Rumor Figment, well, to be replaced by Figment

Blobbles

New Member
He escaped
Miachel Eisner knew what was coming with figment, and he was only trying to save us from our horrible fate. Figment is now exacting his plans for world domination. 19842 is coming, and Fig’ Brother is watching.
 

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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
So.. I wanted to comment about the latest revamp done to the “ImaginAtrium”/DVC lounge since seemingly no one else has mentioned it yet. The “Site That Shall Not Be Named” posted photos from it. And honestly, I’m not a fan of the fact nearly all the archival artwork located on the wall above the kids seating area is mostly all from the much/long-derided 02-current Honey I Shrunk IP themed version of the ride (specifically from the current “Blast from the Friends of Figment” finale & Infact ‘not’ from the beloved 83-98 original, for context, “the site that shall not be named” mistakenly stated it was concept art from the original when it isn’t. Whether this was a Disney PR rep’s mistake or their’s, I’m not sure.. but yeah..) The only one of the original is an early concept Dreamfinder as a pilot w a pipe riding a different Dreamcatching Machine. Granted, it’s always cool to see any concept/development art of the two characters (Infact, would LOVE to see an art book featuring all the art produced for the various versions).. and I love the 1 original piece of Dreamfinder, but again.. I can’t fathom why on earth they’d choose to utilize more from the version folks ‘don’t’ like when it’s the original 83-98 iteration folks love & want to see more rep of… At the very least, I would’ve expected equal amounts of art from both iterations if they truly insisted on utilizing stuff from both but yeah… ‘really’ bizarre. Also gotta say, the recent photo spots aren’t great either. Nothing themed to what people loved about the pavilion, just generic art you can pretty much find on most of the shirts sold now featuring all the World Showcase pavilions.. missed opportunity for classic ImageWorks callbacks and references, much? 🤷‍♂️

Oh well.. this ‘is’ a DVC lounge we’re talking about here, and I can’t say I’m surprised, considering this is coming from the same company that decided to remove the 83-98 loop from the pavilion restroom and replace it with the Honey I Shrunk themed loop from (again) the much-derided iteration of the ride folks ‘don’t’ like. I don’t get it…
I mean.. I can ‘somewhat’ see the point in like, thematic integrity to the attraction currently operating, but again, it’s like.. most don’t like that version, so why keep doubling down on theming specifically from that one and not the one folks ‘do’ like, where they can, for the time being? Especially when the one really successful new thing put in the pavilion, mainly the meet n greet area for Figment, is themed mainly to the original one. Weird..
 
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Gusey

Well-Known Member
So.. I wanted to comment about the latest revamp done to the “ImaginAtrium”/DVC lounge since seemingly no one else has mentioned it yet. The “Site That Shall Not Be Named” posted photos from it (also mistakenly stated it was concept art from the original when it isn’t.). And honestly, I’m not a fan of the fact nearly all the archival artwork located on the wall above the kids seating area is mostly all from the much/long-derided 02-current Honey I Shrunk IP themed version of the ride (specifically from the current “Blast from the Friends of Figment” finale & Infact ‘not’ from the beloved 83-98 original.) The only one of the original is an early concept Dreamfinder as a pilot w a pipe riding a different Dreamcatching Machine. Granted, it’s always cool to see any concept/development art of the two characters (Infact, would LOVE to see an art book featuring all the art produced for the various versions).. and I love the 1 original piece of Dreamfinder, but again.. I can’t fathom why on earth they’d choose to utilize more from the version folks ‘don’t’ like when it’s the original 83-98 iteration folks love & want to see more rep of… At the very least, I would’ve expected equal amounts of art from both iterations if they truly insisted on utilizing stuff from both but yeah… ‘really’ bizarre. Also gotta say, the recent photo spots aren’t great either. Nothing themed to what people loved about the pavilion, just generic art you can pretty much find on most of the shirts sold now featuring all the World Showcase pavilions.. missed opportunity for classic ImageWorks callbacks and references, much? 🤷‍♂️

