Mickey's New 'Old' Image ...

[EPCOT Explorer]

For all the people that cannot believe Disney would want a game like this should do there research. This game was pitched to Spector by Disney. He did some revisions on some elements but the core has always been there. He also believes in the game so much that to do it he let Disney by his new independent company. Plus he wants to make a ducktales game and no not the cartoon the comics. He is a true Disney buff who loves the history and would not want to tarnish Mickey’s character but add to it

Good term there. Add to Mickey. Or ADD BACK, really....This has been there since the beginning.

 

[_Scar]

Yeeeeah, Splash Mountain/Song of the South. Again. Do your research. It's NOT racist. People are TOO sensitive about these things. The whole story has been disambiguated by these "sympathies". As a student of History I ask you...Do you REALLY think we are just going to wipe away years of our History, no matter how dirty? NO. That's wrong. You disrespect your past that way. No. You forget that way. No. You are wont to repeat it that way.

Song of the South being racist is ALL a matter of opinion. So is the sexism in PotC. The fact of the matter is some people get extremely offended. It's very unproffessional to just ignore this too. It's not a good way to run a business always on that distinct line of boundaries, especially for Disney. Cmon now, guys. I can't be the only sane person here.

Ok here's a totally fabricated situation that has nothing to do with gender or racism. Imagine the Haunted Mansion showed the ghost bride chopping off a husband's head. Don't you think that would offend people? But wait.... it may not offend others. Does that make it right? Should something like this be shown because some people think its okay? Children would surely not to visit this ride. Just like blacks may be offended by Splash if it followed its original story (Song of the South movie). Or the women being chased by men in PotC would make women feel uncomfortable.

On the note of the ride itself....Put Remus back. It's part of the story, part of the history...and IF YOU KNEW about this, you would see that it was actually quite bipartisan to have a African American actor star in the movie, and play the role that he did. This PR spin against FACT is sickening.

Once again, the movie being racist is all subjective. Personally, I love the movie. Don't think its racist one bit. But I also know it offends people. And I respect that and I would never want that in Splash.

You don't understand why Johnny Shlep was brought in? The movie? Umm..."Whole New Demographic" of teen girls drooling more than a fanboi on D23 Expo day? Heard of them? There ya go.
The ride isn't supposed to have a defined story in the first place. Adding him just makes this another Disney "Hide and Seek" scenario. Original, right? Nemo, Mexico, Philhar.

Johnny Shlep? Anyways, Johnny is the face of PotC. Sorta lkike Mickey is the face of Disney. Just because girls love him doesn't mean anything. Do you really think they put in Depp because they wanted teen girls to swoon? Cmon now.

Mick's personality NOW is tacky. And cheesey. In a good way. Like We've said...He's a symbol. And that's fine. But as I said before....Let him out of his shell for a bit. REALLY make him a DISNEY character again. Let him have an adventure for a change. He's spent too much time holding Walt's hand in front of a Castle.

Fine, but hold true to his personality. A mean and ed off Mickey is not the Mickey we've seen for over 70 years.

Yes, always let him be in the roll of a partner, and of a symbol, but let the character be himself, too.

He is a symbol of Disney, but that doesn't mean he has no character! He's always the voice of reason, fighting for good in the word, ect. That is character and could be symbolic of Disney, too.

As always, there's a happy balance. Right now...it's too happy.

Before Epic Mickey even showed an altered Mickey, did you ever think Mickey was lacky character? I didn't, still don't.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Song of the South being racist is ALL a matter of opinion. So is the sexism in PotC. The fact of the matter is some people get extremely offended. It's very unproffessional to just ignore this too. It's not a good way to run a business always on that distinct line of boundaries, especially for Disney. Cmon now, guys. I can't be the only sane person here.

