General

How “Something Wicked” went from being a best seller to the big screen

Published

14 years ago

August 2, 2010

You know, it's kind of appropriate that D23 and ArcLight
Cinemas are kicking off their classic Disney movie series tonight with a
screening of "Something Wicked This Way Comes." Especially since this 1983 Walt
Disney Productions release is being shown at the ArcLight Hollywood.

"And what's so appropriate about that?," you ask. Well, this
dark fantasy really owes everything to Hollywood. I mean, I seriously doubt
that Ray Bradbury would have even written the 1962 best seller that this Disney
film was based on if Ray hadn't first been friends with screen song-and-dance
man Gene Kelly.

Bradbury flat-out thought that Kelly was a genius and
praised Gene's work in "Singin' in the Rain" to the skies. A few years later, Kelly
invited Bradbury to come see a work-in-progress version of his latest film, "Invitation to the Dance." And as Ray and his wife walked home from the screening that
night, Bradbury confessed how badly he wanted to work with Kelly on something
for the cinema.

Bradbury's wife then suggested that Ray go back through his
files. See if he could dig up an old story that might lend itself to
becoming a screenplay. So Bradbury went digging through his filing cabinets and
eventually found "The Black Ferris." Which was this 10 page story that dealt
with two young boys and a mysterious carnival that had come to town and had
originally been published in "Weird Tales" back in 1948.

Ray took this 10 page story and fleshed it out into a
80-page-long script treatment which he called "Dark Carnival." Bradbury
then handed off "Dark Carnival" to Kelly and asked for his opinion. Gene called
Ray the very next day and said that he thought the script was terrific. More
importantly, that Kelly wanted to make "Dark Carnival" his very next film. Which
is why Gene asked Ray's permission to take the treatment along with him to
Europe during the Summer of 1955 as Kelly sought out financial backing for the
film.

Bradbury gave Kelly his blessing and eagerly awaited his
return. Gene returned two months later with some disheartening news. Though
everyone he showed the material to agreed that "Dark Carnival" would make one
heck of a film, none of these financial backers were interested in underwriting
production of a new Gene Kelly movie where this legendary song-and-dance man
didn't sing or dance. So Gene reluctantly handed the treatment back to Ray, and
back into the files "Dark Carnival" went.

Okay. Now jump ahead to 1961. Bradbury is casting about
for an idea for a new novel when he realizes that he's got "Dark Carnival"
still sitting in his files. So Bradbury takes this 80-page-script treatment and turns it into a full-blown book, "Something Wicked This Way Comes." And to
honor Gene Kelly for the vital role that he played in the development of this
project, Bradbury dedicates this book to the screen legend.

And – of course – once "Something Wicked" becomes a best
seller, Hollywood comes calling. But Ray … he has some very specific ideas
about which filmmakers – more importantly, which studio – he'd like to have the
movie version of his latest book produced by. So Bradbury sent a copy of "Something
Wicked" to Walt Disney. Only to then get a note back from Walt saying that –
while he personally enjoyed the book – Disney doesn't feel that this dark
fantasy would be a good fit for his studio.

No matter. There are lots of other great movie makers out
there. Which is why Ray reached out to David Lean. Who also seemed intrigued but
ultimately passed on the project. Bradbury also had some definitive thoughts
about who he wanted to see play Mr. Dark, the ringmaster of the sinister carnival
that comes one Fall to Green Town, Illinois. Ray wanted Peter O'Toole or
Christopher Lee to play this role.

(L to R) Irwin Winkler, Sylvester
Stallone and Robert Chartoff at the
1976 Academy Awards. Copyright The Academy
of Motion Pictures
Arts and Sciences. All rights reserved

But given the way Hollywood works, Bradbury didn't really have
a whole lot of say about who was going to direct and/or star in the movie
version of "Something Wicked This Way Comes." So as the film rights for this
book bounced around Hollywood in the 1960s & 1970s it eventually wound up
in the hands of Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler (i.e. the producers of "Rocky"). Ray approached Robert and Irwin with a wish list. As in: Bradbury wanted Sam
Peckinpah (of "The Wild Bunch" and "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" fame)
to direct "Something Wicked." What's more, Ray suggested Academy Award-winner
Jason Robards (who would eventually play kindly Charles Halloway in the Disney
version of this book) for the role of sinister Mr. Dark.

