Would it be wrong to have a Walk around Walt Disney Character in California Adventure

[lighttragic]

Buena Vista Street and HollywoodLand take you back to the days of When Walt Disney first came to california. Would it be more Authentic to have a walk around Walt Disney look-a-like.. telling his story: Through the eyes of Walt. It could make a really compelling interesting interactive character. Disney Hollywood Studios would have old celebrities walking around , its not that far fetched :Or is this Blasphemy ? Sac Religous? I am interested in hearing other peoples viewpoints... Remember folks lets keep this discussion a discussion not arguing or name callling:
Peace (:

[noleafclover1980]

Walk around character? Yes.... he's a person, not a mascot. I wouldn't be against Walt getting an Abe Lincoln style show though.

[lighttragic]

An AA walt would be interesting but I think it would be far more intriguing to have a face character tell stories and create ideas.. Imagine him envisioning disneyland and other characters comes to life, on sketch boards or right before our eyes..

[Mr Wiggins]

To me it would be... (dial up big echo)... BEYONNNNND.... CREEPYYYYYYY!

[Trav1Disney]

i think it would be a little creepy. they just had a holigraph of tupac at a concert in cochella and there was very mixed reviews on that. but I see the goodness behind it to

[Maleficent4811]

I think a Abe Lincoln style show would be a good 'salute to walt'
something that pulls from the stuff they have at the Disney Family Museum up here is SF. More along the lines of the life and accomplishments of Walt. From childhood to DL. Something informative and entertaining.

[SoarinMatt]

It would be very disturbing. I would be in favor of a Lincoln style show though

[Trav1Disney]

I could go for the lincon style show also

[DannyLand]

yes, wrong.

[PirateLover]

Wrong!
I suggested a "Great Moments with Walt" style attraction a while back and the main point made was that Walt didn't even want a statue of himself anywhere in the park, so an AA of Walt would not be cool either. But times change. My idea was a past, present and future theme with AA Walt in the old COP buildng. Use modern effects and props, holograms and "yet to be invented" technology.

[emwhysee]

A live actor who walks around the park interacting with people could invite all sorts of mayhem. There are gifted improvisational actors in the world, but trying to inhabit the mind (to say nothing of the heart and soul) of Walt is a feat beyond almost anyone.
There's a reason those characters don't talk. There would be whole websites devoted to the gaffs.
But a scripted live performance (a la Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain), or some really fantastical Lincoln-esque "glimpse behind the curtain" attraction might work. Ultimately, it would have to go beyond the man talking...he always presented himself as merely the front man for the magic worlds he created.

[mickdaddy]

As much as I see your point of how magical it could be to run into "Walt" in these areas I am going to say its just not a good idea for 2 reasons, 1st as with Universals use of face characters of real people (Lucy, Marilyn Monroe...) it turns into a photo op and will never really be what you want as a glimps into the man himself (A show would do better for that, I might even suggest just a movie clip show that told his story rather then an AA which still might come across strange with how we all envision Walt)
2nd issue, What era of Walt do you intend to use, to fit theme you would need to use the young Walt which in my opinion would go against most peoples image of Walt which I believe to be the 60 year old Uncle Walt time period. The other problem to me is that in having him tell stories or give a glimps into who Walt was you now have to answer the question of is the face character going to act like people envision Walt to act or is he actually going to act like Walt? Walt was an infamous task master who was often down right brutal to his employee's, yes a glimps into one of Walts famous story board sessions would be incredible but I just cannot see any actor who could really give that image justice in a show or walk around setting.

[Disneymike]

I highly doubt that Diane Disney-Miller would sign off on that idea as well as a AA type show as it would appear exploitative.

[DLandFansAZ]

The Disney Company has a hard enough time trying to interpret and follow Walt's dream of the park in the first place. Heck, most of the arguments on this board alone have to do with whether or not Walt would have done this or that. So if they can't even follow his blueprint, how in the heck could they possibly duplicate him as a walking, talking replica that you could ask questions to and get instant feedback? It would be so scripted and generic that it wouldn't even come close to being Walt. Plus with corporate Disney mindset could you see Walt saying something like,

"Ah Buena Vista Street, just like I remember it, oh and there is store where I bought my first set of paints, you know you should check it out, I'm sure you can find a great souvenir to take home."

[Disneymike]

The Disney Company has a hard enough time trying to interpret and follow Walt's dream of the park in the first place. Heck, most of the arguments on this board alone have to do with whether or not Walt would have done this or that. So if they can't even follow his blueprint, how in the heck could they possibly duplicate him as a walking, talking replica that you could ask questions to and get instant feedback? It would be so scripted and generic that it wouldn't even come close to being Walt. Plus with corporate Disney mindset could you see Walt saying something like,

"Ah Buena Vista Street, just like I remember it, oh and there is store where I bought my first set of paints, you know you should check it out, I'm sure you can find a great souvenir to take home."

Great thoughts! And to add to that I could just see the fake Walt telling guests "Don't forget to see the new Pixar movie Brave when it comes to theaters on June 22nd".