Disney's Granddaughter Has Beef With Animatronic Tribute

Walt Disney's granddaughter doesn't want her grandpa turned into a robot, and she says he wouldn't want that, either. But Disneyland is set to unveil a lifelike animatronic version of the founder this summer as part of the 70th anniversary celebration for the Anaheim theme park. The Los Angeles Times reports that Joanna Miller, Disney's granddaughter who is now in her 60s, publicly condemned the animatronic in a Facebook post that's since gone viral among Disney fandom. "The idea of a robotic grampa to give the public a feeling of who the living man was just makes no sense," she wrote. "It would be an imposter. They are dehumanizing him."

The animatronic, which has been in the works for seven years, is the centerpiece of a show called Walt Disney—A Magical Life, set to open in July. As IGN reported last August, Disney announced it at its annual D23 convention. Miller's viral post in opposition got the attention of Disney president Bob Iger, who invited her to meet with him and members of Walt Disney Imagineering last fall. Miller says she isn't sure of the result, noting that she asked Iger to create guidelines about portraying Disney in a way that would protect his legacy. She said, "I don't think he has. They're different people. [Iger is] a businessman. Grampa was an artist."

Although she claims she just wants the company to respect her grandfather's wishes to never be turned into a robot, Imagineering says there's no real evidence to prove it. "In all our research, we never found any documentation of Walt saying that," said Imagineer Jeff Shaver-Moskowitz. "We know that it's anecdotal and we can't speak to what was told to people in private." And at least one of Disney's descendants seems to be on board with the animatronic: his grandnephew Roy P. Disney, who was in attendance when it was announced. But Miller believes it's not an appropriate way to honor her grandfather. "I strongly feel the last two minutes with the robot will do much more harm than good to Grampa's legacy," Miller wrote in her letter to Iger. "They will remember the robot, and not the man." (More Disney stories.)