a show or ride. Now, Imagineers can do everything from a single laptop.
We're trying to animate a surprised expression. So, it's from here to...
This is basically a YouTube thumbnail face. No, I know. The one where it's like, "Yeah, yeah."
I'll just give you a quick example here. S is how you make a keyframe. What's a keyframe?
A keyframe is essentially a snapshot of an important pose in an animated sequence. The animator creates a series of poses or keyframes and spaces them out on a timeline. Then the computer will automatically animate or interpolate the space in between the poses, giving you the animation.
So you have a keyframe for the start position, a keyframe for the mouth open. Exactly. If we play this now, right? So that's a little bit slow. So then we'll be like, well, what if we make it faster? So we'll move all the keyframes closer to each other. Yes, that looks better. Yeah.
Can I try? Yeah, go for it. Okay. So, can I look at your graph for the mouth and then animate the eyes concurrently on top of it? Yeah. Okay, cool.
I'm going to start with the main keyframes, which are eyes closed, eyes open. So, I'm just going to say eyes end up open here. Let's see what we have so far. Okay, I'm asleep. Whoa, I'm surprised. Shouldn't the mouth come slightly more closed, do you think?
The uncanny valley is when an artificial creature just doesn't look right. And it's a really dangerous place to be for a character. So Michelle's going to need to adjust those movements ever so slightly to get out of the uncanny valley and make something that truly feels and looks alive.
I would grab the jaw and I would grab this whole curve, bump it over probably three frames to the right. So what you did was basically make them slightly separate of one another. Yeah. So they're not exactly on top of each other. So a bit more natural. Yeah.
Do you just have a mirror at your desk that you make these faces into and figure it out? When I get stuck, I film myself in slow motion and just do this, scrub it on my phone or something.
I am quickly realizing how intricate this process is because there are so many details that can be adjusted to manipulate a character's performance, like which parts you move, the speed they move, how they move in conjunction with the other parts. And moving a keyframe just one frame can drastically change how the end performance feels. There are so many things that happen in a human face. And so just to get one single expression requires so much work.
Okay, we're going to have to select—oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Z. Oh. Oh. What did I do wrong? The mouth feels a little bit delayed. It needs to go further to the left. Yeah.
And after an hour of designing a single facial expression—now it feels super delayed—it was finally time to see my full animation.
Let's just see it on the model. So Avi and Kamryn, be honest with me. Would this go in a Disney park? Let's see.
[Applause]
It was over so fast. We did so much work and it's over so fast. That's one second of animation, about. Oh my God.
On a scale of this is never leaving this room to this is definitely going in the Disney park. I think with a bit of polish it could get there. Everyone who works here is so generous and nice.
No, but this is the building blocks, right? Early stuff will be very rough like this to get the vibe and the overall intent out there before we put all of that extra work in. With that polish and with that more time going in there, that could totally turn into a piece of animation in the park.
But unfortunately, my one second of animation will not have a Disney debut. Meaning, if I want to get something I make into one of the parks, this next stop is my one last chance.
[Music]
Oh my God. Oh, hi. Hi. Oh. Oh, hi. This is so cute. Welcome. So, these are our BDX droids. Oh my God. And they're excited to see you and hang out.
You don't mind if I introduce you? So, this is Oskar. Say hi, Oskar. We have Bes here and this is Red. They're excited to meet you. They are so cute.
So, the BDX droids have spent a little bit of time at Disneyland and on a cruise ship. And actually, we need more. So, what we would really love is if you would help us build another BDX droid. Yes. Should we jump in and do this? Yes. Are you ready to build? Yeah, I am. So, come with us. Adrene's going to lead you through this. Oh, awesome.
Michelle's not only going to meet our BDX droids, but get a chance to assemble, theme, finish, paint, and then operate them in a very high-stakes environment.
So, Adrene, what are we going to do first? Well, we're going to build a leg because he's missing one, obviously. And then we can actually make it work. This is like a very complex IKEA build. That's the extent of my building experience, IKEA furniture.
Okay, so the first step of the droid build is to assemble the hip motor. If we build this right, you will allow this to be in a park? If it can walk, then it could actually go.
I hope I'm doing this right. This one's not going. Yeah, I made a mistake. I chose the wrong screw. If it's not perfectly straight and it's at an angle when you tighten the screws, it's basically going to fall or just not work or look weird. Thanks for your patience with me. No problem.