Ok here's a totally fabricated situation that has nothing to do with gender or racism. Imagine the Haunted Mansion showed the ghost bride chopping off a husband's head. Don't you think that would offend people? But wait.... it may not offend others. Does that make it right? Should something like this be shown because some people think its okay? Children would surely not to visit this ride. Just like blacks may be offended by Splash if it followed its original story (Song of the South movie). Or the women being chased by men in PotC would make women feel uncomfortable.


Once again, the movie being racist is all subjective. Personally, I love the movie. Don't think its racist one bit. But I also know it offends people. And I respect that and I would never want that in Splash.


Johnny Shlep? Anyways, Johnny is the face of PotC. Sorta lkike Mickey is the face of Disney. Just because girls love him doesn't mean anything. Do you really think they put in Depp because they wanted teen girls to swoon? Cmon now.

Fine, but hold true to his personality. A mean and ed off Mickey is not the Mickey we've seen for over 70 years.

He is a symbol of Disney, but that doesn't mean he has no character! He's always the voice of reason, fighting for good in the word, ect. That is character and could be symbolic of Disney, too.


Before Epic Mickey even showed an altered Mickey, did you ever think Mickey was lacky character? I didn't, still don't.

No matter what you do in business...some idiot that doesn't know his HISTORY will be upset. More often then not...They will be the minority. Look at The Simpsons. Look at Family Guy. People need to be open minded. If they can't handle DISNEY of all things, then wow. Honestly, I think that Disney needs to push some boundaries. Get more people drawn to something that ISN'T bland. Like we've said before...REAL STORYTELLING. If pushing a boundary is that...then, go for it! Get the job done. They did in the past.

There's nothing to be offended about in the Song of the South movie. If you knew, you would see that they are not Slaves. Servants. Meaning paid. Meaning that I *think* that this isn't Antebellum America...it's Reconstruction. If you don't know what that is, google it.


Shlep? Google. Did they put Jack in to POTC for that effect? Umm...Yeah. Merch. Audiences. They wanted to attract a bigger audience to that ride. It's obvious. Marketing is a sly beast.

And? This adds to his character. He can still be all those things while doing this. Trust me...Mickey is too popular to be ruined now. That's absurd.


And yes, yes I did. Because, if you watch ooooooold Disney/Mickey Mouse shorts, I MUCH prefer that plucky "sympathetic" (as Walt called him) character to Mundane Mickey. I love Mundane Mickey, don't get me wrong, but Epic Mickey actually looks exciting. Excuse me for wanting a better product.

 

[_Scar]

No matter what you do in business...some idiot that doesn't know his HISTORY will be upset. More often then not...They will be the minority. Look at The Simpsons. Look at Family Guy. People need to be open minded. If they can't handle DISNEY of all things, then wow. Honestly, I think that Disney needs to push some boundaries. Get more people drawn to something that ISN'T bland. Like we've said before...REAL STORYTELLING. If pushing a boundary is that...then, go for it! Get the job done. They did in the past.

Simpsons? Family Guy?! Those are 2 horrible examples. Disney targets a family audience, not an adult one.And yes, it may not offend the majority.... but do you really want people out there offended. You do know a great amount of people were offended by Song of the South. And the women being chased? Did you know that? Can you just ignore that? Do you really think that if they brought these into the park it'd attract a greater audience? That makes me laugh.

There's nothing to be offended about in the Song of the South movie. If you knew, you would see that they are not Slaves. Servants. Meaning paid. Meaning that I *think* that this isn't Antebellum America...it's Reconstruction. If you don't know what that is, google it.

To me, once again, it's not racist. But I can clearly see how it could be percieved that way. I love the movie, enough to admit it has flaws, one very big flaw.

Shlep? Google. Did they put Jack in to POTC for that effect? Umm...Yeah. Merch. Audiences. They wanted to attract a bigger audience to that ride. It's obvious. Marketing is a sly beast.

They put him in because he is the face of Pirates! With your mindset, you'd think EVERY SINGLE RIDE is to get people to buy merch. You can't be that paranoid by that. There's nothing there suggesting merch, and if there is point it out. Point out the one single outlying fact that it targets merch that any other Disney ride does not have.

