Epic Mickey

**Epic Mickey** is a series of action-adventure platforming designed by Warren Spector and developed by the now-defunct Junction Point Studios. The series centers around Mickey Mouse who travels through a world known as the Wasteland, where he interacts with the forgotten and rejected Disney properties using a magical paintbrush created by Yen Sid, the sorcerer from *Fantasia*.

Epic Mickey features the first appearance of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit since his appearance in 26 Walt Disney Studio-animated and then-Universal Pictures-owned theatrical cartoons. The rights to the character and the 26 cartoons were acquired by The Walt Disney Company in February 2006.

The series currently has one released game exclusive to the Wii, a sequel on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U and PlayStation Vita and a 3DS spin-off, both released in 2012. As of June 2011, the original Epic Mickey game sold 2 million copies in North America and Europe combined.

Like other Disney Games series, this is another Disney Games series Phantomstrider is a fan of, as he thought Power of Illusion was a decent Disney game. His most favorite would be the 1st Epic Mickey game, as honestly, he thought Epic Mickey had a beautiful story, and some of the best animation designs he’s ever seen on the Wii. He’d even call this story on par with the emotional sophistication of many Pixar movies. But what he felt stood out about Epic Mickey compared to many other Disney games is that it wasn’t exactly trying to be safe and comfortable. In the world of Wasteland, the ambience of sadness and melancholy just hangs over it. It actually drives him to want to add some more color and joy to the Wasteland world, even if it’s only a little bit. The story is creative, awesome and even scary. It’s a darker, paler, twisted world that he really marvels that during gameplay. The flat 50-0 cutscenes are really cool too, they’re smooth and very expressive, and frankly, some of the acting, animation and character development here is simply stunning for a video game. Mickey's face can contort in the simplest ways to convey strong emotion to him. It’s a shame though, as it’s undercut by the fact that at this point, they don’t give a voice to Mickey. Like, we all know what Mickey should sound like, so why not voice him? Anyway, Mickey's paintbrush has the power to either magically create or destroy the world around him. Do you want to befriend your enemies, or wipe them out of existence? It adds a slight moral element to the gameplay, which is kind of neat. Mickey gradually discovers many dark sad truths about Wasteland. It’s a land of the forgotten and abandoned, the unnecessary and ignored characters from Disney's lore, including Oswald who fortunately hasn’t decided to help us out yet? Why fortunately? Well, more on that explained below later. Right now, he’s still rather envious and spiteful about Mickey taking his place back in 1938, and he’s had, uh, plenty of time to stew on it. If Strider would were to define Epic Mickey's gameplay, I’d say it merges The Legend of Zelda (NES) with Donkey Kong 64? But the Wii controls reminded him a lot of Mario Galaxy, and he love that game. One big negative though is the camera, which has notoriously weighed down the Epic Mickey series. Unfortunately, it’s one of those sluggish cameras you may spend half the time wrestling with, and it can take some getting used to. But on the plus side, he found the story a pretty good length, with about a 15 hour adventure, this is personally about as long as he wants a Disney adventure to go on for. Overall, he thinks the first Epic Mickey is an artistic 3D stand out in Mickey's games.

But overall, this is Strider's least favorite good Disney Games series. While 2 out of the 3 games were passable, in which he considers Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion the conclusion of this short series, since it was released on the same date as the other Epic Mickey game. Strider says that’s a good thing, because the other game released on the same day is his least favorite Epic Mickey game and one of his least favorite Disney games, Epic Mickey 2. Now, when he did play this, he admitted that this sequel actually retrains a lot of the charm of the original, and in his opinion, the cutscenes actually improve upon the original, and we do get some nostalgia appeal here, and a lot of the original Epic Mickey's artistic charm…but the clunky controls, slippy jumping puzzles, and drawn out bosses make this a frustrating sequel to a pretty decent original game. As Strider mentioned earlier, the weird monochrome fella hanging out with Mickey is called Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the true original Disney symbol…before Walt dumped him for Mickey back in 1938…though that maybe because Walt lost the rights to him. Anyway, in this game, Oswald decided to be a real trooper about the last 85 years at this point and help Mickey out, which at least makes his character more likable in the game's story. But during gameplay on the other hand, he has an abysmal A.I., so it’s understandable why Strider thinks Oswald's actually maybe sabotaging us, anyway, more on that later. This is a sequel he wanted to like, because so much is in place to make it great, like, now, Epic Mickey has voice acting, in fact, we’ve got some real star voice talents here you might even recognize from some Disney movies/cartoons. Strider has some noticeable ones he recognizes from his favorites (more explained in section below). Yet the gameplay clunkiness holds it back so much. Probably the biggest problem is our buddy Oswald's A.I. is notoriously terrible. In fact, it’s understandable in gameplay that Strider is half convinced our partner in paint here hasn’t gotten over his 85 year grudge at this point, and is actually determined to thwart us at every turn. We need his electric rabbit powers to progress, yet his A.I. will often make him run off or just outright stand in the way when we hit a puzzle or need his powers. Even people who really enjoy Epic Mickey 2 often seem to admit the A.I. forces Oswald to just outright refuse to help you half the time, and when comparing the gameplay visuals to Epic Mickey 1, Strider just wasn’t as impressed with 2. He personally found most of the scenery felt less lush, varied, colorful and memorable than 1. With that being said, stylistically, it still looks leagues above many other 7th generation console games. But once again, we are given a beautiful musical score. It’s a sweeping orchestra filled with whimsical throwbacks to other Disney moments, and when he was taking in both the musical score and the exceptional cutscene voice acting, Strider really did feel like there was something special to Epic Mickey 2. Many of these creative musical cutscenes are actually performed by the notoriously controversial Mad Doctor. You know, the guy who tried to turn Pluto into a homunculus and saw Mickey in half. Apparently, he sings now. Anyway, the cutscenes are, in Strider's opinion, a definite improvement over the original. But anyway, Epic Mickey 2 does retain much of that classic Disney charm, and he did want to see more of Mickey's story. He feels like if they could fix the camera, Oswald's A.I., the slippery surfaces, and break the repetition a bit, Epic Mickey 2 could be exactly what it tries to be, a truly EPIC Mickey game.

