General

Wednesdays with Wade: Lillian Disney, the woman behind the man

Wade Sampson shares an article from a 1953 issue of McCalls, where Lillian looks back on the life that she shared with Walt Disney

Published

19 years ago

March 7, 2006

Jim Korkis

Since March is “Women’s History Month,” I thought I would use this column to spotlight the woman behind the legend, Lillian Disney. Lillian Disney, the widow of legendary animator and filmmaker Walt Disney, died peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday December 16th 1997. Lillian passed away at her home in West Los Angeles at the age of 98 following a stroke that she suffered early in the morning of December 15th. Ironically, Walt Disney died thirty-one years earlier, early in the morning of December 15, 1966.

She was born Lillian Bounds on an Indian Reservation in Spalding, Idaho on February 15, 1899 (for years she kept the year of her birth secret since she was almost two years older than Walt). As the tenth and last child of Jeanette Short Bounds and Willard Pehall Bounds, Lillian grew up in Lapwai, Idaho on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. Her father worked for the government as a blacksmith and federal marshal.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1923 to join her older sister Hazel. A friend of her sister was working at the fledgling studio of Walt Disney, and told Lillian about a job opening there working for Walt Disney inking animation cels. Approximately two years later, Lillian and Walt were married on July 13, 1925 in Lewiston, Idaho by Reverend D.J.W. Somerville, Rector Protestant Episcopal Church of the Nativity with Hazel Sewell and Sydney Bounds as witnesses.

For the next 41 years, Lillian was content to quietly remain in the background, raise two daughters (Diane and Sharon), tend to her garden, play cards with her friends and constantly challenge almost every decision Walt made from producing an animated feature to creating the first theme park.

Following the death of Walt on December 15th 1966, Lillian became quite active in a variety of charitable programs, with primary emphasis toward the support of children and the arts. Mrs. Disney helped found the California Institute of the Arts, a school that has since produced many of the industry’s best animators including John Lasseter. She also operated a charitable foundation, donating to many causes, including a $100,000 gift to the Nez Perce Indians to help in the purchase of tribal artifacts in 1996.

In May 1987, Lillian made a landmark gift of $50 million to the Music Center of Los Angeles County to build a world-class concert hall for the city. The Walt Disney Concert Hall, opened in 2003 nearly six years after her death, is the permanent home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the fourth venue of the Music Center.

Lillian was credited as having named Mickey Mouse, when on a train ride with Walt from New York to Los Angeles. Following Walt’s death, Lillian remarried three years later to John Truyens, only to be widowed again in 1981 when she reverted back to using the “Disney” last name.

“We shared a wonderful, exciting life, and we loved every minute of it. He was a wonderful husband to me and a wonderful and joyful father and grandfather. I am distressed to learn of a new book about Walt that actually invents incidents that never happened,” said the normally shy Lillian on the publication of Marc Eliot’s error-ridden book, “Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark Prince.”

Lillian was survived by one daughter (Diane) as well as ten grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren. There was no funeral service . Like Walt, she was cremated and her ashes were interred just below Walt’s in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale.

On December 17, 1997, her nephew Roy E. Disney issued the following statement:

“This really is the end of an era for the Disneys, and it’s ironic and somehow fitting that it should be at this time of the year…Walt, in 1966, my dad in 1971, my mother in 1984, and now Lily have all gone during the 10 days before Christmas. She was a great lady, full of laughter and fun and always prepared to speak the truth, tough and loving at the same time. Once you knew her, you’d never forget her. I always thought of the four of them…Walt and Roy, Lily and Edna…as true pioneers…if life had required them to pull the wagon train across the country, they’d have done it…and done it better than anyone. I’m pretty sure that the four of them are together somewhere now, having a wonderful time.”

Here is an excerpt from “I Live With a Genius” by Mrs. Walt Disney (as told to Isabella Taves) from “McCalls” magazine from February 1953:

“My husband deals in myths. One of the myths which surrounds him, and which he takes great pains to perpetuate, is that he is Mickey Mouse at heart – shy, gullible, henpecked. Walt is always telling people how henpecked he is. Last summer, appearances seemed to support him when he took five women to Europe with him – me; our two daughters, Diane and Sharon; a school friend of Diane’s; and our niece. But it was all his own idea, and he loved it. I was the only one who had trouble. By the time we landed back on American soil, what with two months of counting noses and luggage, I was a wreck. A sharp young reporter asked me, “Aren’t you nervous, Mrs. Disney?” And I, who have made a career out of not talking to the press, fixed everything up fine by answering, ‘Who wouldn’t be, married to Walt Disney?’

