Pizza Moon
Well-Known Member
Is it just me or does Imagination look like the Louvre?
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EPCOT Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment
- Thread starter Walrus from Paris
- Start date
FigmentsBrightIdeas
Well-Known Member
one of the core inspirations behind the building’s design actually. Good eye
FigmentsBrightIdeas
Well-Known Member
To put this another way. Imagine if they’d screwed up the Haunted Mansion by retheming it to a High School Musical attraction calling it >Scary< Haunted Mansion. With little to no ghosts or anything to do with an actual haunted mansion, just silly “spooky” themed pranks between the cast in a bunch of classrooms. (Pumpkin colored silly spray, singing the Monster Mash, Dressing as black cats and meowing, etc. It, understandably, gets panned to smithereens. But a couple years later, to fix it, they retitle it ‘Haunted Mansion With Ghosts”. And just shoehorn the Hitchiking ghosts into it, now mischaracterized as rapping party goers that sing “Grim Grinning Ghosts” in that style, still looking the same overall but in badly rendered CG animation, and make a bunch of crazy stuff happen that make no sense to how they were designed or what the original ride was.
But then the solution, it seems, despite its large fanbase, huge merch sales, and status for being a classic in its original form, for whatever reason, to Disney or someone trying to save a buck at the expense of the whole experience & despite a 20+ year backlog of complaints from fans and it’s creators for doing what they did. Says, “Just slap Hatbox Ghost & Madame Leota in, all fixed” into the same lousy rethemed show scenes, not fixed, not understanding or taking into consideration why they were utilized the way they are or ‘what’ folks were complaining about to begin with. Folks hated the entire unneccesary retheme & changing the core concept of the ride. It’s not just missing characters
That’s Journey Into Imagination’s history so far. I swear.
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Pizza Moon
Well-Known Member
Just thought about it for the first time.
Genuinely EPCOT Center was sort of like Dubai or Singapore where you just have god-tier modern architecture in the 80s.
GenChi
Well-Known Member
I think for a largely unannounced 2 minute short it did pretty well! Was #2 for d+ shows even a week after debuting. Only good things can come out of it doing well outside its small parks bubble.
Might be for a animated show by them. Last word was the film apparently got shifted to a show. We will see if anything happens (knowing him probably not lol), but I think it is needed if you are ever want to sell him outside the Florida parks.
Might be for a animated show by them. Last word was the film apparently got shifted to a show. We will see if anything happens (knowing him probably not lol), but I think it is needed if you are ever want to sell him outside the Florida parks.
FigmentsBrightIdeas
Well-Known Member
I sincerely hope that future show or whatever project is ‘not’ mixed up like this thing was. Pretending things are what they’re not instead of collecting sparks of inspiration to recombine to create new things. Let alone a Figment of Imagination just being drawn w his elements out of nowhere, rather than thought up and combined organically to create him as it once was.. thinking him up was natural/ a core part of/an example of the creative process intially. And now they say it’s something else (pretending something is what it isn’t (literally, go watch it. My jaw dropped upon witnessing this). What ludicrous mistakes. And while that’s how the very blatantly unpopular Honey I Shrunk themed 02-current version of the ride that makes no sense in comparison, has gone somewhat, That’s not how the ‘popular/beloved’ classic ride nor song originally went. I’m absolutely baffled anyone (especially the ones in charge) is letting them get away with this with a blind eye. More people need to speak up and say that it isn’t correct/needs to be corrected.
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HMF
Well-Known Member
I would need to see statistics to back this up but I have a hunch that more people are watching this short than even remember the Honey I Shrunk series.
FigmentsBrightIdeas
Well-Known Member
Woah.. What?? How do you suddenly not understand what we’ve been discussing for a good few years now, Figment wasn’t part of any Honey, I Shrunk tv or movie series.
