Figment, the purple dragon that serves as the mascot of Epcot's Imagination Pavilion at Walt Disney World in Orlando, is set to star in his very own feature film.
According to Deadline, Seth Rogen's Point Grey production company is developing a Figment movie for Disney. The duo of Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit are attached to pen the film, which will presumably be animated. Hernandez and Samit previously wrote such films as Pokémon Detective Pikachu for Warner Bros. and The Addams Family 2 for Sony.
Who Is Figment, Disney's Enduring Epcot Mascot?
Figment was created in 1983, primarily by Disney Imagineers Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk, with input from other collaborators. The character was introduced that same year in the Journey Into Imagination ride at Epcot. Journey Into Imagination ultimately closed in 1998. It was replaced in 1999 by Journey Into Your Imagination, which itself closed in 2001. Journey Into Imagination with Figment subsequently opened in 2002, and remains in operation to this day.
On that note, while Figment is decidedly one of Disney's more esoteric characters, he does have a devoted fanbase. Over the years, efforts on Disney's part to remove Journey Into Imagination or decrease the purple dragon's presence at Epcot have been met with impassioned pushback from the Figment faithful.
Interestingly enough, the planned Figment film will not be the character's first big-screen outing. Figment previously made subtle cameos in the Disney/Pixar movies Inside Out (2015) and Toy Story 4 (2019). The purple dragon also appeared in various Disney educational short films in the late 1980s. What's more, Figment even starred in not one, but two comic book limited series published by the Disney-owned Marvel Comics.
Written by Jim Zub (Thunderbolts) and penciled by Filipe Andrade (Immortal Hulk), Marvel Comics' Figment launched in June 2014 as part of the publisher's Disney Kingdoms imprint. The series ran for a total of five issues through October 2014. A sequel series, Figment 2, subsequently launched in September 2015, with Zub returning as writer and Ramon Bachs (Star Wars: Bounty Hunters) taking over as artist. Figment 2 ran for five issues through January 2016. Other comics published as part of Marvel's Disney Kingdoms line include Seekers of the Weird, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, The Haunted Mansion and Enchanted Tiki Room.
Source: Deadline