Oh well.. this ‘is’ a DVC lounge we’re talking about here, and I can’t say I’m surprised, considering this is coming from the same company that decided to remove the 83-98 loop from the pavilion restroom and replace it with the Honey I Shrunk themed loop from (again) the much-derided iteration of the ride folks ‘don’t’ like. I don’t get it…
I mean.. I can ‘somewhat’ see the point in like, thematic integrity to the attraction currently operating, but again, it’s like.. most don’t like that version, so why keep doubling down on theming specifically from that one and not the one folks ‘do’ like, where they can, for the time being? Especially when the one really successful new thing put in the pavilion, mainly the meet n greet area for Figment, is themed mainly to the original one. Weird..
I do wonder if it is a lack of concept art from that Era? They would have likely had storyboards, but actual concept art for many projects in the 1980s is hard to come by, especially with new parks that usually had 1/2 for each attraction, compared to the 15ish we got for Tianas
 

Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
I do wonder if it is a lack of concept art from that Era? They would have likely had storyboards, but actual concept art for many projects in the 1980s is hard to come by, especially with new parks that usually had 1/2 for each attraction, compared to the 15ish we got for Tianas
I honestly don’t think so, check out the pictures I posted above. There was also lots of concept art from the original put in The Art of Disney’s Dragons book they released a good few years ago, EPCOT Legacy, Tony Baxter, RetroWDW and other Imagineers that have worked on it have lots of art & photos they’ve shown on Twitter, the back of the hardcover Marvel Figment & Figment 2 comic series releases, Give Kids the World Panels, and even D23 Expo itself… all that considered, pretty sure they have more than plenty within the Archives, it seems it was a deliberate creative choice by WDI to use mostly art from the 02-current version instead.. again, I don’t get it/know why
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
The only possible conclusion I can come up with is they probably figured, “Well, the 02 Honey I Shrunk-ified version w Figment shoehorned in ‘is’ the iteration of the ride running atm, so just use art from that for consistency reasons… but still.. what I mentioned before/above in previous posts def still applies.
(PS: let me just clarify.. I’m not against the idea of seeing more development art of the 02-current iteration from a historical perspective. It’s super fascinating & I think it’s cool to see. But what bugs me about this specific instance is this is supposedly an improved space within the pavilion that’s supposed to feature archival elements that’ll entice folks to get a DVC membership so they can go up in this lounge & check it all out for themselves, but when the opportunity presents itself to include some ‘really’ cool stuff we haven’t seen before, they go ‘majority’ with stuff from the disliked/panned iteration rather than giving equal rep to the original beloved/celebrated iteration. ‘That’ is the part that confuses me..)
 
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Jayspency

Active Member
In the Parks
No
So.. I wanted to comment about the latest revamp done to the “ImaginAtrium”/DVC lounge since seemingly no one else has mentioned it yet. The “Site That Shall Not Be Named” posted photos from it (also mistakenly stated it was concept art from the original when it isn’t.). And honestly, I’m not a fan of the fact nearly all the archival artwork located on the wall above the kids seating area is mostly all from the much/long-derided 02-current Honey I Shrunk IP themed version of the ride (specifically from the current “Blast from the Friends of Figment” finale & Infact ‘not’ from the beloved 83-98 original.) The only one of the original is an early concept Dreamfinder as a pilot w a pipe riding a different Dreamcatching Machine. Granted, it’s always cool to see any concept/development art of the two characters (Infact, would LOVE to see an art book featuring all the art produced for the various versions).. and I love the 1 original piece of Dreamfinder, but again.. I can’t fathom why on earth they’d choose to utilize more from the version folks ‘don’t’ like when it’s the original 83-98 iteration folks love & want to see more rep of… At the very least, I would’ve expected equal amounts of art from both iterations if they truly insisted on utilizing stuff from both but yeah… ‘really’ bizarre. Also gotta say, the recent photo spots aren’t great either. Nothing themed to what people loved about the pavilion, just generic art you can pretty much find on most of the shirts sold now featuring all the World Showcase pavilions.. missed opportunity for classic ImageWorks callbacks and references, much? 🤷‍♂️

