Photo credit: WDW Magic
Seventy years after Walt Disney welcomed guests to his magical park in Anaheim, California, he’ll be back at Disneyland. On July 17, 2025, the Main Street Opera House will debut “Walt Disney – A Magical Life,” a show starring the first audio-animatronic of Walt himself.
Creating an animatronic of Walt Disney was a big job. Walt Disney Imagineering spent over seven years perfecting every detail, from the twinkle in his eye to the way he leaned on his desk during his TV appearances. “This is a huge responsibility,” said Tom Fitzgerald, Senior Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, “and one that the team has taken very seriously, just as seriously as Walt Disney took when he created the Audio-Animatronic figure of Abraham Lincoln all those years ago.” The result is a figure that speaks using Walt’s own words from old recordings and moves with a smoothness that pushes animatronic technology forward.
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The 17-minute show takes you through Walt’s life, combining a film called “One Man’s Dream” with a two-minute appearance by the animatronic Walt in a replica of his studio office. You’ll see him as he was late in his career, talking in his own voice. The film, narrated by Disney CEO Bob Iger, includes new home video of Walt and his family, so it’s warm and personal for longtime fans. The animatronic steals the show, doing a “lean to stand” move—a first for an all-electric figure—and capturing Walt’s charm. “We wanted to recreate the feeling of watching Walt on TV,” Fitzgerald said, nodding to the classic “Walt Disney’s Disneyland” broadcasts where Walt’s warmth and vision shone through.
As you step into the Main Street Opera House, you’ll first see “Evolution of a Dream,” a new exhibit put together with The Walt Disney Family Museum and the Walt Disney Archives. It’s packed with treasures, from early Disneyland sketches to items from Walt’s private apartment, many seen publicly for the first time. Another display explores the history of audio-animatronics, with original and replica figures from the technology’s early days. These set the stage for the main show, tying it to Walt’s legacy of creativity and innovation.
The theater’s stage is a marvel itself, with a turntable that switches between “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” and the returning “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” after its initial run.
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