Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with Pixar, the attraction consists of an improvisational, real-time conversation with Crush, the green sea turtle from the 2003 Disney•Pixar film Finding Nemo.

In addition, another Turtle Talk with Crush unit was donated to the new CHOC Bill Holmes Hospital by Walt Disney Imagineering during early 2013 to entertain the child patients and their siblings.

The animated image of Crush is a computer graphic avatar controlled by a puppet, operated by a backstage actor/puppeteer whose performance is digitized in real time.

Crush's movements and voice-activated lip synch are rendered on the fly and are projected at 60 frames per second, so that the turtle's mouth moves in synchronization with the actor's words.

Using cameras mounted in the theater, the hidden actor can see the audience with whom he is interacting, and thus can refer to the specific appearance and behavior of particular questioners, as well as their location in the theatre.