Rumor Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment

[eddie104]

See this is what kills me. They’re either completely clueless to why he’s beloved in the first place, or they’re self aware and could care less whether the attraction sucks if people continue eating up the merch. Maybe it’s a sick game for them to release tons of Figment merch under this terrible attraction & then laugh at the hordes of people who line up to buy popcorn buckets. Regardless it’s gross generalization and huge disservice towards their biggest fans, not that they care how we feel anyways. Almost like they’re threatening us with this exciting redo that keeps getting pushed out, so they mass produce merch to continually prolong a sense of false hope, & as soon as the loudest advocates lose interest, it’ll allow them to bulldoze the thing for another IP. I also worry how much the film’s success will have on Figment, and whether that is the determining factor of whether he stays or not. I know you said he’s a protected species but this company is extremely unpredictable

Hasn’t he become the de facto park mascot?

 

[dreamfinding]

Hasn’t he become the de facto park mascot?

He is the de facto mascot.

Like @Homemade Imagineering was saying above: merch is all talk. They will put out plush after plush. Shirt after shirt. Talk is cheap.

 

[MK-fan]

I mean with the way the Disney company is doing things now a days, they might make Imagination worse with an update, if that weee possible lol.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

A company with better money management than Disney could probably do a lot with only $40-$50 million if the goal was to replicate the original ride as closely as possible. Obviously attempting to rebuild the old turntable would cost far more, but replicating the rest of the ride would *probably* be possible within that budget. Presumably still solid infrastructure if the building and track are fine, and they likely don't need to spend very much demolishing the existing sets since they're already mostly empty anyway.

Another benefit for replicating the old ride is that it was never particularly AA-heavy to begin with compared to other Future World classics. DF and Figment were the only two beings in the ride, and there were only about 21 AA's of them in total from what I counted. 10 of which were on the turntable scenes for each of the five rotating sections. Without the turntable, you only need a fraction of that number. Though i'd propose replicating one or two of these intro scenes for a standing pre-show before loading the ride at least (still a preferable alternative to either a video preshow or nothing at all IMO).

You definitely don't need A1000's either. Much of DF's face is comprised of thick beard and eyebrows, and his expression is always fixed to a happy cheeful smile. Crazy complex expression isn't really necessary (man is always smiling anyway and can be set to a perpetually happy expression). And he had minimal motion below the waist. Figment also doesn't need super complex movement either. They could reuse the JIIWF AA's.

They also already have a soundtrack and dialog recorded. Just needs to be edited a bit Most of the effort and costs would be to replicate the original sets. Some setpieces may still even exist in the archives somewhere, but there's also ample reference material available regardless. I think the most complex and expensive bit of scenery in the original ride was the laser symphony, and it would cost peanuts to replicate or even upgrade today. The old film reels of the projections might exist somewhere still too. If they kept the ride as a simple replication of the original, and didn't waste money on a bunch on unnecessary expensive tech that jacks the price up, then I think it's possible to get a lot of this replicated within that budget.

The key phrase here though is "another company better at money management". You can't trust Disney to be able to do it at any reasonable cost. They always find a way to take $100-$200 million, and blow it like a bunch of gambling addicts. Even on rethemes.

 

[dreamfinding]

Presumably still solid infrastructure if the building and track are fine, and they likely don't need to spend very much demolishing the existing sets since they're already mostly empty anyway.

As much as I would love to have it, I know we can’t get back the length of track they cut when building 2.0.

Another benefit for replicating the old ride is that it Figment also doesn't need super complex movement either. They could reuse the JIIWF AA's.

Maybe do what they did with Country Bears? Keep the guts but upgrade what you can.

The key phrase here though is "another company better at money management". You can't trust Disney to be able to do it at any reasonable cost. They always find a way to take $100-$200 million, and blow it like a bunch of gambling addicts. Even on rethemes.

I really would love to see an itemized list of everything involving a retheme - electrical, water/sewage, flooring, track, show elements, etc.

 

[James Alucobond]

You definitely don't need A1000's either. Much of DF's face is comprised of thick beard and eyebrows, and his expression is always fixed to a happy cheeful smile. Crazy complex expression isn't really necessary (man is always smiling anyway and can be set to a perpetually happy expression). And he had minimal motion below the waist. Figment also doesn't need super complex movement either.

This is why I think something stylistically like Runaway Railway using the Little Golden Book aesthetic might be best. I don’t think they want to be seen as putting human AAs out there anymore that are less than A-1000s, but I could see them getting over that hump a bit better with a ride designed more like a pop-up book.

 

[EPICOT]

$40M would barely be enough to cover the Imagineers' research trips into their imagination.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

$40M would barely be enough to cover the Imagineers' research trips into their imagination.

Such a place does not exist.

 

[Homemade Imagineering]

They could reuse the JIIWF AA's.

Yep, & almost every Figment AA from the original has survived. They could always bring in the old ones from the archives, give them new skins from the original molds (if they still have them, & if not 3D scan the originals & make duplicates) and reuse their mechs. Keep the old shells & latex skin in the archives and bam, the original mechs are back in action with the JIIWF AAs tagging along. Some of the originals are with private collectors which I suppose they can’t do much about but there is quite a bit to be salvaged, IF they decide on using their budget responsibly

 

[dreamfinding]

Yep, & almost every Figment AA from the original has survived. They could always bring in the old ones from the archives, give them new skins from the original molds (if they still have them, & if not 3D scan the originals & make duplicates) and reuse their mechs.

