Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney World. Today, we are doing something a wee bit different. You see as stated, my favorite ride at EPCOT is Journey Into Imagination with Figment. And for a time, Figment was taken out of the ride because of that idiot, Eisner. Look, when it comes to Figment, I won't hold back on calling Eisner names and he was instead replaced by Dr. Nigel Channing played by Eric Idle. Okay, that was a little harsh and I may come off brash but y'know what, I actually watched all three versions of the ride to get a feel for it and someone will have to explain to me where the hatred for Journey Into Your Imagation comes from. I believe that it solely comes from the fact that Figment was removed. As previously mentioned, there was so much fan outcry that Figment was put back in. However, it came at a price as Nigel Channing stayed. Now I'll admit this is odd as I did not grow up with the original version of the ride but along with Figment, there was other character that was very crucial to the ride and over these past few years, I've grown quite fond of this character. Dreamfinder and in this article, which one could compare to a Vs., I hope to explore why in my opinion even as someone who did not grow up with the duo of Figment and Dreamfinder (which in my opinion is of the greatest Disney Duos) feel that he is the better character from Journey Into Imagination. Now do not misunderstand me, I don't hate Dr. Nigel Channing but I like Dreamfinder better. For those of you wondering how this will work, simply put, I'll be using the categories such as Personality, Interaction with Figment, & Guest Experience. The last one is a bit harder to explain but what I mean by this is what kind of experience does the character leave the guests with the better time. Now before we start, let's set up a little background on these two gentlemen.
Background
Dreamfinder
Dreamfinder simply put was created for the ride along with Figment to act as a guide on the Journey Into Imagination. He was as much part of the ride experience as Figment if not more so because while Figment is undoubtedly more popular, it is my belief that Dreamfinder was crucial to the original because he was the one teaching guests about imagation.
Dr. Nigel Channing
Dr. Channing, would you believe was actually lifted from another attraction, Honey I Shrunk The Audience! An attraction based on the Rick Moranis film. Where he hosted an Inventor of The Year Awards. It was in '99, when he was added to the second incarnation and as Disney Wiki states and is not wrong, controversial incarnation of Journey as Journey Into Your Imagination. And this is the version where people got set up because of the lack of Figment. And apparently, the ride was refitted to tie into Honey, I Shrunk The Audience! Using old characters in a new fashion really doesn't bug me but here is what does bug me about this, Dreamfinder along with Figment are two of the most iconic Disney World characters. And even going on the version with Dr. Channing and Figment, Figment still gave off a sense of whimsy and wonder. Journey is many respects is a ride that captures the wonderment of childhood and just listening to One Little Spark, I can tell this was done better with Dreamfinder. And to be fair, I did actually
Personality
Dreamfinder
Dreamfinder reminds me of Santa Claus. Let's take a look at the words that the Disney Wiki uses to sum up, Dreamfinder's personality.
Jovial, creative, "Uncle Walt" personality
Jovial, he is so happy that it is infectious, he can put a smile on your face. Creative, yeah, I can see that, he's talks about the importance of imagation. Uncle Walt, hmm would've never thought of that one but the more I look at it, it makes sense in a way. Uncle Walt was the happy caring TV persona of Walt that loved showing off stuff and educating. I was originally going to say grandfatherly to describe Dreamfinder but Uncle Walt is a more apt description.
Dr. Nigel Channing
Dr. Channing, on the other hand is stuffy, uptight and takes himself way too seriously. He is the kind of character, where if something goes wrong, he can't handle it. Okay, but that doesn't really seem to fit the ride in my opinion, Granted, it was changed to be the Imagination Institute, when he was put on the ride. So unlike Dreamfinder, where it looks as though your experiencing this stuff in a dreamlike state almost reminiscent of Oz (not surprising I'd use that comparison as Dreamfinder's main inspiration was the Wizard), here it's a tour of a lab. Not bad but... which sounds more exciting to you? A ride that almost feels like a dream or a science lab? Hmm, I don't about you but I'd go with the former.
