| Fun with Mr. Future | |
| Director: | Darrell Van Citters |
| Studio: | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributor: | Buena Vista Distribution |
| Runtime: | 8 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Fun with Mr. Future is a 1982 live-action/animated short film from Walt Disney Productions directed by Darrell Van Citters.[2]
An audio-animatronic talking-head replica of Abraham Lincoln (voiced by Phil Proctor) hosts a tour of what the future will look like via retro-style animation.[3] [4]
Fun with Mr. Future originally began development as an Epcot television special, whose crew included Darrell Van Citters, Mike Giamo, Joe Ranft, Mike Gabriel,[5] Tad Stones, and Brian McEntee.[1] [6] [7] At the time, this team was also involved in the development stages of what would become Sport Goofy in Soccermania (1987) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).[6] After Disney shelved the Epcot special,[1] Tom Wilhite allowed them to use footage from the project and edit it into a new animated short.[6] The resulting work marked the directorial debut of animator Darrell Van Citters, who began his career at the Disney studios.[8]
Disney released the film in Los Angeles on October 27, 1982. No other public screenings took place until October 2010, when New York's Museum of Modern Art featured it in a program commemorating the publication of John Canemaker's book, Two Guys Named Joe.[1] [9] According to Tad Stones: "[Working on it] was a lot of fun but I couldn't even tell you where you find it now. It's one of those gems even Disney doesn't know it has. I went to a comic convention and was surprised to see its cels for sale".[3]