Disney didn’t animate Hercules’ Titans for its show on Disney Destiny — it engineered them

Disney didn’t animate Hercules’ Titans for its show on Disney Destiny - it engineered them News (Image credit: Disney Cruise Line) (Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future) (Image credit: Disney Cruise Line) (Image credit: Jacob Krol/Future) (Image credit: Disney Cruise Line) Jacob Krol published 'Wait, how did that happen?' Disney’s Hercules Titans are powered by hidden exoskeleton tech at sea There’s a good chance you’re familiar with the story of Hercules and have seen Disney's retelling in a classic, 1997 animated film, but I bet you've never seen it on a boat. The story of how scenes are set, props are built, and characters come to life in a new staged production aboard a moving cruise ship is a hero's journey worthy of the original. As I’ve already unpacked, Hercules aboard the Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Destiny ship is using a boatload of technology in some unexpected ways - yes, there are projections on scrims, the stage, and the walls surrounding it in the Walt Disney Theater, but it’s also being used on performers to take one of the classic songs to new heights. 'It’s hard to figure out how to bring those characters to life' Arin Dale Even more surprising, though, is that inside the two Titans that make themselves known during a battle scene with Hercules is an exoskeleton. The Ice and Rock Titans, as pictured above and below, mark the first time Disney Experiences is using exoskeleton technology. “It’s hard to figure out how to bring those characters to life in a larger-than-life kind of way,” explained Arin Dale, a Disney Live Entertainment producer. “Our Hercules is 6 feet tall, so you really have to make sure that those characters are epic and that they are effective and impactful.” Turning exoskeleton tech into storytelling While exoskeleton technology is far from new - and we’ll likely see a lot of it at CES 2026 - this application is firmly in line with Disney’s approach to using technology in service of storytelling and immersion. Disney has been developing this exoskeleton system, dubbed Project EXO, since 2020, and here it functions as a puppet-style mechanical suit worn by the performer. At its core, the system transfers the majority of the Titan’s weight down through the frame and into the ground, rather than placing that load on the performer’s body. In that sense, it operates less like a powered robot and more like a wearable puppetry mechanism. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. The exoframe is primarily human-driven, with the performer controlling movement through their own body, but it also incorporates pneumatic assistance at key joints to help augment strength when moving oversized limbs. That assistance doesn’t drive motion on its own; instead, it reduces strain and makes repeated, expressive movement possible during a live performance. It's a key way for Disney to bring these characters from screen to life, though. Essentially, Project EXO allows a single performer to operate a massive character by combining weight transfer,...

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