General

The Ub Iwerks Story

It’s another special weekend treat for JHM readers as Jim Korkis starts up a new two part story about Ub Iwerks, one of the more intriguing — and least understood — figures in Disney Company history.

Published

21 years ago

September 12, 2003

Jim Korkis

He was born in the midwest in 1901. While in Kansas City, he animated a series of cartoons called Laugh-O-Grams. Later in California, he was responsible for the creation of Mickey Mouse. Over the decades, he was recognized as a genius and innovator and was honored with Academy Awards. Even after his death, the company that bears his name provides entertainment at theme parks that delight millions of people every year.

If that description seems a perfect description of Walt Disney, then it may be surprising to learn that it is also a perfect description of a mysterious gentleman known as Ub Iwerks. For decades, he was merely a footnote in the history of the Disney Company and yet his life oddly paralleled that of his boyhood friend, Walt Disney.

“Walt was the producer, director, the idea guy,” said John Lasseter, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and the force behind such computer animated films as TOY STORY. “But Ub was his hands. He’s the guy who actually drew Mickey Mouse. It just is remarkable to me to think about his talent.”

Ub Iwerks finally got some recognition in THE HAND BEHIND THE MOUSE: AN INTIMATE BIOGRAPHY by John Kenworthy and Iwerks’ granddaughter, Leslie, which is a hardcover biography that explores Ub’s amazing life in a way that has only been very briefly touched in the other books about Disney history. It is the perfect companion to Leslie Iwerks’ critically acclaimed ninety-minute film documentary, THE HAND BEHIND THE MOUSE: THE UB IWERKS STORY which had a limited release at a variety of film festivals and is currently available on video but not DVD. Both the book and the video are still available at Amazon.com. which also offers the two volume DVD collection THE CARTOONS THAT TIME FORGET featuring cartoons from Iwerks’ own animation studio.

Leslie was only one year old when her grandfather died but grew up hearing the stories of his contributions to the Disney empire yet found scant mention of these achievements in public records. As a fifth-grader, Leslie wrote a class report on the grandfather she barely knew but had heard about all her life. “When everybody was so amazed, I thought, ‘Wow! I have a famous grandfather, but no one knows it’,” Iwerks said.

To correct this situation, she eventually began the film documentary of her grandfather in 1990 as an independent project. However, the Disney Company was understandably reluctant to share material and images that might dim the bright spotlight on their founder and which featured valuable trademarked images. Roy E. Disney who has become something of a savior of animation interceded on her behalf and the film became a Disney production as well as opening the Disney vault for Leslie to have access to the company’s material on Iwerks.

“Walt and Ub were a great team,” Roy E. Disney said. “They had something special, those two. It just clicked.”

As interesting as the documentary is, it still fails to penetrate the shadows surrounding a very shy and private genius. When the Disney Studio began in 1923, it was rumored that Iwerks was the “secret genius” behind the success of the studio. Over the years, top animators from Betty Boop creator Grim Natwick to Les Clark, one of the fabled Nine Old Men, described Iwerks as “a genius. He was like Walt.” On the darker side, at times Ub’s career offers a chilling Twilight Zone look into what Walt Disney’s life might have been like without Walt’s talent as a salesman and storyteller.

Ubbe Ert Iwwerks was born on March 24, 1901 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was not until he was in his twenties, that he shortened his name to “Ub Iwerks” which was still unusual enough to attract the audience’s attention when his name appeared in screen credits.

Not fond of scholastics, he dropped out of Northeast High School in 1916 to work full time at the Union Bank Note Company. When he was eighteen, he got a job at the Pesmin-Rubin Commerical Art Studio where he was hired to do lettering and air brush work.

It was there he met another eighteen year old named Walter Elias Disney. The outgoing Walt and the unassuming Ub struck up a friendship and when both were laid off, they went into business for themselves as an independent art studio called Iwerks-Disney. (They decided that Disney-Iwerks sounded too much like an eyeglass company.)

Walt immediately leveraged friendships to get jobs for the fledging firm. When a job as an artist opened at the Kansas City Slide Company, Ub and Walt decided that Walt should apply for the position to get a steady paycheck to help support the struggling studio while Ub who was the stronger artist would keep their new business operating.

Unfortunately, Ub lacked Walt’s salesmanship and was uncomfortable approaching new clients and was laconic when potential customers contacted him and the studio quickly closed for lack of work. Walt was able to get Ub a job at the Kansas City Slide Company which later changed its name to the Kansas City Film Ad Company. It was while they were with that company, that the two young men got their first exposure to animation.

