John Lasseter Visits Imagination Pavilion

[Gabe1]

If only he had gotten the assignment instead of Kathy Mangum.

I'd take them as a combo, just fix the dang thing already.

 

[cupanudles]

The story I heard was that Kodak had speculated in their contract that the show would be changed after, I believe 10 years(?). Over the years, as much as we like it, the old show with the Dreamfinder and Figment had declined in popularity. The truth is, in my opinion, the only really sparkling part of the ride was the journey with Dreamfinder and Figment in the Dream Machine at the very beginning of the ride. The rest was actually kinda boring.

So they redid the ride to exclude both Dreamfinder and Figment. Shortly after it reopened (relatively) it is rumored that Eisner rode it and immediately closed it down telling them to fix it because it was awful, awful and more awful. What we have now is that "fix" which is awful, awful, but less awful then the one preceding it. But not by much!

I worked with Ron Schneider (The Dreamfinder) and he told me how he was present in a meeting with Eisner and how (Eisner) bluntly stated that he didn't like Figment and wanted him removed from the ride.

 

[bubbles1812]

?? They removed the Dreamfinder, i.e. he didn't stand the test of time. I actually like the new Imagination ride a little bit better than the older one which was a bit too psychedelic for my tastes.

Yeaaaah... getting to smell "skunk" and having all the small and stunning details from so many different "genres"..science, literature, theater, art, innovation, all the things epcot is supposed to be about destroyed, not to mention a good chunk of the ride track removed is such an improvement...

 

[Cosmic Commando]

From the online Oxford dictionary,

"If something stands the test of time, it is still popular, strong, etc. after a long time"

For example, the Beatles have stood the test of time as their songs still sell on iTunes.

The Soviet Union did not stand the test of time.

If we say Dreamfinder has not stood the test of time because he's not still in the ride, then you could say that The Beatles haven't stood the test of time, either, because they don't go on tour anymore.
Dreamfinder merch must sell because they keep making it. It's really the only way people have to show their appreciation for the character.

 

[Disneyfan_76]

From a neurological standpoint, I would argue that people are often most creative when external stimuli are not impinging upon their senses, (monopolizing brain power). .

Not that I want to get into a big divergent arguement about science, but from a neurological standpoint, external stimuli is what initiates creativity. The brain uses the frontal lobes for higher mental functions. The frontal lobes also host the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the area of the brain that plans complex cognition, personality expression, and decision-making. Research shows that creative thinkers bounce back and forth between left-brained linear reasoning and right-brained artistic thinking. Senory stimulus can give you and idea, and visa versa.


Sooooo... One little spark.. of imagination....

 

[Goofyernmost]

I worked with Ron Schneider (The Dreamfinder) and he told me how he was present in a meeting with Eisner and how (Eisner) bluntly stated that he didn't like Figment and wanted him removed from the ride.

Well, I guess Ron would know and witnessed about 100% more than I would. Whatever the reason, Journey was trashed and it isn't going to be revived, so...on with life.

 

[JEANYLASER]

thanks! I think I will miss DreamFinder and Figment!

 

[wayneway]

He really should go watch martin's video....

I remember a pic of him in his office and he had a collection of the extinct attractions dvds so I'm sure he knows the history...

 

[ellie-badge]

Figment stays. Dreamfinder will never be back. John Lasseter will not be changing anything.

I'm not trying to be rude (I'm really not!), but how can you possibly know Dreamfinder will never return to the pavilion? I'm sure people thought the same thing about Orange Bird, but look at what happened just recently.

 

[bigeternity]

No Dreamfinder, No Adventurer's Club, No Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, No Snow White's Scary Adventures,
The Plaza Swan Boats...the times keep on a-changing.

 

[Goofyernmost]

"The parks will always be in a state of change. Always adding and deleting and plusing." Walt Disney or some words pretty close to that.

 

[ParentsOf4]

"The parks will always be in a state of change. Always adding and deleting and plusing." Walt Disney or some words pretty close to that.

