Disney just developed the most adorable walking robot

Robert Hackett

<p>A portly, orange-tawny blob-man jaunts across the screen monitor on two legs, arms and head oddly stationary.</p><div class="paywall-selector"></div><div class="paywall">
<p>The animation <a href="https://youtu.be/6aqlosnp8nE">depicts a project</a> out of Disney Research, an R&amp;D arm of the entertainment giant Walt Disney Company (DIS) that collaborates with academia. As the creature ambles and wobbles, it looks like a chocolate covered Pillsbury Doughboy sporting a beer belly. (Lay off those carbs, Doughboy! Hee hee.)</p>
<p>&#8220;Here, we develop a bipedal robot that is designed after an animation character, and generate a character-like walking motion for the robot,&#8221; the researchers declare <a href="http://www.disneyresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/Development-of-a-Bipedal-Robot-that-Walks-Like-an-Animation-Character-Paper.pdf">in their paper</a>, which they presented on Tuesday at this year&#8217;s <a href="http://icra2015.org/">IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation</a>. &#8220;Creating robots that embody animation characters in the real world is highly demanded in the entertainment industry because such robots would allow people to physically interact with characters that they have only seen in films or TV.&#8221;</p>
<p>That demand is real. Disney <a href="https://fortune.com/2014/08/02/frozen-toy-sales/">made bank</a> on toy sales from its <em>Frozen</em> franchise during Christmas. And the company seems to be extending that merchandising strategy to other properties, such the upcoming Star Wars film through its relationship with Sphero, <a href="https://fortune.com/2015/04/17/iger-star-wars-bb8-sphero/">the company behind the adorable rolling droid</a> BB-8.</p>
<p>Disney&#8217;s uses for a bipedal robot are pretty straightforward: Imagine marching alongside your very own set of seven dwarves from <em>Snow White</em>, whistling as they work? Or palling around with a replica Abu the monkey from <em>Aladdin?</em> It&#8217;s pure Christmas list fodder.</p>
<p>The team&#8217;s bipedal hardware prototype is a bit less cute than the YouTube animation&mdash;jerky and awkward, albeit trekking with a spastic grace. Designing the robot was no simple feat: the researchers cite: &#8220;trajectory optimization,&#8221; &#8220;kinematic structures,&#8221; &#8220;computational framework,&#8221; &#8220;open-loop walking trajectories,&#8221; and, of course, the winner of the jargon contest: &#8220;humanoids with high-fidelity control of joint positions and torques have been developed.&#8221;</p>
<p>But one could easily see this being adapted into, say, a bite size Big Hero animatron. And that would be one small step for man, one giant leap for cute robots.</p>

			<div class="component oembed full-width-media padded">
				<div class="media-item">
					<p class="iframe-embed-container">
						<iframe
							class="iframe-embed"
							height="315"
							width="560"
							aspect_ratio="75%"
							scrolling=""
							src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6aqlosnp8nE"
						></iframe>
					</p>
				</div>
			</div></div>

A new Disney Research robot looks like one of the company's famous animations come to life.

Disney's New Walking Robot Looks Like Animation Come to Life

legacy

Arts & Entertainment

Tech

Disney Just Developed the Most Adorable Walking Robot

Disney's New Walking Robot Looks Like Animation Come to Life | Fortune

Dave Levinthal

Exclusive: Kelly Loeffler, a Trump Cabinet appointee who regularly appears on Newsmax, has quiet financial ties to its parent company

https://fortune.com/2025/06/11/kelly-loeffler-newsmax-stock-shares-pete-jennifer-hegseth-kari-lake/?itm_source=parsely-api

Sharon Goldman

Exclusive: New Microsoft Copilot flaw signals broader risk of AI agents being hacked&mdash;&lsquo;I would be terrified&rsquo;

https://fortune.com/2025/06/11/microsoft-copilot-vulnerability-ai-agents-echoleak-hacking/?itm_source=parsely-api

Christiaan Hetzner

Tesla bulls have been waiting years for this day: Elon Musk finally reveals date for his robotaxi pilot launch

https://fortune.com/2025/06/11/elon-musk-tesla-robotaxi-pilot-launch-austin-texas-june-date/?itm_source=parsely-api

Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez

Top investor Cathie Wood says Elon Musk's feud with Trump shows just how much Musk's companies rely on the government

https://fortune.com/2025/06/10/cathie-wood-elon-musk-donald-trump-feud-tesla-spacex-government/?itm_source=parsely-api

Paolo Confino

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says leaders have to be 'much more guarded' about what they say because of social media and populism

https://fortune.com/2025/06/06/blackrock-ceo-larry-fink-leadership-advice-social-media/?itm_source=parsely-api

Jack Denton

Moses Ndungu

The Associated Press

Garbage collectors are turning Africa&rsquo;s largest slum into one of the world&rsquo;s most bitcoin-friendly places

https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/06/09/garbage-collectors-africa-largest-slum-worlds-bitcoin-friendly-places/?itm_source=parsely-api