Disney World’s Donald Trump model dubbed a ‘monstrosity’
New addition to Hall of Presidents gets the thumbs down - but is there an explanation for the shoddy likeness?
An animatronic model of President Donald Trump installed at Disney World has been mocked online for a likeness so lacking that it has led some to speculate that the figure was originally intended to represent Hillary Clinton.
Trump is the latest addition to the Orlando theme park’s Hall of Presidents attraction, which features animatronic models of all 45 US presidents.
The attraction has been advertising the arrival of its Trump figure since 17 January, Vanity Fair reports, but when Disney released a sneak peek at their latest guest ahead of the hall’s re-opening on 19 December it got a far from raptuous reception:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
>
Some of Trump’s detractors applauded the model, albeit for reasons probably not intended by Disney engineers:
Other users suggested that the Trump figure would be more suited to the theme park’s Haunted Mansion attraction.
The model may not look much like Trump, but some eagle-eyed tweeters spotted an uncanny resemblance to someone else:
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Could Disney actually have built a Hillary Clinton model before the election in anticipation of her apparently certain victory and then tried to hastily salvage their work?
It’s an attractive (and amusing) theory, though not the only possible explanation. As NPR points out, the Hall of Presidents “has a long history of unsatisfying, unsettling or inadequate figurines”. Their attempt at Barack Obama, who joined the cast in 2009, was far from uncanny.
-
Political cartoons for January 19Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Greenland tariffs, fighting the Fed, and more
-
Spain’s deadly high-speed train crashThe Explainer The country experienced its worst rail accident since 2013, with the death toll of 39 ‘not yet final’
-
Can Starmer continue to walk the Trump tightrope?Today's Big Question PM condemns US tariff threat but is less confrontational than some European allies
-
Can Starmer continue to walk the Trump tightrope?Today's Big Question PM condemns US tariff threat but is less confrontational than some European allies
-
A new serif in town: Trump’s font culture warIn the Spotlight As the State Department shifts from Calibri to Times New Roman, is this just a ‘typographic dispute’, or the ‘latest battleground’ of a culture war
-
Trump threatens Minnesota with Insurrection ActSpeed Read The law was passed in 1807 but has rarely been used
-
The high street: Britain’s next political battleground?In the Spotlight Mass closure of shops and influx of organised crime are fuelling voter anger, and offer an opening for Reform UK
-
Why is Trump threatening defense firms?Talking Points CEO pay and stock buybacks will be restricted
-
‘The security implications are harder still to dismiss’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge clears wind farm construction to resumeSpeed Read The Trump administration had ordered the farm shuttered in December over national security issues
-
Trump DOJ targets Fed’s Powell, drawing pushbackSpeed Read Powell called the investigation ‘unprecedented’