Inside Out + Journey Into The Imagination With Figment

Last night, the DH and I went to go see Inside Out. I'll post a full review soon -- I don't think I expected it to resonate with me as deeply as it did, and I'm still processing it.

But. From the beginning of the movie, the one thing that struck me was how similar the concept was to Figment ride at EPCOT, Journey Into Imagination With Figment. The video below is from the "reboot" of the ride--when they added Eric Idle and played up the whole Imagination Institute aspect, but I remember the original version of the ride with Dreamfinder (which is actually now a Marvel comic).

This was one of my favorite rides when I was little: (1) it was (and kinda still is) one of the only rides at EPCOT and (2) there's this interactive "play land" at the end of the ride where kids can just go crazy.

According to Wikipedia, the original version of the ride featured Dreamfinder who

"uses his vehicle (called the Dream Mobile or Dream Catcher by some fans) to collect dreams and ideas to create all sorts of new things. Soon he creates a figment of his imagination...Both Dreamfinder and the dragon Figment imagine things to fill the "idea bag". When the idea bag is full, Dreamfinder declares that the ideas need to be emptied in the "Dreamport" which, as he says, is "never far away when you use your imagination." [...] At the end, Dreamfinder tells Figment and the audience that Imagination is the key to unlocking the hidden wonders of the world."

Then you've got the plot of Inside Out:

"A girl named Riley is born in Minnesota, and in her mind, five manifestations of her emotions—Joy, Sadness, Fear,Disgust, and Anger—come to life. The emotions live in Headquarters, Riley's conscious mind, where they influence Riley's actions and memories via a control console. Her new memories are housed in colored spheres, which are sent into storage at the end of every waking period. The most important memories, known as "core memories", are housed in a hub in Headquarters and power five "islands" that each reflect a different aspect of Riley's personality."

(c) Disney/Pixar

The similarities are, to me, quite striking. First--there's the anthropomorphism of abstract concepts -- Figment of Imagination in the ride, and the emotions Joy, Sadness, etc. in the film.

Then there's also the idea of -- literally -- traveling into Imagination. It's the premise of the ride, of course, but in the film, Joy and Sadness literally go into Riley's Imagination:

(c) Disney/Pixar

Then there's this Easter Egg:

(c) http://heckyeahfiggy.tumblr.com

A picture of Figment is in the trash heap of Imagination land. :(

I'm a bit worried for one of my childhood favorites. Perhaps an Easter Egg is just an Easter Egg -- a cute tongue-in-cheek reference to Imagination and its decline as you grow older. Just as Bing Bong isn't as important to Riley, so Figment isn't as important to EPCOT and its visitors. 

But, given Disney's recent remodeling Enterprises in other parks -- New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom, Avatar-land in Animal Kingdom, the expansion of Pixar Place in Hollywood Studios, and the Frozen ride in the Norway pavilion at EPCOT -- I don't think it's far-fetched to believe that Journey Into Imagination might be getting a makeover soon. 

What I would love to see is a merging of the two ideas -- an expansion of the ride-concept -- rather than just a complete take-over, even though I would imagine that that's the plan. I don't know how it would work logistically, in terms of the building space (they could get rid of Captain EO and take that over, I wouldn't mind), but it'd be a great way to honor the original ride and still tie in the movie. Amy Poehler would probably replace Eric Idle's Dr. Nigel Channing (one comedy genius to another) and I could imagine Joy taking guests on a tour of the mind rather than of the Imagination Institute. But, when it came time to visit the Imagination, Bing Bong and Figment could take over together. 

*sigh* A girl can dream, right? 

After all, even the control console that the Emotions use to "guide" Riley seem tailor-made to replace the consoles in the play-land after the ride:

(c) Disney/Pixar

If Figment is replaced with the Inside Out characters so soon after Frozen has infiltrated the World Showcase...well, EPCOT may soon look quite different. And I don't know if that's a good thing or not...