Epic Mickey details and images

Epic Mickey is Warren Spector's (Deus Ex, Thief) next big project and the game is not only a new interpretation of Mickey Mouse - But a company wide re-definition of the Mickey Mouse character. Epic Mickey is primarily the story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, who was Walt Disney's original mascot for the company. The concept is to tap into that rich history of Disney.

Here's how Disney explains the plot: In the game’s fiction, a sorcerer named Yen Sid creates a beautiful, whimsically-twisted world where Disney’s forgotten and retired creations thrive. Originally, the powerful sorcerer from “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in Walt Disney’s 1940 film “Fantasia” was nicknamed “Yen Sid” by Disney animators, although never named as such on screen. In Spector’s game, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – Walt Disney’s first cartoon star created in 1927 – becomes the earliest inhabitant of Yen Sid’s Cartoon Wasteland after Mickey Mouse is created. Oswald makes the Cartoon Wasteland comfortable for other retired characters as they join him in this magical land. Years pass, and as Oswald dwells in the Cartoon Wasteland, he becomes resentful watching Mickey’s popularity swell. When Mickey curiously stumbles upon Yen Sid’s map, he makes an innocent yet terrible mistake and inadvertently devastates Oswald’s comfortable world. Eventually, Mickey’s mistake pulls him deep into the mysterious Cartoon Wasteland to face the destruction he unknowingly created.

Oswald's world is destroyed by paint thinner, and Mickey and the player must enter the world to put things right, weilding thinner and paint with the Wii remote. Paint’s creativity and thinner’s damaging effect give the player robust tools and empowers them to make choices about how they move through the world. Each player’s decisions to use paint, thinner or both dynamically changes the world with consequences that affect the environment, interactions with other characters, and even Mickey’s appearance and abilities.

Depending on what the player does Mickey will either be heroic, and think of others, or selfish and destructive in his journey through Oswald's world. Warren Spector explains concept, as the game's focal point:

“The core of this game is the idea of choice and consequence, and how that defines both the character and the player," says Spector. "By putting the mischievous Mickey in an unfamiliar place and asking him to make choices – to help other cartoon characters or choose his own path – the game forces players to deal with the consequences of their actions. Ultimately, players must ask themselves, ‘What kind of hero am I?’ Each player will come up with a different answer."

Epic Mickey will be released exclusive on Wii in autumn 2010.

Source: Disney Interactive