And? This adds to his character. He can still be all those things while doing this. Trust me...Mickey is too popular to be ruined now. That's absurd.

Not necesarily. There were 2 very different sides to the "old" Mickey. And his character was officially changed by Walt himself because of complaints ofn him having 2 different sides which led to other characters we see today. That's just Disney history right there. History will probably repeat itself.

And yes, yes I did. Because, if you watch ooooooold Disney/Mickey Mouse shorts, I MUCH prefer that plucky "sympathetic" (as Walt called him) character to Mundane Mickey. I love Mundane Mickey, don't get me wrong, but Epic Mickey actually looks exciting. Excuse me for wanting a better product.

Opinion. :shrug: I much prefer a nice Mickey and a mean Donald. :lol::sohappy:

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Simpsons? Family Guy?! Those are 2 horrible examples. Disney targets a family audience, not an adult one.And yes, it may not offend the majority.... but do you really want people out there offended. You do know a great amount of people were offended by Song of the South. And the women being chased? Did you know that? Can you just ignore that? Do you really think that if they brought these into the park it'd attract a greater audience? That makes me laugh.




To me, once again, it's not racist. But I can clearly see how it could be percieved that way. I love the movie, enough to admit it has flaws, one very big flaw.



They put him in because he is the face of Pirates! With your mindset, you'd think EVERY SINGLE RIDE is to get people to buy merch. You can't be that paranoid by that. There's nothing there suggesting merch, and if there is point it out. Point out the one single outlying fact that it targets merch that any other Disney ride does not have.



Not necesarily. There were 2 very different sides to the "old" Mickey. And his character was officially changed by Walt himself because of complaints ofn him having 2 different sides which led to other characters we see today. That's just Disney history right there. History will probably repeat itself.




Opinion. :shrug: I much prefer a nice Mickey and a mean Donald. :lol::sohappy:

Simp. and FamGuy are examples, extreme ones, nonetheless. Disney is capable of going out ad targeting other audiences, you know that, right? Like they used to? Seriously, the "typical syrupy" family audience has it's place, but it's tired and overused in other areas of the company. They should me taking OTHER lines of thought, and OTHER audiences and going after them. Again, that would add more balance to the mix.

Great many people? I laugh at that. Introduce it the right way, market it the correct way, it'll be fine. Didn't say anything about attracting about audiences, here, I'm going for a richer and more immersive type of Storytelling. Which is EXACTLY what Disney is about.

Pirates, again. The ride is supposed to be face-LESS. It's supposed to be a EXPERIENCE through the universe of a pirate. Adding a character (unoriginal, at that. WDI Original would be interesting. ) is a simple marketing ploy. Research, again.

Your Disney History logic is flawed...Mickey became Mundane Mickey because Walt and his 9 Old Men created new characters. Keepling Mickey in the limelight was achieved because he's the original. The symbol.The other characters seemed to get all the fun. Disney History repeating itself? Who you calling dramatic, now? :lol: If you are alluding to Mickey reverting to his old character, yeah, it's happening. And I'm all for it.




For those worried about Mickey's image...don't. Nothing can change it. It's been the same way for 81, almost 82, years now. He's cemented as the icon. He won't be tarnished. He won't be changed. He will, however, be added to, and made to appeal to other demographics while still retaining his spirit.

 

[CaptainMichael]

Cmon now, guys. I can't be the only sane person here.

I could be here all day responding to you (I'll let Evan do that), but you are nothing more than an Epic Troll who sounds exactly jt04. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, you're wrong about everything on millions of levels.

I have no respect for people who take the opposing side of an argument just the drama of it.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I could be here all day responding to you (I'll let Evan do that), but you are nothing more than a Epic Troll who sounds exactly jt04. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, you're wrong about everything on millions of levels.

I have no respect for people who take the opposing side of an argument just the drama of it.

:sohappy::wave:

 

[EpcotServo]

...The accumulated filth of all their fornication and murder will foam up about their waists and all the prostitutes and politicians will look up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "Oh boy!"

