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No more Mr. Nice Mouse?

Why is the Guest Relations staff at the Disney theme parks no longer bending over backwards to please Mickey’s pickier customers? Jim Hill explains why the Walt Disney Company abandoned its long standing customer service policy … then reveals that a change may already be in the works.

Published

22 years ago

on

I just got off the phone with my old pal, Eric C. Eric’s currently down in Orlando, wrapping up a 4-day trip to Walt Disney World with his wife and kids.

Eric C. gave me a ring today to pass along a somewhat bizarre experience that he and his family just had at the Magic Kingdom. It seems that Eric C. & Co. went to that theme park on Saturday. Which — because it was the very last weekend of the resort’s annual holiday celebration — was absolutely packed. Body to body everywhere.

Anyway … Eric and his family decided that they wanted to go check out the “Haunted Mansion.” So they made their way out to Liberty Square and discovered … a mob scene.

Now, we all know that the Walt Disney World Resort is famous for the ease in which it moves large numbers of people around. Which is why Eric was flabbergasted by what he saw once he and his family got to the Mansion.

“There was no cast member out in front of the attraction directing guests, Jim,” explained Eric. “Consequently, there was chaos. Pushing. Shoving. People cutting in line. Guests getting furious because they had spent 15 minutes waiting in line only to find that it was the ‘Fast Pass Only’ entrance. It got really ugly.”

So ugly that Eric actually decided to get out of line at the “Haunted Mansion” and begin directing traffic. Making sure that the “stand by” guests got in one line, the “Fast Pass” guests got in the other. Which — after a while — actually began to clear up the mob scene out in front of the attraction’s entrance.

After he’d been doing this for five minutes, Eric was finally joined by a harried Disney cast member — who then thanked my friend for pitching in and helping to get that unruly mob under control.

“You know, I really shouldn’t be doing your job for you,” Eric chided the cast member.

The cast member then apologized, explaining that the Magic Kingdom had been woefully understaffed for the entire holiday season. That WDW — as a result of yet another cost cutting initiative that had come down from corporate — hadn’t hired enough seasonal help to run the park properly this year.

“But that’s just awful,” said Eric to the cast member. “You guys aren’t supposed to cut corners. Disney’s the company that’s supposed to set the standard for everyone else.”

“Again, I’m sorry, sir,” said the cast member as he began directing guests outside of WDW’s “Haunted Mansion,” “But — if you want to lodge a formal complaint — I suggest you drop by City Hall.”

Which is just what Eric did. Fighting the crowds all the way back out to Main Street U.S.A. just so he could speak with the people at WDW Guest Relations about what had just happened. And their response was … well … tepid.

“I mean, the Guest Relations rep that I spoke with was thankful that I’d taken the initiative to personally try and straighten out that mess in front of ‘The Haunted Mansion,’ Jim,” Eric continued. “But beyond that, the people at the Magic Kingdom’s Guest Relations office couldn’t care less about my complaint about the park’s under-staffing. How unsafe it was. They just seemed to want me out the door again so they could get back to having their private conversation.”

“Getting that sort of attitude from WDW Guest Relations staff really surprised me, Jim,” Eric said. “I mean, what happened to all those Disney World employees who were supposed to go out of their way to try and make guests happy? Who’d bend over backwards just so that people could have a truly memorable experience on their vacation.”

This is where I had to break the bad news to Eric (who’s been living in Germany these past few years and — as a result — has missed out on a lot of the more recent changes at the Walt Disney Company): “The Mouse doesn’t do that anymore, Eric. A year or so, Disney decided that courtesy cost way too much. So they began telling the folks at Guest Relations to seriously cut back on the perks that they used to hand out to customers.”

Hard to believe, isn’t it? I mean, as recently as 2000, Disney’s Guest Relations Department was one of the world’s acknowledged leaders in customer service. Continually going above and beyond the call to try and make theme park guests happy.

Case in point: Nancy (AKA the woman who puts up with me and my infernal Disney-related writing) still talks about how — back in November 2000 — she was exiting one of the events at “Super Soap Weekend” when her purse suddenly burst open. And the entire contents of that purse began rolling down the steeply racked floor of the “Superstar Television” auditorium.

Within seconds, there were WDW cast members on their hands and knees over all that Disney-MGM theater. Looking under rows and rows of seats with flashlights, trying to gather up all of Nancy’s belongings.

