Figment, the tiny purple dragon that served as the mascot to EPCOT’s Imagination Pavilion and the star of the pavilion’s marquee attraction is finally getting his own movie, from producers Point Grey and writers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, has confirmed.
If you are unfamiliar with Figment, he’s a tiny dragon who guides guests through the endless world of imagination, voiced initially by Billy Barty and later by Dave Goelz. Journey into Imagination featured Figment as the first attraction. This unique ride system combined the patented Disney Omnimover system with large show scenes that revolved with the ride vehicle. The Dream Finder was another character created. Figment was a rascal scamp who illuminated the possibilities for imagination through creative show scenes. It was created by a dedicated team that included Tony Baxter, Steve Kirk and other Imagineers. It is widely considered one of the greatest achievements of EPCOT Center (later EPCOT), and represents the promise and hope of science and discovery.
When the attraction received a disastrous overhaul in 1999, the attraction didn’t even feature Figment, who was not only a beloved, theme park-exclusive character, but a driver of millions of dollars of merchandise sales every year, the attraction was quickly redone Again. The new version opened sheepishly in 2002 and featured Figment (now voiced in Goelz) as well as Nigel Channing, head of the Imagination Institute (Eric Idle). It was almost as bad as the 1999 one. Mercifully, every iteration of the attraction featured a version of the Sherman Brothers’ wonderful “One Little Spark”The song is one of the most popular (and deeply memorable) Disney songs.
Much of what made the initial attraction so outstanding – the playful sense of whimsy and wonder, along with the advanced technological flourishes like those rotating rooms, was gone. It was replaced by a dull story that linked into a new attraction next door (Honey I Shrunk The Audience), which has since been retired. Many of these changes were due to the original sponsorship agreements which were in place at the time EPCOT opened. They required that sponsors provide an update on the attraction every ten years. Funny story: Figment’s original color was green, but he was made purple by Kodak, the original sponsor. Fuji Film’s color was green.
Although there is no movie about the purple dragon, he was featured in several educational shorts that Disney produced in the 1980s. One of them was a short in which a little girl names him. “Figgy”)And he has brief cameos in two Pixar movies: he can be spotted in both “Inside Out” and “Toy Story 4”Both at the insistence Jonas Rivera, a Pixar producer and lifelong Figment fan. A 2014 Marvel comic book series featured Figment, Dreamfinder and a steampunk adventure.
Point Grey Pictures was started by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and is now a company called Point Grey Pictures. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,”Next year. You can also see their credits. “The Boys,” “An American Pickle”And “Pam & Tommy.”They are currently working to create a “Darkwing Duck”Disney. Hernandez and Samit were the two writers. “Detective Pikachu”Created “Ultra Violet and Black Scorpion”For the Disney Channel.
Disney’s next theme-park-to-movie adaptation will come next year, with the starry new “Haunted Mansion”Film by Justin Simien. This was the first footage to be filmed at D23 Expo in January. Some of the adaptations have been done before. “The Country Bears”And the successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise.
Deadline first reported on the news.