## Lists Strider Includes Epic Mickey

* In Worst/Best Disney Games: Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two was 4th Worst; Epic Mickey 1 was 5th Best. (February 1, 2020).

## Notable voice actors from Strider's favorite Disney shows/movies in Epic Mickey 2

* Mickey's voice actor, Bret Iwan, is also his voice actor in season 4 of *Mickey Mouse Clubhouse* (a Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior cartoon he thinks is decent).
* Frank Welker, Oswald's voice actor, is Marahute & Joanna from The Rescuers Down Under; Sultan from Beauty and the Beast; Abu, Rajah, and the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin; Mouse from the Lion King; Baby Bird from Hunchback of Notre Dame; Cri-Kee & Khan from Mulan; and Nana 2 & Giant Octopus from Peter Pan II: Return to Never Land.
* Cary Elwes, voice actor for Gremlin Gus, is Prince Roderick & Basil from Sofia the First.
* Corey Burton, Yen Sid & Casey Jones' voice actor, is Prince Achmed & Necklace Merchant from Aladdin; Brutish Guard from Hunchback of Notre Dame; Hakim from Aladdin and the King of Thieves; Male Ancestor from Mulan; the Woody's Roundup announcer from Toy Story 2; Captain Hook from Peter Pan II: Return to Never Land; Captain Hook, Chernabog, "How to" Narrator, and Chief O'Hara from Mickey's House of Villains; the Thunderbolt Adventure Hour Narrator from 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure; Grumpy from the Lion King 1½ & Ralph Breaks the Internet; and Gus from Cinderella III: A Twist of Time.
* Jim Cummings, voice of the Petes (Big Bad, Pete Pan, Small, and Petetronic), is Razoul & Farouk from Aladdin; Ed and singing voice of Scar from the Lion King; Razoul from Aladdin and the King of Thieves; Frollo's Soldiers, Jacques, and Brage Driver from Hunchback of Notre Dame; Scar from the Lion King 2: Simba's Pride; Pete from An Extremely Goofy Movie; Light Green Monster from Monsters Inc; Turk from Peter Pan II: Return to Never Land; Pete, Big Bad Wolf, Kaa, and Ed from Mickey's House of Villains; Dirty Dawson from 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure; Ed The Hyena from the Lion King 1½; News Reporter from the Incredibles; and Game Over Voice from Wreck-It Ralph.
* Bill Farmer, voice of Horace Horsecollar, Animatronic Goofy and Practical Pig, is the Monotone Announcer from Toy Story; Male Ant #3 from A Bug's Life; Man #1 from Toy Story 2; Goofy from An Extremely Goofy Movie; Photographer from Monsters Inc; Goofy & Pluto from Mickey's House of Villains; Goofy & Sleepy from the Lion King 1½; and Winford Bradford Rutherford, Lee Revkins and Ryan Shields from Cars.
* Tony Anselmo, Animatronic Donald's voice actor, is Donald Duck from Fantasia 2000 & the Lion King 1½; and Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie from Mickey's House of Villains.
* Tress MacNeillec, Animatronic Daisy's voice actor, is Daisy Duck, Aunt Sarah and Am from Mickey's House of Villains; Female Meerkat Digger #1 from the Lion King 1½; and Anastasia Tremaine from Cinderella III: A Twist of Time.
* April Winchell, voice of Gilda and Clarabelle Cow, also voiced Clarabelle in Mickey's House of Villains.
* Jeff Bennett, Mr. Smee's voice actor, is Zazu's singing voice in the Lion King; Frollo's Soldiers from Hunchback of Notre Dame; Axe & Poke from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas; Bradley Uppercrust III, Unemployment Lady and Chuck the Sportscaster from An Extremely Goofy Movie; Mr. Smee & the Pirate Crew from Peter Pan II: Return to Never Land; Salesman from Mickey's House of Villains; Jasper from 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure; Bashful from the Lion King 1½; and Pip in Andalasia from Enchanted.
* Stephen Stanton, voice of Paulie, Scurvy Pat & Blue Gremlin, is Gustav from Doc McStuffins; and Jade Jaguar from Sofia the First.
* Jon Heder, voice of Seth, is Oskar Greason from Star vs. the Forces of Evil.
* Fred Tatasciore, voice of Barnacle Jones, is Troll from Enchanted.
* Julianne Buescher, voice of Metairie, is Young Bride (singing voice) from Mulan.