Althouse: Disney's animatronic Obama: "Young children watch this, and you want them to feel a sense of identification with the president."

May 22, 2009

Disney's animatronic Obama: "Young children watch this, and you want them to feel a sense of identification with the president."

Since when are American children expected to identify with the President?

67 comments:

Unknown said...: Ever since Obama was elected, the media delights in trotting out Delores Kearns Goodwin, who having somehow sold the talking heads on using her "Team of Rivals" metaphor, has somehow been rehabilitated from the plagarist she's been accused of being to an acolyte of all things presidential. Makes me sick.; 5/22/09, 7:32 AM
traditionalguy said...: The Pied Piper President plays on. When 51% follow the sweet songs so melodious to hear, then all the world's money and all the world's superpower forces are gone behind the Pied Piper never to return. A truly Walt Disney experience direct from Fantasy Land.; 5/22/09, 7:33 AM
Unknown said...: Er, sorry: it's Doris.; 5/22/09, 7:34 AM
hombre said...: Obama is a narcissist elected by, supported by, enabled by, and promoted by dupes.

He may also be the incarnation of Mickey Mouse.; 5/22/09, 7:38 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: Of course children are supposed to identify with Obama. His people created a cult of personality around him. We are all supposed to identify wtih him. Our core belief should be- the only reason Obama does not walk on water is because he does not want to get his shoes wet.

He is the one. One man to find us, one man to bind us, and one man to rule us all. A savior and a true messiah. History is being made and a legacy is being forged. The long march has just begun.; 5/22/09, 7:46 AM
Ron said...: Yoda Emanuel told him to be the teleprompter.; 5/22/09, 7:50 AM
Mr. Forward said...: Perhaps an animatronic teleprompter would help.; 5/22/09, 7:51 AM
rhhardin said...: I identify with Polk.; 5/22/09, 7:52 AM
Sloanasaurus said...: I will let my children make their own decision in the end on whether they want to like Obama or not. But my message to them regarding Obama will be clear. Obama both desires an will reduce the standard of living of our family for at least the next decade if not more.

This will be Obama's legacy. The collapse of America's standard of living. We will be crushed by debt, taxes, and low quality health care. Very sad.; 5/22/09, 7:55 AM
KCFleming said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/22/09, 7:57 AM
Sloanasaurus said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/22/09, 7:57 AM
KCFleming said...: West Is Red.

The West is red, the sun is rising
America has brought forth Barack Obama.
He works for the people's welfare.
Hurrah, He is the people's great savior.
President Obama loves the people,
He is our guide,
To build a new US,
Hurrah, he leads us forward!
The Democratic Party is like the sun,
Wherever it shines, it is bright.
Wherever there is a Democratic Party,
Hurrah, there the people are liberated!; 5/22/09, 7:58 AM
John said...: It is important to document this kind of creepy stuff. After Obama's presidency goes down in flames, his supporter will rewrite history. The party line will then be that no one ever had any kind of creepy devotion to Obama or ever claimed he was anything beyond an ordinary politician. All of this stuff about "cult of personality" and Obama being "the one" will be called a right wing fantasy.; 5/22/09, 7:59 AM
MadisonMan said...: Exactly what does sense of identification mean?

Nothing...ing....ing...ing; 5/22/09, 7:59 AM
Anonymous said...: Suffer the little children to come unto Obama, and be able to identify with and not seem so far removed from him...

...that is, unless their bus is 10 minutes late.; 5/22/09, 8:07 AM
Ron said...: Maybe he's more like NOMAD -- eventually being in the first movie...; 5/22/09, 8:08 AM
Sloanasaurus said...: I wonder if they will show Obama holding a $1 trillion bill with his picture on it. After all our children will be able to identify with Obama as the $1 trillion bill man, since they will be using these bills to buy cans of soda in the very near future.; 5/22/09, 8:09 AM
John said...: "I wonder if they will show Obama holding a $1 trillion bill with his picture on it."

After Obama inflates his way out of the debt and we use the trillion dollar bill like we do tens now, I think his picture defeinitely belongs on the trillion dollar bill.

I think this one is appropriate.

http://boingboing.net/2008/12/17/photo-of-young-obama.html

As a matter of fact, that is the one that ought to be the basis for his painting that goes in the Captitol. It just captures the essence of the man doesn't it?; 5/22/09, 8:17 AM
MadisonMan said...: V'ger was the first movie.; 5/22/09, 8:19 AM
Almost Ali said...: Obama looked like a first
year student trying to outwit the master. In Farsi.

