UnNews:Disney unveils new, psychotic Mickey Mouse
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Disney unveils new, psychotic Mickey Mouse |
6 November 2009
LOS ANGELES -- Today, the Walt Disney Company announced the development of Epic Mickey, an upcoming video game for the Nintendo Wii. What really sets the Mickey Mouse of the new game apart from one that we all know is his depiction. Instead of a genial, likeable rodent of many decades, gamers play a mentally unstable, antiheroic Mickey Mouse, whose goal is to save whatever ruins left of his realm from resurgence of pure catastrophe, through any means necessary.
In an era where young children find Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Call of Duty 4 more entertaining than cartoon characters modelled on 1950's social mores, sales of Mickey-related merchandise have been declining, even as other Disney merchandises, like the Jonas Brothers and Pixar, are selling well. Epic Mickey is part of Disney's ongoing project to revitalize Mickey Mouse's image for the next generation of young, impressionable audiences.
Nevertheless, Disney is rather cautious in its steps to redesign Mickey Mouse for 21st century appeal. Warren Spector, the head developer of Disney-owned Junction Point Studios, assured, “Mickey is never going to be evil or go around killing people”.
Epic Mickey takes place in a post-World War II cartoon world. Oswald "Lucky Rabbit" von Kaninchen, a disaffected SS corporal, vows to liberate jailed Nazi leaders and restore the Third Reich. Mickey, once a happy-go-lucky, friendly mouse, by then became a depressed, deranged hermit, due to his experiences as an American soldier in combat and as a POW in a German prison camp. Hearing of Oswald's plans to reinvigorate Nazism in the cartoon world, Mickey sees a perfect opportunity for sweet, cold revenge.
The game also stars Donald Duck as a gutted, cybernetic monstrosity and Minnie Mouse as Mickey's sane, yet cynical hooker. Using the MP40, the Thompson, a magic paintbrush, and other weapons left over after the war, Mickey must stop the Lucky Rabbit and his horde of newly escaped Nazi war criminals.
Yesterday, Junction Point Studios gave a very special sneak preview into one of the levels in the game. The level features Mickey Mouse, pumped up with Tinkerbell's enchanted dust and tottering near the edge, as he fights mechanical terrors, all products of horrific eugenics experiments directed by Feldmarschall Phantom Blott, who was saved from execution at the last minute by the Lucky Rabbit.
Reception has been positive thus far. “Wow! This is amazing,” said Eli Gee on GameInformer.com. “I’m really... REALLY excited.”
Sources[edit]
- Brooks Barnes "After Mickey’s Makeover, Less Mr. Nice Guy". The New York Times, November 6, 2009
- Andy McNamara ""Epic" Conspiracy Revealed". Game Informer, November 6, 2009