I never expect to live down that remark. It is going to be one of those stories about poor Lilly (my maiden name was Lillian Bounds) that the whole family will tell and retell for years. So I must say, in protective explanation, that I wouldn’t have missed one minute of the twenty-seven years I have been married to Walt Disney. I’m proud of my husband and what he has done – but I’m even prouder that along the way, in bad times and good, he has never lost his sense of humor or his zest for life.

Being married to Walt Disney is never dull. There have been plenty of times when I felt as though I were attached to one of those flying saucers they talk about. Being female, I maintain that Walt’s imagination flies so high he naturally sees a little farther than the rest of us. But, although Walt has been right a number of times when we have been wrong, we don’t encourage him by admitting how smart he is to his face. We work on the premise that Walt may be a genius but any genius, especially Walt Disney, is wild-eyed and needs a practical family to watch over him.

I’m the original worry wart about Walt’s ideas. He always tries them out on me. Although I may not classify as Walt Disney’s best friend (a colorless thing for a wife to be, anyway) I am sure I can as his severest critic. I always look on the dark side. Maybe once in a while I have been right and have saved him from mistakes–but I also remember the time Walt was making his first full-length picture, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.’ And I tried to stop him because I didn’t think people would go to see a picture about dwarfs!

When he decided to build a new house a few years ago, Walt began making plans to run the track for his miniature train all through the grounds. It is a wonderful hobby for him. He has built much of it himself, and it has been a fine diversion and safety valve for his nervous energy. As for me, an hour or two of backing and switching is all I can take at a time, even though Walt tried to console me by naming the locomotive ‘Lilly Belle’ after me.

However, I wasn’t being entirely selfish when I argued against having the railroad on our grounds. In the first place, although Walt adores the train now, I am not sure his enthusiasm will continue after he has done everything possible to it. And putting up miniature tracks entails a formidable outlay of money, because there has to be so much expensive grading. In the second place our girls are growing up. When they marry we may not need or want such a big house. And if we should ever decide to sell our house there won’t be many prospective buyers who’ll want a place with a yard full of railroad track.

So the girls and I, using our best female wiles, tried to persuade Father to keep his train at the studio, where he could play with it at noon and run it all over the lot to entertain visiting firemen. (Some of Walt’s guests are literally firemen, from the Santa Fe.) Walt said little. But one night, just as we were ready to okay final plans for the house, he brought home a formidable legal document. ‘Sign, or no house,’ he told us.

We almost fell out of our chairs. He had had his lawyer draw up a right-of-way contract for his railroad through the property, a contract exactly like those used by regular commercial lines. It had taken hours to do, and was so technical we couldn’t wade through it. Pretty soon all three Disney females caught on that they were beaten and might as well laugh about it. We were quite prepared to put our names on the dotted line, when Walt picked up the contract and said he’d trust us.

Actually I owe that train a debt of gratitude. Not too many years ago Walt came close to a nervous breakdown simply from overwork. No matter what plans I made for the weekend, we would always end up at the studio. He couldn’t get it out of his mind. And when he tried sports he worked so hard at them that he only got more tense. When we were first married he decided golf was the answer. Instead of playing it like a normal person he got up at 4:30 in the morning to get it out of the way before he had to be at the studio. He talked about the dew on the grass and the sunrise until I decided to take up golf with him. But we never went far. Walt would fly into such a rage when he missed a stroke that I got helplessly hysterical watching him.

Now Walt has something to interest him that doesn’t drive him crazy. He stays home weekends. Once in a while he even comes home early to run the train a while before dinner. He also loves to entertain visitors who are really interested in it. A certain select few who have shown true enthusiasm have been given cards signed by Walt designating them as vice-presidents of the road.

The story starts more than twenty seven-years ago, when I was a visitor in Hollywood from Lewiston, Idaho, and got a job working for Walt. He and Roy had a studio back of a real estate office and were making shorts called ‘Alice in Cartoonland.’ A girl friend of my sister was filling in celluloids (one of the processes of animation) and told me they needed someone else. I got the job at $15 a week.

At that time Walt and Roy weren’t allowing themselves much more, for nearly everything they made went into the pictures or to pay back money Walt borrowed to start the business. They lived together in a tiny walk-up apartment, with Roy doing the cooking. I’ve always teased Walt that the reason he asked me to marry him so soon after Roy married Edna Francis, a Kansas City girl, was that he needed somebody to fix his meals. But I have one comforting thought. Food isn’t that important to Walt.

