The Enchanted Tiki Room at Disney Parks is a classic attraction that features animatronic birds, including macaws, that sing and perform in a tropical-themed setting. The animated birds are synced with the music and they move their beaks, wings and tail while they sing and dance. The macaws are also colorful and vibrant, adding to the overall tropical atmosphere of the attraction. I will be updating this page with my handmade collection of replicas of birds from the Disney parks. They are static sculptures for now, but maybe someday I will upgrade it with servo motors and animate.
The idea for this line of custom made models came from Linda and her request to create Juan the barker bird macaw. He was released as limited edition of 1500 pieces 10 years ago as full scale resin figure. It can now be purchased on Ebay for around 1500 USD if somebody sells it. I was commissioned to make smaller version of this bird with real feathers and artificial fur so I had to start from scratch and fabricate all the elements.
I sculpted the whole model digitally and 3d printed the head, legs and accessories in high definition using my desktop resin 3d printer. I sanded and finished the pieces and made molds to create durable resin copies. I was planning to make few characters using the same elements like Disney Imagineers probably did when creating original Enchanted Tiki room.
I wanted to test the technique of mounting goose feathers and fur and later cutting it to 3d printed shape without loosing a lot of time on airbrushing the colors. This is how I started Rosita Cockatoo barker bird . She now stands in Adventureland Tropical Hideaway restaurant. She is all white, so I could use fur as I bought it. It worked better than expected so I completed her and it gave me confidence that I can make Juan too.
In the meantime I sculpted the head to create macaw from Pirates of Caribbean ride too because I liked how Kevin and Jody made their one of the kind piece. I had on back of my head idea of creating animatronic replica, so having this digital model and experience of finishing one complete copy is half way to make it happen. The barrel would give a lot of room to hide servos and electronics.
Here is another photo of Juan with Side Macaw 17. There is not much information I could find except the few photos and the caption from Kevin and Jody post on their profile. When I was researching the Juan, I found her and fell in love with the color scheme. I ordered bag of feathers and thought I will recreate one using my base model. What do you think? If you would want one, write me a message in comments below. I can make you custom character in any color. Using the techniques I learned at this project I later completed new character, baby Kevin from Pixar movie Up and you can read about it in my other post if you follow the link.
Recreation of the Enchanted Tiki Room Macaw: A Unique Piece of Disney History
I had the pleasure of recreating an enchanting macaw from The Adventureland Disney park’s iconic Enchanted Tiki Room. This particular variation was inspired by a rare auction piece that sold for an estimated price of $18,000-$20,000. The original bird was removed from the show during a renovation and update. Sadly, most of its animatronic hardware was repurposed for the new show, leaving the bird crudely refitted as a mere desk ornament by its supervisor.
Fortunately, the talented restoration artists Kevin and Jody stepped in to breathe new life into this beloved macaw. The original bird, measuring 18 inches from bottom feather to top, was in fine condition. It stands as an extremely rare and desirable piece of Tiki Room history, capturing the essence of Disney’s magical past.
When I was approached to create a similar treasure for a collector’s private tiki room, I used my previously sculpted model as a base. This smaller-sized version was more suitable for fitting into the smaller spaces of a private collection rather than the expansive Disney parks. The plan is to display it on a specially designed perch inspired by the show.
For the painting process, I referred to pictures from the auction house but decided to infuse the macaw’s head with more vibrant red feathers from my personal collection of treasures gathered from previous builds. The collector also requested longer tail feathers, and I absolutely loved the idea, as it enhanced the bird’s overall appearance.
If you are looking for similar bird to your collection, write me a comment below. I can customize one to fit your own interior. Below you can watch them from all sides in my short video on YouTube
