Walt Disney, who died in 1966, is about to make a virtual comeback in commemoration of the entertainment company he established.
A lifelike hologram of the Hollywood mogul is set to be unveiled Saturday at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute as part of “Disney100: The Exhibition.” The display consists of 10 immersive galleries showcasing many of Disney’s “crown jewels,” including animation cels, movie costumes, television props and theme park artifacts, in honor of the company’s 100th anniversary.
The most buzzed-about component of the exhibit so far appears to be the hologram, which, according to The New York Times, was created by using archival video and artificial intelligence tools.
Footage of Disney’s avatar was included in a “Good Morning America” segment Wednesday and shared on social media by the company’s official D23 fan club. (“Good Morning America” airs on ABC, which is owned by Disney.) The hologram appears after a short introduction by Mickey Mouse in his “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” costume from the 1940 animated classic “Fantasia.”
The response on social media, however, was largely mixed.
Among those to praise the effect was Disney podcaster Sean Nyberg, who called it “incredible.”
Others felt similarly, with one person noting that Disney “would be hyped to see this since he was such a big futurist tech nerd.”
However, as with previous attempts to memorialize late stars like Whitney Houston and Tupac Shakur with holograms, some Disney fans were less than impressed.
Many alluded to the grisly and repeatedly debunked claim that Disney’s corpse had been cryogenically frozen.
“Having grown up with a lot of videos on Walt talking, it’s like 80% of the way there but it’s way too clean and robotic to be sensed as anything but uncanny,” one person tweeted. “He was an excellent speaker, but this makes him a little TOO animated, moreso than some of his IPs he worked on.”
Another person wrote: “Something about Walt Disney in high-def makes me feel weird AF.”
Perhaps anticipating such snark, Disney archives director Becky Cline told The New York Times that the hologram was devised as a way to remind people of the ingenuity of her company’s founder.
“Frankly, there are people in this world who don’t realize that Walt was a real person,” she said. “We want to make sure that everyone knows that our company was founded by real people — creative storytellers. Because that is so important to everything we do at Disney.” (On the subject of Walt Disney being a real person, it’s perhaps also worth noting his mixed record on sexism and racism, his willingness to associate with various antisemites, and what was apparently his vicious hatred of labor organizers.)
The Franklin Institute will host “Disney100” through Aug. 27, after which the show will embark on a North American tour. A second exhibit is set to debut in Munich on April 18, and move to London this fall.
