Muppet Mobile Lab is a free-roving, audio-animatronic entertainment attraction designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, that has been tested at

Disney California Adventure Park Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...

in Anaheim, California, at Walt Disney World in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

and at

Hong Kong Disneyland Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...

in Hong Kong. Implemented on a Segway platform, the Muppet Mobile Lab is a two-wheeled science-lab vehicle that resembles a small rocket ship. Two

Muppet The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are ...

characters,

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is a Muppet character from ''The Muppet Show'', performed by Dave Goelz. He is a bald, yellow-skinned, bespectacled, lab-coated scientist who presented periodic science segments from "Muppet Labs, where the future is being mad ...

and his assistant, Beaker, pilot the vehicle through the park, interacting with guests and deploying special effects such as foggers, flashing lights, moving signs, confetti cannons and spray jets. The two animatronics characters and the special effects aboard the vehicle are controlled remotely by puppeteers, thanks to an advanced control system that allows the controllers to be located up to several miles away from the show location. On-board cameras, microphones and speakers allow the puppeteers to see and hear guests and interact with them. Muppet performers Dave Goelz (Bunsen) and Steve Whitmire (Beaker) assisted in the development of the project. The project began as a continuation of Disney's "Living Character Initiative," a program that has generated other interactive shows at Disney theme parks including

Lucky the Dinosaur Lucky the Dinosaur is an approximately green ''Segnosaurus'' free roaming audio animatronics figure which pulls a flower-covered cart and is led by "Chandler the Dinosaur Handler". Lucky premiered at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles o ...

, Turtle Talk with Crush,

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a media franchise created by Pixar Animation Studios and owned by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise takes place in a fictional universe where monsters are the primary citizens ...

, and

Stitch Encounter Stitch Encounter is an interactive show located in Walt Disney Studios Park (under the name Stitch Live!), and in Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland Park. The first edition of the show at Hong Kong Disneyland was closed on M ...

. In 2009, the attraction was honored with the Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement (Technical) from the Themed Entertainment Association. In October 2016, the Muppet Mobile Lab returned to Epcot.

References

External links

Muppet Mobile Lab video from Epcot
(YouTube)
Muppet Mobile Lab video from DCA
(YouTube)
Muppet Mobile Lab video from HKDL
(YouTube) {{The Muppets Walt Disney Parks and Resorts entertainment Epcot The Muppets Tomorrowland (Disney Parks) Animatronic robots

See also

References

External links