The 38-year-old Latino film and television writer and producer will co-write Disney’s upcoming film featuring its iconic small purple dragon Figment alongside Benji Samit.
Figment serves as the mascot of Epcot’s Imagination Pavilion in Orlando.
The feature hails from Seth Rogen’s Point Grey.
Figment was created by Walt Disney Imagineers Tony Baxter and Steve Kirk, among other collaborators, in 1983, the same year it made its debut in the Epcot ride Journey Into Imagination. Figment is the embodiment of the imagining process— a figment of your imagination.
Although one of Disney’s more obscure characters, Figment has a devoted fanbase that has ensured his role at the park is never diminished. Various attempts to remove the ride or decrease his presence have been met with loud protests.
Today, he is the star of the latest version of the ride Journey Into Imagination with Figment.
The feature will not be Figment’s first time on the big screen, however.
He made cameo appearances in 2015’s Inside Outand 2019’s Toy Story 4.
The writing team of Hernandez and Samit penned 2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachuand 2021’s The Addams Family 2and developed the upcoming Hulu animated series Koala Man, premiering in 2023.
Other notable credits include Apple’s Central Park, The Tickfor Amazon and the One Day at a Time reboot.
The 33-year-old Mexican actress, stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live cast member is set to host this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony.
The show will not be live from the Santa Monica Beach this year due to COVID-19.
Villaseñor, the first Latina cast member of NBC’s long-running SNL, cut her teeth on the stand-up circuit in Los Angeles, and was further propelled to stardom by being a semifinalist on the 2011 edition of America’s Got Talent before landing on the SNL cast.
She is famous for her impersonations of celebrities like Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more.
This year’s show will be airing on Thursday, April 22, on IFC and AMC+ at 10:00 pm ET, breaking tradition as the Spirits typically take place on the Saturday afternoon before Sunday’s Oscars.
Said Blake Callaway, Executive Director, IFC and SundanceTV, “Melissa and the unique circumstances of now will make this year’s ceremony like no other. It will certainly be a departure from the past, but with Melissa, the chances of Dolly, Ariana Grande, Bjork, Gwen Stefani, Julie Andrews and Lady Gaga showing up have skyrocketed.”
“As someone who considers herself a pretty dependent person, I’m truly honored to host the Film Independent Spirit Awards,” said Villaseñor.
Outside of SNL, Villaseñor has provided voiceovers in films like Toy Story 4 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. She also was a guest on Jerry Seinfeld’sComedians in Cars Getting Coffee; and in projects like Hubie Halloween, Barryand Crashing, among others.
She’s currently working on her first book, a creative self-help journal forthcoming from Chronicle Books.
She joins a roster of past Spirit Awards hosts that includes Aubrey Plaza, Nick Kroll, Kristen Bell, Joel McHale, Patton Oswalt, Queen Latifah, John Waters, Samuel L. Jackson and Kumail Nanjiani.
The 48-year-old Mexican American film producer picked up the second Academy Award of his career on Sunday night, making him the first U.S.-born Latino to win multiple Oscars.
Rivera won an Oscar as one of the producers of Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4, which was named Best Animated Feature.
Rivera had previously won an Oscar for the 2015 film Disney/Pixar’s animated film Inside Out.
“As if my mind couldn’t be more blown about the last five minutes, thank you for that,” Rivera said during a backstage interview, after interviewers informed him that he had made history. “I’m a little bit out of my body right now. It means the world to me. I can’t even really put it into words.”
While Rivera doesn’t speak Spanish fluently, he said he feels connected to his Latino identity and that he tries to bring his culture into his work as he did in Toy Story 4by hiring Jay Hernandezto play Bonnie’s father in the movie. Rivera was particularly close to his Mexican grandfather, to whom he dedicated the animated feature Up.
“The only Spanish I learned was when my grandparents would fight,” Rivera said. “You work hard, you put your guts into it … and it does happen.”
Here are the winners at the 92nd annual Academy Awards:
Best Picture Parasite Actress in a Leading Role Renée Zellweger, Judy Actor in a Leading Role Joaquin Phoenix, Joker Directing Parasite, Bong Joon Ho Original Song “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” Rocketman, Music by Elton John, Lyric by Bernie Taupin Original Score Joker, Hildur Guðnadóttir International Feature Parasite, South Korea Makeup and Hairstyling Bombshell, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker Visual Effects 1917, Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy Film Editing Ford v Ferrari, Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland Cinematography 1917, Roger Deakins Sound Mixing 1917, Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson Sound Editing Ford v Ferrari, Donald Sylvester Actress in a Supporting Role Laura Dern, Marriage Story Documentary Short Subject Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl), Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva Documentary Feature American Factory, Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert Costume Design Little Women, Jacqueline Durran Production Design Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Production Design: Barbara Ling, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh Live Action Short Film The Neighbors’ Window, Marshall Curry Adapted Screenplay Jojo Rabbit, Screenplay by Taika Waititi Original Screenplay Parasite, Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won, Story by Bong Joon Ho Animated Short Film Hair Love, Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver Animated Feature Film Toy Story 4, Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera Actor in a Supporting Role Brad Pitt, Once upon a Time in Hollywood
Figment serves as the mascot of Epcot’s Imagination Pavilion in Orlando.
