Language Arts Through Imagination is a series of educational films produced under the Epcot Educational Media label starring Figment from the Journey into Imagination attraction. The series ran from 1988 to 1989 for a total of 11 short films ranging from 10 to 17 minutes.
Animation was contracted out to Cioni Animations and Billy Barty reprised his role as Figment.
Overview
The series blended animation, live-action, and stock footage from the Disney film catalog. In each short, Figment would invite a group of children to his playhouse in an imaginary realm called Figonia. During these adventures, they would explore different basic concepts of reading and writing and how to use words creatively to tell a story. With a tight animation budget, the shorts would often recycle Figment's animations for the scenes taking place within the live-action playhouse set.
Clips from documentaries and Disney films were generally utilized to illustrate ideas that the characters were trying to convey, but occasionally, redubbed footage would be utilized to allow for characters to interact with Figment and the children. In the two shorts where the guest characters had title billing, they were played by live actors. Guest characters in the series included Peter Pan, Wendy, Alice, Merlin, The Reluctant Dragon (identified as Figment's Uncle Max), Owl, Gopher, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
Shorts
- Would You Eat a Blue Potato?
- What Can You See by Looking?
- Do Dragons Dream?
- How Does It Feel to Be an Elephant?
- How Does It Feel to Fly?
- How Does Sound Sound?
- Reading Magic with Figment and Peter Pan
- Writing Magic with Figment and Alice in Wonderland
- What's an Abra Without A Kadabra?
- Where Does Time Fly?
- The Case of the Missing Space