Chartoff and Winkler ignored Bradbury's suggestions. As did
Kirk Douglas when he acquired the rights to the book in the mid-1970s for
$200,000. Feeling that he needed to break out of the virile leading man roles
that Kirk was typically cast in, Douglas bought "Something Wicked" with the
hope that he'd then be able to play against type. He wanted to play meek Charles Halloway, who
works at Green Town public library and is afraid that he's grown too old to
play with his son.

As you might expect, given Kirk Douglas' demeanor and physique, no one in
Hollywood thought that the movie-going public would ever buy a movie where this
action star appeared in a milquetoast role. So "Something Wicked" languished
yet again. Until Thomas Wilhite, an aggressive young man who had moved up from
Disney's publicity & marketing office
to become Hollywood's youngest production chief at that time, came calling. He insisted that Disney was now ready to tackle Bradbury's dark fantasy.

Mind you, this came at a time when Ron Miller (i.e. Walt's
son-in-law and – as of 1980 – the president of Walt Disney Productions) felt
that the Studio needed to get out of the rut that it was in at that time. Stop
making stupid sequels like "Herbie Goes Bananas" and "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again." Which is why Miller put Whilhite in charge of the movie side of
the Mouse House and then ordered Tom to put some more ambitious motion pictures
in Disney's development and production pipeline.

And Whilhite – to his credit – did just that. Greenlighting
projects like "Never Cry Wolf" and "TRON." Not to mention acquiring the film
rights to promising literary projects like Gary Wolf's "Who Censored R. Rabbit?" And among the movies that were put into production at this time were "Something
Wicked This Way Comes."

And when it came to the production of this dark fantasy,
Disney really spared no expense. They actually pulled down the urban downtown
section of the Studio's backlot (where family comedies like "The Ugly Dachshund"
and "The Shaggy D.A.") so that they'd then have room to build a full-blown
version of Green Town. It took 200 men, three months and $2 million. But
eventually Disney's backlot resembled this small Illinois town.

And Bradbury … he was thrilled with the look of this Walt
Disney Production. In a Disney News interview from that time, Ray talked about
how happy tears ran down his face whenever he wandered through this film's set
which were so reminiscent of his own hometown.

Mind you, another reason that Bradbury may have been crying
was that – while he had hoped to convince Steven Spielberg to come direct "Something
Wicked" (Spielberg opted to make "Raiders of the Lost Ark" instead) – Disney hired
Jack Clayton, the director of "The Great Gatsby." Who then turned around and
hired John Mortimer, the English screenwriter of the "Brideshead Revisited" TV
miniseries, to come rewrite Ray's screenplay for this film.

This was particularly galling for Bradbury because … Well,
he and Clayton had worked on a previous version of "Something Wicked This Way
Comes." The one that Michael Eisner had almost greenlit while he was in charge at Paramount. And Ray had been so impressed with Jack's effort back then that – when
Disney came calling – Bradbury said that he'd only sell the movie rights to the
Mouse House if they'd sign Clayton to direct the movie.

Jack Clayton

Which (to be honest) was not something that Wilhite wanted
to do. He had wanted to hire one of Spielberg's contemporaries to come direct "Something
Wicked." But Ray wouldn't sell the film rights unless Jack was part of the
package. So Thomas reluctantly agreed.

The end result was a film that Clayton nor Bradbury were very happy with. Jack felt that his initial pass on "Something Wicked" was flawed because he had never done a special effects movie before. What's more, Clayton said that he didn't get the support from Disney that he needed during production because — while "Something Wicked" was shooting — all of Disney's very best special effects guys were tied up working on "TRON." Whereas Ray … He felt that the main problem with the movie version of "Something Wicked" was John Mortimer's screenplay. Which had eliminated much of the book's literary qualities and fantasy elements.

After a disastrous preview of this $17 million film in July
1982, Ron Miller called Ray Bradbury into his office and
asked for the author's help in overhauling this troubled production. Bradbury agreed – and $5
million and several months of reshoots later – the movie version of "Something
Wicked This Way Comes" was released to theaters in April of 1983.