She was so impressed by the extraordinary effort that the crew manning the “Superstar Television” auditorium had made on her behalf that Nancy actually dropped by Disney-MGM’s Guest Relations desk to commend them. Thanks to their quick thinking (one of the cast members actually physically held back the audience — that was itching to get into the next “Super Soap Talk Show” — so that the rest of the staff could make a complete check of the auditorium floor), these WDW cast members were able to recover every single item in Nancy’s purse save one: a single roll of 35MM film.

Upon hearing Nancy’s story, the Guest Relations rep at Disney-MGM excused herself, then disappeared into the back office. Moments later, she returned with a single roll of 35MM film. Which the Guest Relations rep then handed to Nancy to replace the one that had been lost in the “Superstar Television” auditorium.

This was typical of what Disney’s Guest Relations staffers used to do. Going that extra mile. Doing whatever they could to make the guests’ visit to the theme parks extra special. Making people like my Nancy a true believer in Disney Magic. All for the cost of a single roll of 35MM film.

Sadly, those days seem to be gone for good. Thanks to cost cutting measures that were put in place while Paul Pressler was still in power, now a guest like Eric C. who goes into the Guest Relations office at any Disney theme park looking to complain about and/or compliment something would be hard pressed to get much of anything out of the staffers there.

To hear one Disney Guest Relations vet (let’s call him Bort) tell it: “These days, you’d pretty much have to come in with a bleeding head wound — which you’d then have to prove was caused by Mickey himself — before we’re officially allowed to fork over so much as a coupon for a free ice cream bar.”

What brought on this radical change in Disney’s attitude toward the public? As mentioned earlier, cost savings did play a large part in this decision. But then there’s also the fact that the Walt Disney Company has grown tired of being taking advantage of by some extremely greedy guests.

Disneyana dealer extraordinaire Arlen Miller (AKA Dreamfinder) tells this great story (which he swears that he heard from a WDW Guest Relations vet) about the guest who tripped and fell while getting off the ferry at the Magic Kingdom a few years back. Within seconds, WDW cast members were all over this guy. Helping him to his feet, asking him if he was hurt, trying to find out if there was anything that they could do to turn this awful situation around.

The guest pointed out that he had tripped on a piece of uneven pavement right in front of the ferry’s off-loading ramp. So clearly Disney was at fault for his fall.

It was at this point that the crew of the WDW ferry said “Why don’t we take you over to our Guest Relations office and see if they can’t straighten this situation out?”

This gentleman then turned into the customer from Hell. WDW’s Guest Relations did everything they could to make this guy happy. They arranged for free admission to the park that day for him and his family. They also comped all of his meals for that day. And — when this gentleman turned up back at City Hall later that day complaining of stiffness because of his fall — they even arranged for a room for that night for this guy and his family at the Contemporary Resort.

You’d think that would be the end of the story, wouldn’t you? Well, it isn’t. WDW’s Guest Relations called the next morning … just to make sure that this guy was okay before he checked out. As it turns out, he wasn’t.

What was the problem this time? Evidently, the crack cleaning crew at WDW’s Contemporary Resort had left a single M&M out on the balcony. After he checked into the hotel the previous night, this problematic gentleman had stepped out on the balcony and discovered this M&M covered with ants. Which (he said) caused him to have horrible nightmares all night long about giant man-eating ants.

Long story short: In order to try and make this guy happy yet again, WDW Guest Relations gave him and his family another free day at the Magic Kingdom. They picked up the cost of all of the entire party’s meals that day. Disney even gave them another free night at the Contemporary (but not before sending a second cleaning crew through their new hotel room just before check-in, to make sure there were no nightmare-causing M&Ms left behind this time).

When this gentleman tried to continue his con for a third day, WDW Guest Relations politely but firmly told this guy that the party was over. With that, his party promptly packed up and left the Contemporary … then probably headed over to Sea World or Universal to see if they could run the same scam there.

You see, it’s people like this who took advantage of the system that made the folks back in Burbank feel that they were justified with cutting off the flow of freebies.

Mind you, the behavior of some obnoxious annual passholders hasn’t helped the situation either. I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve heard from Guest Relations staffers (both at WDW as well as the Disneyland resort) who gripe about that relatively small number of APers who continually *** and moan about everything.

