It’s no surprise that Disney has perhaps the most valuable collection of characters in history. Ariel, Elsa, Winnie the Pooh, Cinderella, Mr. Toad, Pocahontas, Sleeping Beauty… for the last century, Disney has been amassing a catalogue of the definitive versions of beloved characters from across the world. Acquisitions of Pixar, Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and Marvel have only expanded the ever-growing library of brands, many of which have been transferred to Disney Parks in spectacular attractions.
But today, we want to look at the places where Disney Parks have created their own characters, stories, and settings… some of the greatest characters in Disney’s vast collection are theme park exclusives; original characters created just for the parks. Though original characters populate E-Ticket attractions across the globe, we’re counting down the 10 best original Disney Parks characters ever made. Do you agree with our list? Are there originals that should’ve made the cut? Use the comments section to let us know…
10. Captain EO
Image: Disney
Attraction: Captain EO (Closed)
Location: Disneyland, EPCOT Center, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris
When Michael Eisner joined Disney in 1984, it was with a simple goal in mind: save Disney. Having gradually lost its industry-leading status since Walt’s death in 1966, Disney needed a revival and reimagining of its own, with Eisner’s history in the film industry being the perfect background. To reinvigorate Disney’s parks, Eisner launched a new precedent of cinematic adventures based on the stories that mattered to modern audiences… even if they weren’t Disney stories!
Image: Disney
While he’d partnered with filmmaker George Lucas primarily to work toward the Lost Legend: STAR TOURS, in the meantime they concocted plans to develop a cutting-edge attraction with the world’s biggest pop star earning top billing: Michael Jackson. The result is a one-of-a-kind project that involved Jackson as an intergalactic music man touring the galaxy with his crew of misfits, saving a dark, industrial planet ruled by a transformed Anjelica Huston.
Image: Disney
As EO aged and allegations about Jackson’s private life ramped up, the attraction was pulled from Disney Parks only to be reinstated as a tribute after the singer’s 2009 death. Though those Tribute showings as closed as well and EO has never been released for home viewing, the character nonetheless remains a vital icon of a change in Disney Parks history, true to his promise: “We are here to change the world.”
If you want to learn more, read the in-depth Lost Legends: Captain EO feature for the character’s full story, making of, and attraction video!
9. Captain “Rex” RX-24
Image: Disney / Lucasfilm
Attraction: STAR TOURS (Closed)
Location: Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris
The very next year after the opening of Captain EO, the real payoff of the Lucas / Disney partnership came to life. STAR TOURS did the unthinkable, bringing the world of Star Wars into Disney Parks and at once fulfilling Eisner’s decree that Disney Parks should be cool, action-packed, cinematic places popular for thrillseekers and teenagers. Using groundbreaking motion simulator technology and the creative wizardry of Lucasfilm and Imagineering combined, the interstellar ride was a true marvel.
Brilliantly, STAR TOURS explored the more familiar aspects of the sci-fi universe, supposing that normal people like you and I would get from planet to planet by means of coach seating on an interstellar airline, including the drudgery of a spaceport terminal, baggage check, and passing through security. But once on board the Endor Express for lightspeed service on a StarSpeeder 3000, the introduction of one character changed it all. Our perpetual pilot was RX-24 (or “Captain Rex” for short), a Droid who opened each journey with childlike excitement and an uncomfortable greeting: “Welcome aboard! This is Captain Rex from the cockpit. I know this is probably your first flight, and it’s… mine, too! Haha…” Oh man.
Image: Disney / Lucasfilm
Naturally, what followed was a wild journey through the stars with guests holding on for dear life as they smashed through frozen comets, race through a battle of X-Wings and TIE Fighters, and make a breathtaking trench run through the industrial surface of the Death Star. Yes, in this alternate reality, it’s our tiny commercial starship that causes the ultimate end of Darth Vader’s planet-destroying star base, all with the hilariously inept Rex at the wheel.
“Hey, sorry folks. I’m sure to do better next time!” He memorably cried as the ship’s shield began to cut him off from our view, “It was my first flight, and I’m still getting used to my programming!”
