Bob Iger "I don't think Figment is going anywhere any time soon, I promise"

[MerlinTheGoat]

A change in ride system is one I could possibly get behind. Trackless is a good starting idea. I do like the idea of using Forbidden Journey's ride system (or some kind of variant or similar type of ride system), but it would have to be toned down so there aren't any sort of thrills involved that would require a height limit and possibly restrict people who easily get motion sick or otherwise have health issues. EPCOT needs more lengthy, quality and meaty experiences that anyone can enjoy without worrying about physical problems.

But I don't like the use of video screens unless used very sparingly and conservatively, where it makes logical sense. They are not great replacement for physical sets and animatronics. So best to keep a lid on that unless it's used sparingly in transitional scenes where physical sets wouldn't have been used anyways. Overuse of video screens is a problem with too many modern attractions from either Disney or Universal.

I'm unsure how a change in ride system would affect the building itself though. Trackless I think Martin or someone else has stated would require a massive reworking of the foundation or something, I don't know whether the glass pyramids would remain intact. I'm guessing installing some sort of elevated ride system would present its own challenges. Either way, i'd be surprised if Disney approved such a budget to get that work done. They'll probably just work with what they have. Dunno whether the track itself with be changed.

 

[GLaDOS]

They are not great replacement for physical sets and animatronics.

Show me the animatronics that can pull of what happens in Spider-man, Harry Potter, Transformers, and TSMM and maybe I'll agree with you.

Maybe.

 

[Captain Chaos]

So Bob Iger said "I don't think Figment is going anywhere any time soon. I promise."

What does he promise? That Figment isn't going anywhere any time soon (but in the near future, sure he is going, for another stale Disney IP which no one will care about in 5 years).. or does he promise that he doesn't think? I think he means he promises he doesn't think... Cause if he did, Disney wouldn't have these half assed decisions being made by this pompous ...

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

Show me the animatronics that can pull of what happens in Spider-man, Harry Potter, Transformers, and TSMM and maybe I'll agree with you.

Maybe.

I neither care whether you agree with me nor did I say you can achieve the same sort of action seen in those attractions. You can cite a thousand visual things achieved by video screens that you can't in real life, in my theme park experience they will never surpass physical show elements at immersion. They are fine when used conservatively (like transitional scenes where physical elements wouldn't have been possible to fit anyways), but they are in no way a worthy replacement for physical show elements.

Even with stereoscopic 3D video projections, the level of immersion STILL just doesn't compare to having an actual physical set with actual physical robotic figures. Particularly the older ones with a ton of the figures such as POTC or World of Motion, adding even more life to the scenes. The sets and figures are actually there in reality as you move around them in physical 3D space. No video-based attraction has ever dropped me in a scene and made me feel I was there the way one with detailed and ambitious sets and animatronics has.

I enjoy a video experience while watching a movie. While the ride system is still always something exclusive to the parks, you can achieve a comparable visual experience to projections by visiting either your theater or even by watching movies in your own home (there are fantastic and even reasonably priced home theater projectors in fact that bring the theater experience to the home). Toy Story Mania was even made into a video game for consoles like Wii, Xbox 360 and such. Rides with elaborate physical sets and animatronic figures are not something so easily experienced outside of a theme park.

Suffice to say- i'm much more impressed with an actual robotic character than a video of a CGI character. You could manipulate the CGI character into doing more onscreen sure, but it's still much more impressive and satisfying having the physical model in actual 3D space.

I'm also a proponent of practical effects vs CGI effects in movies, except in extreme cases. Look no further than the original Star Wars movies vs the special editions of them (or even compared to the prequel trilogy) for an example of this.

 

[Admiral01]

I tend to disagree with the quality. Black light and bad projection screens and circa 1999 computer graphics.

That's fair. To each his own.

 

[GLaDOS]

you can achieve a comparable visual experience to projections by visiting either your theater or even by watching movies in your own home

If you really think rides like I mentioned above are similar to this, I honestly don't know what to say to you.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

If you really think rides like I mentioned above are similar to this, I honestly don't know what to say to you.

The ride system and the implementation of the tech is not what i'm comparing. It's the fact that they're using video, and that is unquestionably similar to a video seen in theaters or even at home. It's the ride system and the way they creatively implement the tech into a show scene by attempting to disguise that you're looking at a video that is so impressive, not the videos themselves.

