Epic Mickey, the new steampunk-themed Disney game, follows the story of Mickey Mouse, as he saves the world of Cartoon Wasteland - a new Disney theme park - from the clutches of the Phantom Blot and Mickey's evil half-brother Oswald. Many years ago, Mickey spilt a mixture of paint and paint thinner on a Sorcerer's design for Cartoon Wasteland, a theme Park dedicated to his forgotten and rejected designs. The paint and paint thinner then formed the Phantom Blot, an evil being who takes control of Cartoon Wasteland, turning it into a dark, sinister world, and forcing it's residents, including Oswald, into hiding. Over time, Oswald becomes jealous of Mickey's fame and develops a plan to destroy him. Using his magical paintbrush, Mickey must try to save Cartoon Wasteland by stopping the Phantom Blot, and befriending Oswald.
Initial conecept art suggested that the game would have a much darker, less child-like theme, than what people would traditionally associate with a Disney game - a world away from the traditional bright colours, happy faces and cuteness of the various Disney Princess, Tinkerbell and film tie-ins out at the moment. As Warren Spector, the man who runs the game's developers, Junction Point Studios told Develop magazine, "They said, 'That's it! We want someone to come in and bring Mickey back. Make him what he was and can be again.' They told me to make Mickey relevant to 13 to 24-year-old boys: don't lose the kids or the parents, but make him relevant to gamers.".
By moving away from his current squeaky clean image and reintroducing the mischievous side of his personality, the idea seemed to be to try to appeal to a more adult market - people who would remember the Steamboat Mickey cartoon (which incidentally, one of the levels is supposed to be based on).
But when the first screenshots were released a few months ago, they certainly seemed to contradict what we'd all been expecting. Showing Mickey in a much more colourful environment than the concept art suggested, many of the screenshots wouldn't have looked out of place in one of those dark rides - or even It's a Small World, complete with ultraviolet animals for enemies... Whether this was just one level, where Mickey was restoring one of those rides to it's former glory, we don't know, but needless to say, people seemed more than a little bit disappointed at it's transformation.
Left shows the original concept art, whereas right shows the newer screenshots
Having taken the feedback on board, rumours now suggest that Disney are about to announce a drastic change in the graphics depratment at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which kicks off on the 15th of June. Suggesting that the game will be re-done, to look more like the original concept art, with it's surreal, steampunk style, Epic Mickey could be being made more Epic than ever before.
We'll find out for sure on the 15th of June, when the show kicks off.
