While we were at PAX this past weekend, I had the opportunity to sit down with Warren Spector and talk a bit about Disney’s Epic Mickey. As we talked about the process of implementing one of the game’s core mechanics, the use of paint and thinner to affect the world, Spector mentioned an alternate visual representation of Mickey’s abilities that didn’t make the cut:
The way I conceived it, he really is channeling his own stuff. I wanted to have him drain. When he used the paint and thinner, just drain away. He looked like a monk. He looked like he had male-pattern baldness. That went away really quick.
I can see how that would wind up being unattractive and possibly displeasing to Disney. There’s nothing more iconic about Mickey Mouse than his ears and if you wound up spending most of the game with those drained away, the mouse would just look silly.
[Image courtesy Dtoider GrumpyTurtle]
