EPCOT's Figment has been hanging out on the west coast recently, visiting Disney corporate and Walt Disney Imagineering headquarters. So what is Disney planning next for this Walt Disney World icon?
Disney Parks has posted a video of Figment meeting cast members at Disney's Burbank campus, plus the EPCOT character walking into WDI's headquarters in Glendale carrying a tablet with "Figment's book of (ideas)" written on it.
"Figment recently journeyed to Walt Disney Studios to meet Cast Members and gather new sparks of imagination. We can’t wait to see what Figment dreams up next," Disney Parks said in its social media post.
I also got to meet Figment in person in California just before the "Behind the Attraction" sneak peek at WDI last month.
Clearly, this is a character that's networking and looking to make a career move. But what could it be? And is there any chance that Figment's old friend, Dreamfinder, could get involved?
Speculation welcomed!
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And the version you rode is the “improved” version of the second iteration that replaced the original.
The outpouring of love for this guy never ceases to amaze me. I met Figment in 1988 on the original JII when I was on a high school trip. It launched a lifelong love and adoration for the Walt Disney Company and gave me my very own “character” to bond with for life.
In 1997, I opened a Figment fan website called Figment’s Imagination which ran until 2016 when I gave it up, mostly because of heartbreak over how Disney was treating our dragon buddy. Through the site, we launched letter-writing campaigns to bring Figment back after the travesty of 2000’s “Journey into YOUR Imagination”. It worked…we brought him back! Now it’s time for a wee bit of an update huh?? ??
Through the website, I was contacted by an ex-Imagineer who was involved with the original installation and we spoke on the phone for about an hour. It was one of the most magical moments when I got to ask questions about the technology behind my favorite attraction. The best was that I got to actually meet 3 of the original walk-around Dreamfinders, including Ron Schneider who also voiced some of the original attraction when Dreamfinder voice Chuck McCann couldn’t finish it.
In 2004, I built my own animatronic singing Figment by using a plush I got at a yard sale for 50 cents. After installing servos and a metal frame, I used a PC to program the animations. With the push of a button, he would do his original One Little Spark tune with lights and animation and I adored it. My top two collectibles are the Figment statue holding the paintbrush on top of an artist's pallet and…are you ready for this?? The giant 5-foot plush that sat in the middle of the Kodak gift shop that everyone always said “OMG! That would be awesome!”…he’s in my bedroom! My collection of all things Figment stopped around the time I shut down the website.
This character launched a lifelong fascination for me which brought Disney and theme parks into my daily life. I love that dragon....and I always will!
Wow, Sarah, that's amazing. Here's hoping Disney revives Figment in a meaningful way.
When I think of Figment, I think of Magic Journeys, and then I have to go lie in a quiet place and reckon with my trauma from that freaky-deaky film.
Even Imagineers openly admit they've blown it trying to update this ride, going back to basics would be great.
Seth Rogen is developing a Figment movie and I am hopeful about it given that his Ninja Turtles movie was very good. Historically Disney would wait until the movie comes out to and then build a ride based on it. Though the Universal parks are opening Nintendo Worlds that are not tied into Universal Pictures and Illumination’s movie.
@thecolonel
Magic Journeys left the year I visited so I saw Captain EO in the Magic Eye Theater. Not long ago, I watched Magic Journeys on youtube....good lord! Talk about a mind trip! That may have destroyed everything I hold dear with that pavilion!
I never saw the original, but I liked Journey into Imagination. Maybe I'm just too much of a Python fan but I'll listen to Eric Idle sing as much as he wants to.
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I just got back from a 2-day stay at WDW and spent the majority of my time at Epcot. I took my 2-year old on Journey Into Imagination because I thought she might enjoy a slow moving, whimsical dark ride and also because I hadn’t been on this iteration of the ride since it was first, ahem, reimagined. All I can say is wow! What a complete dud. Truly a bottom-barrel offering from WDW. I realized that not some, but literally any, of the fond memories I had of this attraction were from its original incarnation.
Please WDI! If you are indeed planning something fresh with the Figment and (crosses fingers) Dreamfinder IP, let it begin by pruning this branch from the Epcot Timeline.