General

Introducing … Dale Ward’s Mouse FACTory

Wondering what went on this week in Disney-related history? Let JHM’s newest contributor fill you in on some of the more significant dates as well as the intriguing bits of trivia.

Published

20 years ago

April 20, 2005

Jim Hill

Hello and welcome to what I hope will be the first of many “Mouse FACTory” reports.

The following is a look back at this week in Disney history. It’s not surprising that spring is a busy time for a major entertainment corporation like the Walt Disney Company. After a long, hard winter, the country is beginning to thaw and people are ready for a change.

But even for Disney, this is a pretty significant week. Take — for instance — all the interesting stuff that happened on:

Significant Dates this Week

April 18th

April 18, 1983 — At 7:00 a.m. the Disney Channel begins its first broadcast day with an episode of “Good Morning Mickey”, showcasing classic Disney cartoons. The channel has 18 hours of programming a day for the first three and a half years. Twenty-four hour programming begins in December of 1986.

April 18, 1994 — “Beauty & the Beast: A New Musical” officially opens at the Palace Theater in New York. Disney’s musical includes all of the songs from the Academy Award winning film as well as “Human Again,” a new number that had originally been cut from the film’s score. Working with lyrcist Tim Rice, Alan Menken wrote several new songs for the Broadway production.

This popular play, now in its 11th year, holds the record for sixth longest running Broadway play. With approximately 4500 performances under its belt, “Beauty” only needs to run 7 or 8 more years to replace “Cats” as longest running play. (Can you see the headlines? Mouse finally catches “Cats” “Disney beats Cats”, etc.)

April 18, 1998 — To celebrate Disney Channel’s 15th birthday, Toon Disney is launched. The twenty-four hours of cartoon programming is targeted towards kids aged 2-11. This is where “The Disney Afternoon” went to die.

April 20th

April 20, 1946 – “Make Mine Music” debuts. While the war years were profitable for many Hollywood studios, it was a lean time for Disney. Since most of Walt’s animators enlisted or were drafted, production at the studio slowed down considerably. For the most part, the Disney Company got through the war making training films for various branches of the military.

To get some much needed cash after the war, Disney cobbles together “Make Mine Music,” a patchwork film consisting of 10 separate cartoon shorts. Nicknamed “the poor man’s Fantasia,” this mixed bag included “Casey at Bat,” “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at The Met” and “Peter & the Wolf.” Interestingly enough, “Make Mine Music” ‘s premiere was held in New York almost four months before the film’s general release.

April 22, 1964 – The 1964-1965 New York Worlds Fair Opens. Six hundred and twenty six acres of Queens known as Flushing Meadows became the site for the 1939/1940 Worlds Fair. New York Park Commissioner Robert Moses transforms what was once a dump site into an amazing and popular world showcase. It’s Moses dream to eventually build a huge beautiful park on this site once the fair is over. It didn’t happen.

To borrow a phrase from the boss, “Why For?” … Well, while the 1939/1940 fair is acclaimed as a monumental achievement, it wasn’t a financial success. Since the fair operated on a loss, the funding necessary to transform the fair grounds into a state-of-the-art park just wasn’t there. However, twenty years later, a small group of NYC businessmen want to try & hold another Worlds Fair on the Flushing Meadow site. Moses sees this as his last opportunity to build his dream park, so he agrees to head up the project.

In crunching the numbers, the fair committee finds it needs about 70 million people coming through the turnstiles in order for this project to be profitable. To reach those numbers, the fair will need 2 years of operating from April to October. The fair is submitted to the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), a governing body for Expos and they have issues with the plan.

Seattle is going to be the home of the 1962 Expo and — according to the BIE — a country can only have an Expo every 10 years. New York also planned to lease the space to exhibitors, another BIE no-no.

Moses takes his case to the media and the BIE resents the ploy. Not only do they deny New York’s sanction, they ask host nations to boycott the fair. Many nations are conspicuously absent but the loss is made up with US corporations looking to make an international impression. The Fair opens with 140 pavilions covering approximately one square mile.

A few years before the opening of the 1964 Worlds Fair, Walt is out offering the services of his company to American corporations who want to create a pavilion. His Imagineers think he’s nuts. The method to Walt’s madness is creating good relationships with big business while getting them to foot the bill for innovations he can use at Disneyland and beyond.

When the fair opens, Disney has four exhibits:

The State of Illinois’ “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”
General Electric’s “Progressland”
Ford Motor Company’s “Magic Skyway”
Pepsi/UNICEF’s “it’s a small world”

The attractions are four of the five top rides for the two year run of the Fair. “Mr. Lincoln,” “small world” and “Progressland” (AKA”The Carousel of Progress”) are moved to Disneyland pretty much intact. “Magic Skyway” doesn’t make it back whole, but a piece of it becomes “The Primeval World” diorama that can be seen from the Disneyland Railroad.

