General

Three to get ready …

As Jim Hill prepares for his next attempt to drive down to Central Florida, he offers up three short stories: Why he’s still up in New Hampshire, what’s the deal with the aggressive new sales tactics at the Disney Store, and how David Stainton better learn from Bob Weis’ mistakes.

Published

22 years ago

April 29, 2003

Jim Hill

My apologies if today’s column comes across as somewhat scattershot. But I’m in the middle of packing for my upcoming trip down to Orlando …

“Wait a minute, Jim,” I hear you say. “Didn’t you say — at the start of last Friday’s ‘Remembering Light Magic’ story — that you were leaving for Central Florida then?”

Well, as it turns out, Nancy and I did begin our drive down to Disney World last Friday morning. But en route, Nancy began developing these weird leg pains. And since my fiancée has previously had some trouble with blood clots, I thought it best that we turn the car around and have our family doctor check her out.

Just for the record: We made it as far as Hartford, CT. And — before we headed back to New Hampshire — we did manage to cram in a quick visit with Jeff and Flo Lange. So Friday’s 200 mile round trip wasn’t a total waste.

ANYWAY … Several days later, Nancy’s doctors determined that what we feared to be phlebitis was actually tendonitis. Which is painful but thankfully not life threatening.

So tomorrow morning, Nancy and I climb in our Escape again and — hopefully — actually make it all the way to Orlando this time. Here’s hoping, anyway.

Okay … enough with the personal crap. Let me now tell you about the weird experience that I just had at our local Disney Store.

While Nancy was at her doctor this morning, getting the final okay for tomorrow’s road trip, I popped over to the mall to pick up the copy of “Treasure Planet” that I’d pre-ordered.

So I step up to the counter at the Disney Store, hand over my receipt, and ask for my “Treasure Planet” DVD. The woman behind the register says “Okay, Mr. Hill … but wouldn’t you also like to pre-order your copy of ‘Jungle Book 2’ while you’re here? “

This Disney Store cast member then directed my attention to the “Jungle Book 2” promotional materials that were prominently displayed at the store’s main sales counter. (Which the store’s personnel had evidently just put up that morning.)

I politely demurred, explaining that I’d left my wallet out in the car. Which I had.

This was when this Disney Store cast member did a somewhat startling thing. She actually took the bag that had my “Treasure Planet” DVD in it out of my hand and placed it behind the counter. This woman then turned to me and said “Tell you what. I’ll hold onto to your ‘Treasure Planet’ DVD while you go out to your car and get your wallet. That way, you won’t miss out on pre-ordering ‘Jungle Book 2.'”

I just stood there with my jaw hanging open for a moment. I mean, I’ve heard about hard selling before. But how bad must things be at the Disney Store if the cast members there are willing to hold guests’ merchandise hostage in order to pre-sell a few more copies of “Jungle Book 2?”

I honestly didn’t know what to say for a moment. I eventually burbled something to the effect of “I’m sorry, but I can’t today. You see, I’m trying to be good here. I leave for Disney World tomorrow.” To which this Disney Store employee replied “Oh, you don’t want to buy anything down there. They’re going to make you pay tax.”

It was really a Fellini-esque exchange. Eventually, I was able to persuade this cast member to give me back my “Treasure Planet” DVD. Which she did, reluctantly. But — as soon as I stepped away from the counter — this Disney Store employee started right in on the customer that was standing behind me. Giving them the full court press about the advantages of “… pre-ordering ‘Jungle Book 2’ today.”

Without a doubt, this was the most bizarre interaction I’ve ever had with a Disney Store cast member. Which is why I’m asking: Was this just one weird employee, or are these aggressive sales tactics now standard operating procedure for DS?

My apologies to any Disney Store cast members that the above news item may offend. That’s honestly not my intention here. But I just found this incident to be so bizarre. So I was hoping that maybe some of you DS employees could shed some light on what was going on here?

Was this just an isolated incident? Or is there an in-store contest going on? Perhaps a sales quota, where Disney Store cast members have to sell so many “Jungle Book 2” per shift … or risk banishment from the Magic Kingdom? Any info you Disney Store veterans can provide would be very much appreciated.

And finally, how many of you read this story from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times? The one where David Stainton, the new head of Disney Feature Animation, spoke with Claudia Eller and Richard Verrier about his vision for the Mouse Factory.

One paragraph from this piece is reportedly really pissing animation professionals at Disney. What’s so offensive about this section of the story. It reads as follows:

One thing Stainton said he knows for sure: The studio’s core audience for animation is 4- to 10-year-olds and their parents. “If you think you’re making a movie for everybody, you’re making a movie for nobody.”

Now please understand that David’s spent the last few years at Disney Television Animation. Where the target audience for the video premieres that Stainton and his team churned out (I.E. “The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea,” “Cinderella II: Dreams Come True,” and “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride”) really was 4- to 10-year-olds and their parents.

