Last week we ran a rumor that Epcot's new Spaceship Earth ride had screwed Woz, and that Steve Jobs alone would be immortalized in Disney animatronics. Now that the ride has opened to select guests, we've confirmed that the ride does indeed feature a long-haired, scruffy man tinkering away at a computer in a garage. But we're not sure which Steve he is. And the narration is little help, only mentioning "the late 70s" and a "garage in California," so it's ultimately inconclusive.
But if we had to call it one way or the other? Our money's actually on Woz. And we Photoshopped a side-by-side and everything, just to prove our point.
Just look at the figure. It's not lanky like Steve Jobs. The man has some heft, strength even, and that little bit of extra Woz scruff. And stripes. Both pictures have striped shirts! Have you ever witnessed more conclusive evidence?
But what do you think? [lifthill]








Comments
i don't care, really. that computer is too literal, their computer wasn't so nice.
it's most likely the woz, that garage don't feel like the kind of place el job'so would be found, even though it's probably just the kind of environment they were in when they first started hacking pay phones.
I think it's a corporate image thing. Apple (Jobs) is whitwashing history to try to manipulate the public image of Apple and Jobs.
Woz FTW! (And I think he needs a license plate which says that.)
animatronics are expensive...its Jobsniak
Note to self, DO NOT GO ON THIS RIDE EVER! I have an unnatural fear of animatronics related things.
@MagnoliaBoy: sounds like a nixonian reaganistic think to do. Like bush team wants to do in the future about ... you know.... his mess.
I think in this case, is apple more than jobs. nothing is more important for a company that have an exciting beginnings for marketing and ad campaigns. shareholders dont care.
I think it may actually be Woz. I heard Kathy Griffin kicked him out and he was living in the garage. I just never thought it was Epcot's garage...
this reminds me of that episode of the simpsons, with the ex-presidents
Definitely Woz.
1 more for Woz. for sure.
Definitely Gordon Moore.....
/humor
Who's that on the wall above his head? The BeeGees?
@Improbable: Ah, the version at the linked site is big enough that you can read it. Fleetwood Mac.
That set needs a Bob Dylan poster to be complete.
I'd be interested to see if the face of the figure is actually modeled after either of them... in the original version of that ride Disney reused a lot of face masks from other figured in other rides, including many presidents from the hall of presidents.
But the figure does look a lot like Woz, I have to admit.
yeah i think it looks more like woz than jobs
One vote for Bill Gates. Looks nothing like him, but I always use write-in candidates.
@mless: Jobsniak. hehe. Brilliant.
I also think it looks more like Woz.
I say it's definitely more Woz than Jobs based on the picture here:
[brianmcnitt.com]
Longer hair + full beard + glasses = Woz
Also, I'm getting a strong Demetri Martin vibe off of Jobs in that picture:
[www.thedailyshow.com]
greasy pizza box, dead give away that its woz
Due to a bizarre transporter accident, it is actually the gestalt: Stoz!
OK, seriously, if you showed me that photo and said it was 'one of the Steves' - Woz, hands down.
@GizFanAlpha: Dude, I know what you mean. Plastic people are indubitably creepy.
@quendiljt:for me it's not just people, I can't stand to be around ANYTHING animatronic. Well, except maybe regular robots. I'm used to that. Anything else is a whole different ballgame.
It has to be Woz for the simple reason that Jobs had nothing to do with actually sitting down and putting together the first Apple (if I remember correctly). That was all Woz.
@Dearhaw: All the machines where Woz. Jobs was always the business end while Woz the brains. Even at Atari Jobs was the one hired, but Woz did the work for Jobs.
"select guests" Wish I would have been one of those selected. I was just there all week and all I saw were signs that said "We are updating for the Future"
Regardless, I'd guess it was Woz, but with Jobs' connected to Disney, I can't be 100% with the above.
if it has a training bra, it's most def Woz. Finally, WTF happemed to Haroon??? did I get that weekend promotion I was finally asking for [nudge nudge]. Monday is only a coupla' hours away. Gawker/giz, you know where to get at me
@Computer_Chef: strong Demetri Martin vibe can only be reserved for Frucci. They're basically the same person.
@YamIinLawSchool: greasy pizza box, etc. This thing is too staged. Is this a Disney set? Great try but I vote for animatronics!
Improbable,
That's not fleetwood Mac. It's the most annoying print ad aver published. It was an early attempt by Electronics Arts to cast software as art. The ad featured this goofy bunch with a headline that asked "Can A Computer Make You Cry?" The title is missing from the page in the picture but I remember it clearly, especially the geek in front with the wristband and the Billy Idol power pose. The funny thing is, this ad was published in the mid '80s, a decade after the Woz worked his wizardry in Palo Alto. It would have been impossible for him to have had this ad on the wall of his garage while developing the Apple I.
As they say in the TV and movie biz, "CONTINUITY!"
Um - well the project didn't get done with out it going across Job's Desk in the first place - being in the position he is in at the company_
But i definitely like the Jobsniak Theory best_
It's Woz. Jobs is hanging out at Xerox PARC.
I wonder if there is any left over pizza in that box? Those seem like some recent grease stains. I need to ride this, on my way back from the food and wine thing next year.
