General

Why Disney Really Gave Up the “Ghosts”

So what were the real reasons that Disney pulled the plug on “A Few Good Ghosts”? And is the company’s Florida animation studio really closing? Jim Hill returns from LA with some rather surprising answers.

Published

21 years ago

November 19, 2003

Jim Hill

“You have to be sh*tting me.”

That’s an exact quote, folks. That’s what I said last Friday morning around 8:30 a.m. PST when the following e-mail popped up in my in-box:

I thought you should know that Disney Feature Florida had a surprise meeting this morning with David Stainton, Pam Coats, and Andrew Millstein, at which they announced that “A Few Good Ghosts” is being cancelled, and what’s left of the animation department (over one hundred people) is being let go on January 14, 2004.

You might want to talk to some of your contacts and follow up on this …

Now you have to understand that — as I’m reading this and swearing profusely — Michelle comes rushing into the room. After I read her the e-mail, my ex starts saying “This is huge news, Jim. We have to put this up on the Web immediately!?”

Which was advice that I (to my infinite sorrow) decided not to follow. Why for? Because I didn’t know the guy who’d sent me the original e-mail. So my initial thought was that this has to be some sort of cruel hoax. A misguided prank that some disgruntled Disneyana fan is trying to pull on JimHillMedia.com.

I mean, why would the Walt Disney Company suddenly decide to shut down Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida? The studio that had just produced three straight hit films (“Mulan,” “Lilo and Stitch” and “Brother Bear”) for the Mouse? At 2/3 what it costs to make an animated film in Burbank? This is how you reward a successful team? By suddenly kicking them to the curb?

It just made no sense. Which is why Michelle and I spent the morning firing off e-mails in all directions, making all sorts of phone calls. Trying to get someone at Disney to go on the record, give us some sort of confirmation that this story was true and/or (hopefully) false.

By the time we finally got that confirmation late Friday afternoon, it was already too late. JHM had been scooped. Someone else on the Web had already broken the “Disney’s Florida Animation being shut down” story.

Which — in the long run — really didn’t matter to me. But what DID matter was the thought of those 250 talented people who currently work for WDFAF who were going to be put out of work as of mid-January 2004.

For the record: In spite of what has been reportedly earlier, the Walt Disney Company is now insisting that it actually hasn’t made its mind up yet about what it’s going to do with its Feature Animation unit in Florida. According to a statement released by a Mouse House publicist earlier this week: “At this point in time it is undetermined if there will be layoffs or not. We are exploring our options and looking at our overall development slate to determine our next steps with the many talented animators.”

However — based on what I’ve heard from several WDFAF staffers who actually attended last Friday’s fateful meeting — Stainton all but told the assembled artists that morning that the studio will be shutting down. So — while the Walt Disney Company may be holding off ’til January 14th to make a formal announcement — many of the artists and technicians who work at the Disney-MGM facility are already brushing up their resumes, sprucing up their portfolios. Since they KNOW that their jobs are going away in January of next year.

Mind you, there are some of the WDFAF faithful who are still holding out hope. Praying for the last minute reprieve. Hoping that — over the next eight weeks — that the Burbank studio might throw the Florida studio a bone, shipping a sequence or two from the films that the California crew has got in the works off to Orlando. Or that someone at Disney Television Animation may take pity on all these Central Florida artists who suddenly find themselves in jeopardy and opt to produce one of the corporation’s direct-to-video sequels right here in the states (rather than shipping that film off to Australia to be animated).

Sadly, neither of these scenarios seems very likely. At least right now. Which is why a lot of these animators figure that they’ve only got eight more weeks of paychecks ’til they get tossed out in the cold … (Okay. This is Central Florida that we’re talking about here. So I guess the appropriate cliché for this occasion would be “tossed out into the relative humidity.” But you get the idea, right? Anyway …)

Which is why a lot of these WDFAF staffers are angry. Here, they’ve spent months rushing to get “Brother Bear” ready for its November 1st, 2003 release date (How many of you out there remember that “Brother Bear” was initially supposed to open in the Spring of 2004? And how — back on December 1st, 2002 — Disney Studio officials suddenly announced that “Home on the Range” and “Brother Bear” were going to swap release dates? Which meant that Florida’s animators now had to finish their film six months ahead of schedule), delivering a motion picture that had exceeded the studio’s box office expectations. (People in Burbank are still buzzing about how well “Brother Bear” did during its second weekend in wide release, with ticket sales falling off by a mere 4%.) And what’s their reward for all their dedication and hard work?

Stainton sneaking into town, pulling a surprise meeting on the staff in order to pull the plug on “A Few Good Ghosts” and get the studio ready for closure.