:lol:


Anyhoo, I rule that Mickey is Mickey and this is thread is Jumpin' at shadows. Good day!

 

[imagineer boy]

I thought the bad-@$$ version of Mickey was really brought to an awesome light in Kingdom Hearts 2 ("they'll pay for this!" lol so awesome!) and I'm glad to see Epic Mickey is continuing that!

And I agree, Mickey feels very irrelevent these days. Just a crummy looking CGI character on a crappy kids show. Its a shame because he's not only a symbol of a company but an American icon!

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

Song of the South being racist is ALL a matter of opinion. So is the sexism in PotC. The fact of the matter is some people get extremely offended. It's very unproffessional to just ignore this too. It's not a good way to run a business always on that distinct line of boundaries, especially for Disney. Cmon now, guys. I can't be the only sane person here.

Ok here's a totally fabricated situation that has nothing to do with gender or racism. Imagine the Haunted Mansion showed the ghost bride chopping off a husband's head. Don't you think that would offend people? But wait.... it may not offend others. Does that make it right? Should something like this be shown because some people think its okay? Children would surely not to visit this ride. Just like blacks may be offended by Splash if it followed its original story (Song of the South movie). Or the women being chased by men in PotC would make women feel uncomfortable.

Actually, I think you just introduced a perfect analogy against your arguments. Without a doubt, it'd be going too far if The Haunted Mansion were to depict the bride decapitating one of her husbands. It doesn't, yet still includes that as a story element, alluding to that that's what took place. Same thing with Pirates. The original ride respected that same kind of boundary. If it were to actually show the act of, well, pillaging the women, that'd absolutely be going too far. It didn't, it was just implied. Arguably less so even than the suggestion of Constance beheading multiple husbands in The Haunted Mansion. Having been infused with the movie franchise, you're now also combining the ride with a world that has much more explicitly alluded to rape. It might help if you think of it in terms of movie ratings. The Pirates movies are PG-13, and the ride could also be considered as such. Especially with having such popular movies now, I'm sure the average person goes into this Pirates ride expecting to see some of the things that pirates are known for doing. If you think that over the first 30 years or so of the ride that the pirates chasing the women created any kind of notable amount of complaints at Guest Relations, or have any kind of negative effect on ridership or reputation, you're kidding yourself.

Once again, the movie being racist is all subjective. Personally, I love the movie. Don't think its racist one bit. But I also know it offends people. And I respect that and I would never want that in Splash.

While EPCOTExplorer is correct that the issue shouldn't be one that they have to tiptoe around, the sad fact of the matter is that Disney would probably get a lot of complaints if they changed Splash in such a manner.

Before Epic Mickey even showed an altered Mickey, did you ever think Mickey was lacky character? I didn't, still don't.

Well, honestly, yeah, I'd have said (and very possibly did at some point) that modern Mickey as a personality and character is somewhat hollow.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I thought the bad-@$$ version of Mickey was really brought to an awesome light in Kingdom Hearts 2 ("they'll pay for this!" lol so awesome!) and I'm glad to see Epic Mickey is continuing that!

And I agree, Mickey feels very irrelevent these days. Just a crummy looking CGI character on a crappy kids show. Its a shame because he's not only a symbol of a company but an American icon!

Well....I think this is a good thing, too. More appeal. Might be going "down" to a new demographic, but it's not crummy. :lol:

And CGI Mickey actually looks cool. However, as always...I feel 2D is best.


EDIT: Well said, Mr.EPCOT.


On SplM...It would need to be explained, and re-marketed. That's all.

 

[WDWGoof07]

Taking this back to Mickey, I cringe when I see a foamhead with no personality laughing and saying things like 'Oh gosh Minnie, being here with all our friends is a reason to celebrate.' Yet, I realize that for many folks that IS Mickey.

I don't think his creator would necessarily agree.