Okay. Foot. Yeah. Now you can install the foot on the ankle motor. This, which is this one? Yeah. And little by little, each part is starting to fall in place. Or at least so I thought.
What's happening? Well, the zero of the motor is not exactly where it should be. So, was that me? You can say if it was. Wait, what did I do? No, it's okay. I just have to turn the output of the motor and we're going to be fine. This is part of being an Imagineer, right? Creative problem solving. Yeah. Last motor to install.
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Oh my gosh. Almost there. So close. We're going to do the wiring. These are so fragile, it feels. Yeah. Okay, now we're ready to slide in the full leg. This is a big moment. Screw it.
Then, now I think it's—my heart's racing. I'm very stressed because this one is quite tough. Yeah, it does feel like I'm doing surgery. This is the last step. This is crazy.
We should be able to—so, can we turn it on now? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Now is the big moment. We're going to see if the leg we assembled actually works or destroyed. I really hope this works. Okay, that's a hefty battery.
What is happening now? We're going to hang it and then it's going to go through all the degrees of freedom. Okay. So, this is a safety harness in case we messed up. And by we, I mean me. Daddy can move. Are you ready? I'm ready. Please work.
Oh, error. Error. There's a problem with the communication with the right ankle pitch. What does that mean? Means that we have to rewire.
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Okay. All right. Well, what do we do? Do we take it down and—yep—take it apart again? Okay.
And this is the reality of being an Imagineer. Trying something that seems impossible. Failing and trying again. And if I've learned anything from doing Challenge Accepted, it's that allowing yourself to fail is the only way to truly grow.
Round two. Here we go. Okay. Ready? I really hope this one works. Okay, no error. That's a good sign. Okay.
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Oh, it's moving. It's moving. Yay. Oh, okay. The heck. Oh, okay. Is it working? Everything seems to work. We're going to check if it can walk.
It's making noise. I really hope this works because we want to make something that is park ready. Standing now. Can it walk?
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Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Is it working? Yeah. Does this count as working? Yeah. Hi. This is so exciting. You did it. It works. It works. It's park ready. It's park ready. Okay, let's go.
And with my droid able to walk, I was told he would get his grand debut during the May 4th celebration in Disneyland Paris. Every year on May the 4th, Disneyland Paris transforms Discoveryland into a Star Wars fan celebration. And this year, Disney is debuting their interactive BDX droids. But before my droid can walk around Disneyland Paris, he also needs to look the part, which takes me to color design.
I'm going to walk you through the color design process through a BDX droid. The goal of color design is to add aesthetic touches to my droid. These make it feel alive and a part of the universe it's from.
This can be done by sanding. You're inducing some damage. Yeah, that already helps so much. Dry brushing. We're trying to make it look like the paint is worn off and it's showing this old, aged metal underneath. And finally, adding a wash to give it an aged look. Brush it on while the surface is wet and then remove it. It stains the surface and gives it that extra layer of aging.
Pretty quickly we brought it from this to this, which is so impressive. Thank you so much. This was so cool. And with my droid fully painted, he is finally ready to make his Disneyland debut.
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We're at Disneyland Paris. I cannot wait to see the reaction of the guests in the park today. It's really meaningful to me because I loved meeting the droids for the first time and they made me so happy, and it would be really cool to be a part of something that makes a lot of other people happy, too.
He's actually going to be performing in a droid show here in Discoveryland. We're going to watch. I'm so, so excited. But before he goes on stage, I'm going to get to see him.
Hi. Hello, Gre. It's me. Oh my gosh, you look so great. Your leg is working. Yes. Yes. This is the front plate that I painted back at Imagineering. Give me a spin around. I want to see the whole piece. Looking good.
It is so cool to see all of these elements coming together. All the detailed painting, the engineering, and the robotics components. We're going to see them perform in front of a crowd now. I'm so excited.
It's mine. It's my baby.
My heart.
Seeing the guests react and connect to something I helped build was definitely a full circle moment. It's crazy to think that Imagineering was the first job I wanted as a kid. And it's what inspired me to pursue a creative career in the first place. And I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with some of my childhood idols to help create magic for a new generation of kids. The same magic that inspired me when I was their age.
And if I'm lucky, maybe even help them discover their own creative spark.
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