General

Who’s gonna save SaveDisney.com?

With the press not as eager to bite at the stories that Roy Disney and Stanley Gold are putting out there as well as that unflattering “Vanity Fair” article, these are tough times for the folks over at SaveDisney.com. So Jim Hill is wondering what it’s going to take to turn this situation around.

Published

20 years ago

April 20, 2004

Jim Hill

Okay. You know the drill. The banner at the top of this page shows that I still solidly support Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s efforts to oust Michael Eisner. But — that said — I am growing very concerned that “SaveDisney.com” may soon need some saving of its own.

Why for? Well, let’s start with the lack of press coverage for last week’s big announcement from Roy and Stanley’s camp. That Disney CEO Michael Eisner hadn’t actually received a 43.4% “No Confidence” vote from company shareholders back on March 3rd. But — rather — the official final tally was 45.37%.

The media treated this item like the non-story that it was. And — if it was covered at all — the “43.4% vs. 45.37%” story was buried in the backmost part of the business section.

A similar lack of enthusiasm greeted Monday’s broadside from SaveDisney.com. In which Disney and Gold’s people tried to snag the spotlight by loudly proclaiming that 72.5 % of the 28.6 million shares held in the Walt Disney Company’s 401k employee retirement plan had been voted in a way which withheld support for Michael Eisner’s re-election as head of the Walt Disney Company.

In an effort to sell this story to the press, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold really came out swinging late Monday afternoon. Insisting that the 401k vote was “… a meaningful barometer of employee dissatisfaction.” Which caused Roy and Stan to call Michael “a lame duck” and then question “… how Mr. Eisner can do what needs to be done at this company without the support of the company’s employees.”

As you might expect, the PR folks over at the Walt Disney Company tried to put a whole different spin on the 401k vote results. In telephone conversations that they had with leading reporters on Monday, the Mouse House’s media handlers would accuse the SaveDisney people of “… blatant distortion and manipulation of data in an attempt to continue to mislead Disney shareholders.” Then — in an effort to totally throw reporters off Michael Eisner’s trail — they’d close by saying: “Have you seen Michael Wolff’s article in the latest issue of ‘Vanity Fair’? Man, that story doesn’t make Roy and Stan look very good.”

Yeah, Michael Wolff’s feature — “Michael Eisner’s Mouse Trap” — in the May 2004 issue of “Vanity Fair” is one very entertaining read. To put it bluntly, Michael doesn’t much like anyone who’s involved in this whole messy situation. Not Michael Eisner (who Wolff describes as being “… an intractable, mean, nasty, stubborn, cheap S.O.B.”) or Brian Roberts at Comcast (a company that Michael says is “… frequently reviled for its bad service, steady price increases, and unresponsiveness to the communities its system dominates around the county”). But Wolff saves the bulk of his scorn for Disney and Gold, who he compares to those “… curmudgeonly Statler and Waldorf Muppet characters, always heckling from the audience.”

Wolff’s article (Which was gleefully passed around the Team Disney Burbank building on Monday morning. Not just because it made fun of the Save Disney folks, but because the article attacks Eisner with equal fervor) attempts to portray Disney and Gold as two guys who are desperately trying to relive their 1984 triumph. When Roy and Stan orchestrated that incredibly successful campaign to remove then-Disney CEO Ron Miller. In a particular damning section of the story, Michael says:

“I can’t quite decide if this is uplifting — the same guys back doing the same thing, dusting off their old 80s playbook, insisting, once again, on their day in the sun — or depressing. Or comic. That’s surely the movie: “Grumpy Old Men.” But almost nobody has acknowledged the schtick, or the nostalgia, or the foot stamping of these old guys. Not many people seem to even remember that they’ve done this exact same thing before — that this is a behavior pattern.”

You see what I’m saying? Based on the media’s tepid response to the “43.3% vs 45.37%” story, the 72.5% vote announcement as well as Michael Wolff’s “Vanity Fair” article, it’s clear that Roy and Stanley are no longer the media’s darlings. And there’s also some strong evidence that the online Disneyana community may be losing its enthusiasm for the SaveDisney effort as well.

Want proof? Okay, let’s start with SaveDisney.com’s first reader poll which was held in early March. Over 6400 people took part in that on-line poll, revealing that Disneyland’s submarine voyage was the West Coast theme park attraction that Disneyana fans would most like to see put back into service.

By the end of March, the numbers of people taking part in SaveDisney.com’s reader polls had fallen off by more than half. With only 2522 Disneyana fans saying that they thought traditional animation and computer animation should be able to co-exist.