Between 2011 and 2017, all four installations of Star Tours were renovated to become Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, offering 4K, HD, 3-D visuals and customized simulator sequences with dozens of potential ride combintions. The attraction (technically a prequel to the original) couldn’t feature Captain Rex, instead replacing him with ultra-impressive on-board animatronic figures of C-3PO (who plays a similarly-surprised role, having been traped in the pilot seat while making routine repairs). Of course, since Rex had become quite a fan favorite in the decades that the original Star Tours ran, he remained in the attraction as a fun Easter egg…
Now, when guests pass through the Droid Customs and baggage area, Captain Rex can be spotted mid-repair (above), his audio tracks randomly misfiring as he stutters out jumbled version of some of his most famous Star Tours lines. (“Brakes… Brakes! Where are the brakes!?”)
Read the in-depth Lost Legends: STAR TOURS feature for the character’s full story, making of, and attraction video!
8. Chandu
Image: Disney
Attraction: Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage
Location: Tokyo DisneySea
Tokyo DisneySea is typically considered the greatest theme park on Earth, and costing more than $4 billion (the same year that Disney’s California Adventure opened with a pricetag of $600 million), it’s no surprise. Packed with original, one-of-a-kind wonders (like the ride some call Disney’s best ever, the Modern Marvel: Journey to the Center of the Earth), the park still featured one misstep: The Seven Voyages of Sinbad was a Pirates of the Caribbean-style dark ride through the tale of Sinbad the Sailor, brought to life via “small world”-sized Audio Animatronics. Along the cruise, guests sailed through grottos of deadly sirens, risked an attack by a towering giant, survived the gigantic Roc Bird, and (scariest of all) cruised through an island of wild monkeys threatening riders with spears and blowdarts.
Something about the ride just didn’t resonate, and Imagineers responded with a brilliant fix. The ride quickly closed and was reimagined. First, famed Disney songwriter Alan Menken (who composed most of the music for Disney’s Renaissance films) crafted a new, infectuous tune – “Compass of Your Heart” – to accompany the journey in “small world” style. Second, the ride’s treacherous trials were redesigned as heroic ones (the sirens became helpful mermaids; the giant, a friend; the Roc Bird rescued by Sinbad from pirates; the monkeys shaking maracas instead of spears). Third, Sinbad gained a new friend: Chandu.
Image: Disney
The tiger cub now appears throughout the attraction at Sinbad’s side as his tireless companion, learning that friendship is the greatest treasure of all. At the end of the day, the re-named Sinbad’s Storybook Voyage became a glowing hidden gem of DisneySea’s ride line-up, and Chandu became a de-facto icon of the park, selling massive merchandise in the park’s Arabian Coast and inspiring the steamed bun “Chandu Tail” snack – a must-have DisneySea equivalent to Disneyland’s Dole Whip.
7. The Alien
Image: Disney
Attraction: ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (Closed)
Location: Magic Kingdom
What happens when a carnivorous insectoid alien is accidentally teleported into a theater of tourists, shatters it way out of the glass tube encasing it, and begins devouring audience members? That’s a question you might not expect to be answered among the G-rated attractions at Magic Kingdom, and yet day after day for years, guests witnessed the blood-curdling horror of Alien Encounter.
When Magic Kingdom’s New Tomorrowland debuted in 1994, it was a radical reimagining of the land, intentionally doing away with any real science, innovation, or predictions of things to come. By shifting from science to science fiction, designers (and executives) believed that this Tomorrowland would never become outdated, never again requiring an expensive floor-to-ceiling renovation. And New Tomorrowland was, in many ways, brilliant! Among its sci-fi pulp serial comic setting recreating the future as envisioned by Buck Rogers, the land was an early prototype in Disney’s now-standard world-building – all of its rides, attractions, and even restaurants were all part of a “real, functioning” alien space port city, united under one overarching narrative.
Image: Disney
That’s how Martian tech corporation X-S Tech managed to rent out the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Center to showcase its new intergalactic teleportation technology to Earthlings… until something goes horribly wrong… The point is that the alien creature Imagineers designed for the attraction became a star in its own right, brought to life on pins, merchandise, and even plush figures. And like all the best horror movie monsters, it’s what you don’t see that keeps fans infatuated with the alien beast – somehow a mix of spider, grasshopper, dragonfly, and snake, but visible only through flashing lights and the clouded glass teleportation tube, with your mind (and sensational “4-D” effects) filling in the blanks.
