Robobama

Disney’s audio-animatronic rendering of Barack Obama.

The Times’s Jacques Steinberg reported from Los Angeles on the fine-tuning of the latest addition to Walt Disney World’s refurbished Hall of Presidents, ahead of its shipment to Orlando, Florida:

Barack Obama was standing on a riser inside a warehouse here, delivering an inspirational speech about the blessings of freedom, when his left index finger began to twitch uncontrollably, unnerving his aides.

The nation’s 44th president was in obvious distress. At least it looked like him. But with silicone skin and a tangled nest of wires for veins, this Obama was a 21st-century reproduction.

More specifically, it was an audio-animatronic representation of the president, as imagined by the Walt Disney Company, and assembled with the direct involvement of the White House staff – and of Mr. Obama himself. The president supplied not just his measurements, but he also recorded that speech (which was initially drafted by a Disney writer) – and yet another recitation of the oath of office, this one in Disney high-definition sound.

Steinberg added:

Mr. Obama is not the first president to send his voice, or inseam, to Disney World; George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were also given speaking roles in the exhibit during their terms and assisted Disney’s “imagineers” in the creation of their likenesses. But the Obama figure is assuredly the most lifelike of them all.

The public is to get its first glimpse of “Robobama,” as it is known among some handlers, on July 4. The unveiling will be in a Disney World theater, alongside animatronic figures of every other president. As in the past, the program will end with each president nodding or turning toward the audience during a roll call, as if Mount Rushmore had suddenly come alive.

According to Mickey News, George W. Bush recorded his audio-animatronic self’s speech (on freedom, equality and democracy) in the White House Library; President Obama recorded his in the White House Map Room.