You see, you have to understand, folks: NO ONE at the Disney-MGM facility had known that Disney Feature Animation president David Stainton would be dropping by last Friday. Not even the folks who worked with David back in Burbank. WDFA staffers on the main Disney lot were supposedly given a cover story: That — on Thursday afternoon — – Stainton would be flying to New York City to meet with the folks at Disney Theatrical to “discuss future projects.”

“Why did Stainton provide the folks back in Burbank with a cover story? Not reveal where he was really headed and/or what he was really up?” you ask. It’s simple, really: To keep this potentially explosive announcement under wraps until the very last second on Friday. So that news of this pending Florida Animation lay-off wouldn’t leak out in advance to the financial press. Which could potentially have had a disastrous impact on Disney’s stock price.

For the most part, Stainton’s plan succeeded. The news of “A Few Good Ghosts” getting cancelled and Feature Animation Florida possibly shutting down didn’t really get picked up by the mainstream media ’til late Friday afternoon. And — by then — the New York Stock Exchange had actually closed for the weekend. Which meant that Disney’s stock price really didn’t take a whack from this potentially embarrassing bit of news on Friday. (Mind you, when the market re-opened on Monday morning, the price of Disney stock almost immediately dipped by $.25. Suggesting that there were at least a few Wall Street analysts who were distressed by this recent turn in events. And the value of Disney stock has continued to fluctuate as the week wore on. It closed yesterday at 22.79, which is clearly down from last Friday’s close of 23.06. ) Which meant that David’s attempt at damage control succeeded … again, for the most part.

But you know what really galls the crew down at Feature Animation Florida? The fact that they were lied to by Disney management.

Look, no one at WDFAF is going to pretend that “A Few Good Ghosts” wasn’t a film that had some pretty serious problems. Just listing the various titles that this movie has gone under over the past two and a half years (“My Peoples,” “Elgin’s Peoples,” “Once in a Blue Moon,” “Angel and Her No Good Sister” and “A Few Good Ghosts”) speaks volumes about this troubled production.

So troubled — in fact — that, back in April of this year, Stainton ordered production of this film shut down so that WDFA could radically overhaul the movie’s storyline. Which director Barry Cook and his talented team of story artists actually did. The end result of all their effort was screened for Disney CEO Michael Eisner not three weeks ago. And what did Disney’s Big Cheese supposedly say once he saw the new version of Act 1 of “A Few Good Ghosts”? “You folks finally have a movie here.”

Eisner’s positive comments were reportedly echoed a week later from Stainton as well as veteran WDFA producer Pam Coats when they too saw Act 1 of “A Few Good Ghosts.” They — of course — had a few minor story notes. But overall, David and Pam seemed quite positive about the picture.

Which is why everyone — from Barry Cook on down — feels blind-sided and betrayed by what happened last Friday morning. Given that the story crisis seemed to have passed for this production and that animation was finally officially gotten underway on “A Few Good Ghosts,” no one at WDFAF had an inkling that anything like this was in the works. That their new film was ever in any danger of being shut down and/or that Disney’s Orlando animation operation would ever be shuttered.

So what really happened here? Based on what I’ve been hearing from folks on both coasts, this is what I’ve been able to piece together:

Senior Disney Company managers had evidently decided months ago to shutter the Florida animation operation. But they opted not to announce this decision until AFTER “Brother Bear” was actually out in theaters. For fear that all the negative publicity that would inevitably erupt surrounding such an announcement might have a detrimental impact on the film’s box office.

Want proof? Then drop by the “Magic of Disney Animation” exhibit at Disney-MGM Studio theme park when it finally re-opens this coming weekend after being closed for seven weeks refurbishment. Notice how the new version of this walk-thru attraction no longer talks up how Disney-MGM guests will be able to see actual animators in action. But rather, borrows a page from DCA’s “Disney Animation” attraction. Which tries to give Disneyland Resort guests a basic understanding of how the animation process works without actually having to show them a real live animator.

This long-in-the-planning refurbishment of Disney-MGM’s “Magic of Disney Animation” exhibit speaks volumes about what’s actually been going on in Orlando. Mouse House managers have obviously known for months now that WDFAF would eventually be shutting down. Otherwise, why go to all the trouble of turning this studio theme park attraction into something that could still entertain WDW guests once all the animators were gone?

It’s also fairly obvious now that Disney Studio officials had been counting on “Brother Bear” to tank during the film’s domestic release, and then using the film’s alleged failure as a convenient excuse to shutter the Florida animation studio.

