Warren Spector Discusses Epic Mickey Concept Art, Screens

[Andy Chalk]

Warren Spector Discusses Epic Mickey Concept Art, Screens

Warren Spector says the gulf between the concept art for Disney [http://gameinformer.com/mag/mickey.aspx] was willing to go with its flagship character.

When concept art for Epic Mickey first screenshots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93501-Concept-Art-Surfaces-For-Disney-Steampunk-Epic-Mickey] 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 [http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176700]. "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.


Permalink

 

[Dyp100]

I think all that concept art was originally for the ps3, 360 and PC version, I'm sorry to say I doubt a wii game could hold all the epic art.

Shame there is no "next-gen" version, it could have been a great story telling experience!

Edit: The average game is what...8-12 hours? And an old Disney film is like 2 hours, ACII has 3 hours of cut scenes...See my logic about story telling?

 

[tce11]

Well those screenshots are not quite what I was expecting... It could still be good with some good gameplay elements, though I was hoping it would be a lot darker and really take disney in a different direction.

 

[Anarien]

The game is obviously not going to be sunshine and magic and roses. I think that some of that awesome leaked artwork was reasonably darker than we could expect to wind up in the game, but it still looks to be a fairly dark title. I'm personally very much looking forward to it.

Just think at how much of what we see in Disney films is dark or mature enough to go over kids' heads. Even in recent films. Has no one seen how Clayton dies in Tarzan, or some of the scenes in Beauty and the Beast, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Classic moments like A Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia, Monstro, or even Maleficent's dragon transformation? The latter used to scare the crap out of me when I was a child.

A lot of people equate Disney with clean and sanitized (and they do promote those moments more heavily, yes - talk of dreams, and magic and such), but I can assure you, it's a canon filled with dark moments. I think Epic Mickey will continue the tradition.

 

[AceDiamond]

The game is obviously not going to be sunshine and magic and roses. I think that some of that awesome leaked artwork was reasonably darker than we could expect to wind up in the game, but it still looks to be a fairly dark title. I'm personally very much looking forward to it.

Just think at how much of what we see in Disney films is dark or mature enough to go over kids' heads. Even in recent films. Has no one seen how Clayton dies in Tarzan, or some of the scenes in Beauty and the Beast, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Classic moments like A Night on Bald Mountain from Fantasia, Monstro, or even Maleficent's dragon transformation? The latter used to scare the crap out of me when I was a child.

A lot of people equate Disney with clean and sanitized (and they do promote those moments more heavily, yes - talk of dreams, and magic and such), but I can assure you, it's a canon filled with dark moments. I think Epic Mickey will continue the tradition.

Plus all the subtext in The Lion King capped off with Scar getting killed semi-offscreen in a gruesome fashion.

 

[Denmarkian]

Aw hell, for a while I was hoping the developer would be striving to make the game look like the concept art that was leaked.

Now it looks less like people trying to push the Wii's graphics engine and be really creative and more like "Disney's-'American McGee's Alice'-but-with-Mickey-instead" and the design team was told by someone else what the Wii's graphics engine was capable of instead of finding it out themselves.

 

[thejoshualee]

I'm not too worried, I think it will be plenty dark and awesome. Plus, the screen shots look likes its from a very small part of one "world".

I'm most excited about the use of theme parks in the game.... the illustration of The Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World on the cover of Game Informer had me drooling.

 

[Murlin]

This is sudden, but pretty cool, I look forward to the development of this!

 

[DeadlyYellow]

The screenshots there seem much brighter and lively than what I was expecting.

I feel disappointed.

 

[Archemetis]

I gotta say, I'm not as enthused about this as I was nwo that I've seen those Screenshots.

I honestly think the concept has won over the game for my favour.
Now I'm just wishing that they'll make an EPIC MICKEY MOVIE or graphic novel (I know it won't happen) so that all that awesome artwork at least gets used for something.

'Cos let's face it, when's the last time a Wii Game came with a concept art book?

[EDIT]:
Also!

I'm not very impressed with this "reimagining" of Mickey.
From the way his face was constantly hidden in leaked concept art, I was kind of expecting something more stylised and dare I say... modern

Don't get me wrong I'm a fan of the original Mickey design and his mischievous little scamp ways. But this has ended up a whole other element that has left me ultimately disapointed.

 

[SovietSecrets]

Love that concept art, the in-game screenshots not so much. Hope some of it makes it into the game, a Disney game like that would be too good to pass up.

 

[cobra_ky]

how completely expected. when i first saw the concept art i knew there was no way Disney would let anyone turn their beloved characters into <a href=http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/goofy_zombie.jpg>freakish <a href=http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/mm7rko.jpg>mechanical <a href=http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2hi022s.jpg>hell-beasts.

 

[Andronicus]

Well this sucks. I guess cobra_ky is right that Disney wouldn't want their characters to become, not so much dark and edgy, as nightmarish, but I seriously think the style Spector was aiming for was much more interesting.

From the gameplay pictures, all I can see is a new Mickey Mouse title with less flowers and bunnies with more teeth. The only thing even closely resembles steampunk is the weird robot thing that mickey is fighting and the animatronic Donald Duck, which was disappointing to say the least after the concept art. The landscape just looks like the usual colourful Disney-style fantasy vistas, except this time against a night sky. This is not what steampunk looks like.

I suppose the technical limitations for the Wii would force the art style in a slightly different direction, but this is obviously just Disney wanting to flog their characters as they have been for the past 60 or 70 years. There is barely any reimagining here at all.

