When veteran videogame designer Warren Spector set out to craft an action-adventure game for Nintendo's Wii that would pay homage to Mickey Mouse while also equally appealing to both children and long-time Disney devotees, the creative director at Junction Point Studios knew he'd have to dig deep in the Disney archives.
"It's kind of the nerve centre of the preservation of this company's amazing, creative history," said Spector during a recent stop.
"We're visiting here to take a look at some Oswald material and some very early correspondence involving Walt Disney and his distributor at the time, in the late 1920s, Charles Mintz."
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the silly predecessor to Mickey created by Disney but lost in a 1928 contract dispute with Universal Studios, returned to Disney's control in 2006.
In Disney Epic Mickey, the amorous rabbit serves as the warden of Wasteland, a warped version of Disneyland populated with long-gone characters and twisted theme park attractions that Mickey must navigate through.
"It's a world made up of 80-plus years of creativity: forgotten and rejected characters, retired theme park rides, forgotten character costumes, anything and everyone at Disney creates that is rejected or forgotten or becomes unloved pops into Wasteland," said Spector.
The gameplay within Wasteland alternates between 3D realms that require Mickey to use paint or thinner to create paths and brush off baddies and 2D levels inspired by old-school cartoons, such as Steamboat Willie and Clock Cleaners. Throughout his quest, Mickey is presented with several moral dilemmas that could affect the game's outcome.
Spector and his colleagues found inspiration for their wayward Wasteland denizens in the company's various archives spread across the Disney backlot in Burbank and in Glendale, home of Walt Disney Imagineering, the creative division comprised of designers, engineers and artists responsible for the look and feel of Disney theme parks and resorts.
They were motivated by such creations as a cast-aside sketch glimpsed in the animated film archive of Captain Hook, which laid the foundation for a maniacal animatronic version. Instructions for an old Jolly Roger toy tucked inside a folder marked Peter Pan in the Imagineering library became the blueprint for an epic pirate ship showdown against Hook.
"I think as much as people respect Walt Disney and respect the company that he created and the work that this company has done, I don't think people have an appreciation of how many ways and how deeply the man and the company touched all of us," said Spector.
"I kind of think that's unfortunate, so I wanted to try and address that."
Spector said Disney brass warned him to stay away from including characters already being mined elsewhere. He had an affinity for Alice in Wonderland and Tinker Bell but decided not to step on the toes of Tim Burton or the burgeoning Fairies franchise, though he did include a few nods to Tron in Tomorrow City, the game's take on Tomorrowland.
One early Epic Mickey concept cantered on the mouse weaselling his way into the actual archives. That was scrapped. Another idea ditched during development had Mickey transforming into a scrappy, snarling rat when players made mischievous choices. Spector's latest trip into archives already began to inspire possible sequels to the game, scheduled for release November 30.
"Just walking around the archives today, I've seen things and found things and spotted files and folders that I didn't know existed," said Spector.
"For sure, if we get to do another game, I'll be back here with my team doing a bunch of research and that research is going to completely change any story that I might have had in my head when we started thinking about this a long time ago. There isn't any point talking about what might be because it's going to change radically based on the material we find in places like this."
APTN