General

My, What Big Ears You Have

Disney CEO Michael Eisner insists that he’s now listening to what the Walt Disney Company’s critics have to say. Jim Hill really wants to believe him … but has trouble overlooking Mickey’s past hearing problems.

Published

22 years ago

September 23, 2002

Jim Hill

Tired of continually getting hammered by the company’s critics, Disney CEO Michael Eisner went on the offensive earlier this month.

A PR offensive, that is.

With the hope that he might be able to get some positive buzz going about his beleaguered corporation, Uncle Michael has reportedly been speaking with influential business analysts. His message for Disney stockholders? “I understand your concerns. I hear what you’re saying. And I and the rest of the senior staff at the Walt Disney Company are doing everything we can to turn this unfortunate situation around.”

According to several unnamed sources who’ve heard Eisner’s spiel, Michael supposedly starts out by talking up Disney’s recent accomplishments: The 21 million viewers who tuned in to ABC last Tuesday night to catch the “sneak preview” of John Ritter’s new sitcom, “8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.” The 5 million units of “Monsters, Inc.” that were sold in a single day last week – the new one-day-sales record for the home video & DVD industry.

Uncle Michael then allegedly goes on to identify some of the Mouse House’s trouble spots, but – in each case – immediately identified what Disney is doing to address these problems.

The business world’s concerns about Disney’s far-too-cozy board of directors? Eisner reportedly outlined the tough new governance rules that he and the Board are about to adopt. By cutting back on the number of actual voting members as well as upping their independence, Uncle Michael hopes that Disney will soon have one of the best Board of Directors in Corporate America.

As for ABC’s rating woes, Eisner supposedly insists that a “process is in place” to turn the troubled network around. (To his credit, Uncle Michael has reportedly told business analysts that they shouldn’t expect all of ABC’s programming ills to be cured overnight. That it may take a number of months before the currently fourth-place network to claw its way out of the Nielsen cellar.)

And that alleged 10% fall-off in advance bookings for the Walt Disney World resort (In comparison to September 2001’s advance bookings)? Eisner reportedly admitted that things were softer than he would have liked down at Lake Buena Vista. But Uncle Michael then attributed this fall-off in advance bookings at Disney World to a number of outside factors. I.E. Tourists – in the wake of the September 11th attacks – still being afraid to fly. The world’s continuing economic woes. Not to mention continuing international unease as a result of the U.S. threatening to go to war with Iraq. All of which have a continuing dampening effect on people’s travel plans.

Eisner then reportedly said that recent WDW guest exit polls revealed that most people still believe that visiting Walt Disney World is a great vacation value. And – once this cloud of uncertainty lifts – tourists will undoubtedly come flocking back to Orlando. Particularly once Epcot’s “Mission: Space” attraction gets up and running.

Those who’ve actually heard from Eisner say that Uncle Michael gave a masterful performance. That Eisner eloquently puts across the message that “Things aren’t as bad as our critics would like you to think they are. Disney’s stock price may be depressed right now, but we’re poised for a comeback.” In short, Disney’s CEO supposedly told these business analysts: “I hear what you’re saying. I understand your concerns. Trust me.”

Well, forgive me if I’m a wee bit skeptical here. But – as nice as it is to hear that Eisner is reportedly trying to repair his relationship with Disney’s stockholders – I can’t help but offer up a somewhat awkward question. As in: Is Michael Eisner REALLY listening to what shareholders (who have been among his most vocal critics lately) have to say about what they think has gone wrong with the Walt Disney Company? Or is Uncle Mikey just saying what he hopes we want to hear?

I mean, historically, the higher ups at Walt Disney Company has had a bit of a hearing problem. Particularly when it comes to criticism. Even criticism that comes from INSIDE the organization. You wanna work at a place “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word”? Never mind about a “Home on the Range.” Get yourself a job in the executive suite at the Team Disney building in Burbank.

Take – for example – ABC’s over-exposure of its former ratings powerhouse, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” ABC’s own programming department reportedly warned Eisner & Co. that even the most sedentary of couch potatoes wasn’t going to sit still for four nights of Regis Philbin. Yet Disney’s executives – anxious to cash in on this incredibly-inexpensive-to-produce game show (More importantly, to cut back on the cost of developing new programming for ABC) – ran “Millionaire” right into the ground. A show that could have potentially run for years yet to come got burned out, its audience totally turned off, in just over two seasons.

Never mind that TV critics – in addition to ABC staffers – decried this programming decision as soon as ABC originally announced it back in May 2000. Disney executives downplayed the controversy, insisting that they knew what they were doing.

Those uninformed nay sayers who were criticizing the Mouse’s programming decision? They couldn’t see the bigger picture. The tens of millions of dollars that ABC saved at the start of the 2000 – 2001 season by making more episodes of “Millionaire” rather than ordering up new sitcoms or dramas that could potentially have ridden Regis’ coat tails to ratings success.

But those ABC senior programming execs (And – more importantly – the Disney Company executives who hired them) didn’t (or is it “wouldn’t”?) listen to their critics. Which is why they all seemed so stunned when “Millionaire”‘s ratings suddenly tanked in early 2001 … And why – even to this day – that network is still struggling to fill huge gaps in its schedule. All because Disney execs couldn’t bring themselves to heed their critics. The ones inside the company as well as outside.

But – hey – it’s not like the Walt Disney Company’s hearing problem is a recent occurrence. Senior Imagineers will tell you (off the record, of course) that they repeatedly tried to make the folks in the Team Disney building (Both the Anaheim as well as the Burbank branch) aware of their concerns about “Disney’s California Adventure.” But Mouse House execs just refused to listen to them.

