Journey Into Imagination With Figment is Chocked Full of Disney Lore
Ever since the original Journey Into Imagination attraction closed in 1998, fans have longed for a return of the classic attraction. While Disney acquiesced to fan demand and returned Figment to the attraction in 2001, the current Journey Into Imagination with Figment attraction is still much maligned by fans.
While I am not going to argue that the current attraction holds a candle to its predecessor, Journey Into Imagination with Figment does have a set of Disney lore behind it that makes it interesting.
Photo: Disney
The Imagination Institute
The attraction is set in the fictional Imagination Institute which was founded in the 1880s-1890s and was established as a place for top scientists, futurists, inventors, artists, and other forward-looking individuals to experiment, surmise, innovate, and create.
Photo: Disney
The Imagination Institute is perhaps best known for its annual Inventor of the Year Award. This ceremony was first introduced in the Honey, I Shrunk the Audience attraction, but references to the award can be found throughout the Institute.
Inventors of the Year
When walking through the Journey Into Imagination with Figment guests pass by past winners of the Imagination Institute’s Inventor of the Year Award winners. These include Professor Wayne Szalinski for the Shrinking Gun, Nigel Channing for Figment and Professor Phillip Brenard for Flubber.
Photo: Yeserland
Other past winners of the award have included: Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, and Walt Disney!
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience Video Camera
The queue also features Wayne Szalinski’s video camera helmet from Honey, I Shrunk the Audience. Wayne Szlinski famously one the Imagination Institute’s Inventor of the Year Award!
Photo: Disney
An Open House
Aboard Journey Into Imagination with Figment, guests are invited by the Imagination Institute’s current chairman Dr. Nigel Channing, to tour the Institute. Along the way, they see the Sight, Smell, and Sound Labs, before passing by the Taste and Touch labs.
The Imagiantion Institute’s lobby
After exiting the attraction, guests are invited to explore the Imagination Institute’s laboratory’s in the ImageWorks What-If Labs.
Tech Demonstrations
While it may seem strange that characters from Disney’s Wreck-it Ralph appear inside the Imagination Institute, there is a reason they appear.
Photo: Themickeywiki.com
The Imagination Institute seems to be having one of their tech demonstrations, showcasing the “Enter-Net Device”. This high tech equipment allows guest to meet their favorite Wreck it Ralph characters!
Medfield College
One of the most interesting facets of the Imagination Institute, is its connection to Medfield College.
For those of you who don’t know, Medfield College originally appeared as the setting in The Absent-Minded Professor and its sequel Son of Flubber, where Professor Brainard is a professor at the school.
Photo: Disney wiki
Disney revisited the school again for its trilogy of scene-fiction movies starring Kurt Russel as Dexter Riley. In The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t and The Strongest Man in the World.
Photo: D23
Finally, the college was used as the setting for The Dog and Shaggy D.A.. It was also reused 1997 remake of the Absent Minded Professor, which was re-titled Flubber.
Weebo
Further in the attraction queue, guests pass by Weebo, who made her debut in 1997’s Flubber. She is Professor Brainard’s robotic assistant.
Photo: Steps to the Magic
Dean Higgins
One of the doors that guests pass by in the Imagination Institute says Dean Higgins. This is a reference to the Dean of Medfield College in the Dexter Riley movies.
Dean Higgins was often the victim of the young students misadventures.
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
On the way to the Sound Lab, guests pass by a computer room. Here a sign reads “No Tennis Shoes Allowed” a not to The Computer Wore Dennis Shoes.
Just outside the computer lab, a pair of high top sneakers sits, and nearby a Medfield college Letterman jacket can be seen on the coat rack!
Medfield Characters
If you look closely at the wall of the computer lab, you can see the ID plates by the front door reference many of the Medfield College films.
Professor Quigley (William Schallert in the Computer Wore Tennis Shoes), Dexter Riley (Kurt Russel in the same film) and Wilby Daniels and Merlin Jones (both Medfield students played by Tommy Kirk in the The Shaggy Dog and the Misadventures of Merlin Jones respectively) are all listed!
So, there you have it! While I probably haven’t convinced you that Journey Into Imagination with Figment is a great attraction, I hope you can appreciate these fun details next time you visit EPCOT!
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