General

The El Capitan Theatre: An Appreciation

JHM guest columnist Dale Ward takes a fond look at this Hollywood landmark

Published

19 years ago

January 5, 2006

After seeing Jeff Lange’s pictorial on the outside of the El Capitan, I was reminded how much I wanted to visit the theater and what better time than the Christmas holidays? This was my first trip to the grand old movie palace and I thought I’d share a few thoughts and photos of the trip.

It’s two days after Christmas and I’m at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The El Capitan is a just a few blocks from historic Hollywood and Vine and across the street from Mann’s Chinese, one of the world’s most well known theaters. I spent my first 6 or 7 years living pretty close to here. On Friday nights in the early 60’s, my mom and grandmother and I would window shop on Hollywood Blvd for fun.

I remember spending time in front of The Hollywood Magic Shop marveling at all the junk on the walls behind the counter. The store is still there with more cool junk on the walls than in the 60’s. I was in Hollywood when I heard the news that Walt Disney had died. The news came from a radio at the International Newsstand on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Cahuenga. I was seven years old and the news made me sad. No more Uncle Walt hosting “The Wonderful World of Color.”

I don’t have any specific memories of “El Capitan” which was called the Paramount in the 60’s. My strongest memory of a theater was “The Cave,” a strip joint down Hollywood Blvd. that still does business. I remember “The Cave” because the place had a false plaster front that looked like the rocky entrance to a real cave. At my age, that was the coolest looking place on the Boulevard.

Today I’m here to see “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe.” Okay, that’s not entirely true. I’m actually here to see the El Capitan interior. I would have sat through any film playing here; it was just a happy accident that it was a film I hadn’t seen yet.

While I don’t consider myself a true movie buff, (You’re not going to see me at a Clara Bow retrospective or a foreign film festival at the local art house) I am interested in cinema history. I came to the El Capitan to experience a movie in a movie palace. I came to sit in a Hollywood theater and pretend I was watching a film in an era when movie theaters were much of the show with exotic interiors, expensive furnishings, and at least two fancy curtains that raised before every film; an era when approximately 50% of the US population went to see a cliffhanger, an animated cartoon, and a double feature every week for two bits American. I came to soak up a little Hollywood history.

1926 was a busy year for developer Charles E. Toberman. The Texas native had moved to Southern California in 1907 and made millions in Hollywood real estate. He is considered by those who know this kind of stuff to be the most influential developer in Tinseltown’s history. He was something of a visionary who saw Hollywood as an entertainment district as far back as the 20’s. Among his Hollywood developments Toberman built the Egyptian Theater, the original Max Factor Building and helped acquire the land for the Hollywood Bowl.

In 1926 he was busy with an architectural hat trick building the now historic Roosevelt Hotel, Graumans Chinese Theater and the El Capitan. Why would a millionaire build two theaters just across the street from each other? Because Grauman’s was built as a movie house and El Capitan was built for legitimate theater. They were built to compliment each other, not compete.

Thousands of theaters sprung up in the US in the prosperous 20’s, each one trying to outdo the last. Theater designers were always looking for unusual and exotic architecture to use as themes. Mixing both period and geographic styles inside and out left us with buildings both weird and wonderful. For his landmark theater, Sid Grauman chose a Chinese motif while, El Capitan’s architect G. Albert Lansburgh, chose a Spanish style exterior and an East Indian interior. I don’t know anything about East Indian architecture but I do know that the intricately carved ceiling in the auditorium is beautiful. Unfortunately, beautiful interiors don’t pay the rent and only 15 years after it opened, El Capitan was beginning to struggle.

By the 1940’s, entertainment tastes had changed. Song and dance troupes, plays and vaudeville acts had fallen out of favor and movies were king. In 1942 Orson Welles had just finished “Citizen Kane” and he was having trouble finding a theater to play it in. The thinly veiled fictional biography about real life newspaper mogul Randolph Hearst had made Hearst mad. Really mad. Hearst wielded his considerable power and influence and the film became too hot for Hollywood. As a last resort, Wells went to the owners of the El Capitan who agreed to premiere the film, the first film to ever be shown there. The success of the premiere prompted the owners to remodel and reopen as the “Paramount,” showing first run movies.

By the 1980’s, the Paramount had been passed from owner to owner. The old theater had been rode hard and put away wet. In its heyday, Hollywood had at least 20 or 25 theaters that rivaled the grandeur of El Capitan, all with exotic exteriors and hand crafted interiors, many with colorful neon marquees. By the 80’s, neglect and good old American greed left these outstanding buildings to be bulldozed or gutted and refitted and the landmark architecture of the 1920’s theater began to disappear

Sadly, these old architectural landmarks aren’t just being destroyed in Hollywood, it’s a nationwide phenomenon. Theaters are in the heart of old downtown’s, usually prime real estate. To “redevelop” these areas, movie palaces become Starbucks and Subway’s with nothing more than cheap posters of silent film stars left to mark the spot. In the 80’s The Paramount/El Capitan was one more old theater waiting to be gutted until Mickey Mouse stepped in.

