Perennial favorite EPCOT attraction Journey into Imagination has been brought to life in a whole new medium: comics. Like the Seekers of the Weird comic based on the never-built add-on to the Haunted Mansion, Figment is a five-issue comic book series from the Disney Kingdoms imprint at Marvel. Two issues have been released and so far Figment has been a wonderful ride that explores the origin of adventurous inventor Dreamfinder and everyone’s favorite little purple dragon.
I spoke with Jim Zub, the writer of the Figment comic, for Theme Park Tourist about his background with Disney, the journey that led him to pen the story of two of the Disney parks’ most iconic characters, and a lot more.
1. The beginning
Image © Disney.
Jim Zub was selected to author Figment’s first foray into comics by Marvel editor Bill Rosemann, also editor of Seekers of the Weird, who was a fan of Zub’s previous comic book series Skullkickers. Jim said that he pitched Rosemann some ideas and soon they and the Imagineers involved with the project got rolling to make the Figment comic a reality.
2. The formative years
Image: Disney
As he was growing up Jim Zub was very influenced by Disney movies, saying that the Mouse played a big role getting him interested in a career in animation. He was even involved with some concept art and illustrations at UDON Studio which were commissioned by Disney. Figment was his first work for Disney as a writer, the career for which he is best known in comics.
Jim visited the Disney parks with his family on a road trip when he was twelve, and remembered being drawn especially to EPCOT because of its dragon mascot. He even said that he was pretty sure that he still has a few Figment figurines stashed somewhere at his parents’ house from the trip he took over 25 years ago.
3. The author’s homework
When I asked Zub if he was familiar with the history of the Disney park he told me:
“I knew about it in general but wasn’t aware of the full legacy of the park and Journey Into Imagination until I started digging in on research for this story. When I’m not freelance writing I teach various animation-related courses at Seneca College here in Toronto and one of the classes I teach is Animation History, so I have a pretty deep well of Disney knowledge, though it’s not park-specific.”
It’s clear from the Figment comic book that Jim did a lot of research into both Journey into Imagination and the Disney parks so that he could write it to the best of his abilities. A very important element of Journey into Imaginationis the multiple revisions it has undergone since its inception, each altering the story behind the ride to make it engaging to a new audience. I was glad to learn that Jim was very familiar with the changes, and that his priority was on the first version of the attraction. He said:
“As part of the research for the story I became familiar with all the different versions, even though my focus was on the original. The Academy Scientifica-Lucidus I introduced in issue #1 isn’t the Imagination Institute from the current version of the attraction, but I liked the academic backdrop so we were able to use a bit of that even though it’s not the same.”
4. The responsibility
Image © Disney/Marvel.
Jim Zub recognized the significance of telling the first story about Dreamfinder and Figment outside of a Disney park. When I asked him if it was daunting he replied:
“It was, but I really enjoyed the challenge. The more research I did, the more I realized how much the attraction and characters meant to generations of Disney fans. That was intimidating, but it also meant that if we did a good job there would be an audience already excited to read the final result. The Disney Imagineering team was very supportive and offered a lot of great feedback during development.”
5. The inspirations for the Figment Comic
A great comic adaption of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Image © Marvel/Disney.
When I asked Jim about where he looked for inspiration for the Figment comic book he explained:
“Beyond the attraction itself I tried to channel that buoyant feeling you find in whimsical fantasy adventure stories like The Wizard of Oz, Alice In Wonderland, or Mary Poppins. I didn’t want to make it “childish” by any means, but there’s a joyous quality in those stories that works for all ages.”
6. Developing the story
Image © Disney/Marvel.
I asked Jim Zub to describe the story he’s telling in his own words. His response:
“The comic tells the story of the man who will become Dreamfinder and his first adventure with his whimsical dragon companion named Figment. It’s a bombastic adventure tale about inspiration and exploration told with a bit of steampunk flare.”
Jim said that he was particularly proud of creating the first villains for Dreamfinder and Figment:
“The original attraction doesn’t really have any character progression or antagonists, so that’s where we did the most story building. Coming up with the enemies of imagination and figuring out how they’d come into conflict with Blair and Figment is something I’m really happy with and I hope our readers enjoy. Heroes are only as good as the villains they overcome, so I hope we created some interesting antagonists.”
Closing thoughts
Image © Disney/Marvel.
The Figment comic book is telling a very special, moving story. I asked Zub what makes Journey into Imagination such a memorable experience for so many park-goers. His answer was eloquent:
“I think the core message of using your creativity and creating new things is unique and compelling. It carries a distinctive sense of wonderment and joy that embraces the potential in art, science, and the unknown in a really engrossing way.”
I hope reading about the author’s efforts to share Figment with a new audience has convinced you to check it out. It’s available digitally or at your local comic book store. There will also be a bound collection of the series once it’s completed. From one Disney fan to others, its truly something to behold.
Elements based on Figment © Disney
