10 Things You May Not Know About Dreamfinder

1. Before There Was Dreamfinder…

Before he came up with the idea for the Dreamfinder, Tony Baxter (who oversaw the design of the Imagination Pavilion) had previously proposed the creation of two characters, the Landkeeper and Poseidon, who would serve as guides for the Land and Sea Pavilions, respectively. Although these concepts were ultimately rejected, he took the same idea to the Imagination Pavilion in the form of Dreamfinder. Baxter described him as “the keeper of all knowledge of imagination.”

2. Discovery Bay: The Land That Never Was

To come up with the character who would host the new attraction, Baxter looked to one of his early creations, Professor Marvel, from the never-built Discovery Bay project. Imagineer Steve Kirk, who worked closely with Baxter on the Pavilion, would later recall, “Tony really wanted to have this traveling wizard and magician character…being a host and kind of an embodiment of the imagination process.”

3. Early Concepts

Andy Gaskill, whose previous Disney credits include The Rescuers, developed several concept sketches for the reimagined character (shown here). Gaskill reimagined the character to appear much more jovial. But it would be legendary Imagineer X Atencio who put the final touches on Dreamfinder, making him loveable in a way that kids could relate to.

4. The Voice of Dreamfinder

For the original attraction, Dreamfinder was voiced by Chuck McCann, best known for his work on children’s television, as well as his own program, The Chuck McCann Show.

5. Out and About the Pavilion

Dreamfinder (and Figment) also appeared in the Pavilion as a meet-and-greet character, portrayed by Ron Schneider, who had previously been an understudy for Wally Boag at the Golden Horseshoe Revue in Disneyland.

6. Did You See That Door?

Unlike Figment, Dreamfinder hasn’t returned to the Imagination Pavilion as part of the attraction, apart from a cameo appearance in the form of an office door saying Dean Finder. But he did almost have his own TV show!

7. Dreamfinder on TV (Almost!)

When The Disney Channel launched in 1983, plans were announced for an original show to be called Dreamfinders. The show was based on the original Journey Into Imagination attraction and would have featured a cast of children in a real-world setting confronted with a perplexing dilemma. Dreamfinder (or, as the show called him, Old Eli) would whisk them away on a magic journey to “The Real of Imagination.” The show never aired, but a promotional video was filmed, hosted by Donny Osmond.

8. A Legendary Cameo

Disney Legend Joe Rohde also portrayed Dreamfinder! As he explained to D23, “I was doing a bunch of voiceovers for EPCOT back in the day…the producer came to me with this idea that I would do the Dreamfinder character for the Dreamfinder School of Drama, which was an interactive video green screen experience. Originally, I was going to just mouth the words and the other actor who was doing Dreamfinder was going to deliver all those lines, [but they were] just like, ‘No, no. You’re just going to say it. You’re just going to be the Dreamfinder.”

9. A Fitting Tribute

On the last day of the D23 Expo, held during Walt Disney World’s 40-year celebration, a musical tribute to the Sherman Brothers was held. The performance began with musical segments from the brothers’ animated works, continued with the parks, and finally concluded with a selection of EPCOT Center Classics. When it came time to perform One Little Spark, Ron Schneider appeared on stage as Dreamfinder, marking the first time he played the character in well over a decade.

10. Dreamfinder and Marvel

In 2014, Disney teamed up with Marvel to produce a comic book miniseries called Disney Kingdoms. The focus was to tell stories that expanded upon the lands, attractions, and characters in Walt Disney World. This included a five-part series called Figment, which focused on the origin of Figment and Dreamfinder. Another five-part series followed in 2015, this one called Figment 2.

Catch up on Summer Fun in Walt Disney World with the new Summer issue of Celebrations Disney Magazine!

Immerse yourself in the magic of Disney with features and pictorials on:
• Summer Fun at Walt Disney World
• The BoardWalk and BoardWalk Inn Resort
• Disney Parades Throughout the Years
• Percy Jackson
• Wayback Machine: The World of Motion
• Top Ten Facts About the Dreamfinder

• and Much More!!