While Disney might’ve hoped that squashing the ultra-terrifying ride and replacing it with the Declassified Disaster: Stitch’s Great Escape would remove memory of the alien from our minds, the character has now been elevated to cult status in the pantheon of Disney Parks originals – a fan-favorite, even amongst fans who never saw the attraction in person!
Read the in-depth Lost Legends: The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter feature for for the full story, making of, and attraction video!
6. Pirates
Attraction: Pirates of the Caribbean
Location: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris
The final project Walt oversaw before his death, Pirates of the Caribbean is considered by many to be the absolute pinnacle of Imagineering and the greatest living dark ride on Earth. Clocking in at an unbelievable 16 minutes, the churning river journey through a Caribbean town under siege is a masterpiece of scenic design, lighting, storytelling, and special effects, employing no less than 115 Audio Animatronics depicting pirates, wenches, wives, donkeys, dogs, cats, and pigs.
The project was largely guided by the styles of Disney Legends Claude Coats (known for his ambient, distant, characterless, scenic environments that make up the attractions first half) and Marc Davis (an animator known for his character design and perfectly-staged scenes) whose two opposing styles meld wonderfully. But of particular interest are Davis’ unforgettable pirate characters, who have been a source of celebration and controversy.
Image: Disney
From the ride’s infamous auction scene (the source of headlines even today) to the iconic glimpse of pirates behind bars (who’ve been trying in vain for over fifty years to lure over a dog with a key), the ride is chocked full of unforgettable characters who have become Disney icons in their own right.
Naturally, the pirates were spectacular enough to become one of Disney’s better ride-to-film adaptations, which then inspired executives to ret-con the movie pirates back into the ride – a subject of controversy in and of itself. But long before Captain Jack Sparrow was a star, the piratical cast of this Disney classic had made a name for themselves and become icons of Disney Parks.
5. Mara
Image: Disney
Attraction: Indiana Jones Adventure – Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Location: Disneyland
“You seek the future. I will lift the curtain of time… it is your destiny!“
“You seek the treasures of Mara… glittering gold! It is yours…”
“You have chosen wisely. This path leads to timeless youth and beauty…”
Image: Disney
Legend tells of the ancient lost god Mara who was said to grant any who come to his temple one of three gifts: eternal youth, earthly riches, or the vision of the gods… But beware: there’s more than meets the eye with this double-dealing deity. Though Mara will look into your soul and unlock one of the three Halls of Promise where you may recieve your reward, any who look into the dark and corroded eyes of the god there will forfeit their gift and be cursed to the Gates of Doom!
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye is, by most accounts, one of the most spectacular theme park attractions ever made, and a pinnacle of Imagineering. But its the compelling story of Mara that brings this off-roading adventure to life. Riders just can’t help but look into the god’s hypnotic glance, watching as his twenty-five foot tall face cracks, rusts, and decays in response.
Image: Disney
Then, they’re hurtled deeper into Mara’s domain, leading to a four-story ancient stone sculpture of the god’s visage, crumbled away to reveal a skeleton beneath – one of the most epic, oversized, and viceral dark rides on Earth showeing exactly what Disney can do.
The epic tale of Mara – told in the ride’s unprecedented queue, preshow, and dark ride itself – is perhaps the strongest and most tactile legend in Disney Parks, and the presence of the booming Mara (who, some say, was voiced by frequent Disney / Lucasfilm collaborator James Earl Jones, voice of Mufasa and Darth Vader) gives this intangible character a surprising power.
Read the in-depth Modern Marvels: Indiana Jones Adventure – Temple of the Forbidden Eye feature for the full story, making of, and attraction video!
4. Shiriki Utundu
Image: Disney
Attraction: Tower of Terror
Location: Tokyo DisneySea
Forget Hollywood, 1939. Forget the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Forget the Twilight Zone. When Imagineers were tasked with bringing Disney’s most epic thrill ride to the nautical Tokyo DisneySea, they recognized that neither the Disney-MGM Studios original nor Disney California Adventure’s Lost Legend: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror would fit in the park or in Japanese culture (where The Twilight Zone is unknown). So they went back to the drawing board.