Don’t believe me? Then let’s take another look at Disney’s decision to release “Brother Bear” on Saturday, November 1st versus the traditional Friday opening. The Mouse said that they went with this release date because they were concerned that kids would be too busy trick-or-treating on Friday, October 31st to bother with going to the movies. But could this have actually been done as a way to artificially hobble the picture, make “Brother Bear” appear to under-perform at the box office by giving it only two days to sell tickets on that crucial opening weekend, rather than the traditional three-day total?

And then you have to factor in Disney’s decision to put “Brother Bear” into theaters in direct competition with another Mouse House movie, “Scary Movie 3.” (For those of you who don’t know: “Scary Movie 3” is a production of Dimension Films, which is a division of Miramax Films, which is itself a separate division within Walt Disney Studios.) Why would you do something like that — put an animated film that you hope will appeal to young adults head-to-head with a movie that you KNOW will appeal to young adults — unless your aim all along was to trip up “Brother Bear”?

However, given “Brother Bear”‘s obvious success at the box office, Disney studio officials could no longer use this film’s alleged under-performance as their convenient excuse to shut down Feature Animation Florida. So what did they opt to go with instead? Suddenly expressing grave story concerns with a film that Eisner, Stainton and Coats had all already said was markedly improved mere weeks earlier: “A Few Good Ghosts.”

And what was the excuse that David reportedly gave Florida’s animators for his sudden reversal on “A Few Good Ghosts”? Stainton supposedly said that there were concerns at the studio level that the film’s characters, music and storyline weren’t “universally appealing.” Translation: Given that this is an animated film that’s set in Appalachia, featuring a blue grass score written by country music legend Ricky Skaggs and performed by Nashville favorite Dolly Parton, the suits back in Burbank were suddenly concerned that a cornpone cartoon wouldn’t appeal to moviegoers overseas. Or — for that matter — that “A Few Good Ghosts” (with its hick-centric story about two star-crossed lovers who are brought together by a family of ghost who live inside a bunch of folk-art dolls) wouldn’t be all that entertaining to many American moviegoers who live in the inner city and/or suburbia.

Now keep in mind that Stainton is trying to sell this sorry excuse as the REAL reason that he’s suddenly decided to pull the plug on “A Few Good Ghosts.” That country music — and a country-themed storyline — wouldn’t really appeal to moviegoers today. At a time when one of the top concert acts in the US of A is Toby Keith. Who’s about as country as they come.

But — then again — what do you expect from a Disney executive who allegedly makes fun of some of his studio’s top animators because they actually live “way out in the sticks”? In far-off Valencia, CA!

So, you see, the truth of the matter is: Disney Studios execs didn’t just suddenly decide to shut down production on “A Few Good Ghosts” last week. They’d actually left that film in production as busy work. As something to keep WDFAF animators preoccupied. So that no one down in Orlando would be aware of what was REALLY in the works: Which was the eventual shut-down of the Feature Animation Florida studio.

Which brings us to the bigger question: With Disney shutting down its Feature Animation operations in both Paris and Orlando as well as its Television Animation unit in Japan, and coupled with the Mouse’s decision to sell off its Disney Stores retail chain … what’s really going on here?

So I asked a Wall Street analyst (one of those very folks that Michael Eisner is so desperate to please these days, rather than focus on pleasing the Disney Company’s customers and/or cast members) to take a closer look at the situation. After agreeing that I would not reveal his name to JHM readers, he offered this analysis:

Were you to strip the Disney name off of this company, it would be fairly obvious what’s going on here. Jim. Shutting down or downsizing somewhat redundant divisions. Selling off unprofitable operations. This is what a major corporation always does when it’s trying to look more attractive to outsiders.

So I have to wonder: Is Eisner looking to redeem his now somewhat toxic reputation with Wall Street insiders by trying to merge the Mouse with some other media giant? Or is he just looking to sell the Walt Disney Company outright to the highest bidder?

Kind of scary to think about, isn’t it? That pulling the plug on “A Few Good Ghosts” and the potential closure of the Walt Disney Feature Animation studio at the Disney-MGM Studio theme park in Orlando, FL may actually be indicators of bigger things to come. Like the whole Walt Disney Company supposedly going up for sale.

Make you think, doesn’t it? Me? It just makes me mad. Just thinking about all the animators and artists in Orlando who poured their hearts and souls into “A Few Good Ghosts.” Never realizing that they were just being strung along by a bunch of suits in Burbank. Who only saw the Florida studio as yet another pawn in Michael Eisner’s never-ending game of corporate chess.

Your thoughts?

General

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

Published

10 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

10 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

10 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