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How Glen Keane & Mark Henn turned some of Disney’s most popular Princesses into toddlers

Published

13 years ago

on

Trish D. of Tallahassee, FL. wrote in to say:

I enjoyed reading today’s story about “Tangled Ever
After” and how Disney used all of its divisions to make the most of that
animated short. But what really intrigued about today’s article was the final
photo, which showed a shelf full of Disney Animator’s Collection Dolls. I
haven’t been to our local Disney Store in quite a while, so I’m unfamiliar with
this line of toys. What’s their story?

The Disney Animator’s Collection series of dolls can
actually be traced back to the Fall of 2009. When Mattel produced — as part of
its “Princess and The Frog” line of products — a
Princess Tiana-as-a-toddler-doll
that wound up being a very popular item that
holiday season.


Copyright Disney / Mattel. All rights reserved

The following year, when a Rapunzel-as-a-toddler-doll proved
to be one of the more popular “Tangled” -related items offered over
the 2010 holiday season …


Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

… Well, executives at the Disney Store couldn’t help but
notice. Which is why they then decided to create an entire line of dolls that
would reimagine Disney’s most popular princesses as toddlers. But to make sure
that this new product line was just as authentic as it could possibly be, the
Disney Store reached out to two modern masters of hand-drawn animation, Glen
Keane and Mark Henn.

And Glen and Mark were obviously the right guys for this
assignment. Given that — between the two of them — Keane and Henn had been supervising animators on seven of Disney’s most-beloved modern princesses
(Glen was the talent behind Ariel in “The Little Mermaid,” the title
character in “Pocahontas” and Rapunzel in “Tangled,” while
Mark helped create Belle in “Beauty and the Beast,” Princess Jasmine
in “Aladdin,” the title character in “Mulan” and Tiana in
“The Princess and the Frog”).

Mind you, to fill out
the Disney Animator’s Collection line, Keane and Henn agreed to make toddler
versions of characters that they themselves hadn’t originally animated. Among
them the title characters from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs“
& “Cinderella” as well as Briar Rose from “Sleeping Beauty.”


Glen Keane with the Princess Aurora doll from the Disney Animator’s Collection series.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

“But given that I knew Marc Davis — the Disney Legend
that had originally created Princess Aurora — and I knew the way that he drew
… Well, I thought that I could handle translating that character into a
toddler. Take the stylization of her hair that Marc had come up with for this
character and then make that work for a doll,” Glen recalled in a Fall
2011 interview with JHM.

“And since I was mentored by Eric Larson when I first
joined Walt Disney Animation Studios back in 1980 and Eric was the first
animator to work on the title character of ‘Cinderella’ for that film … Well,
that’s why I agreed to take on the assignment of designing the
Cinderella-as-a-toddler doll for this series,” Mark remarked.

And when it came to coming up with an authentic-looking
design for the toddler version of Snow White, Keane found a trip to WDAS’s ARL
(i.e. the Animation Research Library) most helpful.


Glen Keane’s drawing of Snow White as a
toddler. Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

“I had them pull a lot of the original concept art that
the Disney artists had originally created for this film back in the mid-1930s.
And there — on a yellowing piece of paper — I found some drawings for a
sequence that they’d discarded for this animated feature which showed Snow
White as a toddler right after her father the King had died,” Glen
remembered. “So I used those concept drawings as my jumping-off point when
I was designing the Snow-White-as-a-toddler doll.”

It was those research trips to the ARL that reminded Keane
& Henn of how far they’d come in the 30+ years that these two had worked
for the Mouse House.

“You gotta understand that — when you’re just starting
out as an in-betweener , when you’re learning your craft — you spend an awful
lot of time down in the morgue (that’s what we used to call the chicken wire
cage down in the basement of the old Animation Building where we kept all of
the drawings & concept art from Disney’s earlier features) looking at these
animation drawings for reference and for inspiration,” Mark explained.
“So to see these drawings again after all these years, to smell that same
old smell of the old paper that Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas & Freddy
Moore drew on … That was kind of a time warp.”


Mark Henn back in 1991 working on Princess Jasmine on Disney’s
“Aladdin.” Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

But — if these two had to be honest — Keane & Henn’s
favorite part of working on the Disney Animator’s Collection series of doll was
getting the chance to revisit characters that they themselves had helped
create.

“When you work on a film like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ or
“Aladdin,’ you literally spend years working on characters like Belle and
Princess Jasmine. So they kind of become like members of your family. But once
production of that movie is complete, you then have to send that character out
into the world. And you then rarely if ever get the chance to revisit or
interact with them again,” Mark said. “That’s what’s been so great
about this collaboration with the Disney Store. They’ve given me the chance to
go back & dust off these characters, talk to them again.”

“Of course, the real challenge of a project like this
was to find the toddler version of some of these characters. I mean, take
Pocahontas. Here’s this tall confident woman with long beautiful legs. How do
you take a character like that and translate her to toddler form — with those
big eyes and a chubby little belly — and still make this doll recognizable as
Pocahontas?,” Glen mused.


Glen Keane’s concept drawing and the Disney Store’s finished version of
the Pocahontas Animator’s Collection doll. Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

In Keane’s case, he didn’t have to look all that far for
reference material. Given that his daughter Claire (who works as a story artist
and designer at Walt Disney Animation Studios) has a three year-old daughter,
Matisse.

