General
The Once and Future Kingdom — Part I: The Meek Shall Inherit the Happiest Place on Earth
The first installment of an intriguing new series debuts at JimHillMedia.com today. This series — written by a themed entertainment industry professional — discusses what the Walt Disney Company could possibly do in order to turn around its somewhat toxic reputation.
It all started with a rather daunting question: “What would it take to really revise, revive and revitalize the public perception of the Walt Disney Company?”
I was strolling around World Showcase when I first posed this query to Vance Rest. “And who’s Vance Rest?” you ask. Well, Rest is a themed entertainment industry professional. Out of his own passion, Vance has visited every single one of the Disney theme parks, seeing Mickey at his best (Tokyo DisneySea) as well as at his worst (Walt Disney Studios Paris). And at each park he has used his keen eye to determine exactly what is needed at each park and how to accomplish it.
So why doesn’t this guy work for Disney? “For the same reason I don’t shout at the rain, Jim” he tells me. “There are no progressive reformers *inside* the Taliban.” And thus Rest dispenses advice as a free agent.
But — on that frigid night last December — the only person who was seeking Vance’s advice was … me. The two of us had been talking about Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s efforts to unseat Michael Eisner. More importantly, what might happen should Roy and Stanley actually succeed.
After all, should these guys actually oust Eisner, Disney and Gold still face a pretty awesome challenge. Turning the corporation’s rather toxic reputation around. Stripping away all of the cynicism that has become associated with the Disney name over the past 10 years.
I wondered aloud if it would actually be possible. That the Walt Disney Company’s once shining reputation could be restored and redeemed. Vance immediately said “Certainly it could. But that the Mouse House managers would have to undertake some pretty heroic measures if they really wanted to pull this off.”
“Like what?” I asked. And the rest Rest quickly spun out as we stood shivering in the cold outside of Epcot’s International Gateway shops. The plan that Vance laid out was so ambitious, so audacious that I thought that “I’ve got to get this guy to write this stuff down so that I can share it with JHM readers.”
So — after much wheedling and whining — I finally got Rest to agree to put part of his plan down on paper. Over the next three days, I’ll be sharing some of Vance’s theories with you … as well as welcoming your input on his intriguing proposal.
I think that everyone who loves what the Walt Disney Company once stood for should take a gander at this document. To see one possible scenario that could (perhaps) return the Disney Corporation to its former greatness.
A quick explanation: Today’s installment basically serves as an introduction to Vance’s thesis. Laying out the premise of his plan, so to speak. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we’ll get to the real meat of the matter. So be sure to come back tomorrow and Wednesday to read the rest of Rest’s plan.
Anywho … Let us know what you think, folks? In the meantime, let’s have a big JimHillMedia.com welcome for Vance Rest!
jrh
DISNEY WASN’T DISNEY ANYMORE…
… So other Storytellers of the ’70s and early ’80s had to be Disney for them.
By their own admission, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg would have made the “Star Wars” saga, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the “Indiana Jones” trilogy and a plethora of other generation-defining, medium-changing films for Walt Disney Productions if the studio of that era had even been a shadow of what it had once stood for. The visionless drones who ran the Mouse Factory in the 1970s and 1980s even passed on the opportunities to make such beloved blockbusters as “E.T.” and “Back to the Future,” all the while okaying production of derivative tripe like “The Black Hole,” and their 37 thousandth insipid “The Million Dollar Computerized Duck from Outer Space Who Wore Tennis Shoes” picture.
Still — in spite of the fact that Mouse Corp was STAGNATE and DIRECTIONLESS during this troubled period in the company’s history — Disney still somehow managed to remain *PURE*. People kept Disney Magic in their own way. Allowing the Pixie dust from that classic Mickey Mouse watches that they’d always wear to seep into their veins. Clinging to the memory of movies, TV shows, and Disneyland visits from their childhood that were made during much happier, more *Creatively Courageous* times. This yearning for the Magic Kingdom’s “Good Old Days” manifested itself with the birth of Disneyana Clubs and collectors groups in the 1980s, where people actively SOUGHT EACH OTHER OUT in order to remember WHAT DISNEY ONCE WAS.
Of course — back then — Walt Disney Productions was (if you’ll pardon the tired analogy) a Mercedes that had become stuck in a snowdrift. A seemingly abandoned and forgotten vehicle that just needed someone to come along to turn the key and give it a little gas. And — with the arrival of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells in September 1984 — that’s precisely what happened. Those two dug the Mousekecar out of that drift and put the Walt Disney Company back on the road to a creative and fiscally fantastic rebirth.
And — for a while there — it really did seem like the Mouse was magical once more. The studio produced these beautifully honed films like “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” And Walt Disney Imagineering had this tremendous rebirth, serving up epic attractions like “Indiana Jones Adventure ” and “Splash Mountain” that were both entertaining and ambitious.
Which was why it appeared — for a brief span of time, anyway — that the generation who grew up loving Disney would be able to pass along that love to their children. Make them believe in the Magic too, so to speak.
