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Mickey Mouse gets a face-lift
Disney's updated character will have an edge in the new video game 'Epic Mickey.'
The innocent days of a smiling, lovable Mickey Mouse might soon be over.
Walt Disney (DIS) is giving everyone's favorite mouse a makeover -- and the new Mickey won't be quite as friendly and sweet.
Disney is introducing a more mischievous Mickey in "Epic Mickey," a new video game for the Nintendo (NTDOF) Wii game console.
Disney, which officially announced the new game and Mickey on Oct. 28, said the new three-dimensional Mickey "is an adventurous and rambunctious mouse" who is stuck in sorcerer Yen Sid's Cartoon Wasteland.
In the wasteland, Mickey has to face old, forgotten Disney characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit -- Walt Disney's first cartoon character, who debuted in 1927 -- and deal with their resentment after he dumped them as his popularity grew and he became Walt Disney's favorite. He also has to defeat the bad guy, the Phantom Blot, with a magic paintbrush.
"I want to bring (Mickey's) personality to the forefront, place him in a daunting world and connect his spirited character with video game players worldwide," said Warren Spector, creative director of game-development studio Junction Point, which gave Mickey his new video-game face and body. "Ultimately, each player decides for him- or herself what makes Mickey cool."
The edgier Mickey Mouse is actually not far off from Walt Disney's first interpretation of the cartoon mouse, when he first debuted in "Steamboat Willie" in 1928.
The move is an effort to expand Disney's brand beyond the family-friendly sector and comes after the media company said it received approval from China to build a theme park in Shanghai.
"This is a huge opportunity to create more relevancy for Mickey and pull him into the fastest-growing entertainment medium," Jim Wilson, the chief executive of Atari's North American business, told The New York Times. "If it's a good game, . . . people are going to buy it."
"Epic Mickey" is expected to be released in the fall of 2010.
Video-game sales rose 1% in September, according to NPD Group, after six months of declines. Game software sales rose 5%, a smaller increase than analysts had expected.
Disney generated about $86 million in retail sales in the U.S. in the first nine months of the year, according to NPD data. Nintendo of America, which is the leading seller of games, made about $1 billion in sales.
Mickey Mouse received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.
Also, I should mention, that the Mickey in the image is only how he looks if you play a certain way. You can either have rascal Mickey, or a Heroic Mickey more in line with his more contemporary self. I think this is a great idea, especially since it can help people learn "Yes, there ARE consequences for your actions."
If Disney went through their old comics from the 20s and 30s they could easily have all the games they need for the next 20 years
I love the original Mickey stuff, like Steamboat Willie and Plane Crazy. Those who are crying foul obviously haven't seen the real Mickey Mouse. They also don't realize that Warren Spector is possibly the biggest Disney geek on the planet. So stop whining about the change of Mickey Mouse
Mickey is only returning back to his old-school roots and if any of your grandparents know, they would tell you how mischievous he was back in the 1930's.
Again, Mickey isn't changing. This isn't a remodeling of the character everyone recognizes. This is a different aspect of him in one video game being produced currently, and the different aspect of him takes after -THE ORIGINAL MICKEY MOUSE-.
Everyone who is claiming that Mickey needs to be "left alone" is talking to a wall. Your point is moot, and you're not actually reading what is in front of you. Mickey is not changing...and even if he were it would be reverting back to his original state created by Walt Disney.
Leave Mickey Alone....He looks demonic if this is his spirit we have enough daunting spirits already and the creators have tunnel vision
I'm very glad that Disney has finaly decided to bring back Mickey Mouse (he's been dead for decades, just being a marketing logo), and that they are pulling classic, and forgoten, characters from their archieves. Mickey was never "edgy", but he was always "the scrappy little guy who would come out grinning" as Walt Disney put it, he was a fighter. Disney could spend years just making movies based on the old Mickey and Donald comic strips\books, they realy would sell, there's a HUGE whole in the market which needs that kind of thing. Hopefuly this game will jumpstart Disney, they've been pretty silent for the last 15-20 years, we want some real Disney action.
StockScouter data provided by Gradient Analytics, Inc.
Quotes supplied by Interactive Data.
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