Imagination Institute (place)

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The Imagination Institute is a fictitious laboratory that occupies the Imagination! pavilion in the Epcot theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Institute theming tells the story of a think tank that is devoted solely to the study of the human imagination and the wild inventions it can create. The characters appear in the pavilion as well as in the attractions Journey Into Imagination with Figment and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

We don't know anything...that cannot be imagined! - Dr. Nigel Channing, President of the Imagination Institute

1 "History"
2 The Inventor of the Year Award
- 2.1 Past Recipients
3 Branches
4 Sources

[edit] "History"

The Imagination Institute was founded many years ago by Dr. Nigel Channing's grandfather. The grandfather inherited a vast sum of money from his father, who was an inventor. To pay homage to his father's, and his family's, inventive nature, he formed the Imagination Institute. The Institute is intended as a place where free-thinking individuals can stretch their imaginations to invent wild, new things.

The Institute has always been a family operation. Nigel's father, Neville, took over the running of the Institute after his grandfather retired. When Neville retired, he passed onto Nigel. Dr. Channing enjoys the inventive atmosphere, but also has a serious streak about him. After all, this is his family's legacy, and he would like the Institute to be taken seriously by the scientific community. Channing's serious opinions on the controlling of the imagination in the end would be stopped by Figment and his interference with the more serious open house tour.

[edit] The Inventor of the Year Award

To inspire the innovative scientists on his staff, Dr. Channing started a tradition of honoring one of the scientists each year as "Inventor of the Year". This award (and its subsequent grant and recognition) is reserved for the most distinguished inventors. The inventors who truly use their imaginations to their fullest potential.

The day of the ceremony is the only day that the general public is allowed into the Institute, with good reason! Those wacky inventions can sometimes run amuck, and Dr. Channing would like to keep the potential for lawsuits to a minimum. However, this policy changed when the Open House tour of the sensory labs started.

[edit] Past Recipients

Dr. Phillip Brainard - For the discovery of Flubber (played by Robin Williams in Flubber).
Prof. Wayne Szalynski - For his shrinking and enlarging machine, among other inventions (played by Rick Moranis in Honey, I Shrunk the Audience).
Dr. Nigel Channing - For moderizing the Imagination Institute (played by Eric Idle).