SURVIVAL OF THE CUTEST DISNEY LETS WALK-ALONE ROBOT DINOSAUR, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND, OUT TO PLAY THIS WEEK.Byline: Fred Shuster Staff Writer Lucky, the next giant step in animatronics an·i·ma·tron·ics n. (used with a sing. verb) The technology employing electronics to animate motorized puppets. [anima(tion) + (elec)tronics. , has skin the color of four-leaf clovers, stands 9 feet tall, snorts, grins and bellows, and clomps along on two supremely sturdy legs. Unless you get close enough to peer into its toothy smile, you'd almost swear this high-tech dinosaur had just escaped from Jurassic Park. Lucky is the first walk-alone Disney character designed to personally interact with visitors. When the 12-foot-long audio-animatronic lizard is released for three days of intermittent ``play-testing'' Tuesday at Disney's California Adventure Disney's California Adventure is a theme park in Anaheim, California, adjacent to Disneyland Park and part of the larger Disneyland Resort. It opened on February 8, 2001. The park is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. park, be assured the dino will be pleased to eat, er, meet you. Actually, Lucky is an awfully good-natured robot. Inspired by several dinosaur species, the 21st-century electronic creature is so lifelike it could almost run for governor. After two years in production, Lucky was unveiled Thursday in a fitting location, just outside the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, as two enormous bronze dinos looked on with what could be interpreted as mild amusement. Lucky, who occasionally comes down with hiccups and pulls a cart of flowers, was a smash hit. ``His nose is soft and spongy spongy /spon·gy/ (spun´je) of a spongelike appearance or texture. spong·y adj. Resembling a sponge in appearance, elasticity, or porosity. ,'' observed Raul Solis, 11, whose sixth- grade class at Sepulveda Middle School was attending a field trip to the museum. ``He wasn't scary at all.'' The bright green, extra-friendly dino represents a test to see if walk-around animatronics figures could work in Disney theme parks, said Bruce Vaughn, vice president of research and development at Glendale's Walt Disney Imagineering. Lucky's price tag was not disclosed. ``We create illusions,'' Vaughn said. ``Lucky represents a leap in our ability to deliver stories in ways that are personal, up-close and interactive - and as a result, more magical.'' Lucky will amble amble a slower, non-racing version of pace gait in horses. broken amble has many characteristics of the amble but there are four beats to the gait with each foot contacting the ground independently. Called also single-foot. out periodically during the day Tuesday through Thursday at California Adventure in Anaheim. After that, Vaughn and his technical team will evaluate the prototype's effectiveness before deciding where Lucky will next emerge. ``It felt like it was real,'' enthused Victor Gallegos, a Sepulveda Middle School sixth-grader, after cautiously petting the 450-pound, hazel-eyed reptile. ``And he has really big teeth.'' The lizard's innards are equally cutting-edge. Usually, animatronics are tethered, like the sword-fighting pirate figures of Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean This article is about the franchise. For other, more specific uses, see Pirates of the Caribbean (disambiguation). For real pirates, see Piracy in the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. In 1964, the first fully animated human figure, based on Abraham Lincoln, debuted at the New York World's Fair There have been two World's Fairs in New York City:
tr.v. en·chant·ed, en·chant·ing, en·chants 1. To cast a spell over; bewitch. 2. To attract and delight; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. Tiki Room. If you come across Lucky next week, let him sniff your hand first, which he will eagerly do. While at least one scientist Thursday said the computerized dino was surely a vegetarian, others weren't so sure. ``He doesn't know he's a carnivore carnivore (kär`nəvôr'), term commonly applied to any animal whose diet consists wholly or largely of animal matter. In animal systematics it refers to members of the mammalian order Carnivora (see Chordata). - and we want to keep it that way,'' Vaughn joked. Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Curious visitors pet Lucky, a free-roaming, flower-cart-pulling, animatronic dinosaur that made its debut Thursday at the Los Angeles County Museum Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, Calif. The original museum opened in 1913. Among its important patrons was William Randolph Hearst, whose enormous collection brought the museum major status among the country's art houses. of Natural History. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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