Modern Marvels

[Gottaluvgoof]

My DH watches Modern Marvels all the time, and recently they did a 2 hour episode on Walt Disney World. He DVR'd it for me, and I have to say, it was very informative and VERY interesting. One thing on there was a walking Dinosaur named Lucky. Has anyone ever seen him? They say he travels to different parks, but the filming they showed was in Animal Kingdom. I would love to see Lucky.

[medic9016]

Lucky was there a few years ago. I think his home is at the Park in Japan.

[EpcotChic23]

My husband got the DVD of that program for me for Christmas 2 years ago. I think he got it on the history channels web page.

[mizzoumouse]

We got to see Lucky at the Animal Kingdom during one trip! I have the pictures somewhere! He was very cool! I will have to find them to show you!

[elmjimmlm]

We also saw him 2 years ago near Dino-Rama...It was the neatest thing that I had ever seen...The people walking with him talked to him and he was interactive...My kids loved it...We also got some great pictures...

[mac badger]

we saw him at AL as well, it was very cool and i'm glad i got to see it

[ILoveLegos]

Lucky's very cool, but in Asia now as a poster said. Has anyone seen Beaker & Dr. Bunson Honeydew? They were similar to Lucky and rode a bike, I only saw them on You-Tube and I think even that video had a technical malfunction at the end because in mid-performance they kind of packed up and left. I don't know what became of them - I think they were at the Studios Park. Anyone have details?

[Melanie]

Yes, this program debuted Christmas 2005.

We were 'lucky' to see Lucky at Animal Kingdom in the summer of '05. He's very impressive. He's definitely not in Tokyo right now though, as we just returned. I think he's 'retired' for now.

The Muppet Mobile Lab is presently appearing on Main Street in Hong Kong. We hope to see them this summer!

[Mufasa]

Lucky the Dinosaur was literally a walking test laboratory for Imagineering's research and development group- part of what is known as the Living Character Initiative.

I wouldn't say that Lucky is retired though- Lucky has been known to still make public apperances here and there as a sort of Imagineering ambassador and the team is always discovering new things.

Bringing a walking dinosaur to life means there are lots of questions and chances to study lots of things scientists would jump at the opportunity if presented to them from Dinosaur skin (materials research into creating new, durable coverings for animatronics that move and flex realistically, but also can hold up to actually being touched by guests).

Then there's figuring out how a dinosaur actually moves- developing and refining electric actuators in place of hydraulic systems that provide for realistic motion but also are power efficient. How does Lucky hold up in different conditions like the hot and humid summers in Florida without tiring out too quickly?

And while Lucky is a very gentle dinosaur, there's also the control system and software behind his motion (how can we have interaction directly with guests that is engaging while at the same time always safe- can't have a clumsy dinosaur harming the guests and turning the experience into something out of Jurassic Park).

As any pet owner could relate to, Lucky does take a lot of time and work to keep in top health and on best behavior (puppy training after all is as much about training the dog as it is the owner's learning from mistakes) and it's not like we can just go down to the vet and ask them for tips on raising a dinosaur so the team is very protective about exposing Lucky to too much, too fast.

So Lucky serves as a technological showcase and through play-testing, we're able to then refine and adapt the lessons learned into new experiences like the Muppet Mobile Labs that is currently at HKDL (for some reason, I find it quite impressive that the good Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is perfectly fluent in Chinese at HKDL).

No one has ruled out Lucky or perhaps a relative making a future appearance in the parks but another aspect of the play testing is discovering the type of stories that can be told and making the interaction with a character like Lucky a truly magical experience that a number of guests can enjoy.

It's similar to how we went from Stitch's Photo Phone at Disneyland's Innoventions which was a small-group interactive experience to Turtle Talk with Crush at Epcot and DCA and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory Comedy Tour at the Magic Kingdom which play to larger audiences because we want to be able to share that magic with as many guests as possible, while still trying to keep as much one on one interaction that makes it such a unique experience.

Stitch eventually found his way back to the parks as part of the Stitch Live attractions in the Disney Studios Paris and Hong Kong so there could be future possibilities of seeing Lucky or other creatures roaming the parks as a regular occurance.

[mouselover93]

the dinosaur is long gone

[Mickey91]

We saw that one too! Lucky is cool!