It started with battery and wire. Today, Lanny Smoot brings art to life.
From countless movies you’ve seen at home to a floating head at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, you’re probably already familiar with many of Lanny Smoot’s inventions.
Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Smoot was interested in technology at a young age. “In my earliest memory, my dad brought home a battery, a bell, some wire, and he got the bell to ring, and the light lit up, and he's wiring this on a tabletop,” Smoot explained. “And I was like, what is this? I have to do this!”
With his father as his #1 supporter, Smoot was determined to become an inventor and learned everything he could about science and engineering. He went to every science fair he could find and even won a few of them. As a kid, “Star Trek” grabbed his attention: One of his biggest role models was the scientist character Lieutenant Uhura.
Smoot’s curiosity eventually led to more than 100 patents in multiple fields, from electronics to machinery to special effects. He played a critical role in the creation of video conferencing, a technology many people use every day for work or to talk to their family or friends. While working with a team at Bell Laboratories, Smoot also created a video-on-demand system. Without this invention, people would not be able to stream TV shows and movies in the way they can today.
Today, Smoot said, “we think nothing of being able to stop an image from playing, rewinding, having a large catalog of movies and things that we can see. That didn’t exist” when Smoot was growing up.
“I created, along with partners, the so-called ‘store and forward video-on-demand system,’” Smoot explained, “which meant we sent the images to homes with the ability to rewind them, fast-forward them. I was really proud of that.”
Smoot created the majority of inventions he’s received a patent for — 74 — while working at The Walt Disney Company. As a Disney Research Fellow and Imagineer, Smoot came up with the technology that causes a head to float in the Haunted Mansion at Disney World, terrifying (and delighting) customers.
His special effects work also led to the creation of the “Star Wars” lightsaber used by Disney Live Entertainment.
“We have the best, most realistic lightsaber,” he said. “Just realizing that, you know, you can be part of a Star Wars lore to some extent, I think is really cool.”
Outside of Walt Disney himself, Smoot is the only individual from The Walt Disney Company to be inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. These days, Smoot continues to jot down ideas for new inventions in a notebook he almost always keeps beside him.
His story is a powerful example of what can happen when you are able to do something you love. Smoot’s innate curiosity and desire to learn, combined with his enthusiasm, dedication, and talented colleagues, has led to success in a career that has lasted decades. It’s also proof that persistence pays off.
“Practice what you love,” Smoot said. “As soon as you latch onto something you love, do it, and do it a lot. Be brave. Be courageous.”
