I DO NOT like how they enhanced SO MUCH âshineâ on their blue lock tracking suits to the point they look like theyâre wearing those leather tights thing ma-bob? Whatever you call âem.
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CONGRATULATIONS @nortsauce and @flygutzz for Myth of the Machine reaching the Top 6!!!
It was so incredibly well deserved!
Your Comic has impacted so many lives, including mine. Not only has your work inspired me greatly, but it helped me get out of a weeks long art block and has helped motivate me greatly.
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Today is the release of the new âRebrushedâ Edition of a game I loved a ton growing up: âEpic Mickey.â I was OBSESSED with this game when it came out way back in 2010, and at the time it came out, it was treated as a big deal! There was a ton of merchandising and advertisement for this title, more so than you would get for most Disney games, and itâs not hard to see why: the game promised to provide a different kind of adventure for Mickey Mouse, with a darker tone and a focus on more obscure Disney characters and old cartoons. Nowadays, in hindsight, I feel the game could have gone even further than it did (and, apparently, the creators WANTED it to go further than it did, but either due to budget constraints, corporate meddling, or a bit of both, they couldnât), but I still have a huge soft spot for it. Itâs probably my favorite thing to feature Mickey Mouse as a heroic character, and it still has a notable cult following.
Ironically for a game that focused on the obscure and the forgotten, the game itself sort of faded into obscurity for a while; despite the release of two sequels (namely a console follow-up called âPower of Two,â and a portable spin-off called âPower of Illusionâ), the franchise sort of fizzled out pretty quickly, and for a long time it was seen as naught but an unusual footnote in the history of Disney and its presence in gaming. To celebrate the return of this game to store shelves (and, I believe, online distribution), I decided to do a quick rundown of my Top 6 characters from the games.
Why Top 6, you may ask? Simple: because after six, it all gets kerbobbled. Itâs harder for me to choose and rank characters beyond that point, simply because who I favor among them changes depending on my mood and how recently Iâve revisited portions of the game. My Top 6, however, have consistently been my Top 6 - both in terms of choices and ranking - pretty much from day one, and I donât think will ever change, so theyâre the ones I feel most comfortable discussing. Also, Iâm going to attempt to avoid spoilers with this list, so Iâm going to keep focused as much as possible on the first game, with less emphasis on the sequels. (Fortunately, all six characters appear in the first game, though some of the Honorable Mentions are from later titles.) I'll also try to avoid giving away too many of the twists in the plot, for those who will be playing Epic Mickey for the first time via this Rebrushed Edition.
With that said, letâs dive into the Wasteland! These are My Top 6 Favorite Characters from Epic Mickey!
6. Pete.
What many people may not realize about Mickeyâs famed arch-enemy is that Pete is actually the single longest-lasting recurring Disney character in history. Pete doesnât just predate Mickey himself, he even predates Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: the character first showed up as a recurring villain in the silent animation/live-action hybrid âAlice Comedies,â with his first appearance dating back to 1925. Thatâs a whole three years before Mickey, and two years before Oswald! Itâs therefore not entirely surprising to see Pete in the Wasteland, especially since the character has had so many different guises and roles throughout his long historyâŠa fact that Epic Mickey takes humorous advantage of. You see, there isnât just ONE Pete in the Epic Mickey universe. Oh, no. There are no less than FOUR. âPete Primeâ (the one picture here) is Big Bad Pete, who appears to be the town sheriff of Mean Street. Next thereâs Small Pete, who lives in the Gremlin Village and is comically dressed up like a little Dutch girl doll. Then thereâs Petetronic, who is basically what youâd get if Pete cosplayed as Commander Sark and is the head of Tomorrow City. Finally, thereâs Pete Pan: a parody of Peter Pan who flies around Ventureland, mostly spending his time annoying the Wastelandâs version of Captain Hook. Interestingly, most of these Petes seem to be relatively nice characters, rather than real menaces to toon societyâŠbut be careful: a character with such a long and checkered past may not always be trustworthy.
