Vol. 10 · Portmanteaus ·Mid-century: TV and science ·1962
Animatronic
animate electronic
- Meaning
- A robotic puppet made to appear alive; relating to such puppetry.
- Source words
- animate + electronic
- Coined by
- Walt Disney Imagineering
- Year
- 1962
Background
Disney coined the word for the 1964 World's Fair Lincoln figure and Tiki Room birds. Originally the company called it *Audio-Animatronics* (a further blend); engineering press shortened it.
Mid-century: TV and science
Two engines dominated: television (sitcom, televangelist) and post-war big science (pulsar, transistor). Many mid-century coinages came from scientific style sheets and industry journals.
Two words, one coinage.
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