General

Snow Job

Jim Hill offers us a glimpse inside Marc Davis’ “”Enchanted Snow Palace,”” then explains why the “”most beautiful thing that had ever been designed for a Disney theme park”” never got built.

Published

20 years ago

November 2, 2004

Jim Hill

Go ahead. Ask a Disneyana fan who Marc Davis was. Better yet: Find yourself a comfy chair, sit down, and THEN ask a Disneyana fan who Marc Davis was. Because you’re about to get an earful.

First you’ll probably hear about how Davis was this legendary animator at Walt Disney Studios. The guy who played a key role in bringing Snow White, Bambi, Thumper, Cinderella, Alice, Wendy, Malificent and Cruella DeVil all to life.

Then they’ll undoubtedly talk about how Marc moved over to Imagineering in the early 1960s, where he became one of that organization’s top designers. While working there, he created some of the most memorable characters and set pieces for “The Jungle Cruise,” “The Enchanted Tiki Room,” “It’s a Small World,” “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Hall of Presidents,” “The Haunted Mansion” and “The Country Bear Jamboree.” The list goes on and on.

Then – if they’re sticking to the “Readers Digest” version of Davis’ life – they’ll probably close by telling you about how Marc retired from WED in 1978, but continued to draw and/or make appearances at various Disneyana events ’til his untimely death in January 2000. Which should tie up Davis’ life story with a neat little bow.

Except that … Well … Were you to start poking around at that version of the Marc Davis story, some holes would begin emerging. And some questions would probably come quickly to mind.

Questions like: If Marc was really such a hot-shot designer for WED, why were all of his attractions for the Disney theme parks built and/or up and running by the late 1960s / early 1970s? Given that this guy didn’t actually retire from Imagineering ’til 1978, it stands to reason that there should have been quite a few more Marc Davis classics popping up in the parks into the mid-to-late 1970s? So what happened? Did this guy lose his chops or what?

Sadly, the answer is no. Marc never lost his chops. He remained a top designer – doing witty, wonderful work for the parks as well as Disney’s consumer products division – right up until the year he died. Even after he’d formally retired, Davis still got calls from folks at WED/WDI – desperate to tap into his expertise. (This is how Marc ended up consulting on attractions for Epcot as well as Tokyo Disneyland.)

So – okay – if Marc was such a WED wunderkind, then how come all that Disney got out of Davis in the mid-to-late 1970s was “America Sings”? This “GE Carousel of Progress” replacement was pretty much Marc’s last hurrah for the Mouse House. An ambitious Audio-Animatronic filled (109 figures!) tribute to American song, this Tomorrowland attraction was admittedly fun. But it was also no “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “The Haunted Mansion.”

So where’s that one last truly great Disney theme park attraction from Marc Davis? That final show that was supposed to have built on everything that Marc learned while working with Walt? That ride-to-end-all-rides? The one that was supposed to have blown our socks off?

And the answer is … Davis actually designed at least two of these attractions in the 1970s. Rides that the Imagineers (who worked at WED at the time and saw Marc’s beautifully drawn up plans) still talk about. I’ve already written at length about one of these shows – the Thunder Mesa project for Walt Disney World’s “Phase One” featuring “Western River Expedition.”

The attraction I’d like to talk about today was probably the last show of size that Marc Davis ever designed for WED: “The Enchanted Snow Palace.” This ambitious attraction – which was proposed for the site that Disneyland’s massive Fantasyland Theater currently occupies – was considered by many at Imagineering to be the most beautiful thing that they’d ever been designed for a Disney theme park.

So why did Mouse House managers from that era opt not to built Marc’s beautiful “Enchanted Snow Palace”? Patience, Grasshopper. Let’s first talk about the ride as Marc originally envisioned it.

This whole attraction sprang out of Davis’ desire to create something cool for Disneyland. Not cool as in “That ride was bitchin’ fast” or “The kids seem to really get off on stuff like.” But a place where guests could go to escape the cruel Southern California sun.

Davis – while on a field trip to Disneyland one hot summer’s afternoon in the early 1970s (He was out at the park, scouting locations for the new sequences that he was dreaming up for Adventureland’s “Jungle Cruise”) – really felt beat down by the heat. As he drove back to Glendale, Marc thought to himself: “Wouldn’t it be great if Disneyland had a place where guests could go to escape the heat on a day like today? Someplace cool & peaceful, away from the crowds?”

And from that slim notion … Marc spun out his entire “Enchanted Snow Palace.” A cool & peaceful place, away from the crowds.

Picture – if you will – an enormous white & blue show building. Similar in size and scale to “It’s a Small World.” Only this building isn’t really a building at all. It’s a glacier. (Or at least a mock-up of one. Carefully carved out of plastic and plaster by the artisans at Imagineering).

As we queue up for the ride, we notice that all the ice and snow seems to have melted into some very unique shapes. There – amid all the icicles – are graceful towers and windows and walls. All seemingly carved out of ice. Wait a minute. Could it be that someone actually lives inside this massive block of ice? As we trot down the faux snow covered stairs and get into a ice blue bateaux, I guess we’re about to find out.

