To generate awareness and inspire others with the amazing accomplishments of Lanny Smoot, Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer who recently inducted into the 2024 National Inventors Hall of Fame. Lanny is the first Disney Imagineer to receive this prestigious recognition and only the second individual from The Walt Disney Company to be inducted — the first being Walt Disney, honored posthumously for the multiplane camera.
Upon learning of his induction, Smoot said, “I was honored and humbled at being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. With all of the inventing greats, however, I caught a true lump in my throat when I realized that I was only the second person at The Walt Disney Company being presented with this honor, and the first person was Walt Disney himself.”
For nearly three decades, Smoot has continued to push the boundaries of technology to bring to life awe-inspiring, one-of-a-kind experiences to Disney guests around the world. Throughout his illustrious career, he has worked as a theatrical technology creator, inventor, electrical engineer, scientist, and researcher, resulting in more than 100 patents—an incredibly rare feat that makes Smoot one of the most prolific Black inventors in American history, based on patents issued, according to Disney patent attorney Stuart Langley. Of that total, 74 of his patents were created during his 25 years at The Walt Disney Company.
Leverage the long format of YouTube to help tell the unique story of Lanny Smoot's incredible journey within Walt Disney Imagineering R&D and congratulate him on his recent induction into the 2024 National Inventors Hall of Fame. To do this we provided the audience a one-of-a-kind opportunity to go behind the scenes within back stage areas with "new technology" as the hook to pique interest.
During our visit with Lanny, he shared stories from some of his over 100 patents. Among his many accomplishments, Smoot is credited with giving Madame Leota her ability to “float” in the Séance Room at the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland Park; crafting the state-of-the-art extendable lightsaber used by Disney Live Entertainment; inventing the Magic Playfloor interactive game experience on the Disney Cruise Line; producing the immersive Fortress Explorations adventure at Tokyo DisneySea; and designing the virtual and interactive koi ponds at the Crystal Lotus Restaurant at Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
In addition, Lanny provided a preview of his current project - the HoloTile floor. The world’s first multi-person, omni-directional, modular, expandable, treadmill floor. It allows any number of people to have a shared virtual reality (VR) experience, walk an unlimited distance in any direction, and never collide or walk off its surface. The HoloTile floor can also be an insert in a theatrical stage, allowing performers to move and dance in new ways, or stage props and structures to move around or appear to set themselves up.
Lanny Smoot's uniquely Disney story, induction into the 2024 National Inventors Hall of Fame and HoloTile preview was very well received on YouTube with over 1.4M views, 44K likes and 1.9K comments.
Sentiment was incredibly positive, with Lanny's story inspiring so many future R&D Imagineers.
And lastly, the HoloTile preview generated much anticipation on how this technology may be used within Disney Parks attractions in the future.