It seemed that way. For a while, anyway …
POISONED
The company that stoked the fires of a billion imaginations — redefining each of the multitudes of Art forms that it touched and giving birth to twice as many — now faced the most singularly destructive force of our age: Cowardice.
To be specific, Cowardice of the Imagination. This cancer lingers in the shadows at the Walt Disney Company, shrouded in “business as usual” rhetoric that these suits use to justify their allegedly creative efforts to gut the company’s legacy and drive its core ideologies to the brink of total collapse.
The Mouse Factory has become CORRUPT and desiccated. A wheezing, heartbreaking ghost of what it once was, forced to sell off its former glory, piece by piece. Its once enviably shimmering image has become ERODED. Which forced the People to once again turn to other Storytellers who had to become Disney in Disney’s absence. Which explains why the public’s rush to embrace the staggering magic of the Harry Potter books, the noble whimsy and heart of the PIXAR movies as well as the majestic “Lord of the Rings” films.
But now — what with Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s stirring call to return the Walt Disney Company to its creative roots, that QUALITY (not commerce) must be the watchword that people most closely associate with the Disney name — one has to wonder: Can this seemingly terminal situation actually be turned around?
After all, the Walt Disney Company has a fairly toxic reputation to overcome right now. Over the past 10 years, the Disney name has become far too closely associated with unnecessary direct-to-video sequels, theme parks that are built on-the-cheap as well as cutthroat corporate negotiating tactics. (EDITOR’S NOTE- Just look at all the negative press that the Mouse received late last week on the heels of Steve Jobs’ decision to break off the Pixar contract extension talks. Stories like that would tarnish the reputation of most any firm. But for a corporation like Disney — which works so hard to associate itself with GOODNESS, KINDNESS, INNOCENCE and FAMILY FUN — a PR debacle like this could be truly disastrous. We’ll try to get Vance’s thoughts on the matter by tomorrow’s piece.)
So — you see — this isn’t a repeat of that “Just pull the Mercedes out of the snowdrift” scenario that Eisner and Wells were facing back in 1984. These days, the public — all too often — associates the Disney name with greed and short sightedness — and some words I can’t say without putting a 48 inch height requirement on the article.
Which is why Disney’s coming battle — to win back the hearts and minds of the people who have become all too dismissive, cynical and jaded toward the Mouse’s efforts — is going to be that much harder. After all, for almost a decade now, the public has had their love for the kind of magic that ONLY Disney could muster EXPLOITED by strip-mining ghouls.
DEEP RUNS THE SPIRIT
TO WIN BACK the hearts and minds of the people, you have to understand how deeply the IDEA of Disney runs in our cultural fabric. Consider America, the world’s Menlo Park. Our nation is Edison’s Idea Factory. The United States of America was the first country in the history of history that was founded as an *experiment* in the accordance rights NOT IN RESTRICTING OR DENYING THEM.
The Pioneering of Ideas is America’s raison d’etre. AND DISNEY IS A MICROCOSM OF THE AMERICAN SPIRIT. That’s why the company’s ideas and ideals always rang so true for the people of the world. HOLDING ITSELF TO A HIGHER STANDARD and TAKING RISKS are the very principles that the Walt Disney Company was founded on.
It is time for the Mouse to re-embrace these principles. For Disney to find its way back to greatness by remembering all that this corporation seems to have been forgotten over the past 10 years.
To do this, the current Disney management is obviously going to need a road map. Which I’ve tried to provide for them byputting together:
THE ONCE AND FUTURE KINGDOM
*WHAT WENT WRONG* and *The STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES to REBUILD the NAME and IDEA of DISNEY*
A 3 PART code book to the American Imagination
PART I: THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH
Television, the Internet, Music … the Art that we see around us each day intravenously feeds us Storytelling fodder, sparking new thought, and fueling the imagination. And in our culture, by and large, the weekend means going to Storytelling church: The Movies.
There, a Storytelling clergy (a director) offers his interpretation of the human experience, myth, legend, or some drivel with Freddie Prinze Jr. Meanwhile, visiting Disneyland (or one of its sister kingdoms) is like visiting the STORYTELLING HOLYLAND. Be it once a year or once in a lifetime, a trip to the concentrated immersive wonder of Disneyland is Plutonium for your Imagination. To blow the “cannots” and “impossibles” clean out of your head.
With that, we come to the first Strategic Reversal checkpoint. This is the first PASS/FAIL point which Roy, Stanley and the rest of their “Order of the Phoenix” must adroitly navigate as they plan the biggest resurrection since the Biblical Age. And their entire noble endeavor won’t make it out of the gate if they cannot make sweeping changes in this first arena.
SITUATION:
The devastating fact of the matter is that the majority of the dogma shapers who currently work within the Walt Disney Company go to their jobs each day NOT to tell good Stories, but with the hope that they’ll be able to do something that will impress their pseudo-intellectual friends. So the decisions that are being made that affect Disney’s movies, theme parks and the jobs of thousands of the most talented artists walking the earth today are being made by people who are only concerned that their allegedly-creative endeavors will be considered socially acceptable to their old college buddies.
