I don’t know how else to say this, but Disney has made a live-action remake of … Walt Disney. Someone must have tipped off Walt’s cryogenically frozen corpse about Mickey Mouse’s imminent copyright expiration, because the late media mogul has hopped out of the deep freeze and returned to this mortal coil. On February 15, Disney’s official D23 fan account released video footage of a lifelike Walt hologram that speaks in his real voice, gesturing with his hands and making realistic facial expressions. The video clip shows Sorcerer Mickey bringing old Uncle Walt to life like a Fantasia broom and demonstrates 45 seconds of him rattling off platitudes about “ideas†and “exploring†before Thanos-snapping himself into nothingness.
The hologram was made for the upcoming “Disney100: The Exhibition,†which will make its world premiere on February 18 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Considering that Walt’s the guy who turned Abraham Lincoln into a macabre death-mask robot to entertain children, it’s a fitting way to celebrate.