Trying to improve interaction between its characters and YouTube-watching, Nintendo Wii-playing guests, Walt Disney Imagineering this week debuted its latest creation: free-roaming, interacting
audio-animatronic Muppets capable of "seeing" and "talking" to tourists.
In their first appearances at Disney's California Adventure, bumbling scientist Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his
meep-meeping sidekick Beaker joked and chatted with guests. The Muppets could see the color of the clothes the kids wore and the lollipops they licked -- casting a slight Big Brother vibe over the
proceedings.
Never wanting to divulge their secrets, Imagineers waved it off as "Disney magic" and "pixie dust." In reality, a live puppeteer who can see and hear everything reacts
from afar.
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