5. Gremlin Gus.
Of all the characters left stranded and forgotten in the Wasteland, the Gremlins are easily the most obscure of the bunch. The characters were conceived in the mind of Roald Dahl - the author best known for his works of childrenâs literature, such as âThe BFGâ and âCharlie and the Chocolate Factory.â Dahl wrote a story simply called âThe Gremlinsâ that was going to be transformed into a Disney movieâŠbut for various reasons, the film never came to pass. The book itself has fallen into utter obscurity, and the scrapped project is largely unknown by even the most ardent Disney fans: I, myself, only knew of the Gremlins prior to Epic Mickey because of a paper ad for a re-release of the book in the early 2000s. In âEpic Mickey,â however, the Gremlins are a major part of the universe: since the movie was never really a thing, and the book is so little-known nowadays, the creators of the game were able to create their own twist on the Gremlins unique to this world. They are essentially the custodians of the Wasteland, performing a variety of jobs and services to keep the place ship-shape. The most prominent of them all is their leader, Gus. Gremlin Gus is a sort of âPapa Smurfâ figure for the Gremlins, and acts as Mickeyâs guide through the games, providing bits of advice and various hints along the rodentâs journey. Think of him along the lines of the Cheshire Cat from the American McGeeâs Alice games, or one of Linkâs many companions (such as Navi, Midna, or Fi) from The Legend of Zelda. In the first game, the vocal effects for Gremlin Gus were provided by veteran voice actor Bob Joles. In âPower of Two,â Gus was given a proper speaking voice, provided by none other than the Dread Pirate Roberts himself, Cary ElwesâŠand I canât help but think such casting is why they perhaps gave Gus a few TOO MANY lines in the sequel, buuut thatâs another story for another time.
4. Mickey Mouse.
I debated whether or not to give Mickey a place in the ranks of his own, for various reasons, but after some deliberationâŠyeah. I think heâs earned it in this case. As I said in the preamble, this is probably my favorite thing made to feature Mickey himself, and Mickey is part of that. This is one of those rare occasions where the premise of the story largely results from Mickeyâs own actions and inactions, rather than the machinations of some other scoundrel: it is due to Mickeyâs own foolery that the Phantom Blot and the Thinner Disaster are created. It is due to Mickeyâs popularity that Oswald and several other characters in the Wasteland are forgotten to begin with. Now, Mickey has to essentially remember and salvage the very things that are in ruin because of him. The game plays around with this idea of saving and destroying through its chief mechanic: the magic paintbrush Mickey uses can destroy things by shooting streams of hyper-acidic thinner, or create through use of an enchanted paint. Different obstacles can be overcome by different uses of the two tools, and some can be dealt with in multiple ways: choice is a key factor of Mickeyâs story, as well as the player. Originally, the game makers wanted to go even further with this idea, with the playerâs decisions making Mickey more good or more evil throughout the story, but while the final result may be toned down from their initial schemes, I think it still works brilliantly. Mickey is still the fun-loving hero we all recognize, but thereâs that little bit of mischief and extra depth to the character present because of this idea of choice and the way heâs depicted. The sequels continued these ideas, with choice remaining a major part of the story in âPower of Twoâ once more, and paint and thinner still being equally useful in âPower of Illusion.â Bottom line: move over, Kingdom Hearts. THIS is how you make Disneyâs most recognizable rodent into an action-ready gaming star.
3. The Phantom Blot.
This character is the main antagonist of the original Epic Mickey, and has been referred to by multiple names: Shadow Blot, Storm Blot, King Blot, or simply âThe Blot.â Whatever you call this character, Iâll always refer to him as âThe Phantom Blot,â since that is who the character basically is meant to be. In Disney comics and cartoons, the Blot has been an enemy of Mickey Mouse for many years - dating back to the 1940s, in fact. Typically, heâs depicted as a campy supervillain; a costumed criminal mastermind garbed in an inky cloak and cowl. However, in âEpic Mickey,â the Blot is reimagined as something far more monstrous: a creature made of ink, accidentally formed by Mickey when he meddled with some magic in Yen Sidâs workshop, the Blot is the cause of all the misery going on in the Wasteland. This Blot eventually turns out to be bigger than a castle, and able to send out swarms of âbloticlesâ to literally drain the life from the Wasteland. The Blot is intelligent, but not complex: he has no purpose other than to destroy, and longs to take Mickeyâs heart, since only toons with hearts can leave the Wasteland. With that power, he can venture forth and continue to devour other worlds of their energy and life. I had heard of the Phantom Blot before Epic Mickey, but I really didnât know much about the character: this radical reinvention, for a kid, was quite the introduction. And while Iâve since looked into the ACTUAL Phantom Blot and found great joy in his exploits, I still enjoy this reimagining. In my opinion, the Blot is one of the best video game villains of all time; more a force of cruel nature than anything else, he is a terrifying beast few players will ever forget.
