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Walt Disney Family Museum’s “The World of Mary Blair” exhibit offers a dazzling, in-depth look at this Disney Legend’s artistry

Published

11 years ago

on

One of the most fascinating things about a new exhibition of
Mary Blair‘s work are the dozens of inspirational sketches created in pen and
pencil by an artist best known for her bold use of color.

Those rudimentary drawings – many paired with finished works
– provide a comprehensive look at one of the 20th century’s most interesting
illustrators and designers. “Magic, Color, Flair: the World of Mary Blair“
opened last week at the Walt Disney
Family Museum
in San Francisco and continues its
run Wednesdays through Mondays from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. through Sept. 7.


Photo by Leo N. Holzer

“Almost all artwork, no matter the final form, begins with
drawing because drawing is the artist’s fundamental tool,” Blair said in 1967.
The quote is among those highlighted in the show.

Guest curator John Canemaker – an Oscar-winning independent
animator, animation historian, teacher and author – organized the exhibition to
reflect the arc of Blair’s career before, during, and after her years at the
Walt Disney Studios.

“The most interesting thing, at least for me, is to be able
to show the process so that you get into the mind of Mary Blair a little bit more.
You see how she thought about designs and putting it together,” Canemaker said.
“Even the paintings, many of them are showing the surround. You don’t just have
it framed up to the picture but you have it go beyond so that you see some of
her paint splashes going off of the page and her rough sketches.


Walt Disney Family Foundation

“Pretty much half of this exhibition, maybe even more, is
from private collections. Of course, the bulk or almost all of the Disney
concept pieces are from the museum’s collection,” he continued. “We have work
from her student days, from her California School of Watercolor days, and from
when she left the studio in 1953 and worked for that decade in New
York doing clothing design and children’s book
illustrations.”

Born in McAlester, Okla.,
in 1911, Blair won a scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute in Los
Angeles. After graduation in 1933, at the height of
the Great Depression, she took a job in the animation unit at MGM rather than
pursue her dream of a fine arts career. In 1940, she joined The Walt Disney
Studios and worked on a number of projects, including the never-produced “Baby
Ballet,” a segment for a proposed second version of “Fantasia
.”

In 1941, Blair joined “Walt and El Grupo
,” a U.S. State
Department-sponsored Disney expedition that toured Mexico
and South America for three months. The sketches and
watercolors she painted while on the trip inspired Walt Disney to name her as
an art supervisor for “Saludos Amigos” and “The Three Caballeros
.” Blair’s
striking use of color and stylized graphics greatly influenced many Disney
postwar productions, including “Alice
in Wonderland
,” “Make Mine Music
,” “Cinderella
,” “Peter Pan
” and others.


Mary Blair examines concept drawings for “Cinderella.”
Courtesy of The Walt Disney Company

Many people believe that Blair had her “ah-hah moment”
during the South American visit.

“She said she didn’t think anything special happened down
there, but she did mention the color,” Canemaker said. “It was the color, the
different customs of the people. I think it was the whole new atmosphere she
was in.”

Afterward, Blair also had an opportunity to become “more assertive
in her own way,” Canemaker continued. “Before that, she had worked at the
studio for about a year and she didn’t like it that much because she was given
things to work on and wasn’t generating them from her own ideas. But in South
America, when Walt saw what she could do, that all changed. She
then decided she did like what she was doing in animation and that it was a
very creative thing.”


Courtesy Walt Disney Family Foundation.
Copyright Disney

The Blairs – nieces Jeanne Chamberlain and Maggie Richardson
as well as great-nephew Kevin – believe that their aunt “had a great deal of
fun, dancing, swimming and running on the beach” during the trip and that she
really enjoyed a “landmark moment” once she saw her work “translated
authentically to film” in a segment of “The Three Caballeros” featuring a train’s
caboose with one square wheel.

“The Three Caballeros” followed closely by “Make Mine Music”
and “Peter Pan” are arguably the best examples of Blair’s designs really
inspiring the final film.

Ted Thomas, director of a documentary film about the South American
trip and son of Disney animator Frank Thomas, never met Blair directly but said
that she was always spoken of with great respect by his father.


Walt Disney Family Foundation. Copyright Disney

“He would use her as an example of someone who was so
naturally gifted and then improved that gift through the different projects she
worked on. He’d also say how very difficult it was to try to draw and translate
her designs into animation because she was so superbly gifted at working in
this very flat kind of medium and animation eventually has to be rounded and
dimensional with volume,” Thomas said.

“She was a very singular talent,” he continued. “When
standout people work with other geniuses, you tend not to pick one out from
another. As time goes on and they’re no longer with us but their work remains,
then it becomes clearer and clearer how outstanding their talents and their
achievements were. And, I think that’s the case with Mary Blair. She was so
ahead of the curve, that we’re only now catching up with her and becoming fully
appreciative of what a great talent she was.”