You know. Producing something less lame than what Disney usually does. EX: Disney’s California Adventure theme park. Which was built on a shoestring … “But (According to the rationalizations of the too-cool-for-school execs who okayed the project) that’s okay. Because no one really needs all that UNCOOL Disney magic garbage anyway. Shopping, High-End Dining, and a few cheap naked Thrills. That’s the ticket.”
PRECISELY WHERE SOMETHING WENT HORRIBLY WRONG:
Why do these people, who are so clearly unfit for their professions, seek out jobs at the Walt Disney Company? Status. Having a job at a major media outlet has a certain cachet to these idiots. Having a high profile position at a Fortune 500 corporation like Disney is considered extremely sexy by creeps like this. More importantly, it gives them the illusion of depth as a human being without their actually having to achieve anything.
So ambitious bottom-feeders like this pursue jobs at the Walt Disney Company (With the hope that a position at the Mouse Factory will eventually serve as a stepping stone to the corner office at the Gap or Comcast) with little real understanding of how truly difficult the Mouse Factory is to run.
This is a fascinating, though ultimately depressing and devastating, phenomena. Everyone *thinks* they know a lot about Disney. And — what’s worse — that they know the proper way to run the Mouse House. There is a perception that Entertainments (particularly ones that focus on innocence, hope, whimsy, and fantasy) are simplistic. Additionally, everyone thinks they know a lot about Disney because it is such a sprawling and accessible company. Everybody knows somebody whose cousin worked there and SWEARS that a guy got decapitated on Space Mountain, and he may or may not have been eating Pop Rocks and drinking Coke while it happened.
The attitude that seems to prevail within the Team Disney building (be it in Anaheim, Burbank and Orlando) these days is: “How hard can this be? It’s just a dumb amusement park” or “It’s just a cartoon that’s aimed at 4-year-olds. What the hell do you need to *know* to do that?!? I went to the park once when I was a kid. I watched Saturday morning cartoons. Ergo I know how to build theme parks and/or make cartoons.”
Sometimes the way that these people think is downright terrifying. Take — for example — the rationale behind the creation of Disneyland’s 45th parade. Which seems to have been cobbled together by allegedly creative drones who were thinking along these lines: “My pseudo-intellectual theater friends will think that I’m lame if I create a *real* Disney parade. So — instead — I will offer the guests an artist’s interpretations of the Disney characters — with the actor’s faces showing through — as well as a gilded Tantor.”
You want to know the really sad part? The main reason that most of these people actually take these “simplistic, beneath-them jobs at Disney” is in order to get to ESPN anyway. Because everyone who likes watching sports on television thinks that they already know everything that they need to know about how to run a sports television network.
Sensing a pattern yet?
THE LESSON: THE KEY TO ALL OF THIS IS NOT TO BE ASHAMED OF WHAT DISNEY IS.
In order to turn this exceedingly cynical situation around, we need the Walt Disney Company to be made up of men and women who are not here just because of the allegedly “cool” aura that they acquire by working for a major media outlet. In order for the Mouse House to come back to full flower, we need people working there who are not afraid of the real Disney (I.E. The spirits of HOPE, HONOR, INNOCENCE, WHIMSY and PLAY that embody that work). Inspired artists, technicians and executives who understand that magic is really just a turn of a bedknob away.
On a strictly procedural level, WE NEED PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO GO INTO THE THEME PARKS AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. Not execs who never leave their offices, who base their allegedly in-depth knowledge of what the guests are supposedly experiencing based on PowerPoint presentations they’ve attended and/or roller coaster specials that they’ve viewed while watching the Discovery Channel. No more FOCUS GROUPS and SURVEYS. These Disney Company officials have to acquire their keen understanding of what the guests are going through by watching, listening, and (above all) BEING A GUEST.
The same applies for the Studio. The people who work there should be animation fans who would never blaspheme their artform by saying that it’s a medium meant “just for kids.” As Guardians of Disney’s Heart and Soul, they must know why a story is told through animation. (I.E. YOU ARE CHARGED WITH TELLING THE STORY OF CHARACTERS SO CAPTIVATING, SO MOVING, THAT THEIR TALE *DEMANDS* THE CARE OF FRAME-BY-FRAME CRAFTING BY MEN AND WOMEN WHO BEGIN WITH A BLANK PAGE AND FINISH WITH 1/24TH OF A MOMENT ERUPTING WITH LIFE.)
There is a place in this world for the computer. But there is no place for fools who think that traditional animation’s day is done.
Okay. I’ve given you folks a bit of the back story about the Walt Disney Company’s recent past. As well as a sense of the sorts of people that we need manning the Mouse Factory these days in order to bring it back to greatness. Tomorrow, I’ll lay out a possible road map for Mickey. A path that the Mouse could follow should the corporation actually wants to earn back the loyalty and trust of its once faithful customer base.
General
Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District
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.
General
Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues
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
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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