2. The Mad Doctor.
So, hereâs something interesting to note: out of all the âforgottenâ characters featured in Epic Mickey, I actually knew almost all of them when the game came out. Some of them I knew pretty well, others I didnât but I had at least heard of before the gameâs release. The one exception to this rule was this guy: the Mad Doctor. The Doc was the titular antagonist of the Mickey Mouse cartoon âThe Mad Doctorâ from 1933 - one of the few Disney cartoons thatâs actually managed to fall into the public domain. Many consider it to be one of the darkest Mickey cartoons ever made, and in âEpic Mickey,â the infamous mad scientist has not mellowed much with age. Itâs explained that the Mad Doctor, when he first came to the Wasteland, was seemingly a friendly figure, and became an ally to Oswald. He was considered one of Oswaldâs best friends, in fact. However, itâs ultimately revealed that the Mad Doctor was always just as wicked as he was in the cartoon; biding his time till he could make a grab for power. When the Blot came to the Wasteland, in the wake of the Thinner Disaster, the Mad Doctor turned on the good people of the kingdom, creating an army of cartoon cyborgs called âBeetleworxâ (part toon, part machine) to help conquer everything. Thereâs a lot more I could say about the Mad Doctor that makes him interesting - especially in regards to the sequel games and a few twists in the launch title - but since Iâm trying to avoid spoilers, I think itâs best I save a lot of that for another time. Suffice it to say, this was a great introduction to a great villain and a great cartoon, and Iâm glad that Epic Mickey was able to give a little bit more attention to the Mad Doctor for modern audiences.
1. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Oswald was the main reason I got so interested in Epic Mickey so long ago, and was, in fact, more or less the reason the game happened to begin with. One of Walt Disneyâs earliest creations, Oswald - who was the inspiration for not only Mickey himself, but also Bugs Bunny of WB fame in real-life - was the worldâs first major cartoon star. After copyright issues led to Walt Disney breaking away from Universal Studios, and forming his own company, Oswald rapidly declined in popularity, and eventually pretty much vanished off the face of the Earth. In the real world, when Disney bought the rights to Oswald back from Universal many years later, this immediately transitioned into using him in a big (marketable) way, which led to the idea of Epic Mickey. Warren Spector (head of the team behind the game) became interested the instant Oswald was mentioned, being a huge animation buff, and as production went on, Oswald became a richer and richer character. In early concepts of the gameâs story, he was actually going to be one of the main villains of the story, but by the time the game came out, he had transformed into the secondary protagonist. In the fictional story of the games, Oswald is the ruler of the WastelandâŠbut unlike others who are more or less happy with their existence, Oswaldâs feelings of dejection have steadily consumed him. He is portrayed as Mickey Mouseâs long-lost brother; he resents the fame and fortune Mickey got, while he was basically left to rot. He is so obsessed that he creates a place called Mickeyjunk Mountain, where he spends countless hours brooding over his failures and his lost family, surrounded by remnants of Mickeyâs fame that span decades; everything from bubble gum machines to NES game cartridges. The adventure in the Wasteland gives Mickey a chance to not only connect with his past and save the world, but to reconnect with and save Oswald, too. Itâs the relationship between Oswald and Mickey, beyond all else, that makes the games so powerful, and Frank Welker - who provided Oswaldâs vocal effects/voice in all the games - gives probably one of my favorite performances in his entire career. And keep in mind, this is the guy who played characters like Megatron, Garfield, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Fred AND Scooby from various takes on Scooby-Doo, and more âcreature voicesâ than you can shake a stick at. To call this among his best is saying a LOT. For both his fictional prominence and historical significance, itâs no surprise that I name Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as My Favorite Epic Mickey Character. Case closed.