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New evidence of Warren Spector and Disney’s ‘Epic Mickey?’
Austin gaming legend Warren Spector has been the subject of much speculation since his company, Junction Point Studios, was bought by Disney Interactive in 2007. What could the lead designer of such dark, forward-looking thrillers like “Deus Ex” be doing with the Mouse House?
The answer might be “Epic Mickey.” The blog Superannuation might have spilled the beans by connecting rumors from last year about a possible “Epic Mickey” game with recent concept art that has appeared on the Web page of artist Fred Gambino where the title also appears.
The Web site also found a mention of it on the online resume of artist Tony Pulham (the mention has since been removed and cannot be found on a Google cache search). There, it was listed as a game for the Nintendo Wii.
So, what does the absolutely gorgeous, heartbreaking artwork suggest? This could be a Disney game like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Something dark and tragic that plays off of our collective memories of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Epcot Center and a whole universe of characters and locales.
Some are suggesting on blog comments that Disney would never go for something as dark and adult as the artwork suggests, but the company did have some success letting Square ENIX take the Disney universe and run with it in the well-received “Kingdom Hearts” games. Spector is well-respected in the industry and if you’re going to entrust anyone to take the most recognizable mouse in the world into some sort of industrial wasteland metaverse, he’s probably the guy.
The concept art is filled with apocalyptic imagery merged with a world where Disney once reined. Scaffolding surrounds a giant container for “Mickey Mouse Paint Thinner” next to a toxic beach where familiar Disney characters (is that Clarabelle Cow?) are pictured.
In another shot, a broken, decaying horned whale has a Mickey Mouse tower on top of it while a fragmented Disney World Epcot ball is broken, splayed open.
The mounting evidence of the game is making waves on gaming blogs from Kotaku to Joystiq to GameSpy to the Penny Arcade forum, where all the concept art seen so far was posted.
We’ve reached out to Spector, but given that it’s Disney, we don’t expect a formal announcement right away. Please, please, please let it be true, because this artwork is amazing.
(Concept art below from Fred Gambino’s Web site)
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