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Build Your Own Animatronic Tiki Bird at Home – Garner Holt’s New DIY Bird Kit Takes Flight!

June 26, 2025

Even if they haven’t personally experienced the attraction in Disney parks all over the world, most Disney fans know about Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room. But did you know Walt Disney originally came up with the idea for the attraction while traveling in New Orleans, where he found a small mechanical bird in a gold cage?

Mechanical Bird that inspired the tiki room — Walt’s mechanical bird from New Orleans (photo courtesy of D23)

After bringing the mechanical bird back to California, Walt challenged his Imagineers to figure out how it worked and bring the mechinical figures to life in the parks… and the singing animatronic birds of the Enchanted Tiki Room were the result of that hard effort.

Animatronic Tiki Bird, Build Your Own Animatronic Tiki Bird at Home – Garner Holt’s New DIY Bird Kit Takes Flight!

Now, thanks to Garner Holt Productions (the creators of many of our favorite theme park animatronic figures) and Garner Holt Education Through Imagination, all of us can build and bring our very own personalized mechanical bird to life, an Animatronic Songbird Mini, to be exact.

Garner Holt Animatronic Songbird Kit — Image courtesy of Garner Holt Productions

Animatronic Songbird Mini Kits

Currently, the opportunity to create an animatronic songbird from a kit is available only during special events or camps at the Garner Holt Productions studio in Redlands, California. However, a new Kickstarter campaign aims to make this experience accessible to the throngs of students (and adults) who may not be able to make one at Garner’s magical animatronics wonderland (believe me, I’ve been there!), but can turn their own desk into an animatronics studio.

Animatronic Bird Kit Example — Photo courtesy of Garner Holt Productions

During a Zoom call to launch the campaign, former Disney Imagineers Tania McKnight-Norris and Chris Crump shared their thoughts on why this type of hands-on kit is so exciting.

“I was at WED Enterprises [the precursor to Imagineering] back in the 1960s…when they were starting to develop Mr. Lincoln and some of the audio-animatronic figures,” tanya said. “That was science fiction coming to life, and so to see it coming into the hands of students now is phenomenal.”

Chris, the son of Disney Legend Rolly Crump, added that there’s something very satisfying about actually building something yourself, which many students may be missing out on.

“That journey is kind of unexplainable,” he said. “I started building little injection-molded kits when I was a youngster, but the thought of having a kit that you can actually program and make it come to life is fantastic.”

Animatronic Tiki Bird, Build Your Own Animatronic Tiki Bird at Home – Garner Holt’s New DIY Bird Kit Takes Flight! — Chris Crump at MiceChat’s NY World’s Fair Event, where his father Rolly unveiled the Tower of the Four Winds in front of “it’s a small world”

The Animatronic Songbird Mini Kit includes everything needed to build, decorate, and program the animatronic figure, including instructions for adding voice and sounds to bring the songbird to life. Video tutorials will also be available online for anyone who needs extra help.

What is Education Through Imagination?

Education Through Imagination was created in 2018 by Garner Holt Productions to put animatronics and other “mechanical pieces of magic” into the hands of students—from elementary school through college—and inspire “the next generation of dreamers and doers.”

Garner credits his middle and high school shop classes, including metal shop, wood shop, electronics, welding, and art, as the foundation for his interest in creating animatronic figures. However, many schools no longer offer these types of hands-on classes.

“Our animatronics that we build for theme parks are a combination of art and technology almost equally to create the illusion of life,” Garner Holt explained during the Kickstarter launch call. “My thought was to bring a new, modern-day shop class to schools that we branded an ‘animaker space’ so we could bring high-tech equipment into classrooms and make a shop class…where kids can build things that combine art and technology.”

For the last seven years, Education Through Imagination has provided animaker spaces to schools across the country—as well as hands-on educational programs and camps based on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math)—to introduce “the wonderful world of animatronics and theme park creation” to children of all ages who might not have known about it otherwise.

The Animatronic Songbird Mini Kit is the next step to engage even more future dreamers and doers by providing them with the materials and plans to create an animatronic figure at home.

“When students get to build an animatronic figure, they get to experience all these different career possibilities,” Garner said. “They might like coding, they might like electronics, they might like mechanical assembly, they might like painting or sculpting. So, this allows them to sample all these different things and hopefully sparks an interest in a career like it did for me.”

Animatronic Songbird Mini Kickstarter

You can contribute to the Animatronic Song Bird Mini Kickstarter campaign HERE

Animatronics Curious Explorer ($55) – As an Animatronics Curious Explorer, you’ll get access to Garner Holt’s Animatronics and Robotics Explorers Club, with behind-the-scenes peeks, exclusive updates, and members-only surprises
Early Bird Special ($319) – Our first 75 backers will receive a complete Animatronic Songbird Mini kit, plus bonus digital build tips, advanced modification suggestions, and behind-the-scenes insights into our design process. Of course, you’ll also get all digital rewards from the previous tiers, including full access to the Garner Holt’s Animatronics and Robotics Explorers Club

Animatronics Inspirational Explorer ($399) – With this tier, we’ll *DONATE* one Animatronic Songbird Mini kit to a child in need, opening the door to hands-on STEAM discovery and creative joy. You’ll also receive all digital rewards from the previous tiers, including full access to the Garner Holt’s Animatronics and Robotics Explorers Club, where you can follow our journey, get exclusive behind-the-scenes updates, and see the impact of your generosity in action
Animatronics Adventurer ($449) – You’ll receive a complete Animatronic Songbird Mini kit, plus bonus digital build tips, advanced modification suggestions, and behind-the-scenes insights into our design process. You’ll also get all digital rewards from the previous tiers, including full access to the Garner Holt’s Animatronics and Robotics Explorers Club
Animatronics Heroic Explorer ($799) – Get a Mini Songbird Kit for yourself and gift one to a learner in need. Build your own bird while giving a young maker an incredible opportunity to learn, create, and explore the magic of animatronics.

You can also make a pledge of any amount without a reward.

Upcoming Animatronic Mini Songbird Camps

If you’re interested in participating in an immersive hands-on STEAM education & career exploration experience inspired by the work of Garner Holt Productions, Inc., in-person Animatronic Songbird camps are taking place this summer:

June 25-27, 2025 (for students ages 7-12)
July 7-11, 2025 (for students ages 13-18)
August 4-8, 2025 (for adults 18+)

Details and Garner Holt Bird Camp registration are available HERE.

Now, Let’s All Sing Like The Birdies Sing

Are you ready to build an animatronic songbird? Let us know… and if you’d like MiceChat to arrange a bird camp for our readers, chirp below and we’ll get the show rolling… if there’s enough interest.