In 1964, Walt Disney asked Blair to assist in the design of
the “it’s a small world” attraction, first conceived for the 1964-65 New
York World’s Fair. The beloved boat ride – with
cheerful dolls representing several countries of the world in a musical prayer
for peace – was moved to Disneyland in Anaheim
after the World’s Fair closed. The attraction has since been replicated for
Disney parks worldwide.


Walt Disney Family Foundation. Copyright Disney

Blair also designed fanciful murals for Disneyland’s
Tomorrowland in Anaheim, Calif.,
and  the Contemporary Hotel at the Walt
Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.
She died July 26, 1978, in Soquel,
Calif., and was named a Disney Legend in
1991.

Thirty-five years after her death, interest in Mary Blair
and her enchanting artworks continues to grow. Her early fine art watercolors
and classic Disney film production concept paintings are popular with
collectors. Contemporary artists still find inspiration in Blair’s independent
spirit, and her ability to survive in traditionally male-dominated fields, her
technical virtuosity, bottomless creative ingenuity, and powerful visual
storytelling.

“I think her work is such that it does appeal to a wide
range of people and a wide age range and Walt Disney saw that as well,”
Canemaker said. “He liked the childlike quality in her art, but he also saw it
for possible use in futuristic stuff like the Tomorrowland murals” at
Disneyland and “he saw it in a primitive way like Grandma Moses … with a
certain warmth that went back to folk art.”


Courtesy of Pam Burns-Clair family

In the exhibition, Blair’s original sketches hang next to
brightly colored finished paintings. Pages from two sketchbooks – featuring
simple graphite and ink drawings of children, animals and international
settings that would inspire “it’s a small world” – have been loaded into an
easy-to-use touch-screen digital display. Nearby, there’s a video showing Walt
Disney and Mary Blair discussing “it’s a small world” along with two glittery
characters from the attraction, a blue-haired tot and a penguin.

Great-nephew Kevin remembers very clearly when Mary Blair
was doing the sketches for ‘it’s a small world’ one Christmas. “My grandparents
had this white brick fireplace and the sketches were spread across it. It was
just the sketches; just black and white. And she was showing me where
everything was going to be. I was 8 at the time. … I didn’t understand that
there was going to be a ride or anything like that, but it was amazing looking
at all of that. … She always had ‘small world’ in her heart and it was such
an important part of her life after it was done.”

Canemaker called his efforts for an exhibition championed by
Diane Disney Miller “a great joy.” He also authored the $40 exhibition catalog
and participated with Ted Thomas, Alice Davis, Rolly Crump and Blair’s nieces
on an hour-long complementary audio tour. Museum members will be able to
download a digital copy of the audio tour or listen to it free. Guests can pay
an additional $7 for the audio tour on top of the $10 to $25 admission charge.
Visit www.waltdisney.org for more information.


Photo by Roger Colton

Magic, Color, Flair: the world of Mary Blair is organized by
The Walt Disney Family Museum and is being presented in the newly dedicated and
named Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall in honor of Walt Disney’s daughter
and co-founder of the museum. She died Nov.
19, 2013.

Former Disney CEO Ron Miller talked a bit about Diane Miller
during a special preview of the new exhibition and so did some others.

It wasn’t too long after helping make sure the Walt Disney
Concert Hall in Southern California was completed, that
“Diane had a new mission. She was disturbed by some of the books that had been
written, the misrepresentations and everything, and she wanted to right the
wrongs,” he said. “Diane went about it in a very modest way. She was a modest
person. … She got it done her way and walked off,” turning her attention
to plans for the Walt Disney
Family Museum.


Ron Miller & Diane Disney Miller outside
of the Walt Disney Family Museum

“I think we have something really unique here,” he
continued. “It’s entertaining. It’s a piece of history and it’s the story of a
wonderful man with all the support of his collaborators and everybody else. I
think when people go through (the museum), they come back enthusiastic. I think
her wish was fulfilled and I wish she was standing here and not me.

“She was such a loving wife. She would do anything for me
and, most of the time, I would do anything for her. We had such fun and
excitement through our marriage – almost 60 years of marriage, six months shy
of 60 years. She was one month shy of being 80 years old and she had the
vitality and energy of a much younger woman.

“She still had things that she wanted to do here and the
family, we’ve made a commitment that we’re going to fulfill the dreams of those
things she left us with and we’re confident that we have the right people in
the right place to help us do it.”

One of those right people is Kirsten Komoroske, the museum’s
executive director.

“Diane described her father as a person with a lot of drive,
huge curiosity, a great love of life and of people. His example was do what you
love to do, work hard at it, do it as well as you can and always believe in
yourself. Diane was her father’s daughter,” Komoroske said. “Diane was
dedicated to sharing with the public the work of many talented artists who
contributed to the Walt Disney Studios throughout her father’s lifetime.

