One of the most popular characters to be introduced at a Disney theme park is Figment, who is a purple little dragon who can be found on the Journey into Imagination attraction in the Imagination! Pavilion at the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World.

Originally, Figment was one of the few characters to be found at the Epcot theme park, before more established and well-known characters from franchises like “Winnie The Pooh”, “Frozen” and “Guardians Of The Galaxy” were introduced.

Over the years, many fans have wanted to see Figment jump from the theme parks to our screens, but that’s never happened, bar some Easter egg cameos in Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” and “Inside Out.”

During the Disney shareholder meeting, a shareholder asked Disney CEO Bob Iger if he would consider using the character in other parts of the business, to which he replied:

“This is my 24th year. 18th as CEO, and I think the question about Figment has been asked about 15 times.  We know that he’s popular with shareholders, 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 journey into imagination. 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.”

While Bob does indicate that Disney could make a series or shorts about Figment in the future, his comments also could hint that another project featuring Figment is no longer in development.

Back in 2022, it was revealed that Disney was developing a live-action film featuring Figment, with Seth Rogen producing under his Point Grey Pictures banner.  The script for the movie was being worked on by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, who had previously worked on “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” and the animated series, “Koala Man”.

It’s been over two years since that initial report of a movie came out.  Back in 2023, Disney teased on a social media video of Figment running around the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California and visiting the Imagineering building. 

Bob’s comments don’t seem like a good sign about that project, especially as many projects that were in development during Bob Chapek’s short tenure as CEO were cancelled or put on hold following Bob Iger’s return in late 2022, as part of Iger’s “Quality over Quantity” approach, which he referenced during the Annual Shareholder meeting.

The fact that Iger has been asked over a dozen times about Figment during these Annual Shareholder meetings highlights that shareholders are interested, but it also indicates that, in reality, they haven’t got anything planned for the loveable character.

Figment is one of the most popular characters at Walt Disney World because it’s one of the rare characters created specifically for the theme park, and Disney has generally only been creating new attractions based on established franchises for decades.  When Disney recently made a meet-and-greet version of the character available, it quickly attracted huge queues from eager fans wanting to have their photo taken with the character.

Roger’s Take:  I’ve been a fan of Figment since my first trip to Walt Disney World in the 1980s, and I always go on the ride whenever I am lucky enough to visit Epcot, so I totally get the appeal of the character.  Disney even released a comic book a few years ago, which would make a perfect story for a short series or special on the character.  But the problem with Figment is while he is popular with theme park fans, he’s not a known mainstream character, and there’s been a reason why we’ve never seen the character jump to our screens since his introduction.   However, I do think a series of animated shorts could be a great way of doing something cheap while also keeping die-hard Disney fans happy.

Would you like to see a Figment short on Disney+?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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