One Little Spark - The History of Journey Into Imagination

“One little spark, of inspiration, is at the heart, of all creation. Right at the start, of everything’s that new, one little spark, lights up for you…”

Those are the pivotal lyrics to the song “One Little Spark”, the theme song of Epcot’s most beloved attraction: Journey Into Imagination. The once whimsical dark ride invoked the power, positivity, and potential of mankind’s imagination, linking it to the themes of science and futurism that dominated Epcot during its early years. But, nowadays, that one little spark is less invocative at Walt Disney World’s second gate, particularly in the ride that once embodied the wonders of imagination. How did Journey Into Imagination, and its role in Epcot, become so stale?

Well, join us for another history lesson, as we delve into the past, the golden age of Epcot, and explore the evolution (or de-evolution) of one of Disney’s most sorely missed attractions.

Before existing as a theme park, Epcot was Walt Disney’s last dream – an independent city of the future to be built as the centrepiece of Walt Disney World, known as EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). Sadly, Walt passed away in 1966, and EPCOT was shelved and treated like an afterthought whilst the Magic Kingdom was built. The company believed they could not build a city without Walt’s guidance, abandoning the idea, going on to cover themselves in cobwebs and adopt a mantra of “what would Walt do?” as an excuse to not try new ideas.

Nevertheless, Epcot was a dream they could not let entirely go, and repurposed it as a permanent world’s fair. Epcot was split into two sections. Future World celebrated the various achievements of science and mankind’s ingenuity in their pavilions – Wonders of Life (human body), the World of Motion (transport), the iconic Spaceship Earth (communication), technology (Communicore and Innoventions), The Land (agriculture), The Living Seas (ocean life), the hugely popular Horizons (futurism and potential colonisation in space and underwater), and the aforementioned Journey Into Imagination, housed within the glass pyramids of the Imagination Pavilion.

Though the Imagination Pavilion may have looked a little out of place, despite its beautiful design, it was an essential part to the park’s themes. Without imagination, mankind’s advances would have been non-existent.

Anyway, the pavilion’s attractions did not open with the rest of the park in 1982, but followed shortly after. Journey Into Imagination took guests on a journey through the endless realm of creation and imagination. Guiding us on the journey was the Dreamfinder, a whimsical, jolly adventurer who was a mix of Willy Wonka and Santa Claus, and his charming sidekick Figment, a purple dragon made from his own mind.

The attraction was designed by Tony Baxter, the face of Disney’s second generation of Imagineers. Working as an ice cream vendor in 1965, Baxter joined Imagineering several years later, and would go on to create many of the theme parks’ most popular attractions like Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones Adventures, Splash Mountain, reimagined Fantasyland in the 1980s, and was the leader of designing Disneyland Paris. One of his creations that sadly never saw the light of day was Discovery Bay, a steampunk-esque location which was to have been built where Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will open next year in Disneyland. Elements from Discovery Bay would be incorporated around the international themes parks, including in Journey Into Imagination.

The ride’s sponsor was Kodak, who sponsored the many photography shops at the theme parks. They promised to sponsor whatever the ride would be, as long as it was “very imaginative”. This was brought to life in the Imagination Pavilion, with the Dreamfinder and Figment journeying through the imaginary realms of art, literature, the performing arts, and sciences. The ride was hugely popular, as were the ride’s characters, and the theme song “One Little Spark”, written by Richard and Robert Sherman.

For whatever reason, Disney decided to keep their vast catalogue of iconic characters OUT of Epcot. But, that is where the Dreamfinder and Figment’s popularity soared. While Chuck McCann voiced Dreamfinder in the ride, the character (with Figment) appeared as a meet and greet around Epcot, played by Ron Schneider. They were the unofficial mascots of Epcot, at least until company CEO Michael Eisner pushed Mickey and co. into the park.

The Imagination Pavilion also had the ImageWorks, used for Kodak to show off their products, and acting as a fun, interactive assortment of games to boost the imagination. The signature part of the ImageWorks was the “rainbow corridor”.

Still, Journey Into Imagination was not without technical problems, being a difficult ride to maintain and it often shut down. And, Epcot was started to look a little dated. Though pitched as a sign of the 21^st century, the actual 21^st century was approaching fast, and the technology and future promised in Horizons was not looking likely. And it still isn’t. I want my jetpack, damnit! And see man land on Mars in my lifetime!

Epcot was meant to get a major overhaul to incorporate some new thrill rides and freshen the place up a bit. This upgrade never saw the light of day, as Disneyland Paris was a financial disappointment, and Eisner decided to kneecap Imagineering in favour of cost-cutting and building pathetic, lifeless, soulless theme parks by committee. Epcot also needed sponsors to keep its pavilions up to date. It needed to redefine their theme park by whatever means necessary and to keep guests interested in visiting it.

