Imagine this… just a few months after the opening of EPCOT Center, as the Walt Disney World park was then called, a new attraction opened in Future World on this day in 1983. Journey into Imagination introduced the world to the characters of the human Dreamfinder and the lovable, purple dragon-like creature named Figment, voiced by Billy Barty. A more precise description might be taken from the ride-thru attraction’s theme song, “Two tiny wings, eyes big and yellow, horns of a steer, what a lovable fellow! From head to tail he’s royal purple pigment. And there, voila! You’ve got a Figment!” This attraction was the latest addition to the existing Journey into Imagination pavilion, which included the 3D movie Magic Journeys, featuring a title song written by the Disney Legend songwriting team of Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman. The film’s pre-show, “Makin’ Memories,” was also penned by the Sherman Brothers as was the new song, “One Little Spark,” heard throughout the newest attraction. The song, which begins, “One little spark, of inspiration…” had a special inspiration of its own. According to Robert Sherman, it was his former boss, Walt Disney, who was the inspiration for the song… a man who could take one little spark of inspiration and prove that, “A dream can be a dream come true, with just that spark in me and you.”
