Preview by: Michael Barnes
The November 30th release of Disney Epic Mickey for the Nintendo Wii will mark the first time in many, many years that the world’s most famous rodent has appeared in a video game. Who could have anticipated that Warren Spector, the man behind cult classics such as Thief and Deus Ex, would be the man (along with Junction Point Studios) to bring the Mouse back into the House? Mr. Spector recently gave a pre-release conference call for the press to field a couple of last minute questions and it is abundantly clear that this game is just about as far from another run-of-the-mill piece of Wii shovelware with a license attached to it as is likely possible.
What is perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of the Q&A session was the revelation of how open and accommodating Disney was to Mr. Spector and his team. Vault doors were thrown open, over 90,000 archival images including abandoned concept drawings, storyboards, and production art were made available, and some of the more compelling elements that served as the foundation of the game’s design actually originated from Disney.
The idea of the Wasteland, a sort of dead end world were forgotten and neglected cartoons characters reside, was straight from Disney as was the notion of featuring the obscure character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in a principle role as Mickey’s jealous, down-at-heel brother and positioning the Phantom Blot as the villain. From the conversation, it sounds as if only some rough, early drawings of Tinkerbell were considered off-limits, largely due to Disney’s current marketing of Peter Pan’s smallest companion.
Although most would assume that collusion with one of the world’s largest media corporations would result in compromises and sanitation, the sense is that the Mouse trusts in Junction Point to not only do right by its iconic characters, locations, and imagery but also to update it and make it a viable source for a modern adventure video game with a more mature tone than what many might expect. Mr. Spector is quick to point out that Mickey himself is not a darker character and that the intent was to present him as a videogame character along the lines of Mario or even Master Chief. He felt that in order to vest Mickey with credibility as a hero, he needed serious opposition and challenges, including a narrative arc that finds the traditionally mischievous mouse in a situation where he must not only right wrongs that he is responsible for, but also to redeem Oswald and defend the Wasteland’s denizens.