My advice to Obama; go play on Air Force One, and take Lady J. Crew with you.; 5/22/09, 8:23 AM
Fritz said...: The Disney Obama is the same as the living Obama; programmed.; 5/22/09, 8:29 AM
traditionalguy said...: The descent of Pres. Obama into the delusion that he is a force that all must bow down to because of a Crisis de jour is a serious national security threat. This man is dedicated only to his own delusion.The media whores may wake up too little and too late. By this time next year his suave evil plans will not look so suave anymore. Dick Cheney has pulled back the curtain on this Wizard's delusions of grandure.; 5/22/09, 8:29 AM
KCFleming said...: Obama
hasta
la victoria
simepre!

Christ as a guerilla.; 5/22/09, 8:29 AM
KCFleming said...: "But the emotional high point is intended to be the introduction of the Obama figure, who will yet again be heard taking the oath."

The emotional high point is not Lincoln's Gettysburg address or Washington's fine words, but the oath, flub scrubbed.; 5/22/09, 8:32 AM
Steve M. Galbraith said...: A little creepy but we've always had - at least early in an Administration and during my lifetime - this type of adulation of the President.

Yeah, it's worse - or better depending on your view - than with other presidents (we've got entire news organizations like MSNBC and Newsweek and Time built around Obama's success); but, it'll blow over.; 5/22/09, 8:33 AM
Bob said...: They should have Obama holding up a sign: IT'S ALL GEORGE BUSH'S FAULT.; 5/22/09, 8:40 AM
Wince said...: Sorry, I want the animatronic Cheney, complete with waterboard, from Kenner.; 5/22/09, 8:49 AM
Bissage said...: If I were President of the United States I would forbid them from putting me in the Hall of Presidents.

I would, however, insist they find a way to squeeze me into the Country Bear Jamboree, preferably as a bear.

I would like for people to think the President can play a mean banjo.

You may think of that as a kind of vanity.; 5/22/09, 8:55 AM
Ernesto Ariel Suárez said...: It's a creepy idea, no matter who the president is.; 5/22/09, 9:08 AM
Penny said...: "The public is to get its first glimpse of “Robobama,” as it is known among some handlers, on July 4."

Robobama...perfect! Notice his robot even has handlers.; 5/22/09, 9:08 AM
Wince said...: Thank goodness they didn't have this technology right after Hoover was elected.

Drink the water.; 5/22/09, 9:12 AM
Jeff said...: They say in the article that his animatronic is similar to the Jack Sparrow one in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I wonder if this will be as jarring as that one is.

The old school animatronics move slowly and with limited mobility, but the Jack Sparrow one takes you out of the illusion of the ride. Every time I see it in the ride, I wonder what Johnny Depp (the human, not the animatronic) is doing there.

Is it going to be the same thing with all of us wondering why Barack Obamaa (the human, not the animatronic) is doing standing around all these robots?; 5/22/09, 9:14 AM
Ben (The Tiger in Exile) said...: Aside from that semi-creepy Kearns Goodwin quote, it's apparently the same as what they've done since the 1970s -- but with better technology...

Most of what's creepy about Obamaism comes from the press.; 5/22/09, 9:18 AM
ricpic said...: Nothing new here. It's the FDR phenomenon all over again. To this day - with the exception of a few policy wonks - FDR gets none of the blame for lengthening and deepening the great depression.; 5/22/09, 9:19 AM
AllenS said...: Gag me with a spoon. Let's let Obama's wife Michelle explain what her daughters (children) think, shall we?

"We get up and they want ten more minutes so they can come in my bed and if Dad isn’t there because he is too snore-y and stinky, they don’t want ever to get in the bed with him but we cuddle up and we talk."

Doris' better work is when she plagiarizes.; 5/22/09, 9:28 AM
Bissage said...: There is no truth to the rumor that Michelle has ordered an animatronic Obama for her own personal use.; 5/22/09, 9:29 AM
Christopher in MA said...: Learning to struggle on despite overwhelming odds (Washington, Lincoln); embracing education to rise above your poverty (Lincoln again, perhaps LBJ too); hard work taking you from nothing to globally-respected multimillionaire (Hoover); refusing to sink into despair in spite of a handicap (FDR); taking a stand because it is the right thing to do (both Adamses). . . no, nothing for the little rugrats to identify with at all.