This is what Walt Disney said regarding Disneyland, although one can reasonably assume he would have had the same attitude towards WDW:

The park means a lot to me. It's something that will never be finished, something I can keep developing, keep 'plussing' and adding to. It's alive. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need changes. When you wrap up a picture and turn it over to Technicolor, you're through. Snow White is a dead issue with me. I just finished up a live-action picture, wrapped it up a few weeks ago. It's gone. I can't touch it. There are things in it I don't like, but I can't do anything about it. I want something live, something that would grow. The park is that. Not only can I add things, but even the trees will keep growing. The thing will get more beautiful year after year. And it will get better as I find out what the public likes. I can't do that with a picture; it's finished and unchangeable before I find out whether the public likes it or not.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Dreamfinder may not come back to the pavillion anytime soon, but wouldn't it be great if Warren Spector brought him and other classic Epcot material into a future Epic Mickey title?

Figment and the pavillion's history seems like perfect material to go through that whole "Make a story out of history" method they did for developing Oswald. After watching everything he knew slip away, first thing he decides to do when hearing of Wasteland is try embarking on some Orpheus quest.

 

[Clever Name]

I'm not trying to be rude (I'm really not!), but how can you possibly know Dreamfinder will never return to the pavilion? I'm sure people thought the same thing about Orange Bird, but look at what happened just recently.

Because the "Dreamfinder" has become too closely associated with one of the people who portrayed the character.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Because the "Dreamfinder" has become too closely associated with one of the people who portrayed the character.

Which very well might be the reason that he was made to go away. Disney does not like to be held captive. Figment was always a hand puppet or an AA. Dreamfinder had a real life human involved as the outside character and one specific one at that. However, enough time has passed that it could be passed to just regular character casting.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Because the "Dreamfinder" has become too closely associated with one of the people who portrayed the character.

Aren't most Disney characters these days associated with whatever actors played them? I don't see what Ron Schneider has to do with Disney not wanting Dreamfinder around.

 

[Clever Name]

Which very well might be the reason that he was made to go away. Disney does not like to be held captive. Figment was always a hand puppet or an AA. Dreamfinder had a real life human involved as the outside character and one specific one at that. However, enough time has passed that it could be passed to just regular character casting.

This is in fact essentially the problem. Dreamfinder was protrayed by two different actors for the EPCOT character sets. One of those actors has gone out of his way to seek publicity via a book and social media. I suppose you can blame the social media bloggers for killing the Dreamfinder. You seldom hear about the other actor even though his Dreamfinder schtick was much better IMO (he used to let Figment grab kids hats and toss them away!).

 

[FigmentJedi]

This is in fact essentially the problem. Dreamfinder was protrayed by two different actors for the EPCOT character sets. One of those actors has gone out of his way to seek publicity via a book and social media. I suppose you can blame the social media bloggers for killing the Dreamfinder. You seldom hear about the other actor even though his Dreamfinder schtick was much better IMO (he used to let Figment grab kids hats and toss them away!).

Of course, the one that wrote a book also voiced Dreamfinder in half of the ride and played him in the ImageWorks associated material

 

[cupanudles]

This is in fact essentially the problem. Dreamfinder was protrayed by two different actors for the EPCOT character sets. One of those actors has gone out of his way to seek publicity via a book and social media. I suppose you can blame the social media bloggers for killing the Dreamfinder. You seldom hear about the other actor even though his Dreamfinder schtick was much better IMO (he used to let Figment grab kids hats and toss them away!).

The removal of the first incarnation of the ride (and the Dreamfinder character with it) happened long before Ron released his book (a few months ago) or started appearing at "gatherings." I just don't see the connection there. If anything, the social media (podcasts, fan sites) is just meeting the public's demand for more information due to his the character's consistently high popularity.

 

[Clever Name]

The removal of the first incarnation of the ride (and the Dreamfinder character with it) happened long before Ron released his book (a few months ago) or started appearing at "gatherings." I just don't see the connection there. If anything, the social media (podcasts, fan sites) is just meeting the public's demand for more information due to his the character's consistently high popularity.

I wasn't talking about Dreamfinder's original removal from the attraction. I was citing the reason why you won't see Dreamfinder brought back to the attraction. Dreamfinder is history due to social media.