They quite literally, just slapped Figment from the original Journey Into Imagination ride into the reimagined ‘99-01 “Journey Into ^Your^ (added into the name for the redo) Imagination ride” that was Honey I Shrunk themed (that had little to no Figment & no Dreamfinder at all, which had Dr. Channing from Honey I Shrunk the Audience as its host, and didn’t make any sense anymore compared to its original 83-98 incarnation that ‘wasn’t’ Honey I Shrunk themed. (The 99-01 redo didn’t explain the creative process correctly, when the original 83-98 ride did) and was hated for that reason along with the fact all the other elements of the original ride were removed. Then they went and doubled down on the Honey I Shrunk theming in 02 while simply extending Figment’s role in it, in a way that made no sense, calling it “Journey Into Imagination ‘with Figment’, as a “fix”.
It’s the craziest thing in the world, yet the folks behind this new short, literally got the creative process, very clearly explained in the original ride, wrong in the new short, in a very similar manner as the 02-current ride. That’s what’s baffling. It seems they used the mixed-up 02-current ride as the core model to go off, clearly, when it should be the original 83-98 ride (and the new Golden Book they released in 2024, based on said original popular ride).
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HMF
Well-Known Member
I know that which is why I would argue that the third version is likely objectively worse than the second version, Not that the second version was good (especially considering what it had replaced) but at least it was trying to be its own thing whereas the current version is two disparate ideas with two different tones that really have nothing to do with each other being forced together in a half-assed way and it shows. I obviously understand the history there.
FigmentsBrightIdeas
Well-Known Member
Right, which is why I’m baffled & annoyed they’ve gotten the creative process wrong yet again in this new short (pretending things are what they’re not). And we know that mixed up 02-current ride also features Figment pretending things are what they’re not rather than collecting sparks of inspiration to recombine to create new things alongside the Dreamfinder. Even the new 2024 Golden Book gets the original popular concept perfectly right. Yet this new short didn’t. Its crazy. Why get it wrong when it’s literally right there, in a ‘new’ book. (And again, easily searchable online, and that’s not even getting into internal company archival materials to reference)
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HMF
Well-Known Member
Again, unlike most of what has happened and potentially could still happen at EPCOT, I do have a feeling that the Imagination situation might actually be addressed in a positive way in the near future though admittedly I have been cautiously optimistic and subsequently disappointed several times before by now.
The Leader of the Club
Well-Known Member
As per usual, someone asked about Figment on the shareholder call. D’Amaro responded that they have nothing to announce at this time, but are always looking for new ways for fans to engage with Figment and other beloved characters.
Haymarket2008
Well-Known Member
Sigh.
AidenRodriguez731
Well-Known Member
I mean no one would expect him to announce stuff when all the pressure is on D23 this year
The Leader of the Club
Well-Known Member
A new Figment ride was never gonna be announced on an investor call. Wait until August to be disappointed
Why wait? Just be disappointed for the past 20+ years, like everyone else.
aladdin2007
Well-Known Member
If they end up saving this to be completed by 2032 for Epcots 50th, I would not expect an announcement till 2030? Why are we thinking this year? I don't for see any changes materializing before Epcot's 50th, unless D'Amaro has a mission to get something done, (its not just D'Amaro, you have Vahle who is probably the one saying no all the time) this and other things need attention for sure as Epcot still has its problems. I want a new figment to happen too like yesterday.
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Captain Neo
Well-Known Member
I remember the 2006 insider leak that the imagination pavilion was “about to” receive a major overhaul with figment and dreamfinder. That was Bob Igers first year as CEO.
Yea…….
Yea…….
A major renovation was just completed at EPCOT. Currently there are major projects going on at MK, Hollywood Studios, and AK. Do not anticipate any new Figment announcement until at least 2 of the above mentioned projects are completed, so it is going to be some time--if at all.
James Alucobond
Well-Known Member
EPCOT's 50th is 2032. D23 2028 is probably when the majority of announcements for it would come as a result (unless they really scale back the time horizons for their announcements), but I could still see a refurb or something announced at this D23 to better stagger closures. They'll probably not want to take down Spaceship Earth and Imagination at the same time.