As much as I want this to work, I feel like the AAs have been sitting for years and would be difficult to get them to operating standards. Not dunking on the whole idea, but it may be better to build new in this case.

 

[Figments Friend]

Well to be honest I feel Imagination was always a weird anomaly for Disney. It seems they never really wanted to commit too much to it.

If Figment ever got representation in a movie or show I’m sure they would be more willing to invest more.

Which is why it was hoped the Figment comic would spawn a film adaption.

Tony Baxter talked about this several times I recall, specially mentioning he was looking forward to a possible film.
He felt a succesful film would send a clear message to upper management that a refresh of the Pavillion as a whole was needed.
It would also push forward propositions for an Attraction refresh.
The Figment comic was already getting the attention of some people within the Company at the time of its run, and this was promising.
He felt this was a good sign to help get the message across.

We all know that these characters mean something to people and Disney needs to do more then just slap them on merchandise.

We know of some work happening regarding a film in the future, weather or not it captures the original spirit of the characters or is yet another stupid ‘let’s make an old property hip, yo!’ type of film has yet to be seen.

Let us hope it is something worthwhile.

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[Figments Friend]

Regarding the reuse of AAs used in the Original ‘Journey’….

All of the ones you speak of are either in private collections, the Walt Disney Archives, or in Disney’s storage facility in Kissimmee.

I can’t see the private collectors giving up their figures to be reused…. No way.
I also cannot see the Archives giving up the figure or two they have…
I can however see the possibility of the five I am aware of at the warehouse, but these consist of only one full bodied and three to four ‘seated’ figures.
Not a lot to work with.

The more realistic approach is to clone existing figures already within the current Attraction.
Body shells, ‘skins’, mechanical innards and the like could be replicated and just dressed differently.

The Original figures in private collections should remain as such, in my opinion.
And the figure in the Archive (possibly two) should remain there as well.
They had their time.
They are historical pieces, rightly so.

Rebuild for the future.



-

 

[dreamfinding]

Disney’s storage facility in Kissimmee.

What else do they have at the storage facility? Buzzy, the horizons mural, and the world of motion sea serpent?

 

[Figments Friend]

What else do they have at the storage facility? Buzzy, the horizons mural, and the world of motion sea serpent?

A lot of things….
Some ride vehicles, props, some AAs remnants….old stuff…new stuff….


No Buzzy that I know of…
No ‘Horizons’ mural that I know of…
And definately not the ‘WoM’ serpent.
He ended up being shipped to CA and used as a display piece inside Disney’s California Adventure Park years ago before their refresh.

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[dreamfinding]

And definately not the ‘WoM’ serpent.
He ended up being shipped to CA and used as a display piece inside Disney’s California Adventure Park years ago before their refresh.

But what happened to him after that? Did he get sent to archives?

Wonder where Muppets Mobile Lab is? There really has to be a better way to keep track of stuff

 

[Figments Friend]

But what happened to him after that? Did he get sent to archives?

Wonder where Muppets Mobile Lab is? There really has to be a better way to keep track of stuff

The serpent was likely destroyed as he was displayed outside with no weather protection.
The sun likely faded the paint and I’m sure the heat didn’t take kindly to his construction.

A shame really, but who knows for certain……perhaps someone salvaged him and he is still around.

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[dreamfinding]

The serpent was likely destroyed as he was displayed outside with no weather protection.
The sun likely faded the paint and I’m sure the heat didn’t take kindly to his construction.

A shame really, but who know…perhaps someone salavaged him and he is still around.

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It is a shame, especially considering how iconic he is. Makes you wonder about the Kitchen Kabert/Food Rocks AAs, Maelstrom AAs, old SSE stuff, all of the show scenes in Horizons, UoE stuff...

 

[Figments Friend]

It is a shame, especially considering how iconic he is. Makes you wonder about the Kitchen Kabert/Food Rocks AAs, Maelstrom AAs, old SSE stuff, all of the show scenes in Horizons, UoE stuff...

Some of the ‘Food Rocks’ figures were actually auctioned off many years ago.
It was surprising at the time as Disney typically does not allow items like that to be ‘let go’ and auctioned.
Perhaps they ‘allowed’ it as the figures were basically simple flat cut outs that used to move….

For ‘Horizons’, several small props, film reels, and the entire desert transport ship were salvaged among other things.
The ship was on display outside in the elements at Disneyland Paris for some years, at the Disney Studios Park if I am remembering correctly.
Might still be in existence somewhere….but likely in need of a refurb.

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[Streetway]

Mostly going off of prior Test Track numbers and being told it's lower by a substantial amount.

GM is footing most of the bill for TT.

SE doesn't need like, actual structural help. The dome itself is fine, it's just the track along with possible AA and effects being updated.

Maybe $45~ mil isn't the end of the world. The track and ride vehicles are still there and all that'd really be changing are sets and AA possibly.

All I heard is SSE>TT>JII (by a decent amount).

And hey, there's still years to go before they actually go forward with it I feel, the budget can go up more from here, especially with the animated project does well. It's not the end of the world, yet! This company is highly fluid and there's always pitches fighting each other.


At least that PLAY! Pavilion Figment design is dead and buried.

Question, has their ever been an attempt to get a sponsor for figment?

 

[mysto]

What's really needed is a poject to refresh the ride. A project with a budget and designers with love in their hearts. They could use new or old figures, the project manager makes it happen.

I guess this thread is about a rumour they might do that, but I'm not that optimistic. Yet.