Phew. Hmm. My rant appears to have gained momentum as I typed. On a slightly more reasoned note, the pictures given are few and far-between, and obviously there is plenty more to be seen in the game, so my rant could prove without merit. However, I would have thought they'd have shown exactly the sort of direction they would be taken in the the early photos to offer the readers some insight, so I'm guessing these shall resemble the end product.

I will continue to track this title's progression, as it still does interest me, but I'll be a lot more cautious whenever someone says the word "reimagine" when talking about Disney in the future.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I think all that concept art was originally for the ps3, 360 and PC version, I'm sorry to say I doubt a wii game could hold all the epic art.

Shame there is no "next-gen" version, it could have been a great story telling experience!

Edit: The average game is what...8-12 hours? And an old Disney film is like 2 hours, ACII has 3 hours of cut scenes...See my logic about story telling?

So you think that because it's on Wii, Disney said "Nay! Such a thing couldn't be in a Wii game!"

Or maybe, you know, Spector was telling the truth. How far would they really have taken Mickey Mouse, their own biggest damned mascot?

Spoiler

Not very, no matter which way you look at it or which console it's on.

 

[Slider2k]

Well if that artwork were translated into an equal game, that could have been an interesting game for more adult audience - those who grew on Disney cartoons when they were kids. Clearly that's not the audience that this game are targeting.
Considering all those trash Disney films lately, i'd say there's creativity crysis in Disney.

 

[dwightsteel]

I remember seeing the original concept art and wondering how whoever was designing this would get Disney to sign off on such an departure from their tried and true, but thinking how amazing it would be for them to do it...

For months I was hoping to get more information on this so called Epic Mickey....then everything just went downhill. It turning into a Wii exclusive, severely limiting the technical aspect, and pretty much guaranteeing that we would never see the beautiful landscapes the early concepts promised. And now the screens which seem to abandon almost everything that made that game look promising.

I hope Warren Spector is happy. He took easily the coolest thing that could have represented Disney in a long time, and proceeded to make the wrong choices. Damn. This bums me out.

 

[tk1989]

I am.... I'm not going to lie, I am disappointed. Not so much so that I am not going to consider this game, I will still watch its progression, but I was hoping for more from the screenshots as we were promised so much.

Remember though, its early days, and they only released 6 screenshots from what looks like one area.

 

[Da_Schwartz]

WOw..thats...umm..nothing like i thought it would be. I'd be pissed if i was one of the concept artists working on this project, seeing how it actually looks in-game. I mean it could be still in beta..or not rendered, or finished really. ::shrug:: Not knockin it but those are from a Wii version..Perhaps the other platforms would look a bit more...epic?

 

[AceDiamond]

I think all that concept art was originally for the ps3, 360 and PC version, I'm sorry to say I doubt a wii game could hold all the epic art.

Shame there is no "next-gen" version, it could have been a great story telling experience!

Edit: The average game is what...8-12 hours? And an old Disney film is like 2 hours, ACII has 3 hours of cut scenes...See my logic about story telling?

So you think that because it's on Wii, Disney said "Nay! Such a thing couldn't be in a Wii game!"

Or maybe, you know, Spector was telling the truth. How far would they really have taken Mickey Mouse, their own biggest damned mascot?

Spoiler

Not very, no matter which way you look at it or which console it's on.

Pfft, no it's obivious Warren Spector is a liar and we should take him to task for that. WHERE'S MY DAMNED MOON LEVELS IN DEUS EX, YOU BEARDED ROAD APPLE?!

See what I did here was point out that, fucking surprise, concept art and concept designs are not ever, nor ever should be, used to generate an expectation much less a solidified final design of a game. The L4D2 boycotters learned this the hard way and the sooner other gamers learn to stop doing that the better. A game design document is not a promise. Concept art is not a promise.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

I think all that concept art was originally for the ps3, 360 and PC version, I'm sorry to say I doubt a wii game could hold all the epic art.

Shame there is no "next-gen" version, it could have been a great story telling experience!

Edit: The average game is what...8-12 hours? And an old Disney film is like 2 hours, ACII has 3 hours of cut scenes...See my logic about story telling?

So you think that because it's on Wii, Disney said "Nay! Such a thing couldn't be in a Wii game!"

Or maybe, you know, Spector was telling the truth. How far would they really have taken Mickey Mouse, their own biggest damned mascot?

Spoiler

Not very, no matter which way you look at it or which console it's on.

Pfft, no it's obivious Warren Spector is a liar and we should take him to task for that. WHERE'S MY DAMNED MOON LEVELS IN DEUS EX, YOU BEARDED ROAD APPLE?!

See what I did here was point out that, fucking surprise, concept art and concept designs are not ever, nor ever should be, used to generate an expectation much less a solidified final design of a game. The L4D2 boycotters learned this the hard way and the sooner other gamers learn to stop doing that the better. A game design document is not a promise. Concept art is not a promise.

Exactly. But will they listen, Frank? Will they listen?

Spoiler

No.

And he might be a bearded road apple, but he's our bearded road apple. Here's hoping for a Deus Ex Prequel involving Paul Denton (seeing as we can't ignore the Helios ending), oh yes.

WOw..thats...umm..nothing like i thought it would be. I'd be pissed if i was one of the concept artists working on this project, seeing how it actually looks in-game. I mean it could be still in beta..or not rendered, or finished really. ::shrug:: Not knockin it but those are from a Wii version..Perhaps the other platforms would look a bit more...epic?

See above, really. And last I checked this will be a Wii exclusive.