If you took the ride system away along with the creative ways they implement it and just showed someone the videos they're using, the videos wouldn't really be impressive anymore. But animatronic elements on the other hand are still always impressive and cool even separated from their show scenes (in my opinion at least). They're an awesome technology and look really cool and unique on their own even without the show elements. It also doesn't hurt that they tend to age so much better than videos do IMO (especially videos that rely on CGI elements, but i'm also talking about video quality and such). With proper maintenance, animatronic and physical set heavy attractions made in even the 1960's like Pirates of the Caribbean still hold up amazingly well today.

Toy Story Mania though I will give a good beating. It's not just that it uses projections, it does so in a poor manner and doesn't attempt to immerse you at all. Universal at least has found a way to implement projection tech in a far better way. You can get a comparable experience to Toy Story Mania by just buying the video game version. I actively dislike this ride.

Given that Martin said in another thread that Universal was looking to create more animatronic rich experiences in their major near future projects (firstly Gringotts apparently), it sounds like they still see a lot of merit in the tech.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Bob Iger said:
He’s known and loved by some of Disney’s most ardent fans as the guy who gave the world Figment and Dreamfinder,” Bob said. “We found out just how important these two characters are to people just a few years ago when they disappeared during the renovation of theJourney Into Imagination pavilion. For a while there, anytime I spoke with fans—at Shareholder meetings or anywhere else—I could always count on someone asking where Figment went, what we had done with him, and when we were going to give him back. Well, we’re happy to have him back in the attraction—it’s now called Journey Into Imagination with FIGMENT. So I don’t think he’s going anywhere.”

I'm getting older and my memory sometimes plays tricks on me, but, when the original Imagination ended and was replaced by the Dreamfinder and Figment free ride, wasn't Eisner still in charge? Who at that point ever had even heard of Iger? And when Figment was added back in wasn't that also under the leadership of Eisner? Iger is talking like he was involved in it completely and corrected the mistake to save the day.

Also here's the deal...unless they recreated the OLD Imagination ride that were heavily dominated by both the Dreamfinder and Figment there is no need to bring DF back. Figment will be possibly used in some form but not a significant part of it. That would be my opinion. If they come up with something good enough, they can make people forget about both of them. The question is do they have the talent anymore to do something that spectacular?

 

[tare]

For now I'm just glad figment is staying!!!!

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I will say that I AM a fan of digital mapping projection technology in the manner used in situations like California's Snow White. Adding changing animated texture to what would otherwise be painted on is a fantastic use of projection tech and an excellent way to plus older attractions with the tech to make them look more alive. The way they did it to Snow White there looks really awesome. Provided this is maintained properly and doesn't break of course (I'm guessing these scenes would look absolutely awful if the projectors were to break or get turned off, unlike paint which just fades slowly or peels with time).

Even the original Imagination ride used projections to enhance certain scenes in a kind of early digital mapping tech. Particularly the starting carousel scene, the background changes dynamically as the scene goes on showing abstract shapes and colors by using projections. Also a very good use of the technology, tastefully and logically implemented, but not as the main show element (Dreamfinder and Figment on the Dreamcatcher were the main attractions there and what everyone's eyes were on). It was just a really nice "plus" to have that background.

Also I like and miss that old chariot projection on Spaceship Earth (now gone since the 2007 refurb I gather). Again logically and tastefully done to a background element (though again still as a supplement to the main attraction of the scene, which was an animatronic figure in the foreground).

I'm getting older and my memory sometimes plays tricks on me, but, when the original Imagination ended and was replaced by the Dreamfinder and Figment free ride, wasn't Eisner still in charge? Who at that point ever had even heard of Iger? And when Figment was added back in wasn't that also under the leadership of Eisner? Iger is talking like he was involved in it completely and corrected the mistake to save the day.

Yes. Both the second and third redo of Imagination were completely under Eisner's reign, the second version opened in October 1999, and third version was opened in 2002 I think. I don't know whether he had a hand in developing either one, but Iger I'm guessing had nothing to do with Imagination's two redo's.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm getting older and my memory sometimes plays tricks on me, but, when the original Imagination ended and was replaced by the Dreamfinder and Figment free ride, wasn't Eisner still in charge? Who at that point ever had even heard of Iger? And when Figment was added back in wasn't that also under the leadership of Eisner? Iger is talking like he was involved in it completely and corrected the mistake to save the day.

Good catch! Iger became President and COO in 2000, so there was some time there. Before then I doubt his role had him near the parks all that much.

