Bird is a character from the Disneyland version of Autopia.
History[]
Background[]
Bird, as his name suggests, is a robotic bird who serves as ASIMO's partner. He is shown to be faithful with ASIMO wherever he goes with him when he was added since the post-2017 revamp of Autopia. He is often seen with his partner ASIMO throughout the attraction.
Development History[]
Bird is an homage to a character with a similar name from the now-defunct Epcot attraction World of Motion - specifically the Bird and Robot show sequence from the attraction. The character was created for the Disneyland version of Autopia for a Honda sponsorship on March 24, 2017 after the attraction closed in early 2017 to remove all the remaining elements from the Chevron era of Autopia. Bird is an original character created for the attraction itself while ASIMO was created by the car company Honda.
In addition to adding Bird to the attraction, ASIMO returned to the Disneyland version of Autopia as well after previously appearing in Innoventions (which was the only permanent installation of ASIMO in a North American attraction) which ran from 2005 to 2015; after the attraction closed, the building was later reused for the Star Wars Launch Bay, thus removing ASIMO from the former attraction
Role in the attraction[]
Bird appears in the post-2017 revamp of Autopia along with his robot companion ASIMO, taking over the role of the Chevron cars from the former Chevron era. Throughout the queue, several screens depict a montage of Bird's friendship with ASIMO throughout the pre-show videos. Additionally, Bird can also be heard talking through the safety-spiel announcement telling guests how to drive safely. Throughout the ride, Bird can be seen with his companion ASIMO throughout the carpark.
Trivia[]
- In one of the screens where Bird appears in the pre-show part, sketches of flying machines made by Leonardo da Vinci can be seen.
- As evidenced in the English and Spanish safety instructions, Bird is indeed his name and not just a descriptor.
- Bird eventually became the subject of a minor element seen on merchandise titled "Yo soy Bird" ("I am Bird" in Spanish) in regards to the Spanish safety spiel keeping his original English name rather than translating it to "Ave" or "Pájaro", the common Spanish synonymous words for "Bird".