Language Arts Through Imagination (found series of Disney educational short films; 1988-1989)
Language Arts Through Imagination is a series of 11 educational short films released between 1988 and 1989 by Disney Educational Media under the Epcot Educational Media label.[1] The series is a live action and animation hybrid that stars Figment, a character from the Epcot attraction Journey Into Imagination.[2] Each episode featured a boy and girl actor interacting with Figment on a variety of topics, often solving a problem using imagination and reading skills.
As part of the Epcot Education Media line, the series was released on VHS tapes to be distributed only for supplemental instruction for schools, costing a premium of up to $350 per tape.[3] This made the series relatively obscure and elusive to find. Only the majority of one episode was publically available until March 2018, when 9 of the 11 known episodes were uncovered from a unlisted playlist from May 2017.[4]
Background
The original Journey Into Imagination debuted as a attraction at Walt Disney World’s Epcot on March 5, 1983.[5] The characters of Figment and Dreamfinder evolved from a concept for the proposed and unproduced land of Disneyland called Discovery Bay, where Dreamfinder was named Professor Marvel and Figment was a unnamed green dragon that was his companion.[6] The original attraction was closed in 1998 to revamp the ride as Journey Into Your Imagination. With Dreamfinder dropped and Figment only appearing in a few cameos, the ride was heavily panned and was retooled a few years later into the current Journey into Imagination with Figment. [5]
In the 1980s, Disney began producing low budget educational series based on their properties.[3] One particular aspect that defined these shorts was its use of American outsourced animation, [7] a practice Disney had not done since the 1938 Silly Symphony short Merbabies. [8] The trend started with the 1981 short Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, which culminated in the outsourcing of the 1983 animated featurette Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore. [8] Despite heavy criticism, Disney was satisfied with the results and expanded its use of outsourced animation. [7]
In 1988, Disney contracted Chicago-based Cioni Artworks to animate a series of educational shorts based on Figment.[9] Animators Ray Cioni and Jon McClenahan were credited as the animation directors. [3] Billy Barty, the voice of Figment for the Epcot attraction, resumed his role for the series. The shorts were directed by various individuals, including Robin Allinson Smalley, Mark Mathis and Mark Jean. Jamie Simons wrote most of the shorts, while Bill Scollon produced many of them. [8]
Structure
Unlike the previously unproduced series Dreamfinders, Language Arts Through Imagination had very little relation to the Journey Into Imagination ride, with Figment being one of the few aspects retained. Instead, Figment was said to live in a land called Figonia, a live action set said to be created by Figment’s imagination.[10] In each episode, two kids would be transported to Figonia by Figment, who would often have a problem that would need to be solved. Figment would encourage the use of imagination through various words, which would be evaluated and eventually help solve the problem. Storytelling was another key component that tied in with the learning of words.[10]
Occasionally various Disney characters would guest star in the shorts. For example, Writing Magic with Figment and Alice in Wonderland featured a live action version of Alice.[3] In What’s an Abra Without a Cadabra?, a animated version of Merlin from The Sword in the Stone helped out.[11]
The series made frequent use of stock footage obtained through various Disney films.[10] These films were used to both cover for the lower animation budget the series had and better explain the topic that was being discussed. For example, footage from the movie Fantasia would be used to demonstrate variation of color or show a example of flying.[10]
Episode Status
The series was only available on various Disney Educational Media VHS tapes. In particular, many of the these tapes were only meant to be sold to schools who would use the tapes as additional tools used by teachers in various lessons. The tapes could either be traded back or bought by a educational institution for a premium price known to reach $350.[8] Because of this, very few tapes of this series are known to exist, making the series relatively obscure and difficult to find.
For a extended period of time, the only episode of the series that was circulating online was Would You Eat A Blue Potato?. The episode was courtesy of Figment’s Imagination, a fansite which shut down in 2012.[12] While the theme song was recorded in its proper 4:3 ratio by some users, the lone circulating recording of the episode itself was in a improper ratio. In addition, the episode was missing its final scene and ending credits.[13]
On March 25th, 2018, a thread was made on the WDWMagic forums about the series, with a user bringing to light a YouTube playlist that was created by TTJohn12 in May of 2017 containing 9 of the 11 full episodes.[4] [14] The episodes were unlisted until April 2018, making their existence unknown before the thread. According to TTJohn12, the episodes were obtained through loan of two VHS tapes through a local university and the episodes were kept unlisted due to DMCA concerns.[4] Despite the uncovering of these episodes two episodes remain lost. These include Reading Magic with Figment and Peter Pan and Writing Magic with Figment and Alice in Wonderland.
List of Episodes
# | Short Title | Year Produced | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Would You Eat a Blue Potato? | 1988 | Found |
2 | What Can You See by Looking? | 1988 | Found |
3 | Do Dragons Dream? | 1988 | Found |
4 | How Does It Feel to Be an Elephant? | 1988 | Found |
5 | How Does It Feel to Fly? | 1988 | Found |
6 | How Does Sound Sound? | 1988 | Found |
7 | Reading Magic with Figment and Peter Pan | 1989 | Lost |
8 | Writing Magic with Figment and Alice in Wonderland | 1989 | Lost |
9 | What's an Abra Without A Kadabra? | 1989 | Found |
10 | Where Does Time Fly? | 1989 | Found |
11 | The Case of the Missing Space | 1929 | Found |
Gallery
References
- ↑ d23 listing on Do Dragons Dream Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ The webpage for the Journey Into Imagination ride Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Mouseplanet article on the series Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 WDWMagic thread on the found episodes Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Official Disney Blog post on the attraction Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ Disney article on the origins of Figment and Dreamfinder Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Demystifying Disney: A History of Disney Feature Animation Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Cartoon Research article on the series Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ Resume of Ray Cioni, including mentions of work for the series under Cioni Artworks Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Disney Wiki article on Language Arts Through Imagination Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ Wiki article on What's an Abra Without A Cadabra? Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ Web Archive link to the former Figment's Imagination fansite Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ YouTube link to the only copy of Would You Eat A Blue Potato? circulating for years Retrieved 21 Apr '18
- ↑ The YouTube playlist most of the full series was found on Retrieved 21 Apr '18