They found their answer thanks to S.E.A.: The Society of Explorers and Adventures, a secret society storyline that unites Disney rides, attractions, and even restaurants across the globe.
Image: Disney
Relocated to New York City, 1899, this entirely original version of the attraction follows the karmic consequences that befell S.E.A. member Harrison Hightower III, a ne’er-do-well world traveler who hoardes his stolen ancient artifacts, relics, and treasures in his gaudy hotel. One of his proudest artifacts was an ancient African idol named Shiriki Utundu, a grimacing wooden idol said to be cursed. When reporters at his New Years Eve party questioned Hightower about his fear of the supposedly-cursed figure, Hightower put his cigar out on Shiriki’s head. Let’s just say his ride to the Penthouse at midnight didn’t go as planned. He was never seen again, but Shiriki was found back on his pedestal in Hightower’s office without so much as a scratch.
Image: Disney
Given that DisneySea’s American Waterfront port is set in the 1920s, the Hightower Hotel has been abandoned for two decades. Lucky for us, the New York Preservation Society is fundraising to save the now-dilapidated hotel, running tours of Hightower’s treasure vaults with the headline-grabbing name “Tower of Terror.” (Get it?) Naturally, our chance to see Shiriki Utundu in the flesh is astounding enough, but when the idol awakens and disappears before our eyes, the tour’s highlight – a trip up to Hightower’s penthouse in the revitalized cargo elevators – turns out to be quite a ride…
Shiriki Utundu is one of the most sensational original Disney Parks characters ever created, and the hotel’s gift shop offers take-home souvenirs of the wooden idol. Naturally, it’s recommended that you treat it with great care, or – if you don’t – at least take the stairs.
Read the in-depth Modern Marvels: Tower of Terror feature for the full story, making of, and attraction video!
3. The Hatbox Ghost
Attraction: Haunted Mansion
Location: Disneyland
When it comes to memorable characters, the Haunted Mansion has them in spades. That’s largely thanks to Marc Davis, one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men” animators turned Imagineer, and Walt’s personal go-to for improving Disneyland’s earliest rides with a filmmakers eye. Davis had a particular eye for character, and scenes that bear his touch can be instantly pointed out by fans of Imagineering for their perfectly-staged vignettes and impossible to forget characters… think of the Jungle Cruise’s elephant bathing pool or the trapped safari (“They always get the point in the end”), the caricatured casts of the Modern Marvels: Country Bear Jamboree and Carousel of Progress, and even the would-be wonder that was meant to be Magic Kingdom’s masterpiece, the Possibilityland: Western River Expedition.
Image: Disney
Just as he’d done for Pirates, it’s Marc’s definitive style that fueled the second half of the Haunted Mansion, with Madame Leota, the Hitchhiking Ghosts, the singing spooks of the graveyard, and the original Bride all easily identifiable as remains of Marc Davis’ style. But then there’s the one that got away – the Hatbox Ghost. A relatively simple set-up, the Hatbox Ghost was a genuinely unsettling spirit – emaciated, grimacing, and hunched over, balancing on a wobbling cane and holding out a hatbox. Brought to life as a physical effect, the Ghost’s head would disappear from his body and re-appear in the hatbox – a haunting effect that would’ve bamboozled audiences.
While the effect amazed designers in Glendale, when installed in the Mansion for Cast Member previews, the ambiant light from the surrounding scene spoiled the effect, leading to the ghost’s disappearance before he’d ever been seen by the public, and generating a viral cult obsession with the lost ghost. That made the Hatbox Ghost an invisible anchor of the attraction, appearing on merchandise for years
Image: Disney
Finally, in 2015, a cutting-edge version of the Hatbox Ghost materialized inside of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, completing the character’s 46 year journey. That said, another anonymous spectre must’ve moved on to “the other side,” because the Haunted Mansion is still home to only 999 happy haunts with room for a thousand. And most of them are iconic across generations thanks to Davis and his peers.