Disney characters were brought in to draw the children and families, and thrill rides began to be introduced, at the sacrifice of beloved favourites, and Epcot’s core themes. World of Motion was replaced with Test Track, so at least the transportation theme remained. Horizons was removed in exchange for Mission Space with the removal of General Electric as a sponsor. The Universe of Energy saw the inclusion of Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye the Science Guy. The Living Seas gained a Finding Nemo refurbishment, and The Land gained a rather on the nose Lion King environmental movie. And the Wonders of Life slowly died, and now is a gutted empty husk occasionally opened to celebrate Epcot’s annual cultural festivals.

And Journey Into Imagination…

Journey Into Imagination became an attraction that was ironically unimaginative. Poor Kodak was in the can, financially struggling as, like many other companies, refused to get with the times and embrace digital photography. With a limited budget from both Kodak and the lackluster, unimaginative, pencil pushing nitwits in charge of Disney, Journey Into Imagination’s second incarnation didn’t have much to work with. In fact, they transformed it into a spin-off of a spin-off of the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Long story short, Honey had a 4D theatre film where the audience was “shrunk”, with Eric Idle guest starring as Dr. Channing of the Imagination Institute. This institute became the new basis for Journey’s plot.

Journey Into Imagination was renamed as Journey Into YOUR Imagination, opening in 1998. Because it apparently needed the guests’ imagination to fill in the empty layout of the new ride. Gone was Dreamfinder, Figment was reduced to a cameo, and the once charming nature of the ride was lost, reimagined as a patronising, insulting ride where the imagination of the guests was fickle and empty. Eric Idle appeared as Dr. Channing, running the institute, and invited guests to explore how the five senses could act as an ignition for their imaginations. The attraction’s size was literally cut in half to save on money. Even the ImageWorks was gone, replaced with the “What If Labs”, a less impressive or pricey environment of interactive games.

Needless to say, this new version of the attraction was universally despised. Even Michael Eisner hated it. Fans hated what had been done to the attraction, removing its very heart, music, and well, imagination. What was left was a cheap, unimaginative six-minute ride that insulted the guests rather than inspire them. Journey Into YOUR Imagination has fallen into the dumpster bin alongside other hated Disney attractions like Superstar Limo and Stitch’s Great Escape.

Journey Into YOUR Imagination closed down barely a year and a half after it closed to undergo another regeneration, with the intent to make it closer to the original version. However, the events of 9/11 and another budget cut left the Imagineers with limited money to spend. Journey reopened again as Journey Into Your Imagination With Figment. Yes, everyone’s favourite purple dragon had returned, as had “One Little Spark”. The ride’s story was slightly repurposed, with Dr. Channing and the Imagination Institute still remaining. Much of YOUR Imagination’s layout remained, now just retrofitted to include Figment as he hijacked Channing’s orderly tour of the labs to invoke the spontaneity of imagination. The Dreamfinder got a nod, and even the finale was improved, using all the old Figment animatronics. Heck, even Eric Idle in a Monty Python-esque role is good.

Though it could be considered an improvement from the second version of the ride, the revised Journey still remained unpopular. Sure, Figment was back, but gone was his childhood innocence and he was more of a Scrappy Doo/Dennis the Menace caricature who caused trouble, came off as being rather obnoxious, and wouldn’t shut up about imagination, despite the ride’s lack of it. There’s one gag where Figment uses a skunk’s tail to effectively fart at the guests. How wondrous.

In 2010, Kodak’s sponsorship ended, and it was feared that Journey Into Imagination would go the way of the dinosaurs…or Ellen’s Energy Adventure in this case. And Horizons. And the Wonders of Life. Left to fall apart, decay, and then be replaced with less stellar thrill rides. Still, in 2018, it is still here. For better or for worse, Journey Into Imagination is still around, regardless of its current incarnation.

Figment is still hugely popular in Epcot, appearing on tons of merchandise, even had a cameo in Inside Out, and his animatronics have been put on display in many Disney exhibitions. A Destination D23, audiences were blown away when Ron Schneider reprised his role as Dreamfinder, and took to the stage with Figment and Richard Sherman, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

So, what does the future hold for Journey Into Imagination? Epcot will be undergoing some major upgrades. The Guardians of the Galaxy are moving into the Universe of Energy (hopefully with a similar theme), whilst Ratatouille is being brought over from Disneyland Paris to the French pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase. For a long time now, Journey has been rumoured to be replaced by an Inside Out dark ride. While this doesn’t sound like a bad idea, I personally feel that such a ride would exist better within the disused Wonders of Life Pavilion. If I had my way, Journey would be restored/updated to a new ride similar to the original, with Dreamfinder and Figment back where they belong.

I can imagine that, can’t I?