Spector making "Epic Mickey" for Wii

By Oli Welsh Published 29 July, 2009

Concept art shows dark take on Disney.

Evidence has emerged that Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios is working on a game codenamed "Epic Mickey" for the Wii, offering a dark, steampunk-style take on Mickey Mouse and the Magic Kingdom.

Most of the evidence comes from the rumour-hunter's faithful friend - concept artists' websites - and appears to corroborate a Gamasutra report from late last year that first identified the "Epic Mickey" codename.

Tireless digger Superannuation has turned up the website of concept artist Tony Pulham, whose resumé reveals he recently joined Junction Point to work on "Epic Mickey", and identifies it as a Wii game.

Another Superannuation post unearthed some beautiful concepts for "Epic Mickey" on the website of artist Fred Gambino. Pictures show the Mickey Mouse ears adorning a gigantic, crumbling paddle-steamer, the spires of the Magic Kingdom castle perched atop a twisted tower of rock, and a semi-mechanical "Zombie Goofey" [sic].

Meanwhile, a poster on the NeoGAF forum has found what appear to be the same concepts described in the original Gamasutra report, showing more distorted, nightmarish, mechanical versions of classic Disney characters, including the Seven Dwarves. They come from the artist Gary Glover's site.

Disney Interactive Studios bought Junction Point - which Deus Ex mastermind Spector formed with several other Ion Storm alumni - two years ago. Not long after, it was rumoured - notably in American gaming magazine EGM - that Spector was working on a Mickey Mouse platform game intended to rival Mario.

Last year, Spector said that he was "tired of making games about guys in black leather carrying guns" and that "100-hour games are on the way out". He also revealed that Disney Feature Animation and Pixar were collaborating on Junction Point's game.

And there's more. In an archived Edge interview from E3 2006 - before the Disney acquisition - Spector said: "I want to do a cartoon game really bad - well, really good. People don't realise that I did my Masters thesis on Warner Brothers cartoons, you know - I used to teach animation classes, I've been a Disney stockholder since I was 19. I'm a cartoon freak, I've met a bunch of the old WB directors, and did Toon, the cartoon [pen-and-paper] RPG… And I've been trying to get somebody to let me do a cartoon game for the entire time I’ve been in the videogame business."

In that same interview, Spector even alluded to a project that sounds an awful lot like "Epic Mickey". "I did some concept work on a license with a media company that was very cartoony, and boy, we did some great work," he said. "It was the most fun I've had in a long time, maybe since Deus Ex. The work was phenomenal, and I'll never be able to show it or talk about it with anybody. But hopefully the project will happen. We were gonna let people live in a cartoon world, and it was going to be wacky."

A friend of Eurogamer also once spotted Warren Spector wearing a Mickey Mouse backpack and hoodie in public. True story.

Here's hoping Spector's paymasters at Disney allow him to realise some of the extraordinary vision hinted at by those concept images, because it's mouth-watering stuff. And a long way from the Castle of Illusion...

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • hjarg #1 3 years ago

    Heh, i read that as "epic money" :p

  • DrMGinius #2 3 years ago

    In one of the concepts theres a robot Goofy!

  • rotmm #3 3 years ago

    Probably get thumbed-down for this, but I feel that someone of Spector's stature and heritage is wasted on a Wii title.

  • Steroyd #4 3 years ago

    I'm amazed Disney are even considering the possibility at all

  • Gnort #5 3 years ago

    I'm not sure people who love Disney stuff want to see the characters in a dark, steampunk world, and I'm also not sure that fans of dark, steampunk worlds want to play a game with Disney characters in it.

    Then again, I still think Kingdom Hearts was the worst idea ever, but that series seems to have sold in droves.

  • paul_haine #6 3 years ago

    "I'm not sure people who love Disney stuff want to see the characters in a dark, steampunk world, and I'm also not sure that fans of dark, steampunk worlds want to play a game with Disney characters in it."

    I'm not especially a fan of either, but this sounds good to me.

  • Domovoi #7 3 years ago

    I'm not sure people who love Disney stuff want to see the characters in a dark, steampunk world, and I'm also not sure that fans of dark, steampunk worlds want to play a game with Disney characters in it.

    You're kidding, right? This looks like an amazing blend.

  • PearOfAnguish #8 3 years ago

    You've got a thumbs up from me, rotmm. Mr Deus Ex is making a fucking Mickey Mouse game?