“90%, 95% of the annual passholders are just great, Jim,” Bort (that veteran Disney Guest Relations staffer, remember?) said. “They’re nice people who come out to the parks just because they love the place, not because they’re looking to find fault.”

“But those 5% … they ruin it for everyone,” Bort continued. “They’re the ones who are constantly in City Hall complaining about something minor. Always raising a stink with the hope that we’ll eventually cave in and give them something to compensate for all of their alleged trouble.”

“It’s this small percentage of annual passholders who have given APers such a bad reputation, Jim,” Bort concluded. “They — and the scam artists — are the real reason that Disney Corporate told us to toughen up on the customers. Not to comp meals or hand out comp tickets as freely as we used to do in the past.”

Putting it plain and simply, the Walt Disney Company is doing everything it can to contain costs these days. But more importantly, the corporation is tired of being taken advantage of. Which is why the flow of freebies has slowed to a trickle.

Which is a shame. Because — if you were in the right place at the right time — sometimes WDW’s Guest Relations department could really pull some truly impressive rabbits out of its hat.

Case in point: It’s October 1996. The very start of WDW’s 25th anniversary celebration. Michelle (AKA the Fabulous Disney Babe) and I are still married at this time. And we had a half dozen or more of our friends in town — Jeff, Flo, James Alan, Bruce, Robert, Harold and Michael — who are all down at Walt Disney World that week expressly to take part in the first week of the anniversary festivities.

If I’m remembering correctly, there was some unfortunate mishap en route to the Magic Kingdom one afternoon. The ferry across Seven Seas Lagoon was temporarily out of service. Or the monorail broke down. Something like that. Either way, our group’s arrival at the theme park was unnecessarily delayed. So — while I tended to Alice in her stroller — Michelle popped into City Hall to complain.

To this day, I don’t know what exactly it was that Michelle said to the Guest Relations staff at the Magic Kingdom. All I know is that it must have been impressive. For she emerged from City Hall clutching a parade pass for the bench on the Liberty Square bridge.

“So what’s the big deal with the bench on the Liberty Square bridge?,” you ask. Well, when Disney is running a parade through the Magic Kingdom, they normally rope off this bridge (You know? The one that allows guests to move directly from the Hub down into the Colonial American themed section of the park?) for safety reasons.

So the only people that Disney ever allows to have stand on the Liberty Square bridge are those who have been awarded the golden ticket — (Oops. Sorry. My mistake. I guess I must have “Willy Wonka” on the brain. I caught that Gene Wilder classic on ABC this past Sunday night. It’s still a great movie. Anyway … ) — that parade pass.

Anywho … to gain access to the bridge, you actually have to escorted through the ropes by a WDW Guest Relations rep. Who — after making sure that your entire party is seated on the benches at the mid-point in the bridge — reclaims the pass and then disappears.

And after that … WDW’s 25th anniversary “Remember the Magic” parade began. Now picture this: You’ve got Cinderella Castle towering up over you. Not another tourist in sight. And — because you’re the only people in sight for a hundred feet or so — the characters and the parade performers have no choice but to come over and interact with you.

As you might imagine, it was a pretty magical moment. Particularly since the WDW parade crew has been taught that whoever is seated on the benches on the bridge must be treated like VIPs. My daughter, Alice (who was two at the time), has never had so many Disney characters come up and directly interact with her. After a while, she actually began to get overwhelmed by all the individual attention and began covering her eyes. As if to say: “Thank you very much. That’s enough parade. I’m full now.”

These are the sorts of perks that Disney’s Guest Relations staff used to be able to regularly hand out to guests before Pressler started pulling on Mickey’s purse strings.

Still — in spite of the less-than-enthusiatic response that Eric C. got from his recent complaint to WDW’s Guest Relations office — there may be some reason to hope. Lately, I’ve been hearing that Jay Rasulo — the guy who succeeded Paul Pressler as the new head of Disney Parks and Resorts — is looking to restore much of the magic that used to be part of the Disney theme park experience.

So here’s hoping that Jay eventually is able to get those freebies flowing again. And that someday soon, you too may get a shot at sitting on a bench on the Liberty Square bridge as the latest parade at the Magic Kingdom rolls on by.

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

10 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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