Interaction With Figment
Dreamfinder
This is the big reason, why I wanted to look at these two characters because they interact with Figment in two completely different fashions. Starting with Dreamfinder, he treats Figment like an equal and never talks down to him. Which leads me to believe that Dreamfinder as a character does not hold ill contempt for children and this is odd to say, I know. But it goes back to the Uncle Walt thing from up above in that Walt never talked down to children because he knew that they wanted to be treated with respect and as equals and that is what Dreamfinder is doing with Figment because for all intents and purposes, Figment is a child. So, by showing Dreamfinder treating Figment like an equal ties back into my belief that Dreamfinder loves children in the same way, an Uncle Walt, a caring grandfather or Santa Claus. In that he wants to teach kids and gets them excited about learning.
Dr. Nigel Channing
Now, what dear Dr. Channing. What is his interaction with the lovable dragon like? Like a pest, an annoyance, someone he doesn't want to deal with. And that does make sense in the context of the ride but to be fair, Figment is just trying to liven things up and throughout most of the ride, he seems to be annoyed and almost hold Figment in disdain. Something that bugs me a little bit and you recall how I said Figment wasn't part of Your Imagination. That's partially true as you see Figment was just merely reduced to cameos before being shooed off by Dr. Channing. Excuse ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Figment was shooed off his own ride! You know I have to applaud that kind of stupidity because only someone as moronic as Eisner would approve that. And you know in many ways, Dr. Channing shooing Figment off the ride reflects what Eisner did to Dreamfinder and Figment, when he had them removed. Yeah, that upsets me because Figment is very much the heart of this attraction and to hear, he was treated so poorly. Well, this is how I feel....
The idea of Figment being treated this way is not only an insult to the character, it is offensive to fans of the classic fan and demeans the importance of the lovable little guy. Figment along with Dreamfinder are two of the most beloved Disney parks characters ever and to hear something like this, it makes me loathe this decision all the more. So yeah, I clearly think that Dreamfinder had the better interaction with Figment. Now there is a rumor going around that Dreamfinder may return, I don't want to get my hopes because rumors like these pop up all the time but I think the ride could benefit from having Dreamfinder return. Let me put this way, you know something is wrong, when a ride that used to be one of the star attractions only has a five minute wait time. And I'm sure some of you may thinking "Why does this matter?" A wait time, that short shows that not many people are going on the ride. Sure, you could use the FastPass as an excuse but there are are rides with that feature that have much longer wait times. People seem to overlook this ride nowadays and it is my belief that if Dreamfinder were brought back, this ride could recapture it's glory days. This in my opinion, where the hatred stems from because as stated I watched every version of this ride and for the most part, Journey Into Your Imagination wasn't bad, just a little boring but then hearing Figment got me excited but then seeing him being shooed off, made me get a little more then upset.
Guest Experience
Dreamfinder
I've made it clear that Dreamfinder is the better character and with the Guest Experience, he seems to be like the type of character that could make guest want to come back to the ride as he is very endearing and just his personality alone, I believe could draw guests in.
Dr. Nigel Channing
Now keep in mind, I'm using my guest experience and my reaction to Dr. Channing was "Where's Figment?" Yeah, that was my reaction, when I first saw this character. Now I'd built up Figment as this awesome character in my head for over two years by this point from just listening to One Little Spark. So of course, I was a little disappointed that the first thing I saw wasn't Figment. Going beyond that though, Dr. Channing is a boring character for this ride. He didn't really leave an impact on me unlike how Figment did. To be honest, I forgot about this guy until I came up with this article. and rewatched the video of the ride. Again, he's not a bad character and I see that they were trying to use the opposites angle with him and Figment but for me, it just doesn't work. So, what does that tell you? He's not a very memorable character and while I don't mind him, he is the weakest link of the ride. I hate speaking ill of my favorite EPCOT attraction but this is the truth.
In The End!
I hope my points were made clear here. This was originally going to be a Vs. but I realized that Dreamfinder would win every category. So, I instead decided to keep the Vs. format and explore why in my opinion, Dreamfinder is the better of the two human characters that have graced Journey Into Imagination. I hope that you've enjoyed this article as much as I did getting to talk about these characters. Join me tomorrow as I go over my Top 6 Biggest Issues with Voyage of The Little Mermaid
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