The abject joy Bart Simpson received from kicking the crotch of a poor, overqualified drama student in a giant faux fur costume at a theme park could soon be a thing of the past, with Disney filing a patent application for a "soft body robot for physical interaction with humans" to presumably entertain strange space-children in the coming decades.

Ignoring everything Westworld taught us about robotics, along with every film set in a futuristic theme park to ever exist, Disney research scientists are exploring the manufacturing of robots that can safely interact with young people. To prevent them from killing everything in sight, the robots will have their limbs programmed by a nearby controller, who will operate "desired motions and output forces".