Date: 1963 – present
Animation Method: Birds – Pneumatic control, Water Fountain: Hydraulic
Control system: Custom computer using audio pulses to control relays
First Disney attraction to have permanent air-conditioning due to the heat produced by the computer systems in the basement under the attraction.
The Enchanted Tiki Room opened in Disneyland, Anaheim, in 1963, after the complex control systems had been perfected.
In the following video, Walt Disney introduces the bird character ‘Jose’ and explains that he’s a product of the same technology that ‘sends rockets to the moon’ – the control system described above, where audio frequencies on a magnetic tape control a number of different parts of the system simultaneously using switches that respond to audio pulses (“AC audio signals which are rectified to pulsating DC” to drive the circuits), was developed to control Polaris missiles from nuclear submarines. The same system was used to control the animatronic Robin bird and talking umbrella in the Disney film Mary Poppins (1964).
