General

Wednesdays with Wade: 25 years of “Disney on Ice”

Wade Sampson looks back at how the Walt Disney Company and Feld Entertainment wound up partnering to create a quarter century’s worth of ice spectaculars.

Published

19 years ago

September 13, 2005

Jim Korkis

It’s hard not to do so but when you hear the phrase “Disney On Ice,” you probably think of the urban legend of Walt being cryogenically frozen (or the project done by several CalArts students who created “Waltsickles”). It is the same for an entire generation that hears “The William Tell Overture” and wants to shout: “Hi yo, Silver!” since it was the theme of the “Lone Ranger.”

This year marks twenty-five years of partnership between Feld Entertainment and the Walt Disney Company in creating ice shows. And unfortunately, it is truly a hidden Disney treasure for most Disney fans. However, it took many decades for the two organizations to become partners and the route had many paths that had to come together.

I just saw the latest show, “Disney presents Pixar’s The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure” and just like many of the previous “Disney On Ice” shows I was impressed at the efforts made in character integrity, in ingenuity in sets and special effects and how the entire show seemed much more “Disney” than some of the latest entertainment offerings at the theme parks.

This gives me great hope since Feld has recently partnered with Disney to provide “Disney Live” which will be a series of non-ice stage shows featuring Disney characters. The first show with Winnie the Pooh and friends (“Pooh’s Perfect Day”) is currently making the rounds and is an interactive experience where “children and their parents will sing, dance and play along with Pooh and his friends” and is the first time that Feld Entertainment worked with Disney animators to create backgrounds inspired directly by the films using digital projection so the Hundred Acre Wood comes to life. (“Kim Possible” has been mentioned as a possible future “Disney Live” production.)

How did Feld Entertainment and Disney become partners? Well, as I said, it is a story with many different paths.

When you think of Feld Entertainment, you usually think of the circus. Ringling was the King of the Circus when the circus was king. The July 16, 1956 performance in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania was the last performance of the Ringling Bros., Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth under the direction of John Ringling North.

Irvin Feld and his brother Israel had made their mark as pioneers in the rock and roll concert tour business (with clients ranging from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to Paul Anka and Chuck Berry) and they were familiar with the new arenas around the American cities and felt the circus could fit into those venues.

April 3, 1957 a new Ringling circus tour began as an exclusively indoor presentation with Feld in charge of booking and promotion. On November 11, 1967 Feld purchased the Greatest Show on Earth from John Ringling North at the Colosseum in Rome, Italy.

Within two years, Feld created a second unit equal in size, scope and quality. Over the years they hired Gunther Gebel-Williams, the popular German animal trainer and in 1968, Feld created Clown College to train new generations in the art of clowning.

In 1970, Kenneth Feld joined Ringling Bros., learned the craft of production and took over after his father Irvin’s death on September 6, 1984 and looked for new opportunities for expansion. We’ll come back to Kenneth in a few paragraphs.

The “Ice Capades” began life as halftime show. In 1940, John H. Harris, a Pittsburgh rink owner, noticed that his hockey crowds swelled when he booked a figure skater to perform between periods. Harris envisioned an ice carnival that would entertain crowds in rinks across America. He hired professional skaters, comedians, clowns, jugglers, barrel jumpers, and swarms of scantily-clad chorus girls. For the early Ice Capades shows, Harris borrowed liberally from vaudeville. He combined the words “ice” and “escapades” to come up with “Ice Capades”.

The first “Ice Capades” show premiered June 16, 1940 at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans and was a huge hit. One of the “Ice-ca-pets” (a scantily clad female ice skater) described it as “A Las Vegas show for the entire family.”

In 1949, “Ice Capades partnered with the Disney Studio to showcase a lengthy segment that would feature Disney characters. That first show featured “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” who appeared on the back of the program book. That partnership of having a Disney segment in the “Ice Capades” show lasted for many years with the segments ranging from adaptations of “Peter Pan” and “Cinderella” to a salute to Disneyland itself.

When Disneyland opened in 1955, Walt borrowed the Disney character costumes created for Harris’s “Ice Capades” for the festivities. Walt attended the productions, watching the Disney inspired segments closely, and even hired one of the top “Mickey Mouse” character performers at Disneyland, Paul Castle, after he saw him perform as “Dopey” in the 1958 “Ice Capades.” However, “Ice Capades” had a troubled future and some of those troubles were evident by the Sixties when it competed against other shows like the “Ice Follies”.

Seeing the success of the Disney characters at the New York World’s Fair in 1964, the Disney Company searched for another opportunity to showcase its characters which at that time could only be seen at Disneyland and created its own arena style show in 1969 entitled “Disney On Parade.” Gene Columbus, who was a long time stage manager for those productions, jokes today that it should have been called “Disney On Wood” since it faced the same challenges that ice shows did of loading into arenas and dealing with moving sets and performers across the country.

After several years, Card Walker determined that the show was not making a substantial profit and the challenges of mounting the show were more trouble than they were worth. Feld had taken over the failing “Ice Follies” in 1980. The “Ice Follies” audience was elderly, and Feld had an idea to reinvent it by making it kid- and family-friendly. After being turned away by Muppets creator Jim Henson because Feld had fired a friend of Henson’s, Feld approached The Walt Disney Company who initially weren’t interested. However, arrangements were finally made so there would be a touring show of Disney characters.