Only Black Narcissus can raise their eyes from the dust and wipe away every tear and tell them "yes, you can."

I'm surprised the Imagineers don't hang a sign on the robot saying "thou shalt not look upon the face of the OBAMA and live."; 5/22/09, 9:29 AM
Palladian said...: It's fun when the robot Presidents malfunctionUnfortunately our current and recent Presidents seem to malfunction more than their mechanical doppelgangers.; 5/22/09, 10:44 AM
holdfast said...: So THAT's what Axelrod was building in his basement. Ever since his Deval Patrickbot went off the rails, he's been working on an improved model!; 5/22/09, 1:01 PM
veni vidi vici said...: Does the Obama animatron's range of movement consist of his head nodding back and forth? That would at least be accurate.

Oh, and as to this:

"Obama
hasta
la victoria
simepre!

Christ as a guerilla."

If Mort were awake, he'd call you a racist.; 5/22/09, 1:55 PM
KCFleming said...: Did i type "simepre"?

I did, I did.
Oy.; 5/22/09, 2:12 PM
tim maguire said...: Since when are American children expected to identify with the President?Why not? Since Obama IS a child. Right about the time he mentioned Hillary while scratching his cheek with his middle finger and then looked around at the audience giggling at his joke to see if they got it and were giggling too, I realized that Obama is merely the coolest guy in high school.

It's all he ever was and it's all he probably ever will be--because his protectors will never put him in a position where he needs to grow up.; 5/22/09, 2:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Doesn't Disney have to do this to be fair since they made the same thing for W?; 5/22/09, 2:27 PM
hdhouse said...: After 8 years of no one identifying with what was nothing less than a mysterious unwelcome guest who popped up, told us he was the decider and Pres e dent, I think it would be welcome to have someone that kids and adults aren't afraid of.; 5/22/09, 2:52 PM
hdhouse said...: Seven Machos said...
Doesn't Disney have to do this to be fair since they made the same thing for W?"

Seven, I remember one of Lincoln in the 64 NY World's Fair...I think that's right...; 5/22/09, 2:53 PM
Anonymous said...: HD -- Tell us which law you plan to kill Dick Cheney under, and who will prosecute.

We'll wait patiently until you find the answers.; 5/22/09, 2:53 PM
Anonymous said...: That Obama, so Lincolnesque. And right now is, of course, 100 years from now, so it all makes sense.; 5/22/09, 2:55 PM
Jeremy said...: I think it would be welcome to have someone that kids and adults aren't afraid of.

He's an intellectual! He's a man of the people! He's extra-ordinary! He's just like you and me! He's everything to all people!

Are you really invoking the who'd-you-rather-have-a-beer-with test?

-The Other Jeremy; 5/22/09, 3:36 PM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: I think it would be way cool to have the Obamabot pick off the "Pirates of the Caribbean" with a sniper rifle. When that get's old they can move him over to "It's a Small World".; 5/22/09, 3:43 PM
mccullough said...: The JFK robot suffers from priapism.; 5/22/09, 3:50 PM
hdhouse said...: jimminycrickets Seven, I never mentioned Cheney. In fact, I haven't thought about him all day.

Your turn to go stand in the corner and not think about the big white bear....(I'm afraid that is over your head..the reference that is) sorry.; 5/22/09, 6:03 PM
Methadras said...: Jesus Christ, this country elected a black Hugo Chavez.; 5/22/09, 7:03 PM
former law student said...: Since when are American children expected to identify with the President?

He's our own personal jesus
Someone to hear our prayers
Someone who cares
Our own personal jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's there

Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith

Our own personal jesus...

I wonder if they sell Obama keychains in the gift shop. Or little stuffed Obama dolls? Or maybe Obama Beanie Babies? (Obamabeanababies); 5/22/09, 8:44 PM
A Jacksonian said...: I'm pretty sure that Disney is just getting a properly programmed version to swap out the older model currently elected. This one isn't saying: 'Infinite copyright is limited'.

And if that isn't the case, then you do have to suspect that all the glad-handing of tyrants, despots and dictators is so he can get pointers on how to run a society as limited as KSA's and as enforced as Mr. Kim's Magic Kingdom of NoKo. You really have to get that identification part down pat so you can explain why some folks just don't need to heard from again... ever.

Of the two I'll stick with the Disney version... although the second aligns more with what has gone on.; 5/23/09, 5:48 AM
A Jacksonian said...: I'm pretty sure that Disney is just getting a properly programmed version to swap out the older model currently elected. This one isn't saying: 'Infinite copyright is limited'.

