Disney Looks to Use Robots in Place of Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Disney's renown characters like Mickey and Minnie Mouse might be played by robots in the future reducing the need for the company's employees to wear heavy costumes for hours. Disney will be able to cut down its number of employees and instead use robots to carry out such duties to entertain it's over one million visitors per year. The new and upcoming technology, hopes to change the experience for Disney's visitors and Disney's functioning capabilities itself.

Disney has filed a U.S. patent application for a robot that can physically interact with humans like an animated character. The patent describes a robot that is filled with fluid or air to make it soft which would reduce collision impacts with humans who might want to hug the characters. The build up of the robots could also sense pressure and adjust depending on the humans it interacts with such as adults or children as well. For now it is unclear whether or not Disney also hopes to replace its Princess characters such as Cinderella, but characters based on their classic cartoons are well in line for becoming robots.

With Disney's new idea to replace employees with robots it would definitely change its business scope. It brings up the question of whether or not these robots will be able to accurately mimic their classic Disney characters and not sound like a automated recording. But the bigger question is whether or not these robots will be able to comprehend and reciprocate responses in an appropriate manner to humans who interact with it. With the possibility of Disney changing one of its key players in their theme parks, will Disney replace its other human employees as well? The change in business will aid Disney in terms of eliminating employees and possibly save money for them in the long run. There is much debate on how these robots will function but Disney hopes to change its business and applications moving forward.


Posted by Jenny Tran, SW 250 Course, DePaul University