“It’s only fitting that the first exhibition in our newly
named Exhibition Hall showcases the work of another brilliant woman, Mary
Blair. Mary played a key role in shaping not only Disney history but also the
creative world as a whole. Her perspective and artistic influences are still
strong forces today. And the inspiration that Diane created is also a
significant force and is evident in all that we do here at the museum. We miss
Diane terribly. Not a day goes by that we don’t notice her absence. But with
the strong leadership of the family and the board, we’re determined to move
forward. We’ll continue to showcase artists and innovators and educate and
entertain our visitors. Magic, Color, Flair: the world of Mary Blair is an
example of that determination.”


Animation historian John Canemaker

Canemaker recalled one of his fondest memories of Diane
Miller. “It’s the last time I saw her. She drove me back to my hotel … and I
asked her ‘if Walt were here, what would you like him to say about all that
you’ve done with the concert hall in Los Angeles
and this wonderful monument?’ She thought for awhile, sitting behind the wheel,
just parked waiting to let me out and she said, ‘I hope he’d say that I did a
good job.’ That was it. And I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”

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General

Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District

Published

9 years ago

on

June 23, 2015

By

Greetings from NYC. Nancy and I drove down from New
Hampshire yesterday because we'll be checking out
Disney Consumer Products' annual Holiday Showcase later today.

Anyway … After checking into our hotel (i.e., The Paul.
Which is located down in NYC's NoMad district), we decided to grab some dinner.
Which is how we wound up at the Melt Shop.


Photo by Jim Hill

Which is this restaurant that only sells grilled cheese sandwiches.
This comfort food was delicious, but kind of on the heavy side.


Photo by Jim Hill

Which is why — given that it was a beautiful summer night
— we'd then try and walk off our meals. We started our stroll down by the Empire
State Building
…


Photo by Jim Hill

… and eventually wound up just below Times
Square (right behind where the Waterford Crystal Times Square New
Year's Eve Ball is kept).


Photo by Jim Hill

But you know what we discovered en route? Right in the heart
of Manhattan's Garment District
along Broadway between 36th and 41st? This incredibly cool series of life-like
and life-sized sculptures that Seward
Johnson has created.


Photo by Jim Hill

And — yes — that is Abraham Lincoln (who seems to have
slipped out of WDW's Hall of Presidents when no one was looking and is now
leading tourists around Times Square). These 18 painted
bronze pieces (which were just installed late this past Sunday night / early
Monday morning) range from the surreal to the all-too-real.


Photo by Jim Hill

Some of these pieces look like typical New Yorkers. Like the
business woman planning out her day …


Photo by Jim Hill

… the postman delivering the mail …


Photo by Jim Hill

… the hot dog vendor working at his cart …


Photo by Jim Hill


Photo by Jim Hill

… the street musician playing for tourists …


Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention the tourists themselves.


Photo by Jim Hill

But right alongside the bronze businessmen …


Photo by Jim Hill

… and the tired grandmother hauling her groceries home …


Photo by Jim Hill

… there were also statues representing people who were
from out-of-town …


Photo by Jim Hill

… or — for that matter — out-of-time.


Photo by Jim Hill

These were the Seward Johnson pieces that genuinely beguiled. Famous impressionist paintings brought to life in three dimensions.


Note the out-of-period water bottle that some tourist left
behind. Photo by Jim Hill 

Some of them so lifelike that you actually had to pause for
a moment (especially as day gave way to night in the city) and say to yourself
"Is that one of the bronzes? Or just someone pretending to be one of these
bronzes?"

Mind you, for those of you who aren't big fans of the
impressionists …


Photo by Jim Hill

… there's also an array of American icons. Among them
Marilyn Monroe …


Photo by Jim Hill

… and that farmer couple from Grant Wood's "American
Gothic."


Photo by Jim Hill

But for those of you who know your NYC history, it's hard to
beat that piece which recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of V-J Day in Times Square.


Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, a 25-foot-tall version of this particular Seward
Johnson piece ( which — FYI — is entitled "Embracing Peace") will actually
be placed in Times Square for a few days on or around  August 14th to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day).


Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, if you'd like to check these Seward Johnson bronzes in
person (which — it should be noted — are part of the part of the Garment
District Alliance's new public art offering) — you'd best schedule a trip to
the City sometime over the next three months. For these pieces will only be on
display now through September 15th. 

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General

Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues

Published

10 years ago

on

June 10, 2015

By

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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


Photo by Jim Hill

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

Your thoughts?

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General

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

Published

10 years ago

on

June 9, 2015

By

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

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights
reserved

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

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

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


Copyright Lucasfilm / Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

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

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

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