Taking into account all the previous postings here and elsewhere (unlike alot of the other comments in the thread, who point out that Woz was responsible for the tinkering, and should be the guy there)... it's more likely Woz than Jobs.
If you post the photo you've done a comparison with in this article it's clearly more Woz-like, if not a bit trimmer.
Also: seems like you barely get a profile view of the set-up, making it all just a bit of a moot point, no?
I'm going with Wozobs (as opposed to Jobsniak).
Its neither, its Nolan Bushnell.
Anyone else notice the *#()@!*)(#@! arm is *GONE* from the spaceship earth photo at the linked site? THE ARM IS GONE! THE ARM IS GONE! Another benefit of the reverse Pixar takeover, I hope!
No...
It´s Ben Jabitya from the Johnny-Five movie ;)
"Birdie Num num!"
In any case these weren't the first Personal computers at all. Woz was smart and picked a good processor, the 6502. The rest was great marketing!
Is it me, or did Epcot Center get the pizza-box grease stain exactly inverse to where pizza grease is actually found? Did they have some mystical, cheese on the outside, crust on the inside pizza in 70's california??
Disney's attention to detail is *amazing.* The Fleetwood Mac poster is just the beginning. All that stuff was in my basement in the '70s. There's a Viewmaster disc in there, and a big Dymo label maker, a red Coleman cooler, a glass soda bottle, a plaid Thermos ... and I'm pretty sure I still have those speakers.
While the Woz made them, el Jobso sold them (got that cleaner look and the suit, remember?)
I think people are assholes and should have drawn that same conclusion. I had to comment when morons started sounding off that Jobs wouldn't know a motherboard from a hole in the ground, but it amazing how jealousy can make people contrive all sorts of "issues". --I mean really... how MUCH of a leap was it, to re-envision Jobs with long hair, and yet, not even TRY to re-envision Woz in those early times. People are horrible.
Looks doubtfully tidy to me. And it MUST be STEVE - he was into Roller-Wrestling back then...
After looking at it closer it appears to be Dave Grohl checking his email. False alarm everyone.
@C33: That side view pictured on here is about as good of a view of the animatronic's face as you will get while riding it.
I was lucky enough to ride it this weekend and I was also thinking that it looked more like Woz than Jobs. Glad to see that most agree with that.
As for the rest of the ride, it's not finished yet. The animatronics are looking and moving great, but there still a few areas with temporary black curtains.
The real question is Bee Jees errrr Fleetwoood Mac?
I had those exact same lame blue roller skates.
.. and it's definitely Fleetwood Mac
Woz was the hands-on side of Apple (heart), Jobs was the one pitching the Apple back in the day (brains). Any fanboy will attest to this fact.
@FredicvsMaximvs: I'll go in for one if you wanna send him one. >.>
Anyhow, ftw! Woz>Steve any day.
I had a piece of toast that had a burn mark that looked just like George Burns. My neighbor said it looked like God.
This article is less relevant.
Okay, best example yet...
[www.realgeek.com]
Woz there looks about the same build as the animatronic figure, even the face looks similar.
I've got to agree with the earlier comment on the attention to detail. Take a look at the larger versions of the photos if you have a chance. Notice stuff like the plastic bags on the wall from Mouser Electronics, a Mattel Football game sitting next to the stack of pizza boxes, the Fleetwood Mac "Rumours" vinyl slipcover next to the tuner/amp, the 8-tracks up on the shelf, and the reel-to-reel behind the computer on the shelf. It is truly impressive.
@keronian:
Looks like Jobs is so young he hasn't even grown a turtleneck yet and is saying "Ya.... this is myPhone, Woz".
I think that it's unclear on purpose. It's the one you want it to be. Plus, Jobs already has a place at Disney. He owns 7% of Disney through it's Pixar deal. Or maybe it is Jobs for that reason - or Woz to avoid that reason ????
-Michael [theplaz.com]
I say it's Woz.
Guestimating from the width of the head, this is a pic of Woz. Jobs brain is smaller than Woz's, which is why I believe he focused on the business side (and didn't he ultimately kind of f!+" Woz out of some of his up commence? I'm probably wrong, but it sounds like something Stevie would do). Personally, I think people like Gates and Jobs have to be f!+"in ego maniacs, but again, I could be wrong, or maybe those type of positions require D-bags like that? imo, 'closed' OSs, locked phones, etc etc hinder development, but perhaps human nature requires that we continually try to f!+" each other over and develop better and better ways to f!+"ing blow the world up. Seriously, if the angels weren't 'holding back the winds of war', it'd be game over, like, 50 plus years ago. IMFOO, geez. Sorry, getting over a bad cold so feelin' shitty :^),
I saw the (obviously unfinished) SSE this past weekend, and think that this figure isn't necessarily meant to represent a single individual (ignoring the obviously MAC-like machine on the desk). Rather, I think that it is a figure that is representative of the typical scruffy-looking "geek in a garage", that would be tinkering late into the night for months or years on end, before the "eureka" moment took place.
Noting, too, that the previous incarnation of the attraction only had famous deceased figures (Socrates is still dead, right?), I don't think Disney would necessarily make a direct and inarguable association with someone who is still alive in this attraction.
Comment on this post
Reply by EmailLogin with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?