Walt would get involved in working out some idea and forget to turn up until ten or eleven at night. Once, soon after we were married, Walt did the same thing to me. When it came dinnertime he wandered out of the studio to the corner beanery for a bowl of soup and then right back to the studio to continue with his idea. It wasn’t until far into the night that he woke up to the fact he had a bride at home who had cooked dinner and was waiting to throw it in his face when he turned up.

I quit work when we married. Walt loves all animals – he won’t even let the gardener and me put out traps for the little ones that are garden pests – but when he created Mickey Mouse there was no symbolism or background for the idea. He simply thought the mouse would make a cute character to animate.

Everybody helped Walt. Roy was Jack-of-all-trades, and Edna and I stopped being ladies of leisure and filled in celluloids. We worked night and day. We ate stews and pot roasts which luckily were cheap in those days. We were down so low that we had a major budget crisis one night when I tripped on the garage stairs and ruined my last pair of silk stockings. Then when we had finished three Mickeys we had an even worse blow. Nobody was interested in them because talkies had just come in and the theaters wanted shorts with sound.

One of the curious things about Walt is that he is more often recognized abroad than he is at home. In South America once they made such a fuss over him at a movie theater that I got separated from him. Crowds scare me a little, because I am only five feet tall. All I could think of to do was to follow the man in front of me. I was ready to follow him into the men’s room when the manager of the theater, alerted by Walt, saved me.

The first time Walt ever saw one of his cartoon shorts in a theater was two years later, just before we were married. My sister and I were visiting a friend that night, so Walt decided to go to the movies. A cartoon short by a competitor was advertised outside, but suddenly, as he sat in the darkened theater, his own picture came on. Walt was so excited he rushed down to the manager’s office. The manager, misunderstanding, began to apologize for not showing the advertised film. Walt hurried over to my sister’s house to break his exciting news, but we weren’t home yet. Then he tried to find Roy, but he was out too. Finally he went home alone. Every time we pass a theater where one of his films is advertised on the marquee I can’t help but think of that night.

Despite all the honors he has won and the fact he is an international figure, Walt is genuinely self-effacing. He likes to wander around almost anyplace the Farmer’s Market in Hollywood or the Third Avenue junk shops in New York, without being recognized. He has no use for people who throw their weight around as celebrities, or for those who fawn over you just because you are famous.

When our girls were little he made a point of not having Mickey Mouse toys around the house. The only ones they acquired were gifts from people outside the family. . Although he is one of the busiest men in Hollywood, he has never neglected his family for business. When the girls were young he would take as much time over a childish problem as he would over a studio crisis. I don’t think he has ever missed a swimming meet in which one of them took part, or a father-and-daughter dinner. He was simply beside himself with pride when Diane made her debut with a group of other girls and the fathers presented the girls. And I am flattered to say that, after twenty-seven years, he seems to want me around as much as when we were first married. He is actually hurt if I don’t go along with him on a business trip. And he spends as much time and thought on a present as though he were still courting me.

Some years ago I had been hounding him about a disreputable old hat he insisted on wearing. Walt has excellent taste in clothes, but he won’t take care of them. He ruins every suit he owns by coming through the kitchen when he gets home at night and filling his pockets with bologna and hot dogs for our nine-year-old French poodle, Dee-Dee. What he does with his hats I don’t know, but something equally gruesome.

Finally the disreputable hat vanished. I didn’t ask where – I was too pleased. But it turned up again on my birthday. Walt had had it copper-plated, the process they use on baby shoes to preserve them – and then filled it with brown orchids. It hangs in our projection room, and I feel very sentimental about it.

He works hard. He has high standards of taste, and he will never compromise. But applause goes in one ear and out the other. Past triumphs bore him; he is always too busy with future schemes. Right now he is planning a Disney television show, on which he will be his own master of ceremonies. He is working on a Disneyland amusement park to be built somewhere near Hollywood, with rides and displays and even live animals. And he is tossing around in his mind half a dozen ideas for feature-length cartoon pictures. These, of course, are always the greatest gambles, for each one takes years to make and involves millions of dollars.

I have a hunch that the reason Walt fails so rarely is that he isn’t afraid to take chances. If the worst possible should happen Walt could start all over again making pictures in a garage. I’m sure he wouldn’t waste time complaining. He might even get a kick out of it.”

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