Today we continue our monthly Vinylmation Connection series as we connect a vinylmation figure to a post or series from the past month. Last week we did a Retro Lookback: CommuniCore, a retro Epcot Center attraction, which was housed in the buildings that are currently Innoventions. Inside CommuniCore East, was the Computer Central was located, and this was the house of our featured character today, SMRT-1.
SMRT-1, a purple and chrome robot set on a rotating pedestal surrounded by telephones, involved a never-ending stream of guests in trivia and guessing games. When your turn came up, SMRT-1 asked you (in its synthesized voice) to speak your answer loud and clear through the phone. It also spent some time ad-libbing and singing between games: "If I keep this up I might graduate from Solid State." SMRT-1 was probably related to BIT from the WorldKey Information System and ORAC-1 of the Magic Kingdom's WEDway Peoplemover, all congenial, genderless electric beings that seemed to want their digital faces slapped for being super-cute. Of the three, SMRT-1 was definitely the least sugary and accordingly the most enjoyable. SMRT-1's shell, long silent, could be seen for several years in the Contemporary Resort Hotel's Grand Canyon Concourse as a piece of restaurant decor.
Pictures and Information from Lost Epcot, Widen Your World, and Vinylmation
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