On January 17, 2023, special guests, kids from Camp Invention (run by the National Inventors Hall of Fame), participants of one of the local FIRST Robotics teams mentored by Disney Imagineers, and members of the media were invited to Walt Disney Imagineering to witness the induction of Walt Disney Imagineer Lanny Smooth into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. On hand was also his fellow inductee, Asad Madni, and other inventors who were already members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
The induction of Lanny Smoot makes him only the second person at Disney to be honored in this way. Walt Disney was the first. In a ceremony at Imagineering, Lanny said, “I’m honored, humbled, and excited.” He continued by sharing about how when he learned he was being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame he was quite excited as he thought he was the first from The Walt Disney Company to get this honor. Later, he was corrected and learned that the first was Walt Disney. When he learned this, he choked up. As Smoot thanked the National Inventors Hall of Fame for this honor, he shared about the importance of “doing work in the service of making people happy.” He also shared about how much he loved his job. “I get to create the things that I would love to see myself and it is always in service, again, of making people happy and enjoy themselves.” After this, Lanny shared his thanks for the honor and exclaimed his excitement to pay it forward to younger generations who are growing up and are interested in these types of things.
Lanny submitted his patent for “Where’s the Fire?” to list for his induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. This was an attraction at EPCOT’s Innoventions that helped educate kids and families on what to do in case of a fire. This was done utilizing a special flashlight that allowed guests to “shine” light on the wall of a house and spot fire dangers, along with learning how to prevent them from happening in the future. This was all thanks to the magic of Lanny’s technology.
“As a life-long inventor, I am excited, delighted, and humbled to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame,” Lanny shared with the Disney Parks Blog. “To be included alongside my childhood hero, Thomas Edison, and my lifelong role model, Jim West — the inventor of the electret microphone, is both exciting and humbling. And as someone who’s had the privilege of working at The Walt Disney Company, it’s especially meaningful to know that Walt Disney himself is also an inductee.”
Following the ceremony, the guests were given a tour of Walt Disney Imagineering’s Research & Development. This involved a quick bus ride to this building that is rarely visited by people from outside of the company. There, the guests were given a peek behind the scenes at some of the magical things that are being developed there. The first stop for the group that included the media was with Lanny Smoot himself. He demonstrated how the HoloTile works. It is incredible. It allows a person (or a thing) to move around indefinitely. It can also include multiple people and keep them from bumping into each other. Couple this with a virtual environment and it almost becomes like a holodeck from Star Trek! There are lots of possibilities for how this could be used! A couple of examples were shown by Lanny and the Imagineering team that were on hand. One of them allowed Lanny to “use the Force” and move a box around the platform, just as if Luke Skywalker were holding his hand out to move the box. Lanny also showed how his movements could be tracked and he could be put into a virtual environment as BB-8 and he could walk on the HoloTile to direct the droid through a course that appeared as a ship in the Star Wars universe. As the group was walking in, he showed how Imagineers could wear a headset and enter a virtual world. In this case, he was walking around Disneyland in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. This technology was incredible and gave those in attendance just a glimpse at what possibly could be in the future thanks to the HoloTile.
The second stop was in a different part of the building and included three BD droids. These droids made an appearance last year in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland. These three droids were incredible and full of personality. They interacted with each other and also with those who were watching them. At one point, one of the droids walked up to this reporter to have its head scratched… which made it quite happy when this was done. The droids could also recover their balance when pushed by someone without falling, show emotion in multiple ways, and even jump together! Imagineers shared how they could also learn 12 days of information in about 4 hours thanks to the power of digital environments and computers. On top of all of that, the technology isn’t limited to just these BD-type droids. It can be used in multiple different ways and forms.
The third stop in this building was with a robot that debuted with Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro at the opening of the Zootopia-themed land at Shanghai Disney Resort. This was the robotic Duke Weaselton aboard his cart that appeared during the opening of this new land. He came to life in front of those watching as Imagineers talked about the complexities of making this robot work. This included special electromagnets, having the character move in the right way to make sure he landed and balanced correctly when reaching the top of the cart. And yes, he goes from pushing the cart at ground level to jumping up on the cart by being lifted by the rope! It was incredible to see. The animator from Zootopia who was behind Duke Weaselton also was a part of animating this live recreation of an animated character. Also at this stop, the Judy Hopps robot that was on roller blades that was demonstrated at SWSX could be seen. Equally impressive was seeing all of the people working “behind the scenes” together to bring this magical character to life.
The final stop on the tour was back at the main Imagineering building. There, a demonstration of how Disney Live Entertainment utilizes computing and technology to build its different offerings, especially nighttime spectaculars. This demonstration started by showing the old way of doing things. This was interesting to see and still showed quite a bit of technology. However, when it was shown how things are done now, it seemed almost antiquated. The new process allows Imagineers to digitally create a show in a virtual that looks almost identical to what is seen by guests when the show is live. Examples of World of Color – One at Disney California Adventure and Momentuous at Hong Kong Disneyland were among the examples shown of how this technology works. The programming knows how to take into consideration gravity, light settings, weather settings, and even how the mist from fountains will react at the location of the show! This allows Imagineers to polish a show ahead of its arrival wherever it might be. This can even be utilized during special events during the day to see how the sun will affect whatever is being presented.
Following the tour, members of the media were ushered into a room for a press conference with Lanny Smoot, Asad Madni, and other representatives of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Questions were asked about inspiration and role models for those who had been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Quickly it became apparent that there was a theme of parents and family encouraging their kids to be curious, learn, and pursue their dreams. Asad shared about the importance of paying this forward and shared about how his son mentored students and could connect with them and support them as they pursued their dreams of becoming future inventors. Lanny shared about how important art and imagination are “critical and works with technology and innovation. So they go hand in hand.” He concluded by saying “I think that is the success story for The Walt Disney Company, art and science go hand in hand.”
Lanny also shared throughout the event the story about how his parents, specifically his father, helped quite literally light the spark that became his career by bringing home a battery, a bell, and a lightbulb. He then figured out how to make the bell ring and the light bulb illuminate. This helped set Lanny on a path that eventually led to him inventing some incredible things and then being honored during this event.
Throughout his career, Lanny has been a big part of creating many magical experiences that come to life because of some incredible special effects and technical achievements. This includes Madame Leota’s ability to float in the Séance Room in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, the incredible extendable lightsaber that is used by Disney Live Entertainment, the Magic Playfloor interactive game experience on the Disney Cruise Line, and also the immersive Fortress Explorations adventure at Tokyo DisneySea (a gem at Tokyo DisneySea!). The creative technology that has been developed throughout Lanny’s career continues to bring joy and inspiration to guests around the world, carrying on Walt Disney’s legacy decades later.
What do you think of Lanny Smoot being honored by being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame? What do you think of the magical creations Lanny has made throughout the years? What would you say to Lanny if you could congratulate him today? Share your thoughts, opinions, and congratulations in the comments below!
