Disney’s most underrated mascot may finally be getting a major presence for the company, and it’s about time!
For those of a certain age, Figment was one of the most magical characters in Disney history. When EPCOT Center opened in 1982, Disney wanted to distance it from the Magic Kingdom, which meant it wasn’t as common to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and other Disney characters in the park for the first couple of years.
Instead, the mascot for the park was easily Figment. He was the highlight of the classic Journey Into Imagination ride, created by the odd Dreamfinder as a Figment of the imagination. The purple dragon stood out from the beginning with his charm, wit, and childlike eagerness to learn more.
Any visitor to EPCOT in its first decade could see Figment all over the place in merchandising. Even when other Disney characters became commonplace, Figment still had a good presence.
Sadly, in 1999, Disney made the huge mistake of redoing the Imagination pavilion, taking out Figment, Dreamfinder and any sense of fun. The backlash from guests was so huge that less than a year later, the ride was remade again to return Figment, yet not quite the same.
Over 40 years after his debut, Figment remains a loved figure and now he may be getting more of a presence for fans!
Are we getting a Figment series?
During his annual shareholders investor call, Bob Iger joked that he knew going in one question people would ask was if there were plans for Figment to be used by Disney.
“This is my 24th shareholder call, my 18th as CEO. And I think the question about Figment has been asked about 15 times. I call him good old Figment. We know that he’s popular with shareholders because of the fact that they ask questions about him all the time. But we also know that he’s popular at EPCOT, where you can meet him and experience Journey Into Imagination.”
However, this year was different as Iger shared that yes, there are some plans for Figment that may expand him beyond just the parks!
“I’ll tell you why — I’ve been asked this so many times that I am going to ask our creative teams to consider making some form of series or short-form videos of Figment. Because obviously, he’s more popular than just a walk-around character in our parks and resorts.”
The big question now is, what took Disney so long to use Figment like this?
Why Figment is perfect for a Disney series
There have been some uses of Figment in a comic book series, yet Disney hasn’t touched on him as much as they could have. It’s bizarre that at the height of his fame in the 1980s, Figment didn’t have a presence outside of EPCOT.
Part of that is because back then, Disney wasn’t as obsessed with pushing characters all over the place as today. In fact, Michael Eisner and others seemed to think it was best for Figment to be exclusive to EPCOT in order to make him special and link him to the park, which does seem a good move.
Still, in the decades since, one would have expected more from Figment: An animated show, movie cameo, heck an appearance in the Kingdom Hearts video games. It may be that the sting of the terrible Imagination ride makeover still hurts Disney Imagineers and are wary of using him more.
It could be argued that Figment might be better because it is so special and exclusive to EPCOT. Still, this character seems so vibrant and full of potential that not using him doesn’t make sense.
Figment is the embodiment of imagination and that alone promises limitless story potential. It could be him and Dreamfinder exploring the minds of people and embarking on new dreams. Maybe Figment befriends a young child in an animated-live action hybrid show for adventures.
There’s even the potential for an edutainment series of Figment relating lessons for younger viewers, like Bluey. The short tales can show his humor, while a longer show can be more adventurous.
These are only early ideas yet the possibility this beloved character finally gets his due in the mainstream media is wonderful and we can imagine there’s more fun with Figment coming.