You Won’t BELIEVE Disney’s Newest Invention!

You see him front and center, hand in hand with Mickey Mouse in Magic Kingdom. You can snap a photo sitting next to him in EPCOT. Walt Disney’s legacy can be seen (and felt) all over Disney World.

In fact, Disney’s creativity is still recognized today — and one Disney Imagineer even has something SPECIAL in common with Walt Disney. Prepare to be impressed, people.

Meet Lanny Smoot, a talented Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer. He was responsible for some AMAZING special effects; we’re talking floating ghost technology and REAL Star Wars lightsabers. Well, all those efforts deserve some recognition, right? 

Disney just announced that Lanny Smoot is being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame! In fact, Smoot is the very first Disney Imagineer to receive this award, and he is only the second Cast Member from The Walt Disney Company to be inducted. He shares that honor with Walt Disney, who was honored posthumously for his multiplane camera.

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Welcome to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Lanny ?? #Disney #DisneyParks #Imagineer #DisneyCastLife #HallOfFame #LannySmoot #STEM #Inventor #NIHF2024

♬ original sound – Disney Parks

Smoot has 106 U.S.-issued patents and has had quite an impressive career! He worked as a theatrical technology creator, inventor, electrical engineer, scientist, and researcher. Over time, he amassed a HUGE collection of patents, and 74 of his patents were created during his time with The Walt Disney Company. Smoot has also won several awards throughout his career, including some honors for his work on Kim Possible: World Showcase Adventure, the Ghost Post experience, and the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.

So, what exactly has Lanny Smoot created? Well, he helped create the special effects that make Madame Leota float in Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, created Disney’s “state-of-the-art extendable lightsaber” used exclusively by Disney Live Entertainment, made a Magic Playfloor game on the Disney Cruise Line, AND created the Fortress Explorations adventure at Tokyo DisneySea. One word: WOW.

As part of Smoot’s induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the Imagineer chose to highlight his work on EPCOT’s old “Where’s the Fire?” attraction at Innoventions. As you may remember, this attraction was actually a lesson on fire safety! To play along, you would  “shine” a special flashlight device on the walls of a house, and with Smoot’s special technology, you could detect fire dangers. Pretty cool, huh?

Smoot said, “As a life-long inventor, I am excited, delighted, and humbled to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame,” adding, “To be included alongside my childhood hero, Thomas Edison, and my lifelong role model, Jim West — the inventor of the electret microphone, is both exciting and humbling. And as someone who’s had the privilege of working at The Walt Disney Company, it’s especially meaningful to know that Walt Disney himself is also an inductee.”

Today, he is still innovating! Smoot is working on something called the HoloTile floor. It’s known as “the world’s first, and only, multi-person, omni-directional, modular, expandable, treadmill floor, where any number of people can have a shared virtual reality experience, walk an unlimited distance in any direction, but never collide or walk off its surface.”

Say WHAT?! According to Disney, the HoloTile floor can be an insert in a theatrical stage, allowing performers to move and dance in new ways, or stage props and structures could move around or appear to set themselves up; plus, there are tons of VR and potential theme park applications. The possibilities are ENDLESS! You can take a look at this new invention below:

In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.

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Do you have a favorite Disney Imagineer? Let us know in the comments!