And if that isn't the case, then you do have to suspect that all the glad-handing of tyrants, despots and dictators is so he can get pointers on how to run a society as limited as KSA's and as enforced as Mr. Kim's Magic Kingdom of NoKo. You really have to get that identification part down pat so you can explain why some folks just don't need to heard from again... ever.

Of the two I'll stick with the Disney version... although the second aligns more with what has gone on.; 5/23/09, 5:48 AM
TWM said...: I'm teaching my kids to identify him as a socialist.; 5/23/09, 6:51 AM
Cincinnatus said...: Blogger tim maguire said...

...Right about the time he mentioned Hillary while scratching his cheek with his middle finger and then looked around at the audience giggling at his joke to see if they got it and were giggling too, I realized that Obama is merely the coolest guy in high school. It's all he ever was and it's all he probably ever will be--because his protectors will never put him in a position where he needs to grow up.Prey the day doesn't come where a 47 yo is asked to grow up.; 5/23/09, 7:03 AM
Michael McNeil said...: After 8 years of no one identifying with what was nothing less than a mysterious unwelcome guest who popped up, told us he was the decider and Pres e dent, I think it would be welcome to have someone that kids and adults aren't afraid of.

What enervating stupidity. That “mysterious unwelcome guest” as you put it received 50.5 million votes — and while his opponent the “unmysterious” Al Gore got a few more than that in the popular vote, the former “mysteriousity,” by all the careful recounting (and despite Clinton's Supreme Court getting into the act), won the electoral vote — which is, after all, how presidential elections are decided in this country.; 5/23/09, 7:31 AM
paul a'barge said...: author of the piece? Jacques Steinberg (what kind of metrosexual name is that anyway?).

Remember Jacques?So, the guy turns out to be an anti-
Republican attack dog.

Who would have thunk?; 5/23/09, 8:23 AM
Roux said...: I remember Goodwin opining about LBJ telling one of his aides to spread an untrue child molester rumor about an opponent. The aide apparently told LBJ "but it's not true" and LBJ's response "I just want to see him deny it".

This is the type of politics Goodwin admires.; 5/23/09, 8:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Does the animatronic Obama function without its meta-animatronic Teleprompter?; 5/23/09, 9:00 AM
msspurlock said...: I have to admit George Soros looks pretty young in that picture.

Disney must've touched that up, too.

I guess it helps that you're seeing him from behind.

Like Obama usually does.; 5/23/09, 12:28 PM
kentuckyliz said...: That young Obama pic that Jack linked to is great. "Keepin' my pimp hand strong...to bitch-slap the American people!"

I look forward to bitch-slapping him back in 2010. Ah, how I miss the days of gridlock. Gridlock is good.; 5/23/09, 1:14 PM
Patm said...: I miss W and the "insane hate of W" press. They may have hated him, but an adversary press is better than the "insane love of the O-Lord" press that is letting him get away with not just "remaking" America but deconstructing her with head-spinning ease.

Obama is a mess of a president, but the adoring press, who made excuses for him, covered up his associations and never asked him a difficult question (or displayed the least bit of curiosity about his grades or background) are to blame.; 5/23/09, 5:39 PM
From Inwood said...: I met a traveller from a Disneyland
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone,
In Presidents Hall. Near them, on the sand,
A shattered Animatronic visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of alderman-ed,
Tell that its imagineers well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things.
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Obamamessiah, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."

OK, before I posted this, I Googled & I see that somebody tried an Oz/Obama before, but he just took the name & rewrote the poem completely, whereas I've adhered closely to the poem & tied in the Disneyland part.

As Doris K. G. would say, I am not a plagiarist! I am not a plagiarist!; 5/23/09, 9:45 PM
ZZMike said...: Perhaps this one will be able to give speeches without a Teleprompter.; 5/25/09, 12:51 AM
Anonymous said...: Wow, you people are really ignorant. Walt Disney World always makes this kind of an effort when they update the Hall of Presidents attraction at their theme park because the attraction is designed for children. These are highly professional and creative people that take their work seriously. In addition to that they have a very savvy PR department that wants to generate as much publicity about this project as possible because it only happens every four to eight years, and it's good for business. Disney World made the same fuss when the attraction was updated with Clinton and then again with George Bush. I know I was working there at the time. Maybe you should do a little more research on the topic instead of sitting around and whining about the President.; 6/1/09, 4:26 PM