Oh well.. this ‘is’ a DVC lounge we’re talking about here, and I can’t say I’m surprised, considering this is coming from the same company that decided to remove the 83-98 loop from the pavilion restroom and replace it with the Honey I Shrunk themed loop from (again) the much-derided iteration of the ride folks ‘don’t’ like. I don’t get it…
I mean.. I can ‘somewhat’ see the point in like, thematic integrity to the attraction currently operating, but again, it’s like.. most don’t like that version, so why keep doubling down on theming specifically from that one and not the one folks ‘do’ like, where they can, for the time being? Especially when the one really successful new thing put in the pavilion, mainly the meet n greet area for Figment, is themed mainly to the original one. Weird..
I can only assume its to not get people's expectations up for anything new. The only reason I think the meet n greet was themed to og JII was because that was a concrete addition, and not some artwork thrown onto a wall. Disney fans hype up anything that may hint to a redo of this ride, as seen with the reactions to the permits for this lounge refurb. With that being said dream finder has made more of a resurgence in media in recent years so Disney may be testing the waters with something. When JII plans come out of development hell I think then we will see some more nods to the original and maybe even something more substantial.
 

Jayspency

Active Member
In the Parks
No

Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
Ya know, I’m kinda curious who specifically did these drawings. Would be cool if someone found out and listed/credited each of the artists involved. I ‘do’ believe Larry Nikolai did most if not all the ones where he has the distinctly cartoony/looser look in design. (Looks very similar to the art he did for the Figment Cafe and The Imagineering Workout book and such). Guessing another artist did the ones where he looks more like the OG Perri Russ under Blaine AA sculpts, can’t fully confirm on that atm, but its just a guess
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
Ya know, I’m kinda curious who specifically did these drawings. Would be cool if someone found out and listed/credited each of the artists involved. I ‘do’ believe Larry Nikolai did most if not all the ones where he has the distinctly cartoony/looser look in design. (Looks very similar to the art he did for the Figment Cafe and The Imagineering Workout book and such). Guessing another artist did the ones where he looks more like the OG Perri Russ under Blaine AA sculpts, can’t fully confirm on that atm, but its just a guess
IMG_0831.png
Well folks, I decided to shoot Mr. Nikolai a message about this and another drawing recently found by the lost media archive of Figment watching the TV from the Upside Down House scene and he confirmed to me it indeed is one of his drawings and that it was possibly Chris Turner that did most of the other artwork displayed in the DVC Lounge. I’ve also recently shot Chris Turner a message about the pieces in the Lounge and will keep you folks updated on when/what I hear back from him. 👍🏻
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I like that it's mostly art from the 2002 version. We don't have much of that available online, and there's plenty from the original attraction out there.
I mean, I get that.. but like I mentioned above. I’m conflicted about it cause on one hand, again, super cool to see more development art.. always on board seeing any development art featuring Figment and/or Dreamfinder we haven’t seen before but at the same time, somewhat worrying they’re doubling down on theming from the current iteration in new pavilion additions or changes lately when it’s the version the majority thinks is a massive downgrade from the original. Almost as if they think it’s worth keeping the way it is, that they “already fixed it”, if ya know what I mean. Sorta like Iger implied at Tony Baxter’s Disney Legends Award 10 years or so ago.

Though granted, atleast its art from the scene that most closely resembles anything seen in the original, atleast I can say that.
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member
But that’s what makes this such a delicate situation to be fair.. like, it’s a double edged sword. On one hand, it gives Figment atleast ‘some’ sort of representation, but it’s the rep most first time riders come out of the ride thinking, “What the heck was that? Is this a joke? What’s with the really cheap/bad looking CGI? Did that character just fart in my face? This is Figment’s ride right? So why is this a dated Honey I Shrunk themed ride and what does Figment have to do with it? Why do people like this ride and character again? Didn’t Eric Idle, the guy that plays Dr. Channing in the ride call Figment an “animated little f***er on Twitter?”. It’s one of the most currently bafflingly designed & confusing rides in the park as it stands, heck it ‘barely’ even introduces really ‘who’ or ‘what’ he is and what purpose he truly serves (hence why that original opening turntable scene of Dreamfinder & Figment on the flying Dreamcatching machine was so essential and was so poor of a choice to disable when they rethemed it), it doesn’t give people enough time to get to know let alone give a good first impression of the character or the attraction’s apparent love if they don’t bother to research the original beloved iteration online and the longer it stays the way it is, the more damage it does… so that’s why I have an issue with them doubling down on theming from this version and not the original.
 
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Inspired Figment

Well-Known Member

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