“Walt Disney’s World On Ice” premiered July 14, 1981 at a New Jersey arena and was an instant hit. That first show featured sixty skaters and four acrobats, and was a success. In 1986, “Disney On Ice” premiered its first international tour in Japan with “Happy Birthday Donald Duck.” Today, there are five North American and two international touring spectaculars that showcase almost four hundred skaters in over two thousand performances each year. Each group does a different show. It is estimated that over twelve million people see a “Disney On Ice” show during a year.

Vice President of Creative Development for “Disney on Ice” is Jerry Bilik who recalled the first “Disney on Ice” production twenty five years ago that was supposed to focus on “a parade of Disney characters.” To give the show an interesting storyline, Bilik created the premise that Pinocchio gets lost in Disneyland, and Geppetto goes looking for him, meeting various characters along the way.

“It’s not ‘Hamlet,’ but it worked,” he said.

That production was the first time an ice show “even thought of continuity,” Bilik says. “Before that, we were doing ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘Holiday on Ice.’ We were really bored.”

Bilik says the success of “Disney on Ice” productions is due not only to the sets and storylines that create a mood and theme, but to the skaters who make the show come alive. Unlike a typical ice revue, skaters in a Disney show often are required to act out the parts they are skating, he says, in addition to performing stunts and routines on the ice.

“The skaters are very self-motivated,” Bilik says. “When they have to act, they embrace it. They feel it’s a challenge. We can develop all the technical aspects of the show, but it’s the skaters’ skills that keep us going. They’re not out there coasting; they’re giving their all. The real show is not what we design but rather the crew and cast’s performance.”

Bilik is a talented fellow who not only arranges the music for the “Disney On Ice” shows but also writes and helps direct the shows. By the age of thirteen he had composed more than a hundred pieces of music from popular ballads to marches. He has also arranged music for television series including “Starsky and Hutch” and “Charlie’s Angels.”

The twenty-fifth anniversary show is very entertaining. “Disney presents Pixar’s The Incredibles in a Magic Kingdom Adventure” is the story of the Parr family (Bob, Helen, Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack) visiting the Magic Kingdom. Of course, the Parr family is in actuality “The Incredibles” and keeping their identities secret is difficult when they are made the Grand Marshals for the Main Street Parade and Syndrome has popped up to capture Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

The show will appear in sixty-five North American cities before heading overseas. While the show is very successful as another adventure of “The Incredibles” (and yes, Frozone and Edna Mode pop up as well), what made me smile were all the Magic Kingdom references. From recreating the Jungle Cruise to an experience in the Haunted Mansion to another in “It’s A Small World” (I knew those dolls could be a deadly menace given half the chance) to “Pirates of the Caribbean,” this is a wonderful choice for a storyline in a year when we are celebrating the birth of Disneyland.

Fans of “The Incredibles” will love the show but fans of Disneyland will love it as well whether they know “The Incredibles” or not.

The show is truly in keeping with Walt Disney’s philosophy of “family entertainment” where an entire family can share the experience and enjoy it on different levels. The kids certainly have fun helping rescue “The Incredibles” with their free “Incredi-Bands” (a special light up plastic wrist cuff).
While animated film director Brad Bird and Pixar seem to have had little input other than approving the script, the Feld creative team under the direction of Bilik captures the spirit of the characters and the spirit of visiting Disneyland.

As a special aside to you Disneyana collectors out there: Even if you don’t enjoy attending ice shows, you should probably check out some of the items that Feld Entertainment Consumer Products churns out to support these “Disney on Ice” shows. For their latest production, not only are there “The Incredibles” merchandise you won’t be able to find anywhere else, but also excellent Disney character-related merchandise. Take — for example — the icon for “Disney on Ice.” Which is Mickey Mouse in a black top hat.

For further information on this exclusive merchandise, I suggest you give Feld Entertainment Consumer Products a call at (866) 295-2706.

Before I close out this week’s “Wednesdays with Wade,” I want to give a special thanks to Disney Historian Jim Korkis. Jim (as regular readers of this site already know) is not only a big Disney fan, but he is also a big fan of Feld Entertainment. And I just want to thank Mr. Korkis for helping me out with this week’s article by providing me with some additional information about Disney and Feld history.

As he and I were exchanging e-mails during the research phase for this week’s JHM column, Jim wrote that:

“One of the fondest memories I will ever have in my entire life is when I took my mom and dad to see Feld’s ‘Princess Classics’ in Orlando. It was the last time my mom and dad were both alive together and they sat in the back row holding hands like teenagers and just being amazed at the beauty and entertainment. At intermission, my mom said, ‘That was so wonderful. I could watch it all again!’

I had to tell her it was only intermission and there was an entire second act for her to enjoy.

The Feld staff that I have dealt with over the years are not only top professionals but caring individuals who really capture the magic and quality of Disney for family audiences. They have given my family and I much joy over the years. Their latest show is just another example of a special treat that too many Disney fans are missing because they don’t know how great an experience it really is.”

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