Just like on “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “It’s a Small World,” the power of the water itself (as well as a few well hidden conveyer belts) sends our boat floating gently into the show building. Once we slip through a hole in the glacier, we’re dazzled by all the blue and the white inside. To the strains of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite,” Audio Animatronic polar bears and penguins caper on iceflows all around us. Timber wolves stand on top of nearby snowdrifts, howling at the moon. Robotic walruses pop up next to our boat and playfully squirt water at us. It’s a magical – if somewhat naturalistic – environment.

But then the aurora borealis shimmers in the sky above our heads. Which somehow causes our boat to drift into a mysterious snow cave … And – once we’re inside – the real magic begins. Immense snow giants – carrying huge icicles clubs – tower over us. But we needn’t fear. For these snow giants seem dazzled by the frost fairies that are flitting in the air in front of them. (What do the frost fairies look like? Remember the ones from Fantasia’s “Nutcracker” sequence? Well, Marc brought them back to life. Only in 3D form.)

We then pass the Snow Queen’s beautiful hand maidens – each dressed in an ornate Ziegfeld girl-seque gown. Every one of them wears an elaborate head dresses made out of ice. Each is attended by a snowy owl or an arctic fox or snow white ermine.

Then our boat finally floats into the throne room of the Snow Queen herself. As the music builds, we see that the Queen is getting ready to make her nightly rounds. Her sled – with a team of snowshoe rabbits – is standing by the palace door. Her majesty gestures gracefully toward us … and suddenly the air is filled with snow. We drift through this brief blizzard back into the sunlight … out toward the “Enchanted Snow Palace” ‘s load/unload area.

There. Doesn’t that proposed attraction sound beautiful? Not all that compelling from a narrative point of view, of course. And – to be honest – the ride itself (in spite of all its elaborate, ornate tableaus) sounds fairly passive. A bit on the dull side. That said, you’ve still got to admit that Marc Davis’ plans for his “Enchanted Snow Palace” do sound like they would have been very beautiful.

Yes, Davis put his heart and soul into this project. Making sure that all of his concept sketches for this Fantasyland addition were as dazzling as possible. Which is why he did his drawings for this proposed attraction in the style of Erté, the famous Parisian designer best known for his extraordinary sets and costumes for the Follies Bergeres.

And Marc’s drawings were beautiful. The trouble was – back in the mid 1970s – Disney Company management wasn’t really looking for passive but pretty rides like “The Enchanted Snow Palace.” They were looking for attractions that thrilled and dazzled guests, not shows that caused them to smile & snooze.

The real problem was that – circa 1975 – the American theme park industry was undergoing a fundamental change. The era of the steel coaster had finally arrived. And amusement park owners – particularly Disney – were noticing what rides like these could do for a corporation’s bottom line.

Mouse House managers couldn’t help but notice the immediate, positive impact that the original Space Mountain had on Walt Disney World attendance levels when this Tomorrowland thrill ride first opened back in January 1975. Which is why the company rushed construction of an Anaheim version of this attraction (which eventually opened at Disneyland on May 4, 1977).

And if one thrill ride could drive up attendance levels at the company’s theme parks this much, Disney’s operations staff wondered: What would TWO thrill rides do? Which is why management decided to dust off Tony Baxter’s plans for his runaway mine train ride … And the rest of the story, you know.

Of course, with all of WED’s funds being funneled into quickly creating high speed thrill rides for Disneyland and Walt Disney World (not to mention the development of rides & shows for Epcot), there just wasn’t any money left to build something that was just – well – beautiful like Marc’s “Enchanted Snow Palace.” So the project languished. And Davis – feeling somewhat out of step with what Imagineering was up to at the time – decided that now might be a good time to retire.

The question now is: Would Marc’s “Enchanted Snow Palace” have really been a good addition to the parks? Would it have been a show like “Small World” or “Pirates” that the public immediately embraced and loved for years to come, or would it have been more like “America Sings” (Which – to be honest – fell out of favor fairly quickly, playing to mostly empty houses ’til the attraction finally closed in 1988)?

My personal feeling – while I love Marc’s concept sketches for this attraction – is that his “Enchanted Snow Palace” was almost too artsy – fartsy for its own good. The proposed storyline for the show was just too slender. There weren’t enough laughs or thrills to really entertain guests as they floated through the building. All the “Snow Palace” had going for it was that it would be A) cool inside and B) pretty to look at. Which was really not enough to justify the proposed attraction’s estimated $15 million construction costs.

Which is WED opted to take a pass on the project. But the beauty of Marc’s work for this proposed attraction lives on. Both in the hearts of the Imagineers who were lucky enough to see Davis’ original sketches when he was first working on the project, as well as the cast members who work at the Disney Gallery high above New Orleans Square.

A few years back (around the holiday season), the Gallery sold a limited edition lithograph of one of Marc Davis’ concept paintings for “The Enchanted Snow Palace.” It showed one of the Snow Queen’s hand maidens in all her icy glory, dressed in a long blue & white gown, with a snowy owl at her feet. The lithos – which included a crystal “Snow Palace” Christmas ornament – sold like hot cakes.

Which proves – I guess – that there really is an audience out there for a strictly beautiful Disney theme park attraction. Whether or not it would have been as big an audience as – say – the folks who like “Big Thunder” or “Space Mountain,” who can say?

Any questions?

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