Abraham Lincoln Animatronic at Disney World Suffers Hilarious Malfunction
Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents reopened just two weeks ago, after closing to install the animatronic of President Joe Biden, but the attraction has already been hit by a hilarious and creepy malfunction.
The Hall of Presidents is a theater show staple at Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida, telling the story of the nation's founding. All 45 presidents are present during the show as Audio-Animatronics that move and speak realistically.
Abraham Lincoln has his own segment, during which he approaches the stage and delivers part of the Gettysburg Address.
This week, however, Disney World visitors reported that the Lincoln animatronic instead folded over and shook.
TikTok user Kennedy Shay, who posts as @k3nn3dyshay, shared a video of the scene on Wednesday. Her clip has already gained more than 200,000 views.
The Lincoln animatronic was captured gradually falling forward and folding in half as the speech played on in the background. Ironically, Lincoln was explaining how America would be able to "long endure" the future.
According to Shay, the animatronic "was shaking like crazy and then just slumped over" before she began filming.
Commenters rushed to make jokes about the malfunction, with several pointing out that it was the 16th president's second stroke of bad luck in a theater.
"He's never done too well in theaters," wrote one user.
"He found a penny with a handsome face on it," joked another.
The video can also be seen in full here.
@k3nn3dyshay Abe Lincoln was sleepy, so we got kicked out of Hall of Presidents 😫🤣 #fyp #foryoupage #disney #disneyworld #hallofpresidents
♬ original sound - Kennedy Shay
Another video shared to social media shows the malfunction. TikTok user @daytonac500 provided a zoomed-out view of the collapsing animatronic, adding the caption: "Abe...you good buddy?"
Lincoln had fully folded over by this point and stayed stuck in the position as the curtains drew on his speech. This clip has been watched about 20,000 times.
According to Snopes, this isn't the first time Lincoln's animatronic has played up. In 1992, footage of him falling backwards in the Hall of Presidents show was played on ABC. The clip can be seen on YouTube.
Another Disney World animatronic reportedly malfunctioned this week. A Donald Duck figure at Epcot's Gran Fiesta Tour, which had been recently refurbished, was filmed playing up again, with its arm stuck in an extended position and making jerking motions while holding its maraca.
Abraham Lincoln was the first Audio-Animatronic developed in human form, after Walt Disney ordered his Imagineering department to create something better than wax figures.
Newsweek has contacted Walt Disney World for comment.