And — as March gave way to April — the reader erosion continued. With only 1854 Disneyana fans indicating that Tokyo DisneySea is the overseas Disney theme park that they’d most like to visit.

Sure, keeping track of the number of people who are regularly voting in SaveDisney.com’s on-line readers polls may not be the most scientific way to keep track of what’s going on, traffic-wise, at that web site. But this info — coupled with what I’ve been hearing from various merchandise sites that are linked directly to SaveDisney.com (One merchant recently told me that his SaveDisney related sales have fallen off to a tenth of what they were back in March) — makes me think that we should all be very concerned with what’s going on with that website specifically and what’s happening with SaveDisney.com in general.

(To be fair, I guess I should point out that — according to Alexa.com [an internet traffic tracking site] — SaveDisney.com is still pulling in some pretty decent numbers. With a ranking of 51,694 out of the Web’s top 100,000 sites. To put this in perspective, the top ranked Disneyana website on the Net — MousePlanet.com — currently has a ranking of 46,675 out of 100,000.

JimHillMedia.com? Sadly, we’re ‘way back in the pack. Barely making it into the top 100,000 at all with a ranking of 98,957. But — then again — when you take into consideration that Alexa.com keeps track of over 3.5 billion websites, I guess the fact that JHM has managed to claw its way in the Internet’s top 100,000 is nothing to sneeze at.

Okay. Enough with the blatant self promotion. Let’s get back to the story, shall we?)

I know, I know. I can hear the pro-Roy-and-Stanley people, the really rabid “Save Disney” fans saying: “Okay, Jim. You’re so smart. What would you do to try and turn this situation around?”

Well — for starters — I’d really simplify what’s going on with the SaveDisney.com home page. Have you taken a look at that thing lately? In the right column alone, there are — at last count — 65 different stories listed. The folks over there need to do some serious weeding. Cut back on that ridiculous backlog of articles.

And — if you guys really want the business press to start taking you seriously again — you have to stop with all the silly Disney pseudonyms you use for people who are writing articles for the site. Jim Douglas AKA Dean Jones from “The Love Bug”? Merlin Jones AKA Tommy Kirk from “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.” That’s amateur night stuff.

And — speaking of amateur night stuff — Disneyana fans may have found that “Practically Perfect CEO” song parody that SaveDisney.com recently ran funny. But the really-for-real reporters that I speak with regularly just didn’t get that joke. They found that piece really confusing. So much so that I had to explain the whole point of the story (I.E. that it was a parody of a song from “Mary Poppins”) to at least five of them.

Silly pseudonyms and song parodies aren’t really the sorts of things that make people take a website seriously. And — given that the whole reason that SaveDisney.com actually exists is that Roy and Stanley are hoping to unseat one of the most powerful CEOs working in the entertainment industry today — I would have to assume that these two guys would LIKE to be taken seriously. Not just have their efforts be dismissed by the press because … well, SaveDisney.com’s recent efforts seem to have lacked direction and focus.

That’s what (I think) SaveDisney.com’s whole current problem comes down to. Disney and Gold’s website — as well as their last few weeks worth of efforts — seem to be lacking direction and focus. These two really need to decide ASAP what sort of message that they should be getting out to the public as well as the media.

I mean, for weeks now, we’ve been hearing “Welcome to Round Two.” Well, isn’t it high time that someone from SaveDisney.com finally told us all what “Round Two” actually entails?

Again … my apologies if this story comes across as far too downbeat for some of you. I know that a lot of people within the Walt Disney Company — particularly that handful of longtime staffers at WDFA and WDI who are hanging on by their fingertips, hoping and praying that a Mouse House management change is just around the corner — are really counting on Roy and Stanley to come through here. But unless the “Save Disney” folks really get their act together — and fast — it’s looking more and more likely that Michael Eisner will stay on as head of the Walt Disney Company for as long as he’d like to keep that job.

And Disney and Gold … unless these guys have something really big up their sleeve, maybe Michael Wolff’s earlier comparison is appropriate. Maybe Roy and Stanley really are 2004’s equivalent of Statler and Waldorf. Two very amusing and entertaining characters, that’s for sure. But — when you come right down to it — these two aren’t really having all that much effect on what’s actually happening onstage.

Maybe back in March Disney and Gold were having a real impact on things. But now … meh.

Again, as I said at the start, folks … I remain a Roy and Stanley supporter. But I have to admit that I am starting to lose heart here. And I’m also beginning to doubt that Disney and Gold really have what it takes to Save Disney.

Sooo … do you folks have any idea how Save Disney can go about saving itself? Get back on the right track?

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