“I mean, think about it, Jim,” said one unnamed WDI guy to me just the other day. “Eisner & Co. wanted to change Anaheim into Orlando. A destination resort where people could come and stay & spend money for three or four days at a time.”

“Which is all well & good. Except that Anaheim isn’t Orlando. The out-of-state versus locals mix down there is roughly 85% out-of-state visitors, 15 % Florida residents. Out here, the locals to out-of-state visitors ratio is more along the lines of 65% Southern California residents, 34% out-of-state tourists.”

“You see what I’m saying here, Jim? The Walt Disney Company relies on regular visits from Southern California residents in order to keep attendance levels high at the Disneyland Resort. So what does Disney do when it tries to turn Anaheim into a destination resort? It builds a California-themed theme park – a place with limited appeal to SoCal residents. DCA – at least in its original incarnation – was doomed, Jim. Virtually from the moment that Disneyland opened its preview center.”

“And we tried to warn them, Jim. We argued ’til we were blue in the face. But the suits wouldn’t listen to us. They just seemed to think that giving Southern Californians the opportunity to eat Wolfgang Puck’s pizza while looking out at the lights of Paradise Pier was going to be enough to put that place over the top. That the locals would have no choice but to love DCA.”

Well, we all know how THAT decision turned out, don’t we? (To be fair, it should be noted here that the Walt Disney Company does appear to have learned from the mistakes it initially made with DCA. That the corporation did move fairly quickly to try and turn this troubled theme park around. And that – with next month’s official opening of “Flik’s Fun Fair” – “Disney’s California Adventure” is taking a big step toward ridding itself of its kid unfriendly reputation.)

It should also be noted here that – according to some of the Walt Disney Company old timers that I’ve spoken with – that the Eisner regime has historically had a bit of a hearing problem. That almost from the moment that “Team Disney” came to power back in September 1984, that these “Hollywood hotshots” didn’t want to listen to what their more experienced, Mouse House elders had to say.

To my knowledge, the most extreme example of younger Disney executives ignoring the advice of the company’s senior staffers is associated with the Disneyland Paris Resort. Back in the early 1990s, a friend of mine – the editor of an unnamed Disney history magazine – was interviewing Admiral Joe Fowler, the guy who actually oversaw construction of the Walt Disney World resort back in the 1960s. The interview seemed to be going great until my pal brought up the subject of the then-floundering Euro Disney resort.

Admiral Joe turned crimson, then told what’s-his-name to turn off his tape recorder. Fowler then leaded forward and said “I could have told those dumb bastards that building a Disney theme park just outside of Paris was a bad idea. Do they think that we pulled the location for Walt Disney World out of our ass? No, sir. We traversed the globe looking for the exact perfect spot to build another Disneyland. Including Marne la Vallee.”

“I could have told those idiots that it gets too cold there, that the wind’s just too fierce there for an outdoor entertainment venue. But those arrogant SOBs … They probably didn’t even looked at all the research that we did back in the early 1960s. I’m sure that all that stuff is still in a filing cabinet somewhere in Glendale. But those new guys … They just think that they know it all.”

“Building all those hotels, right outside of Paris. What a bunch of idiots!”

Think of the millions that the Walt Disney Company would have saved (not to mention all the aggravation that they could have avoided) if they had just bothered to listen to Admiral Joe Fowler. If someone had just gone down into the basement at WDI and pulled out the appropriate file.

You see I’m saying here, Mr. Eisner? A TV show could have been saved. A theme park as well as an entire resort could have avoided massive problems. All if Disney’s executives had been willing to listen – REALLY listen – to its critics. And not just the very vocal people that you’ll find outside of your corporation. But the critics that you have INSIDE the Walt Disney Company.

So Mr. Eisner … If you really ARE trying to turn over a new leaf here, trying to prove to the world that you’ve become that rarest-of-rare things – a CEO who actually listens … NOW might be a good time to strap on an extra big pair of mouse ears. So that you can really hear what people outside of the corridors of power at the Team Disney Burbank building are actually saying.

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

10 years ago

June 10, 2015

Jim Hill

Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.

Photo by Jim Hill

Take — for example — all of "The Secret Life of
Pets" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's "Minions," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.

Photo by Jim Hill

And Warner Bros. — because they wanted "Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.

Photo by Jim Hill

That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for "The Peanuts Movie"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.

Photo by Jim Hill

And fan of Blue Sky's "Ice Age" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.

Photo by Jim Hill

Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble-style.

Photo by Jim Hill

I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.

Photo by Jim Hill

I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out a
post-Muppets identity for itself.

Photo by Jim Hill

Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation (what with all the layoffs & write-downs &
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.

Photo by Jim Hill

Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: "Angry Birds," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis —
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with production of Genndy Tartakovsky's
"Popeye" movie. But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.

Photo by Jim Hill

And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.

Photo by Jim Hill

"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's Licensing
Expo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.

Photo by Jim Hill

I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.

Photo by Jim Hill

And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.

Photo by Jim Hill

And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."

Photo by Jim Hill

And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess and Disney Fairies franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."

Photo by Jim Hill

One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.

Photo by Jim Hill

Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.

Your thoughts?

General

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

Published

10 years ago

June 9, 2015

Jim Hill

You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?

Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park (especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary), he looks & dresses like this.

Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.

Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior rolls out "Mickey and the
Roadster Racers," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.

That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.

Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park's "World of Color:
Celebrate!" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Goldberg really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.

Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.

"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in 'Fantasia.' "

"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THE Mickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"

Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.

"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."

But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.

"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."

And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.

"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.

Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.

"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."

So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came to
making sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?

"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators AND the fans are happy, then I'm happy."

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015