While most sponsors are happy with their participation, the 1964/65 New York Worlds Fair (just like its 1939/40 counterpart) loses money. Initial attendance projections of 70 million people prove to be highly optimistic. Give that the Fair’s overall attendance for its two years is actually closer to 57 million. If there hadn’t been a huge spike in attendance in the last few weeks, New York might still be footing the bill for the thing. Sadly, Robert Moses’ plan to turning Flushing Meadow into a beautiful park falls flat .. again.

April 22nd

April 22, 1998 — Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park opens at Walt Disney World. Everything about WDW’s newest theme park, including its trivia:

Size of park: More than 500 acres, five times the size of the Magic Kingdom. The “Kilimanjaro Safari” ride is larger than Disneyland

Parking Capacity: 6,000 cars

Attractions (on opening day): 13 attractions. DAK is separated into 5 lands: Camp Minnie-Mickey, Dinoland U.S.A., Africa, Safari Village, and the Oasis

Admission (on opening day): $42.14 for Adult; $33.92 for children

Initial construction Cost: $800,000,000

Keep on truckin’ : Sixty dump trucks of dirt were delivered to the DAK’s construction site every day for two years straight, equaling 4.4 million yards of dirt.

There’s one million sq. feet of rockwork to be found in this theme park. That’s twice the volume of the sculpting that was done on the Mt. Rushmore sculptures.

Employees: More than 4,500 people were hired to be members of Animal Kingdom’s original cast.

April 23rd

April 23, 1957 — Midget Autopia Opens. Disneyland’s “Autopia” was one of the most popular rides at the Anaheim theme park when it opened in July of 1955. Unfortunately, it seemed that two tracks aren’t enough to hold all of the moppets who were rarin’ to rear-end their friends & family. So Walt ordered that a third track be designed: A “Midget Autopia,” which would cater to the under five crowd.

The roadsters used in the “Midget Autopia” had two steering wheels and yet neither one makes any difference. Why? Because this Fantasyland attraction is really an outdoor dark ride on a track. No kiddie whiplash here. Instead of a noisy drive through a cloverleaf jungle, the ride is a slow Sunday drive along a country road, rolling past grassy berms and weaving through the countryside.

To make way for “it’s a small world” in 1966, the “Midget Autopia” was removed from Disneyland and sent to Walt’s boyhood home, Marceline, MO. The city of Marceline rebuilt the track and ran the ride for a few years. But maintenance became a problem and the ride eventually closed. When Disneyland opened their new “Autopia” in 2002, the Imagineers negotiated with Marceline and arranged for one of the cars to be returned. The now bronzed Midget vehicle stands as a statue along the new “Autopia” highway.

April 24th

April 24, 1989 — The All New “Mickey Mouse Club” show debuts on the Disney Channel. While some elements of the first “Mickey Mouse Club” are evident (themed days, dance numbers, the serials), these are not your father’s Mouseketeers. In fact, the performers on the show were never referred to as Mouseketeers and they skipped wearing the mouse ears as well. This Disney Channel exclusive runs for seven seasons and gives 34 kids the chance to sing, dance and perform. Among the future big name performers that appeared on this program were pop stars Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake as well as Keri Russell and Ryan Gosling (who eventually made names for themselves in movies and television).

This week’s birthdays

April 18th

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) – Leopold Stokowski was a character. He was born in London England in 1882 but he liked to make up the year he was born. His parents were native to England, yet he told the tale of his parents being Polish and Irish and somewhere, he picked up an undefined accent that sounded vaguely European. He was married to the rich and famous 3 times and he had a very public affair with Greta Garbo. In spite of his eccentricities, no one denied that Leopold loved music.

His first job was as organist at St. James Church in London. That gig got him invited to become the organist of St. Bartholomew’s in New York and he jumped the pond. While well liked for his exuberant performances, he was actually fired from the church for ending a service with Stars & Stripes Forever with the volume on the organ cranked. His first conductor job was a stand in when someone got sick. This led to a job as conductor of the Cincinnati Orchestra. From there he went to Philadelphia where he established himself as one of the preeminent conductors of the day.

A chance meeting with Walt Disney at a party led to Fantasia. Walt told Stokowski of his plans to make a cartoon using composer Paul Dukas Sorcerers Apprentice as the backdrop to a Mickey Mouse cartoon. The idea intrigued the conductor and he volunteered to come to the studio to conduct the piece. The visit snowballed into a feature film with Stokowski’s involvement every step of the way.

