Ever get the strange suspicion that Disney is quietly building a cyborg army that will one day invade New York City with laser guns and jet packs? Would you like to? Then check out the new batch of robots that the company’s research arm is manufacturing to fill its theme parks with fun.The same Disney that brought you WALL-E is now manufacturing humanoid robots that can play catch better than your dad. With a weird scoop-like hand, the automaton can throw, catch and make jokes. It watches the ball as it flies through the air, and if it misses it, it’ll shrug, shake its head or look around confusedly. Not impressed? It can also juggle.I know what you’re thinking. What does a robot that can play catch have to do with a cyborg army takeover? Well, if you’ve been paying attention to Disney Research lately, they’re doing some pretty weird stuff. We learned just a few months ago that the Zurich branch of the research division developed a process called “physical face cloning.” As the name implies, Disney can scan a human face and reproduce its features on the head of a silicon-skinned robot. Attach those heads to bodies that can throw and catch—and probably also shoot laser guns—and suddenly everybody’s favorite cartoon company has a super weapon on its hands.Okay okay, I’m kidding* about the Disney cyborg army. Unlike the creepy androids coming out of Russia lately, Disney’s robots are actually pretty cool and fun. Both of the new robot technologies are designed to make the animatronics at Disney’s theme parks more realistic. (If you’ve visited “It’s a Small World After All,” you’ll know that this is not a huge challenge.) Because who really wants to go on vacation and interact with humans? Certainly not this mustachioed man:* – I’m not really kidding. I just don’t want the Disney goons to know that I’m onto them.