To the editor: The criticism in opposition to the Disney firm for the animatronic Walt Disney seems harsh and vacuous (“It ‘keeps Walt alive in the medium he pioneered’: Imagineers defend new Walt Disney robot,” Might 2). For hundreds of years, civilizations have honored individuals by re-creating their likenesses — throughout and after their lives — by means of drawings, work, sculptures, and so forth. Early in Walt Disney’s profession, he used animation (from the Latin phrase animātiō that means “a bestowing of life”) to re-create the likenesses of others, equivalent to Rudolph Valentino on the massive display and, close to the tip of his profession, an animatronic Abraham Lincoln — partly to honor his favourite president.
In that noble custom, the Disney firm isn’t solely honoring one in all their very own however can be honoring one in all our nice People.
Brian Alters, Newport Seashore