Disney needs to stop worrying about offending people on the far ends of the spectrum in the USA and be true to its roots.

^Agreed.

Being a huge fan of Golden Age cartoons in general, I'm thrilled to hear that Disney wants to take Mickey back to his roots. I hate that so many studios have sugarcoated their classic characters and turned them into figureheads. I hope this means the end of garbage like "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". You're right 74, that is not Mickey Mouse.

I hope Disney follows through with this and lets Mickey be fun again. Maybe this will lead to some old school Mickey shorts down the road.

 

[imagineer boy]

I hope John Lasseter steps in and makes more old-school with modern twist cartoons like the Goofy cartoon that played before National Treasure 2. That was probably one of the best Disney cartoons I'd seen in ages.

 

[Bairstow]

Is there a Bloc28 store at Disney World yet?
http://bloc28.com/

 

[protiius]

hmmmm...

didn't get chance to read the articles fully but at first glance epic mickey seems pretty evil. as much as i'd love them to hark back to the days of steamboat willie and mickey's wilder side i don't think making him this dark is a great move. make him cheeky? yes. plucky? yes. troublesome? yes. but evil? definetly not. as someone said earlier, that's what donald's there for.

 

[jakeman]

So I don't disagree with anyone here really that a change back to the old Mickey isn't a bad thing, but what I found interesting in the article, for all the parties that the author says are or will be concerned, he never cites a source.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but other than broad statements of who might be offended, he doesn't have any facts that any one is actually offended by Epic Mickey.

I just found that odd.

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

So I don't disagree with anyone here really that a change back to the old Mickey isn't a bad thing, but what I found interesting in the article, for all the parties that the author says are or will be concerned, he never cites a source.

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but other than broad statements of who might be offended, he doesn't have any facts that any one is actually offended by Epic Mickey.

I just found that odd.

That's a very good observation. They could very well be trying to create an issue where there really is none, and sensationalize it a bit.

 

[The Mak]

hmmmm...

didn't get chance to read the articles fully but at first glance epic mickey seems pretty evil. as much as i'd love them to hark back to the days of steamboat willie and mickey's wilder side i don't think making him this dark is a great move. make him cheeky? yes. plucky? yes. troublesome? yes. but evil? definetly not. as someone said earlier, that's what donald's there for.

Evil? Where do you get that vibe?

Is Popeye being evil when he says "That's all I can stands and I can't stands no more" eats his spinach and punches Bluto to the moon? That's basically what 'scrapper' Mickey is like in Epic Mickey. His appearance changes depending on how you play the game.

His 'Hero Mickey' appearance is similiar to how he looked in the colored animated shorts.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Just so you can see what the three Mickeys look like.

 

[CBOMB]

Maybe this will open the door for an idea I have for a video game. It's called "Sniper Mickey". It revolves around the premise that international terrorist have taken over WDW. You become Mickey, and roam through the Parks. Your goal is to kill all the evildoers, by what ever means available, and release the characters they have taken hostage. I bet I could sell at least one copy to Evan.

I really don't see the possible gains outweighing the damage that could be done to Mickey's present image. The last time I checked character meet 'n greets, and charcter meals were still very popular. As well as the character merchandise. I understand wanting to introduce people to the "Old Mickey", but sometimes you just shouldn't look back over your shoulder.

I really don't care how dark, and scarey any of the Disney movies, and characters were intended to be. People grown up, and change, why not characters. There is already to much darkness in this world. I think that's why the Parks have done so well. They are an escape from the harsh reality, and violence of this world. The tourist already have an attitude. I don't need the characters to join in.

I may very well be totally wrong, and I must admit I am kind of interested in the concept. While I don't think this is a wise move on Disneys part, I will wait to see the final product before I approve or condemn the move.

Edit I forgot to mention my feelings on POTC. If they had to be so PC by reversing the roles, and have the women chase the men, why didn't they make the whole ride PC. Don't we have pirates bidding on women for what ever purpose they might have in mind. Sometimes people over think some things.