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Disney Facts: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln

Steve Liebman May 3, 2012

1 minute read

Walt Disney was fascinated with Abraham Lincoln. As a child, he even memorized Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address to recite it to his class mates and as he got older devoured any bits of information he could about the President.

It’s no wonder that when the idea came to create a human Audio-Animatronic Disney decided he wanted to create Lincoln. And he did. The first Audio-Animatronics version of Lincoln debuted in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair at the State of Illinois Pavilion. It became so popular it moved to Disneyland in 1965 to the Main Street Opera House.

President Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronic figure at Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Photo by Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland

In 1984, the show was reprogrammed with Audio-Animatoric enhancements, according to the Walt Disney Company.

The original who had Lincoln delivering a speech composed of highlights from several speeches he made during his lifetime. In July 2001, another update was made and guests donned earphones to hear a dramatic Civil War presentation followed by the figure of Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg Address.

From 2005 until early 2009, the show went on hiatus.

In 2009 it reopened with the pre-show now including a bronze replica of the original 1964 sculpt of Lincoln’s head. The latest Audio-Animatronic technology was used and new speech using Lincoln’s words in previous versions of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (except the 2001 update) is being presented by using original recordings made in the early 1960s by Royal Dano.

Here are some quick facts about Abraham Lincoln:

He was born on February 12th 1809, and died April 15th 1865 at the age of fifty six.
He stood 6-feet 4-inches.
He is the only president to receive a patent. This was in 1849 for a buoyancy system in steamboats.
He disliked killing and harming animals, even for food.
He was the first president to have a beard.
He was the first president to be assassinated.
He was very disorganized. As an attorney he carried papers in his stovepipe hat so he wouldn’t misplace them.
His Gettysburg Address is one of the most oft repeated speeches throughout history.