''Fun with Mr. Future'' is a 1982 live-action/animated short film from

Walt Disney Productions The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

directed by

Darrell Van Citters Darrell Van Citters (born October 29, 1956) is an American director, animator, and author, whose credits include directing the animated television series ''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'' and directing popular ''Looney Tunes'' cartoons featuring Bugs Bun ...

Plot

audio-animatronic Audio-Animatronics (also known as simply Animatronics, and sometimes shortened to AAs) is the registered trademark for a form of robotics animation created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks, and subsequent ...

talking-head replica of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

(voiced by

Phil Proctor Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Career Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had t ...

) hosts a tour of what the future will look like via retro-style animation.

Production

''Fun with Mr. Future'' originally began development as an

Epcot Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...

television special, whose crew included

, Mike Giamo,

Joe Ranft Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation ...

Mike Gabriel Mike Gabriel (born November 5, 1954) is an American animator and film director, best known for his work at Walt Disney Animation Studios and as co-director of the Disney animated films ''The Rescuers Down Under'' (1990) and ''Pocahontas'' (1995). ...

Tad Stones Edward T. "Tad" Stones (born May 28, 1952) is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter, producer and director, best known for his work for The Walt Disney Company, where he worked from 1974 to 2003. His most notable credits for Disn ...

, and Brian McEntee. At the time, this team was also involved in the development stages of what would become ''

Sport Goofy in Soccermania ''Sport Goofy in Soccermania'' is an animated television special produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for The Walt Disney Company. It originally aired May 27, 1987, on NBC. During its television debut it was preceded by a mockumentary showin ...

'' (1987) and ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 19 ...

'' (1988). After Disney shelved the Epcot special, Tom Wilhite allowed them to use footage from the project and edit it into a new animated short. The resulting work marked the directorial debut of animator

, who began his career at the Disney studios.

Release

Disney released the film in Los Angeles on October 27, 1982. No other public screenings took place until October 2010, when New York's

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

featured it in a program commemorating the publication of

John Canemaker John Cannizzaro Jr. (born 1943), better known as John Canemaker, is an American independent animator, animation historian, author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program at New York University, Tisch ...

's book, ''Two Guys Named Joe''. According to Tad Stones: " orking on itwas a lot of fun but I couldn't even tell you where you find it now. It's one of those gems even Disney doesn't know it has. I went to a comic convention and was surprised to see its cels for sale".

References

External links

* *
Fun With Mr. Future
' on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

D23 article
{{Disney's Short films 1982 films 1982 animated films Short films with live action and animation 1980s Disney animated short films Fictional depictions of Abraham Lincoln in film Films directed by Darrell Van Citters Films with screenplays by Joe Ranft Films about technology 1982 short films 1982 directorial debut films 1980s English-language films 1980s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films Rediscovered animated films

Plot

Production

Release

See also

References

External links