- A Disney Olaf robot malfunctioned and fell backwards at Disneyland Paris' Frozen area
- The robot's carrot nose detached and rolled away during the interaction with guests
- Video of the incident went viral with over 4.5 million views on TikTok
A Disney Olaf robot malfunctioned at Disneyland Paris, leaving small children screaming in shock, Variety reported. The incident occurred during the robot's debut at the park's new Frozen-themed area. The three-foot-tall robot, designed to interact with guests and mimic the character's movements, suddenly froze and fell backwards. Its carrot nose detached and rolled away. The robot's malfunction was captured on video and has since gone viral on social media.
Witnesses described the scene as "traumatic" and "hilarious," with some children crying and others laughing at the incident. Disney staff quickly intervened, retrieving the robot's nose and removing it from the scene.
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Watch the video here:
The TikTok video, shared by Belgian Disney fan site Magic Tour Club, received more than 4.5 million views. "Olaf just melted... literally," the caption read. "We didn't expect THIS to happen at Disneyland Paris. Someone get this snowman an ice bath ASAP."
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All about AI Olaf
The Olaf robot, developed by Disney's Imagineering team, uses AI and robotics to move freely in the premises. It also interacts with guests.
It is made of a soft "snow" material that was enhanced by iridescent fibres. It features a removable carrot nose and arms, allowing guests to interact with it in a fun and memorable way.
The robot's gesture and details are crafted to reflect how the audience has seen it in the film, and the details make Olaf one of the most expressive and true-to-life characters built.
"From the way he moves to the way he looks, every gesture and detail is crafted to reflect the Olaf audiences have seen in the film - alive, curious and unmistakably himself," the company said at the time.
"It takes humans years to perfect our motor skills for walking, and it takes additional years of practice to perform acrobatic motions that only a few of us can master," said Kyle Laughlin, SVP R&D Technology & Engineering, Walt Disney Imagineering.
"Deep reinforcement learning is a technology that helps robots acquire such skills in a shorter amount of time. To make this technology scale well, we need fast and parallel simulation."
