September 9, 2017

Discovery Bay Art and the Ultimate Journey into Imagination

Disney geeks like me know that Imagineering's fan hero Tony Baxter had offered up the great Discovery Bay themed area as an expansion to Disneyland- and that the suits at the time gave it the heave ho when Island at the Top of the World flopped in theaters. 

But did you know parts of it made its way to EPCOT Center and later to Disneyland Paris? As part of the proposed Disneyland expansion, a charming traveling theater show was to be part of the new land (see concept art above) hosted by Professor Marvel and his dragon. Fast forward to EPCOT Center, and we see once again how old ideas never die as the Professor became Dreamfinder and the dragon Figment as stars of Journey into Imagination

What happened is a fascinating story. And Martin Smith, creator of amazing EPCOT Center history videos has released a new video on the Future World pavilion devoted to the duo. Find Part One here. Trust me, you will love it.

(Art copyright The Walt Disney Company.)

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