A classic image of Cinderella's Castle in Disneyland
Often described as the happiest place on earth, the beloved theme park known as Disneyland also serves as the perfect example of the blending of art and science to create something fun, innovative, and magical.
Filled with crazy colors, cartoonish characters, and an all-around carefree feel, the artistic aspect of Disneyland is fairly obvious. However, Disneyland truly is equal parts science and art. Best known for its many themed rides, Disneyland is essentially a cornucopia of applied physical sciences. Behind every single ride lies an extensive set of blueprints, calculations, and careful mathematical and scientific calculations. Of course, the extensive scientific nature of Disneyland is often left to the engineers who work behind closed doors for the park.
California Screamin', one of Disneyland's more technically complex rides
However, after the rides have been designed and constructed, Disney “releases” its team of artists to give the park the classic Disney-feel. Each ride, based upo=on its theme, undergoes an extensive decoration effort to make it feel both authentic to whatever it may be depicting and fun. Even in the design process itself, science is applied to create realistic effects. For example, in the popular feature known as Turtle Talk, a skype-like system programmed to respond to facial
The Turtle Talk feature which allows for real-time, reaction-based animation
movements is used to animate a sea turtle so that this “turtle” may respond to an audience in real-time.
Ultimately, the blending of art and science in Disneyland allows for the perfect and adventurous atmosphere that makes the park such a renound and memorable place.
Links:
1) Robotics at Disneyland- http://thelaunchpad.xprize.org/2009/04/robot-of-week-disneyland.html
2) Engineering and physics behind roller coasters-
3) Set and amusement park designs; http://www.creativeresourcesweb.com/clients.asp
4) The history behind audio-anamatronics (at Disneyland)- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio-Animatronics
5) Disney Imagineering (technical design team)- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_Imagineering