Warren Spector says the gulf between the concept art for Epic Mickey and the early official screenshots is the result of intentionally going “beyond the line” in order to learn just how far Disney was willing to go with its flagship character.
When concept art for Epic Mickey first leaked back in the summer, jaws dropped. The stark, steampunk visions of Mickey and his Magic Kingdom cohorts were vastly different from any contemporary imaginings of the Disney pantheon, to the point that even non-fans like yours truly couldn’t help but sit up and take notice. The actual screenshots that have been released since yesterday’s official announcement of the game, however, haven’t quite lived up to that promise.
“I’m a big believer in finding out where the line is by pushing past it. There are lines that are on every project; every project exists in a creative box,” Epic Mickey Designer Warren Spector told 1Up. “For most of my games, I create that box and the team has to sort of work within it. In this case, there’s a creative box that I create, and there’s the creative box that Disney overlays on that. I know where my lines are, but I don’t know where Disney’s are.”
“I had a lot of stuff generated that was very specifically designed to be provocative and to cross that line. I know it’s too far – or is it? You tell me,” he continued. “So it forces a confrontation or a decision. Some of what you saw was beyond the line, and so I learned something from it. Some of it was early design ideas that are no longer relevant. Some of it is stuff that’s still in the game, and I’m not saying what.”
It’s probably too late to vote on it but just in case, I’d like to put one down for the deeply disturbing reinterpretation of Monstro. That is just too damn cool to be toned down.