“Given that she provided a lot of the inspiration for
Rapunzel-as-a-baby in ‘Tangled,’ it was great for me to be able to circle back
on Matisse and then hold her in my lap as I drew her little pushed-out lips. I used my own granddaughter for inspiration as I tried to turn these Disney
Princesses into toddlers,” Glen laughed.

Which is actually kind of fitting. Given that — when Keane
was Ariel’s supervising animator on “The Little Mermaid” — he used
his wife Linda as inspiration for that character. Likewise when Henn was
struggling to get a handle on how Princess Jasmine should look in
“Aladdin,” he used his sister Beth’s high school photograph as a
jumping-off point for that character.


Mark Henn’s sister, Beth Allen Henn. Copyright
Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

“That’s the real key to a truly successful character.
You have to make them seem real to the audience,” Keane said. “Take
— for example — this scene in ‘The Little Mermaid’ which captures this
beautifully. Ariel has just run into this room, thinking that Prince Eric is
going to marry her. She’s hiding behind this column, her fingers are trembling,
you can see her breath going in and out. That scene was a real break-through on
that movie because — thanks to Mark’s beautiful animation — Ariel wasn’t just
this series of drawings anymore. She became this character that the audience
genuinely cared about. Who your heart ached for when you found out that Prince
Eric was planning on marrying Vanessa instead of Ariel.”

As you can see, Keane and Henn have kind of a mutual
admiration society going here. Which is what you might expect from two guys who
have worked together on multiple animated projects at the same studio over the
past 30 years. But then again, Glen & Mark also had kind words for the
folks from the Disney Store that they worked with on the Disney Animator’s
Collection doll series.

“I kept figuring — each time they’d then bring us the
prototypes — that this would be it. That it would now be time to put the
Animator’s Collection dolls into production. But each time, the people from the
Disney Store would then ask ‘Is there anything else that we can do to make
these dolls better?’ And Mark & I would  give them our notes,”
Keane continued. “This must have gone on 6, 7, 8 times.  I don’t think that the Disney Store and Walt
Disney Animation Studios have ever worked as closely together as we have on
this particular line of dolls.”


Glen points out some of the detail work on the finished version of the Pocahontas-as-
a-toddler doll. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

And if you’d like to see for yourself how this collaboration
turned out, Trish D … Well, I suggest that you make a special trip to
Tallahassee’s Disney Store. Which currently has the entire line of Disney
Animator’s Collection dolls on sale.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Since I conducted this interview with Glen
and Mark back in November of last year, the animation community was obviously
rocked by Mr. Keane’s decision to leave Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Now I know that a lot of people online have used this
occasion as an excuse to bitch and moan about what’s going on behind-the-scenes
at WDAS / complain bitterly how the Studio could let a huge talent like Glen
Keane just walk away like that.


“Family Circle” creator Bill Keane (1922 – 2011)

But you have to remember that Glen is a guy in his late 50s
who had a pretty serious health scare four years ago. Not to mention losing his
father — “Family Circle” cartoonist Bill Keane  — last November.

It’s moments like these that make a man reassess the path
that he’s on. And if Keane has decided to step away from WDAS so that he can
finally work on his long-gestating passion project (which is reportedly an
animated version of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. Which — given that Walt Disney
Animation Studios is unlikely to put another “Fantasia” follow-up
into production anytime soon — won’t be funded with Mickey’s Moolah) … Well, I say
more power to him.

Besides, given that Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston both
retired from Walt Disney Animation Studios on January 31, 1978 and then spent
the next 25 years writing books about Disney animation, speaking at events like
the Official Disneyana Convention, being interviewing for Special Features on
VHSs , DVDs and Blu-rays,  attending signings
at the Disney Store and the Disney Gallery, consulting for The Walt Disney
Company and Pixar Animation Studios … Well, I suspect that — should he chose
to — Glen can have the exact same sort of retirement that Frank & Ollie did.


(L to R) Glen Keane, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas and Mark Henn in a
1988 photo celebrating Mickey Mouse’s 60th anniversary.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

But as for right now … Given that Keane seemed to
genuinely enjoy collaborating with the Disney Store on its Animator’s
Collection series of dolls, I’d suggest that other arms of the Company
discreetly reach out and see if Glen is up for tackling any other Mouse-related
projects.

I’d especially urge the folks at Disney Publishing to
contact Keane. Given that I’d love to see what’s in that book that Glen’s
allegedly been working on for the past 8 years.

Your thoughts?






Related Topics:

Jim Hill is an entertainment writer who has specialized in covering The Walt Disney Company for nearly 40 years now. Over that time, he has interviewed hundreds of animators, actors, and Imagineers -- many of whom have shared behind-the-scenes stories with Mr. Hill about how the Mouse House really works. In addition to the 4000+ articles Jim has written for the Web, he also co-hosts a trio of popular podcasts: “Disney Dish with Len Testa,” “Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor” and “Marvel US Disney with Aaron Adams.” Mr. Hill makes his home in Southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife Nancy and two obnoxious cats, Ginger & Betty.

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General

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

Published

9 years ago

on

June 23, 2015

By

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


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. 

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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

on

June 10, 2015

By

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?

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General

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

Published

10 years ago

on

June 9, 2015

By

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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights
reserved

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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

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.' "


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"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.


Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"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.


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

"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?


Copyright Lucasfilm / Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"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

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