To its credit, "Something Wicked" did receive fairly decent
reviews (Janet Maslin of the New York Times called it " … a lively,
entertaining tale combining boyishness and grown-up horror in equal measure." But the film performed poorly at the box office. Which is why Walt Disney
Productions was forced to take a $21 million write-down on the movie in July of
1983.

And if you talk with film historians today about "Something
Wicked This Way Comes," they'll either tell you about what's not in the movie anymore
(i.e. George Delerue's original score for this film. Which was dropped at Ray
Bradbury's insistence. Disney then tried to recruit Jerry Goldsmith to come
write a brand-new score for "Something Wicked." But Jerry was busy working on "Twilight Zone – The Movie." Which is why the Studio hired James Horner instead) or about
the elaborate CG sequence that got cut at the very last minute ( this sequence
was to have shown the arrival of the Dark Carnival, with shadows & fogs
forming the tents and trees bending to form the struts of the ferris wheel. But
this was back in late 1982 / early 1983. Which was basically still the infancy
of CG. And given that the rough CG featured here tended to take people out of
the picture at test screenings, Disney felt that they had no choice but to drop
this very-expensive-to-produce scene just weeks before "Something Wicked" was
released to theaters).

Mind you, other folks may point out "Something Wicked" 's flaws.
How – if you're really paying attention in both the spiders-in-the-bedroom and
the lost-in-the-mirror-maze scenes – it's obvious that these parts of the movie were shot long after filming
had initially wrapped in December of 1981. That the two boys playing Will
Halloway (Vidal Peterson) and Jim Nightshade (Shawn Carson) were so much taller
and the shapes of their faces had changed when they were called back to do those
reshoots in the Summer of 1982.

But me … What I like about "Something Wicked This Way Comes"
is the sheer ambition of this film. That Walt Disney Productions made a sincere
effort in the early 1980s to do something that wasn't a cookie cutter family
comedy. That they wanted to make a motion picture that had some literary style and heft.

Okay. So "Something Wicked" isn't perfect. Ray Bradbury
himself admits that. But at a screening of this film last year at the American
Cinematheque, he also said that – in the end – he's very proud of this movie.

Which is why I'm hoping that a great number of Disneyana
fans turn out for tonight's screening of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" at
the ArcLight Hollywood. If only so they can then see a truly rare piece of Mouse House history.

And – no – I'm not talking about the movie itself. But,
rather, the carousel that plays such a huge role in "Something Wicked." The one
that – depending on which direction it's running in – can either make you older
or younger.

Now before the special effects team at Walt Disney Studios
found this carousel and then lovingly restored it, it used to be one of the
attractions that entertained visitors who came by that tiny amusement park that Dave Bradley used to operate
at the corner of Beverly and La Cienega.

Now Bradley closed this park back in 1974. But back in the
1940s, Walt Disney used to take his daughters here. And as Diane and Sharon
rode that carousel, Walt sat back on a park bench and wondered if there might
be a better way to build & run an amusement park.

Newsreel image of the amusement park
at Beverly and La Cienega

You can see this carousel for yourself if you drop by the
ArcLight Hollywood tonight at the Cinerama Dome at 8 p.m. For further
information on the rest of the Disney Movie Magic! film series (including the
movies that will be screening at the ArcLight Sherman Oaks and the ArcLight
Pasadena), I suggest you swing on by the D23 website.

General

Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District

Published

9 years ago

June 23, 2015

Jim Hill

Greetings from NYC. Nancy and I drove down from New
Hampshire yesterday because we'll be checking out
Disney Consumer Products' annual Holiday Showcase later today.

Anyway … After checking into our hotel (i.e., The Paul.
Which is located down in NYC's NoMad district), we decided to grab some dinner.
Which is how we wound up at the Melt Shop.

Photo by Jim Hill

Which is this restaurant that only sells grilled cheese sandwiches.
This comfort food was delicious, but kind of on the heavy side.

Photo by Jim Hill

Which is why — given that it was a beautiful summer night
— we'd then try and walk off our meals. We started our stroll down by the Empire
State Building
…

Photo by Jim Hill

… and eventually wound up just below Times
Square (right behind where the Waterford Crystal Times Square New
Year's Eve Ball is kept).

