Glendale, California, isn’t exactly in a galaxy far, far away, but it’s here inside a beige building where Star Wars characters are brought to life. For a split second, it seems that this colorful ...

The process of making a Disney park feel alive is most easily encapsulated in animatronic figures. These hydraulic, pneumatic and now electric figures have been a fixture at Disneyland since the 60s.

Disney research is doing what they do best, building really cool stuff for Disney and telling the rest of the world how cool they are. This time, it’s a very low friction fluid transmission device ...

Welcome to The Multiverse, a new column where'll you'll find Ars' explorations and meditations on the world of science fiction. The Multiverse covers things we love, the things we hate, and the things ...

Mechanical birds, bears and princesses have chirped, growled and sung in Orlando’s theme parks for more than 50 years. The animatronic trend shows no signs of fading, as new figures arrive in new ...