Muppet Mobile Lab



The Muppet Mobile Lab is a theme park exhibit for Disney's California Adventure. Part of Disney's "Living Characters Initiative" project, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are "brought to life" through the use of advanced Audio-Animatronic remote-control-puppeteering technology.

Starting in February 2007, Bunsen and Beaker began to travel in their Muppet Mobile Laboratory vehicle through the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, part of California Adventure. The Audio-Animatronic puppet versions of the characters encourage park visitors to take part in their experiments and antics.

The Muppets' vehicle is equipped with flashing lights, rotating signs, bubble jets, smoke sprayers, water misters, confetti cannons, and even a built-in gorilla detector. Eight cameras are concealed within the unit, including one in the bridge of Bunsen's glasses which allows the controller to make eye contact with guests.

Imagineers have written 53 scripted comedy bits and routines and a repertoire of 12 traveling songs. The entire show can be controlled by a single operator from a control booth many miles away for the actual park. The characters can react spontaneously to audience involvement through improvisation as the characters can call guests by name, tell the color of their shirts and respond to unique questions.

The characters are really reacting to the guests and directly responding to them (as opposed to the traditional, one-sided Audio-Animatronic shows). The Muppet Mobile Laboratory unit is of a shape and size that would make it impossible for any full-sized human being to operate the characters from inside. The two Muppets are detachable from the unit and can be operated as remote puppets independent from the vehicle. On a few occasions, the Imagineers have set the pair in cafes, theaters and on benches throughout parks to have them interact with guests.

Dave Goelz served as a consultant for this project and was personally on-site with Steve Whitmire, observing and working on the show when the attraction was first unleashed on the park in February/March 2007. The laboratory had several private test runs - including the 2006 Walt Disney Company corporate Christmas party, a Pixar Company event, and even in the Walt Disney Imagineering parking lot. A public test was conducted at California Adventure from February 13 to March 4, 2007.

In August of 2007, the Muppet Mobile Lab moved to Epcot Center in Walt Disney World. In February 2008, it moved to Disneyland Hong Kong. It returned to the US to stroll the streets of New York City as part of the 2008 World Science Festival, after which it moved to the Tokyo Disney Resort for the summer 2008. In Hong Kong, Bunsen's dialog was performed in Cantonese.

A second unit is currently in production. The new unit will be shared by the Orlando parks - moving between Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot Center. The original unit will rotate between California, Tokyo and Hong Kong.