![]() ![]() "He was a very scrappy kind of character." "He was a guy who would not be afraid to stand up to stronger opponents in a fight, if he thought the cause was right," he said. In the 1930s, Mickey was a very different character than he is now, said Allen Varney, an Austin writer and game designer who worked on "Epic Mickey" with Spector.īack then, Mickey was more of a Douglas Fairbanks-type hero, Varney said. But instead, it all went to Mickey Mouse."Īs for Mickey, Spector and his team wanted to return him to his cartoon origins. He could have been the most recognizable icon on planet Earth. "He really could have been the most popular cartoon star in the world. "Oswald really could have been the first star of talking cartoons," Spector said. resenting his younger brother for stealing the life that should have been his," Spector said. Oswald is the "older brother, rejected by his father. "He is an amazing character," Spector said.Īt heart, "Disney Epic Mickey" is a story about sibling rivalry. One goal was to put Mickey in his rightful place as a video game hero. Like Mickey, Spector used the game to correct his own injustices. The game revolves around Mickey's attempt to right that wrong, save Wasteland and repair his relationship with Oswald. One day, a mischievous Mickey unleashes a horror on the cartoon land known as the Phantom Blot. In the new game's storyline, Oswald winds up in Wasteland, where he grows resentful at being robbed of the chance to become a big star. In 2006, Disney traded sportscaster Al Michaels to NBC as part of a deal that returned Oswald to the company. In his place, Disney created Mickey Mouse, and Oswald faded from public consciousness. Oswald was one of Walt Disney's first creations, but the animator lost the rights to the character in an early contract dispute. Wasteland's leader was the ultimate forgotten character: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The idea was for a game based around a world of forgotten and rejected characters, called "Wasteland." For Spector, it was license to resurrect some of Disney's more tenured characters, such as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. Months later, the team produced a 300-page design document. A group of Disney-assembled interns also contributed significantly to the game's foundations. In 2006, Spector assembled a three-person team, which spent months conceptualizing what the game would look like. With that, the wheels of game development were set in motion. "I'm sitting there thinking, 'OK, no one else on the planet is going to make this game but me,' " he said. ![]() And they had a question: Would he be interested in working on a new Mickey game? It turned out they were Warren Spector fans. He came to their offices pitching a science fiction game, the genre for which he became famous.ĭuring his spiel, though, Spector's spirits sank as he noticed the executives seemingly texting each other. But when he first met with Disney executives in 2005, Spector had other plans. Spector's involvement with Mickey began five years ago, the same year he started Junction Point. "You say 'Disney,' and you get more and better art résumés than you've ever seen in your life," he said. That will have long-term benefits for the sometimes insular Austin gaming community, Spector said. The project has allowed Spector to bring a lot of fresh talent to Austin most of the employees at Junction Point are out-of-towners from a variety of backgrounds. Another 150 contributed to the project from around the world. In movie terms, it's comparable to the opportunity former cult favorite director Sam Raimi got to direct the big-budget Hollywood blockbuster "Spider-Man."ĭevelopment of "Epic Mickey" began in earnest in early 2008, and about 130 people worked on it at Junction Point, which was sold to Disney in 2007. The project, set to be released Tuesday, is by far the biggest Spector has ever worked on. Given Disney's high-profile status (not to mention a certain iconic subject), "Epic Mickey" could be one of the biggest games to come out of Austin in years, perhaps dating back to "Ultima Online" in the late 1990s. Especially that most famous of Disney characters, Mickey Mouse.Īnd Mickey might be a ticket to the mainstream for the 55-year-old Spector, a well-known developer who has long been a darling of critics and hard-core gamers. And in designing the new "Disney Epic Mickey" video game for the Nintendo Wii console, Spector got to indulge in a collector's fantasy: to work directly with the source material. His office at Junction Point Studios off North MoPac Boulevard is a trove of Disney memorabilia: original posters, figures and books, for starters. Warren Spector is a huge Disney fan, to say the least. ![]()
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