Today TEAM BETAMOUSE talks about the Living Character Initiative, which is on everyone’s mind once again with the Talking Mickey “playtest” hitting the parks. Questions? Comments? Email show@betamouse.net!
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- Henry introduces the Panel.
- Scott takes over, we’re talking Living Character Initiative today!
- Impetus for the show: a Talking Mickey appears
- Jeff finds it creepy! Jeff’s full thoughts here. Katie finds it a bit creepy, being that Mickey hasn’t talked for years. Nate likes it. Word.
- Panel agrees we need an old-fashioned car sound whenever WedwayRadio.com is mentioned
- Nate / Henry spar over introducing (or bracing) kids to non-talking characters at the parks. OK–sparring is a bit of an exaggeration.
- Scott’s kids want to see Talking Mickey! They were floored.
- Henry brings up that Disney may have not been ready for popularity of these videos — the “playtest” may disappoint people who are now expecting it. Katie, Scott and Jeff all chime in: hard to remove expectation. Remember the old adage, folks: set low expectations and vastly them.
- Henry cites some old Jim Hill Media LCI originals, and we talk about the voice acting part of this thing.
- Nate thinks the line for Talking Mickey would be, and I quote, “hellacious”. New word. Scott agrees. Panel muses over bringing these things into the Parks.
- Lotso the next LCI character? There’s Lots O’ Lotso in the Parks of late.
- Henry asks: what’s your favorite Living Character Initiative?
- Nate: Turtle Talk. Jeff: Remy, and then explains how he stalked Remy in December of ’09. Scott: Turtle Talk and then Roz at Monsters Inc: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue. Henry talks about his Roz experience. Nate brings up E.T. Which we struggle to finish, because it’s not Disney-related. Katie likes Turtle Talk, but wishes it could be a bit more different show-to-show. Henry doesn’t like Monsters, Inc Comedy Club.
- We talk Monsters, Inc, and how the audience can submit jokes (Jeff will get one in one day!).
- We talk about the “hit or miss” quality of these shows. Some epic, some not.
- Scott brings up the “mobile” characters. We like PUSH. And talk about the cool-ness of the other experiments.
- What do you think of Living Character Initiative? Let us know about on our FriendFeed room!
Personally, I love the Living Characters up until the Mickey. He’s great, the voice is good, but the whole costume is just not cutting it for me. There is just something that doesn’t look quite right with the proportions.
I think that the technology is fantastic. However I don’t think I would be queuing to meet one of the living characters. There is just something not quite right. I kinda find it a little bit creepy to be honest.
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