As a conductor, he was always controversial, Stokowski chose new music pieces and placed them next to old standards in concert. He rewrote certain pieces of compositions by Bach and others to better suit his needs. He was an inveterate tinkerer, moving entire sections of the orchestra to see how it changed the sound and always using the newest recording technology. He made over 600 sound recordings in his lifetime. Obviously an optimist, he signed a six year recording contract when he was 94. Stokowski died in 1977 at the age of 95.

Melissa Joan Hart – Sabrina the teenage witch was going to be a one shot character in an “Archie” comics parody of old monster movies in 1962, but she proved a little too popular for just a one-shot. She was introduced to the Riverdale regulars in 1968 and became an animated cartoon in 1971. In 1996, Showtime did a TV movie starring Melissa Joan Hart. The movie was picked up by ABC and turned into an anchor show for their Friday “TGIF” lineup and then moved to the WB. The witch gets around. Melissa turned 29 this week.

Eric Roberts – Star of ABC’s “Less Than Perfect” celebrates 49.

Rick Moranis – The SCTV alum who played Wayne Szalinski in Disney’s “Honey” trilogy: “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” (1989), “Honey, I Blew up the Kid” (1992) and “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves” (1997); turns 51

James Woods – Hades, God of the Underworld turns 58

Hayley Mills – In the early 60’s, Disney had two “it” girls: Annette Funicello and Hayley Mills. Hayley starred in “The Parent Trap” (1961), “In Search of the Castaways” (1962), “The Moon-Spinners” (1963) and “That Darn Cat” (1965). She turns 59

April 19th

Tim Curry – Probably best know for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Curry has voiced too many animated villains to count. For Disney, he’s voiced “Gargoyles,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Teacher’s Pet” and “Teamo Supremo.” He was also the voice of S.I.R for the now defunct “Alien Encounter” attraction at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

Clint Howard — I’m sure that — just once — Clint Howard would like to see an article or column that doesn’t mention that he’s Ron Howard’s younger brother. Sorry, but that’s not going to be this one. While I personally remember him as the kid who got to play with “Gentle Ben,” Clint was also the original voice of Roo in “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree” (1966), “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” (1968) and “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” (1974).

April 20th

Betty Lou Gerson (1914 – 1999) – The narrator of “Cinderella” (1950), and the voice of Cruella DeVil in “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (1961), Gerson’s extremely expressive voice made her a much sought after radio star and animation voice.

April 21st

Charles Grodin – While I’m sure it’s not the most taxing role he ever did, Grodin plays a wonderfully stodgy Left Brain in the “Cranium Command” show for the “Wonders of Life” pavilion at WDW’s Epcot. IMDB also says that Charles played an uncredited drummer in Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954). Can anyone tell me the scene that they might be talking about?

April 22nd

Flora Call (1868 – 1938) – A young Flora Call has a crush on Elias Disney but the older Elias was a rather tongue-tied man who couldn’t bring himself to court her. When Flora and her parents move from Kansas to Florida in 1884, Elias Disney moves as well. The two are finally married New Year’s Day 1888. The Disney’s have five children; Herbert, Ray, Roy, Walt and Ruth. The youngest son, Walt, becomes mildly famous for making some funny animal cartoons.

Joseph Bottoms – “When I volunteered for this mission, I never thought I’d end up playing straight man to a tin can.”– Lt. Charles Pizer, “The Black Hole” (1979). Bottoms turns 51

April 23rd

George Lopez – ABC’s funniest low-rider turns 44

Shirley Temple – In 1938, Walt Disney was given a special Oscar in recognition of “Snow White.” The Oscar had seven little Oscars in tow; a nod to the Seven Dwarves and the remarkable achievement of Hollywood’s first full length cartoon.

This one-of-a-kind trophy was presented by 10-year-old Shirley Temple. Who, like Mickey Mouse, had just saved a studio (I.E. 20th Century Fox) from bankruptcy. Shirley Temple was the number one box office draw in the country at that time. More to the point, the diminuative darling had been Hollywood’s top draw for the last 4 years; a feat which has never been duplicated. Which is Ms. Temple was probably Walt’s closest competitor when it came to prying the nickels and dimes from the piggy banks of Depression era kids.

Film footage of the “Snow White” Oscar presentation ceremony is fun to watch because Shirley is so much more at ease in front of the cameras than Walt is. In fact, Shirley advises Walt:”Relax, Mr. Disney”. Shirley will be 77.

Okay, that’s it for the debut of Dale Ward “Mouse FACTory.” If you liked this JHM column, be sure and sling a note at Jim and let him know. Hopefully — if enough positive notes come in — I’ll be back with another edition of this column next week.

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