  • MORZTAN #9 3 years ago

    Wow. Spector is sure good at blowing smoke up his own ass.

    Anyway, the art looks fantastic :)

  • chubster2010 #10 3 years ago

    re ' We were gonna let people live in a cartoon world, and it was going to be wacky."'

    Anyone describing anything as being 'wacky' is an instant turn off to be fair.

    Wacky = Timmy Mallet
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/09 @ 15:51

  • Optimaximal #11 3 years ago

    This is a great idea - Disney really need to revisit some of their brands and re-jig them.

    Personally? I'm patiently awaiting the video game conversion of 'Education For Death - The Making of the Nazi'...

  • rotmm #12 3 years ago

    @PearOfAnguish,

    It seems you may have been the only one ;)

  • mingster #13 3 years ago

    i read that as metal mickey!

  • Malek86 #14 3 years ago

    I never really liked Mickey Mouse all that much, so if there's no Scrooge, I'm. Not. Buying.

    Aside from that... it might actually turn out decent, I guess?

  • matrim83 #15 3 years ago

    Mickey mouse? His talents could have been put to better use than shoveling coal into that dying fire.

  • Tomo #16 3 years ago

    The art looks epic.

  • Praetorianer #17 3 years ago

    "tired of making games about guys in black leather carrying guns" and that "100-hour games are on the way out"

    I'd love to see another GOOD game with guys in black leather carrying guns. DeusEx was such an awesome game and it's not like there are too many cyberpunk/steampunk games nowadays, especially not good ones. While I do like the artwork of "Epic Mickey", I am highly skeptical about the characters themselves and if I will really dig the setting of the game. Then again, American McGee's Alice turned out to be pretty good, too, which I didn't expect back then when it was announced. I guess I'll just wait and see and keep fingers crossed that DeusEx 3 will be an outstanding experience like the first installment.

    Deus Ex 3 Artwork: [link url=h ttp://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=80886
    ]http://fo rums.eidosgames.com/showthread....[/link]

    God that looks awesome. Guys in black leather. And guns. And cyberpunk. No Spector though.
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/09 @ 14:47

  • Domovoi #18 3 years ago

    "Angst" is the new "I know what I'm talking about" criticism buzzword.

  • Praetorianer #19 3 years ago

    @insane_cobra:

    I just started replaying Anachronox yesterday :)

    And yes, Edge of Twilight looks terrific.
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/09 @ 15:37

  • ChrisS #20 3 years ago

    If all this turned out to be an elaborate ruse, would it be an Epic Mickey-Take?

    ...

    COAT GET!

  • electrolite #21 3 years ago

    That looks pretty interesting. Not sure it'll ever see the light of the day though

  • comissars_handgun #22 3 years ago

    I think the reason this annoys me is that while he is working on this disney stuff which I almost certainly won't buy, other much less talented people are working on Deus Ex 3. Deus Ex 3 is going to be really terrible.

  • Praetorianer #23 3 years ago

    I really don't see why the people working on DX3 should be "much less talented". From what I've read the people responsible for the story are quite good with Sheldon Pacotti, the lead writer of the first DX titles, consulting. The game engine is going to be an extremely modified Tomb Raider Underworld engine, so this time there should be no need for community patches as far as the graphical quality is concerned.

    Of course, if you WANT the game to be really terrible, it will be...even if only to meet your expectations so that you can say "I knew it! I knew it!"

  • Raymondo3 #24 3 years ago

    Wow, just wow. It looks like a mixture of childhood/adulthood. Brilliant.

    I really hope this doesn't get scrapped. It looks like it could have the potential to be one of the best Nintendo Wii games.

  • J_C_X #25 3 years ago

    Castle and World of Illusion were excellent games.

    Mickey Mania lets not forget the distant ancestor of God of War.
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/09 @ 22:33

  • Batfink #26 3 years ago

    Mixed emotions from me.
    The narwhal/steamer/epcot ship thing = great.
    The wall-climbing elephant thing = pretty nifty.
    The zombie robot goofy thing = hmm, ok you can draw those three random words you just picked out of a hat. Next up.... (rustle rustle) porcupine communist banana!
    The blob of disney characters with robot legs sticking out thing = bored in class doodled on inside of textbook.

  • Nikanoru #27 3 years ago

    This could be kinda Cool World-ish, which could be pretty awesome. Too bad I hate hate Mickey Mouse's guts. That annoying fucker.