It’s also worth noting that Disneyland Paris’ version of the dark ride is unlike the rest. Located in the park’s Frontierland, Phantom Manor wraps the ride in an entirely original story that draws from the romance and intrigue of the Old West and tells the tale of the beautiful Melanie Ravenswood, who falls for a lowly miner working at her father’s gold mine – Big Thunder Mountain. Yes, the land-encompassing tale of Thunder Mesa is one of the more spectacular stories Disney Imagineering has ever told, and we chronicled the ride’s design and explored what’s inside in its own standalone feature, Modern Marvels: Phantom Manor.
2. Albert
Image: Disney
Attraction: Mystic Manor
Location: Hong Kong Disneyland
Speaking of Haunted Mansions, when Hong Kong Disneyland opened without one, fans instantly began to wonder if – or where – one might materialize inside the tiny park. Especially since the ride had never been built in the same land twice in its four prior installations, rumors suggested Hong Kong might one day welcome a Haunted Mansion in Adventureland – a clever idea! Clever enough, in fact, that Disney did one better, creating an entire new land centered around a new kind of Mansion.
Mystic Manor again draws from the story of S.E.A.: The Society of Explorers and Adventures but leaves the dastardly Harrison Hightower behind in favor of the much gentler Lord Henry Mystic, a world traveler who earned his treasures the good-natured way, and met a new friend along the way – the mischievious monkey Albert. Mystic eventually decided to retire to his eclectic estate deep in the jungles of Papau New Gineau, and that’s where we come in. Lord Mystic and Albert have opened their home to weary travelers to gaze at the wonders gathered there by way of his newest invention: the Mystic Magneto Electro Carriage (in truth, a trackless LPS-guided dark ride technology).
Image: Disney
Mystic’s newest find is an ancient music box whose enchanting song is said to grant life to the lifeless. Naturally, it’s emblazoned with golden, gem-encrusted primates and Albert just can’t keep his hands off. The result is a harrowing and enchanted journey through Mystic’s international collections as they come to life, with poor Albert at the center of each supernatural scene. Some Disney fans suggest that Mystic Manor is the best ride Disney’s ever made, and their reasoning becomes clearer with each subsequent room, ending in a magical finale whereby Albert’s actions literally tear the house apart around you before – at the last possible second – the music box’s melody is recaptured before your very eyes.
Image: Disney
Mystic Manor may be one of the best Imagineering projects ever and certainly shows exactly what Imagineering is capable of when untethered from box office reciepts and intellectual property. But Albert has elevated even above the ride itself, with his signature
Read the in-depth Modern Marvels: Mystic Manor feature for the full story!
1. Figment and Dreamfinder
Image: Disney
Attraction: Journey into Imagination
Location: EPCOT Center (closed)
“One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation! Right at the start of everything that’s new, one little spark lights up for you!” That’s the mantra of the enigmatic, red-bearded Dreamfinder, who pilots his blimp-like Dream Machine through the universe collecting sounds, colors, ideas, and other “sparks” of creativity and imagination.
One of his own creations is made of “two tiny wings; eyes big and yellow; horns of a steer, but a loveable fellow! From head to tail, he’s royal purple pigment, and there, voila! You’ve got a Figment!”
Image: Disney
Both Dreamfinder and Figment were developed especially for the park, its Imagination pavilion, and the headlining Journey into Imagination dark ride. Along the 11-minute epic journey through realms of Art, Literature, Performing Arts, and Science, guests came to know and love the duo – literally an embodiment of imagination itself – and both became de facto icons of Epcot (and the only characters present in an era when EPCOT Center was intentionally designed to omit Disney cartoons and characters in favor of realism and industry).
So when Journey into Imagination closed unceremoniously in 1998 and re-opened as the horrible, laughably-bad Declassified Disaster: Journey into YOUR Imagination with neither Dreamfinder nor Figment anywhere to be seen, fans rioted. The ill-fated journey through the sterile “Imagination Institute” starring Eric Idle was shuttered after only two years.
Image: Disney
When the doors re-opened in 2002, the ride was called Journey into Imagination with Figment, but make no mistake – the sad Imagination Institute story and setting remained, simply inserting Figment (or an annoying, unlikable version of him) into the ride. So while Epcot continues to sell Figment-inspired merchandise, for all intents and purposes you won’t find the real Figment anywhere in the park… a sad end to an iconic character.
Read the in-depth Lost Legends: Journey into Imagination feature for the full story of the characters, the making of the ride, and an attraction video!