 

[TarzanRocked99-]

Iger didn't take over until 2005 and Journey into Imagination "with Figment" opened in June of 2002, way too early to take credit for his return.

While I truly appreciate the recognition of the situation, I see no reason why Iger should get credit for his return.

 

[JWG]

I'm just super excited that Imagination is coming off line to do nothing but sit empty. That's a lot of private event space if you pull out the ride track and open up the 2nd level. You could do crazy different events in there.

Epcot continues to go backwards in capacity, but is evening out again by shuttering something on the Imagination side. Just put a good attraction in versus subtracting.

 

[ThemeParkJunkee]

I think EPCOT is just becoming "World of Food and Drink" showcase. So much has been done to mess with the "Futureworld" aspect that it hurts. First time I went, all of the Innoventions exhibits were there and they even had a Mars Rover exhibit. Although I may be in the minority but I actually like Mission Space.

ETA: And there was no MJ movie thingie. I won't watch anything with Micheal Jackson in it.

 

[luv]

I think EPCOT is just becoming "World of Food and Drink" showcase. So much has been done to mess with the "Futureworld" aspect that it hurts. First time I went, all of the Innoventions exhibits were there and they even had a Mars Rover exhibit. Although I may be in the minority but I actually like Mission Space.

ETA: And there was no MJ movie thingie. I won't watch anything with Micheal Jackson in it.

I like Mission Space, too.

 

[Captain Neo]

Iger didn't take over until 2005 and Journey into Imagination "with Figment" opened in June of 2002, way too early to take credit for his return.

While I truly appreciate the recognition of the situation, I see no reason why Iger should get credit for his return.

Bob Iger has been with Disney since 1996 and became president of the company in 1999/2000 so if Eisner knew about the figment fiasco he probably did too. Though both Eisner and Iger seem to think they fixed the problem by re-adding figment but that was just putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.

I can't stand that neither one even bothered to figure out what went wrong with the redo and just said "people are complaining that we took figment out and were loosing merch sales just throw him back in". No real thought process whatsoever.

 

[mahnamahna101]

The ride system and the implementation of the tech is not what i'm comparing. It's the fact that they're using video, and that is unquestionably similar to a video seen in theaters or even at home. It's the ride system and the way they creatively implement the tech into a show scene by attempting to disguise that you're looking at a video that is so impressive, not the videos themselves.

If you took the ride system away along with the creative ways they implement it and just showed someone the videos they're using, the videos wouldn't really be impressive anymore. But animatronic elements on the other hand are still always impressive and cool even separated from their show scenes (in my opinion at least). They're an awesome technology and look really cool and unique on their own even without the show elements. It also doesn't hurt that they tend to age so much better than videos do IMO (especially videos that rely on CGI elements, but i'm also talking about video quality and such). With proper maintenance, animatronic and physical set heavy attractions made in even the 1960's like Pirates of the Caribbean still hold up amazingly well today.

Toy Story Mania though I will give a good beating. It's not just that it uses projections, it does so in a poor manner and doesn't attempt to immerse you at all. Universal at least has found a way to implement projection tech in a far better way. You can get a comparable experience to Toy Story Mania by just buying the video game version. I actively dislike this ride.

Given that Martin said in another thread that Universal was looking to create more animatronic rich experiences in their major near future projects (firstly Gringotts apparently), it sounds like they still see a lot of merit in the tech.

If Gringotts has tons of AAs and all of the bells and whistles HTF and others have talked about, I just might never leave the ride seriously though, I definitely think the E-tickets Uni's building now will be more AA-based. Projections and screens are part of theme park engineering now but AAs will be around for a while since physical sets will always provide a sense of wonder you don't quite get from screens aside from FJ and Spider-Man

 

[DznyGrlSD]

They also shown The original ride during Tony Baxter's Presentation..

Did anyone else get a bit choked up while watching this??

 

[Fable McCloud]

Did anyone else get a bit choked up while watching this??

Totally. I really think that Figment and Dreamfinder were a huge part of my childhood, and I'm sad that are harder to find these days.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Did anyone else get a bit choked up while watching this??

I couldn't get over the wonderful music and feeling of real Disney magic - which Star Wars, Marvel, and Muppets can NEVER equal. I sure hope the D23 crew weren't just messing with us with that presentation. I hope something substantial with Figment and Dreamfinder is on the way...