Fun with Mr. Future

Fun with Mr. Future is a 1982 live-action/animated short film from Walt Disney Productions directed by Darrell Van Citters.[3]

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.[4][5]

Fun with Mr. Future originally began development as an Epcot television special, whose crew included Darrell Van Citters, Mike Giamo, Joe Ranft, Mike Gabriel,[6] Tad Stones, and Brian McEntee.[2][7][8] 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).[7] After Disney shelved the Epcot special,[2] Tom Wilhite allowed them to use footage from the project and edit it into a new animated short.[7] The resulting work marked the directorial debut of animator Darrell Van Citters, who began his career at the Disney studios.[9]

Disney released the film in Los Angeles on October 27, 1982.[1] 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.[2][10] 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."[4]