But when it comes to the most successful animated features of the past 10 years — films like “Shrek” (which grossed $267 million domestically), “Monsters, Inc.” ($252 million), “Toy Story II” ($245 million) and “Ice Age” ($176 million) — the only reasons that these motion pictures made serious coin was because teens and young adults embraced these movies. Even WDFA’s top grossers of the past decade — “The Lion King” ($313 million domestic), “Aladdin” ($217 million), and “Beauty and the Beast” ($145 million) — only performed as well as they did because they didn’t aim too low. That they included characters, storylines, and songs that entertained audiences of all ages. NOT just youngsters and their parents.

Some WDFA vets that I’ve spoken with today have serious concerns about what Stainton is up to. Here’s a particularly biting quote:

“David’s trying to dumb down what Disney does. Radically change how Disney Feature Animation operates so that it’s more like Disney Television Animation. So that we can quickly churn out all of these low budget projects — stuff that’s on a par with “Return to Neverland” and “Jungle Book 2″ — that are sure to turn a profit even if audiences and critics don’t exactly embrace them.”

Me personally? I don’t think that things are quite as bleak at all that for Disney Feature Animation. I mean, sure, Stainton’s keeping a close eye on the bottom line. But that doesn’t mean that everything that WFDA does from here on in will be of video premiere quality.

Case in point: “Enchanted,” the ambitious WDFA project that David just revived. This romantic fable — which is slated to be directed by Adam Shankman, the guy who just helmed Touchstone’s latest blockbuster, “Bringing Down the House” — will reportedly use a combination of live action footage and animation in order to tell the tale of a fairy tale princess who winds up banished to the real world. Specifically, the Big Apple.

And Stainton was also smart enough to shut down production of “My Peoples” / “Once in a Blue Moon” in order to put the film in for some serious retooling. This Barry Cook project reportedly has a very pleasing score (written by Ricky Skaggs) as well as some pretty intriguing characters. But the film’s story was supposedly a mess. Which is why David allegedly tossed out the film’s original screenplay and brought a brand new set of writers to try and save the film.

Now where this gets interesting is that Stainton’s orders to “My Peoples / Once in a Blue Moon”‘s new team of writers reportedly went something like this:

1. You can’t touch Ricky Skaggs’ songs.
2. You have to use the characters — more importantly, the character designs — that had been created for the first version of the film.
3. The film’s new story has to have plenty of heart and humor

Kind of an intriguing challenge, don’t you think?

If it’s any consolation, David did the exact same sort of thing with Randy Fullmer and Mark Dindal’s “Chicken Little” feature. He supposedly ordered that — in order to make the movie’s central character more sympathetic — that the filmmakers change Chicken Little from a boy to a girl.

So clearly Stainton’s a hands-on kind of guy. Who perhaps needs to think twice before he chats with the press again. Why for? Well, telling reporters that Disney’s core audience is 4- to 10-year-olds and their parents just proves to the folks over at Blue Sky, Dreamworks/PDI and Pixar Animation Studio how truly out-of-touch Mouse House management is when it comes to what entertains today’s audiences.

More importantly, David needs to understand that a seemingly innocent slip of the tongue can potentially end your career at the Walt Disney Company.

Don’t believe me? Then let’s talk about Bob Weis, former rising star at Walt Disney Imagineering. Bob was the WDI creative VP who rode herd on the development of the Disney-MGM Studios, the WDW theme park that Michael Eisner absolutely loved. Which is why Uncle Mike put Weis in charge of his next pet project: a theme park that would celebrate American history.

From all accounts, Bob came up with a killer design for Disney’s America. It was honestly a theme park that would have done the Walt Disney Company proud. It was only during the November 1993 press conference — when Eisner and Weis unveiled their plans for the Haymarket, VA. Project — that he let his tongue trip him up.

Replying to a reporter’s questions about what sort of exhibits guests could expect to find when they visited Disney’s America, Weis tried to emphasis the hands-on nature of the park’s various exhibits and attractions by saying:

“We want to make you a Civil War soldier. We want you to feel what it was like to be a slave, or what is was like to escape through the Underground Railroad.”

It was Weis’ seemingly off-the-cuff comment — “We want you to feel what it was like to be a slave …” — that many Mouse House insiders feel actually sank the Disney’s America project. How so? Well, critics of the project were quick to leap on Bob’s remarks and used them as an example of how insensitive the Walt Disney Company was sure to be with its recreations of key moments in America history.

Oh, sure, it wasn’t just Weis’ “slave” comment that doomed Disney’s America. But it certainly didn’t help. So it’s probably no coincidence that — shortly after Michael Eisner’s October 1994 announcement that the Walt Disney Company had changed its mind about building a history-themed theme park in Prince William County — Bob Weis left WDI.

So my advice to David Stainton is: The next time you chat with reporters, you might want to keep Bob Weis in mind. After all, your next off-the-cuff comment may do more than just offend your staff. It could also end your career.

Okay, that’s enough yammering for today. I gotta finish packing the car.

Talk to you later,
jrh

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