In 1989 Disney was looking for a west coast theater to restore for premieres when they found the Paramount. The restoration team played with ways to get the tired old theater to turn a profit including one plan to turn the balcony into a second theater! As they pondered the theater’s fate, it was discovered that above the plaster ceiling which had been installed in 1942, much of the original arched and hand crafted ceiling was intact.

The discovery inspired Disney to attempt a full restoration of the theater to its pre-movie days, a bold and expensive move.

The El Capitan is an eleven hundred seat theater, with half of those seats in the balcony. Stepping inside, the auditorium seems cavernous. The carved and rounded ceiling is nearly six stories tall and what you see today is about 90% original. There were once two opera boxes on the side which are now used for props and such to decorate the theater.

The stage houses a 40 foot tall screen hidden behind curtains bathed in yellow and red lights. As the stage is currently dressed to look like Narnia’s winter, the blue of the props set against the curtain is striking.

By current performing arts center standards, the scale of the place is small, almost intimate, but the grandeur is unmistakable. This place was designed to look lush. From The stenciled ceiling in the foyer to the dark wood and red highlights in the barrel ceiling upstairs, it’s very much the same theater Hollywood would have seen when they came for a performance before “talkies” and “Steamboat Willie.” While the sound and lights are state of the art, the theater is definitely from a bygone era. It’s not hard to imagine Hollywood’s finest arriving for a show or maybe even a young cartoonist and his cronies taking in a vaudeville matinee, looking for gags for their next cartoon. It is hard to imagine that this beautiful theater could have easily ended up another fast food joint.

My holiday pre-show at the El Capitan was a concert by house organist Rob Richards. Richards has played the organ here since 1999 and was named 2005 ‘Organist of the Year’ by the American Theatre Organ Society. He played a mixture of Disney standards and holiday tunes on a twenty five hundred pipe organ known as the “Mighty Wurlitzer” and it’s one of the main reasons I came.

Now you may be thinking I’m one of those guys who sits at home listening to turn of the century recordings on a hand cranked record player, and that’s really not the case. I can’t tell the difference between a pipe organ and a midi player, but the “Mighty Wurlitzer” is not just any organ, this one is a movie palace aristocrat, an organ with a pedigree,

The Wurlitzer was originally installed in the Fox Theater San Francisco which opened in 1929. At the opening, the Fox was the west coast’s most stunning movie palace. The nearly 5000 seat theater was nicknamed “The Last Word,” it had $3000 Grecian urns decorating the front stairway (1920’s dollars, kiddies), a nurse’s office and a playroom where parents could leave the kids while watching a film.

Not too surprisingly, The Wurlitzer was one of the largest organs of it’s time and a monster to play. For my matinee, Richards took it easy but this is an organ with huge range and big lungs and was once part of the show in one of the world’s most decadent movie houses. Hearing this organ in a giant theater like the ones my grandmother used to wax nostalgic about was a geeky thrill.

Richards finished his concert, the house lights turned off and the previews began, all of them Disney movies which just so happen to be the next 3 or 4 films that will play in this theater reminding me that this experience is the property of Disney. But the El Capitan still had one little magical surprise.

After the credits and just before the movie, to remind us that Narnia itself is locked in a 100 year old winter, Disney decided to let it snow. Snow machines like the ones on Disneyland’s main street gave the theater a light powdering. Blue lights illuminated the soap flakes as they cascaded from above and the ooh’s and aah’s from kids and out of towners filled the air.

It was the kind of stunt El Capitan would have tried in its heyday. As Orson Welles shakes his snowglobe and whispers “Rosebud,” hired hands in overalls, standing on catwalks, throw handfuls of soapflakes, not just on the stage but on the audience where men in tuxedoes and women in gowns would ooh and aah and happily shake snowy white flakes out of their hair.

I didn’t realize it, but I came here with really high expectations. I expected this theater to be a landmark, a museum and a state of the art theater and it actually lives up to all three. I wanted to be reminded that a mythical Hollywood was not completely myth and I wanted to feel a bygone era with state of the art effects. I came to experience a movie palace and El Capitan didn’t disappoint. It’s old school craftsmanship and new century technology, a fabulous 1920’s posh theater restored to its early glory. For under 15 bucks American, anyone can have a 3 hour tour into a bygone era of Tinseltown glitz with the addition of surround sound and it doesn’t get more Hollywood than that. Now if they can just get the front of the place to look like a rocky cave entrance …

Ward is a guest writer for Jim Hill Media who wants nothing more than to live in a blimp that circles Disneyland day and night.

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