When Walt left the company in 1922 to form his own company called Laugh-O-Gram, Ub joined him immediately and was the key animator in producing six modernized fairy tale animated cartoons like CINDERELLA. An unsuccessful distribution deal forced the young business into bankruptcy and Walt Disney went to Hollywood to seek his fortune in live action films while Ub returned to his old job at the Film Ad Company.

However, one final film done by the Laugh-O-Gram company entitled “Alice’s Wonderland” which featured a mixture of live action with a little girl interacting with cartoon animals in a cartoon setting caught the attention of a New York distributor who offered Walt a contract for more cartoons in the same format. It was the beginning of the Disney Brothers Studio in 1923.

While Walt did much of the animation on the first few films himself, he quickly contacted Ub in Kansas City and persuaded him to come to California and become a vital part of the new studio. Almost from the beginning, Ub was paid more than anyone else on the staff including Walt. His salary quickly rose to $120 a week (over twice what Walt was making) and he was not only the key animator and informal teacher to the younger animators but was also drawing the lobby cards and theatrical posters. Walt never begrudged paying this huge salary because he was well aware of Ub’s value when it came to handling these responsibilities.

These responsibilities continued even after nearly fifty Alice Comedies were produced and a new series for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was begun. Ub began putting money in the business, having thirty-five dollars deducted from his salary each week to be applied toward a twenty percent interest in the partnership in the Disney Brothers Studio.

Disney’s New York film distributor for the Oswald cartoons owned the rights to the character and in attempt to have greater control and greater profits hired all of Disney’s animation staff except for Iwerks away from Disney to work for his own studio in producing new Oswald cartoons. According to legend, on the train ride back to California, Walt came up with the concept of Mickey Mouse to replace the loss of the popular Oswald.

“As far as I know, that’s all publicity hype,” said Dave Smith, Director of the Disney Archives.

It seems clear that while Walt may have originated the idea, it was working closely with Ub that the final design and approach to the character as well as the story situations were developed. In fact, Ub pretty much animated the first three Mickey Mouse cartoons single-handedly. It was documented that Iwerks could produce 700 drawings a day that were usable. Today, a good animator may turn out as many as 100 drawings a week if he is lucky.

Ub’s loyalty and commitment and talent allowed Walt to save his studio. As before, Ub also trained young animators and would stop his own work to encourage others, did the lobby cards and posters and even illustrated the daily Mickey Mouse comic strip.

In later years, Ub’s key contribution in the creation and early development of Mickey Mouse was downplayed even though the title card of the original cartoons as well as the comic strip prominently featured Ub’s name and it was often in larger typeface than Walt’s name.

Ub’s sons, David and Donald who both ended up working at Disney, have insisted that their father never felt any resentment over this situation nor any proprietary interest in the character of Mickey. Many times in a variety of situations, Ub stated, “It was what Walt did with Mickey that was important, not who created him.”

In early 1929, while in New York, Walt wrote a letter back to his wife that stated, “everyone praised Ub’ art work…Tell Ub that the New York animators take off their hats to his animation and all of them know who we are.” Walt would refer to Ub as “the greatest animator in the world.”

As a forum for experimentation, Walt took the suggestion of the studio’s musical director, Carl Stalling, and produced a series of cartoons synchronized to musical themes and entitled the Silly Symphonies. Ub once again almost single-handedly animated the first in the series, “The Skeleton Dance”, and soon was promoted to a director on the series.

Happily married with two sons, respect and admiration from his peers, and a huge salary, it seemed as if Ub’s life was close to perfect which made it all the more surprising when in January 1930, Ub went in to see Roy Disney and announced he was leaving the studio.

Iwerks had been offered the chance to have a studio of his own and a salary of $300 a week (double what he was getting at Disney). Obviously, the opportunity to operate his own studio and to provide greater financial security for his family were factors in Ub’s desire to leave the Disney Studio. However, most historians agree that it was personal differences with Walt which was the major deciding factor in Ub deciding to go out on his own.

Being a boyhood friend of Walt and seeing his early struggles and realizing his weaknesses as an artist, Ub was less in awe of the head of the studio as were the new animators and the public. As a result, Ub was more resentful when Walt intruded in the animation process by re-timing Ub’s exposure sheets or by insisting that Ub change his method of animating to produce only key drawings and allowing assistants to do the in-between drawings. Even more so, Walt had a reputation of having fun at others’ expense and the shy Iwerks was an easy target for these remarks and pranks and Walt never realized that Ub’s quietness in these situations hid embarrassment and anger that eventually bubbled up in this decision. Yet while the tension between the two men was apparent, not one person can ever recall Ub saying a negative word about Walt.

Next: The world eagerly watches to see what triumphs the secret genius of the Disney Studio will produce and Ub returns to a new role at Disney.

General

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

Published

10 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

10 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

10 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