Photo by Jim Hill

But you know what we discovered en route? Right in the heart
of Manhattan's Garment District
along Broadway between 36th and 41st? This incredibly cool series of life-like
and life-sized sculptures that Seward
Johnson has created.

Photo by Jim Hill

And — yes — that is Abraham Lincoln (who seems to have
slipped out of WDW's Hall of Presidents when no one was looking and is now
leading tourists around Times Square). These 18 painted
bronze pieces (which were just installed late this past Sunday night / early
Monday morning) range from the surreal to the all-too-real.

Photo by Jim Hill

Some of these pieces look like typical New Yorkers. Like the
business woman planning out her day …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the postman delivering the mail …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the hot dog vendor working at his cart …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the street musician playing for tourists …

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention the tourists themselves.

Photo by Jim Hill

But right alongside the bronze businessmen …

Photo by Jim Hill

… and the tired grandmother hauling her groceries home …

Photo by Jim Hill

… there were also statues representing people who were
from out-of-town …

Photo by Jim Hill

… or — for that matter — out-of-time.

Photo by Jim Hill

These were the Seward Johnson pieces that genuinely beguiled. Famous impressionist paintings brought to life in three dimensions.

Note the out-of-period water bottle that some tourist left
behind. Photo by Jim Hill

Some of them so lifelike that you actually had to pause for
a moment (especially as day gave way to night in the city) and say to yourself
"Is that one of the bronzes? Or just someone pretending to be one of these
bronzes?"

Mind you, for those of you who aren't big fans of the
impressionists …

Photo by Jim Hill

… there's also an array of American icons. Among them
Marilyn Monroe …

Photo by Jim Hill

… and that farmer couple from Grant Wood's "American
Gothic."

Photo by Jim Hill

But for those of you who know your NYC history, it's hard to
beat that piece which recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of V-J Day in Times Square.

Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, a 25-foot-tall version of this particular Seward
Johnson piece ( which — FYI — is entitled "Embracing Peace") will actually
be placed in Times Square for a few days on or around August 14th to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day).

Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, if you'd like to check these Seward Johnson bronzes in
person (which — it should be noted — are part of the part of the Garment
District Alliance's new public art offering) — you'd best schedule a trip to
the City sometime over the next three months. For these pieces will only be on
display now through September 15th.

General

Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues

Published

9 years ago

June 10, 2015

Jim Hill

Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.

Photo by Jim Hill

Take — for example — all of "The Secret Life of
Pets" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's "Minions," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.

Photo by Jim Hill

And Warner Bros. — because they wanted "Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.

Photo by Jim Hill

That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for "The Peanuts Movie"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.

Photo by Jim Hill

And fan of Blue Sky's "Ice Age" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.

Photo by Jim Hill

Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble-style.

Photo by Jim Hill

I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.

Photo by Jim Hill

I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out a
post-Muppets identity for itself.

Photo by Jim Hill

Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation (what with all the layoffs & write-downs &
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.

Photo by Jim Hill

Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: "Angry Birds," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis —
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with production of Genndy Tartakovsky's
"Popeye" movie. But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.

Photo by Jim Hill

And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.

Photo by Jim Hill

"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's Licensing
Expo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.

Photo by Jim Hill

I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.

Photo by Jim Hill

And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.

Photo by Jim Hill

And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."

Photo by Jim Hill

And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess and Disney Fairies franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."

Photo by Jim Hill

One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.

Photo by Jim Hill

Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.

Your thoughts?

General

It takes more than three circles to craft a Classic version of Mickey Mouse

Published

9 years ago

June 9, 2015

Jim Hill

You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?

Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park (especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary), he looks & dresses like this.

Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.

Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior rolls out "Mickey and the
Roadster Racers," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.

That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.

Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park's "World of Color:
Celebrate!" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Goldberg really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.

Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.

"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in 'Fantasia.' "

"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THE Mickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"

Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.

"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."

But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.

"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."

And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.

"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.

Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.

"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."

So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came to
making sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?

"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators AND the fans are happy, then I'm happy."

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015