Well, Mickey was kind of an ass in his earlier cartoons. He was even mean to his girlfriend.

isukun
Well, Mickey was kind of an ass in his earlier cartoons. He was even mean to his girlfriend.

Back then that's what wholesome was. :V

But yeah I don't get why people want to take a character designed to be cute and make him into some kind of warrior. It doesn't make much sense from a design stand point, it's a bit of a gimmick if anything. Though I will say that after growing up on Disney World it's interesting to see all the buildings warped like this.

Atom Apple
But yeah I don't get why people want to take a character designed to be cute and make him into some kind of warrior.

Updating him to keep him relevant?

These days Mickey is nothing but a pointless outdated kitsch relic. And not even charming in a kitschy way either, just crap.

That reminds me, when was the last time they even did a Mickey Mouse Cartoon? The last one I recall seeing was the Mad Scientist Brain Transplant one. "Runaway Brain" That was the name.

Have they done anything since then?

The main man in charge of the game--Warren Spector, I believe--wanted to blow off the project at first, and for this exact reason. Mickey went from being an interesting character--a mischievous but mostly well intentioned trouble maker--to the "straight man" for the rest of the Disney cast. Donald took his anger, Goofy took his naivety, and Pluto took his loyalty. He just turned into the generic leader type, and from there, he deteriorated into a walking T-shirt and lunchbox factory.

Disney approached Spector a second time, though, voicing their desire to freshen Mickey up--make him current, make him a real character again. Spector, who was a long time fan of Disney from the "good ol' days," agreed to give it a shot... just on his terms.

ozoneocean

Atom Apple
But yeah I don't get why people want to take a character designed to be cute and make him into some kind of warrior.

Updating him to keep him relevant?

These days Mickey is nothing but a pointless outdated kitsch relic. And not even charming in a kitschy way either, just crap.

It would be better off to just leave him alone. Trying to keep things "relevant" almost never results in the new character being half as popular as the original, and it kind of comes across as milking the mascot. I mean, people complain about Sonic and Mario still being used and that's been only a couple of decades. These characters should be archived and remembered as landmarks so the company can focus on making new landmarks.

Atom Apple
It would be better off to just leave him alone. Trying to keep things "relevant" almost never results in the new character being half as popular as the original, and it kind of comes across as milking the mascot. I mean, people complain about Sonic and Mario still being used and that's been only a couple of decades. These characters should be archived and remembered as landmarks so the company can focus on making new landmarks.

But on the other hand, you have your Ninja Gaidens, your Prince of Persias, and so on. Licenses from way back when that got injected with a healthy dose of something fresh, and came back to the public eye with a vengeance. People complain about Mario and Sonic because it's a pretty constant stream of the same old thing; letting Mickey sit on the shelf for X number of years before letting him burst through the door with something totally new might be just what the character needs.

Tokoyoto

Atom Apple
It would be better off to just leave him alone. Trying to keep things "relevant" almost never results in the new character being half as popular as the original, and it kind of comes across as milking the mascot. I mean, people complain about Sonic and Mario still being used and that's been only a couple of decades. These characters should be archived and remembered as landmarks so the company can focus on making new landmarks.

But on the other hand, you have your Ninja Gaidens, your Prince of Persias, and so on. Licenses from way back when that got injected with a healthy dose of something fresh, and came back to the public eye with a vengeance. People complain about Mario and Sonic because it's a pretty constant stream of the same old thing; letting Mickey sit on the shelf for X number of years before letting him burst through the door with something totally new might be just what the character needs.

Eh, maybe. But Mickey's such a well known thing. Quite a few people had never heard of Ninja Gaiden or Prince of Persia when their new franchise began, because they're silly ignorant kids. With mickey it's like "Yeah, completely forget everything about old Mickey. Now pretend he's a big eyed mouse who totally kicks ass."

Back then that's what wholesome was.

No, it really wasn't. A lot of your classic cartoon characters started out being total dicks even by the standards of their times. Most of those characters weren't designed with long lasting and well defined franchises in mind, so the early characters really weren't intended to have unique personalities. They were just appealing to the kind of expectations audiences had of cartoons at the time.

But yeah I don't get why people want to take a character designed to be cute and make him into some kind of warrior.

I still like this cover [boom-studios.net] for the upcoming Mickey Mouse and Friends comics.

Have they done anything since then?

Most studios don't really try to push the theatrical shorts anymore. Pixar is kind of an exception, but for the most part, there isn't enough of a market for theatrical shorts. Mickey was featured in a number of shorts made for TV, though, with the show House of Mouse and then later with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (which I think is still in production).

Atom Apple

ozoneocean

Atom Apple
But yeah I don't get why people want to take a character designed to be cute and make him into some kind of warrior.

Updating him to keep him relevant?

These days Mickey is nothing but a pointless outdated kitsch relic. And not even charming in a kitschy way either, just crap.

It would be better off to just leave him alone. Trying to keep things "relevant" almost never results in the new character being half as popular as the original, and it kind of comes across as milking the mascot. I mean, people complain about Sonic and Mario still being used and that's been only a couple of decades. These characters should be archived and remembered as landmarks so the company can focus on making new landmarks.

I think I can agree with this.

I'm sick of Mickey in general. It's mostly thanks to all the those Disney comics I read as a kid. Mickey was always portrayed as this goody two shoes who could never do wrong. If anything ever went wrong, he was quick to fix it and the story would end with him celebrating his perfect life with his friends and loved ones. Everything he does is successful. I particularly found his detective work to be dreadfully annoying because he was practically better then Batman.

Now take Donald as a comparison. He's unlucky at life. He's bitter because his family tends to use him for their own gain. His girlfriend is a floozy who won't hesitate dating others. He's stuck with these nephews that he needs to raise who are ungrateful for what little he can give. His uncle slaves him for almost no money. If he ever tries to one up someone, he ends up being punished for it and if he dares to come up with a "get quick rich scheme", it's certain to backfire and he often ends up needing to skip town for awhile.

Donald used to be portrayed as a violent self centered asshole who didn't care for anyone. He still kinda is but his attitude has been scaled down considerably (mostly because home abuse is no longer tolerated in modern society) but his misfortunes still remain. As a result he stopped being the subject of a cautionary tale and instead became a sympathetic character. It was easier for me to identify with him and root for instead of Mr. Perfect Big Ears.

isukun

Back then that's what wholesome was.

No, it really wasn't.

That was supposed to be a joke but I suck at internets.

isukun
I still like this cover [boom-studios.net] for the upcoming Mickey Mouse and Friends comics.

I like it too, but because it's ironic. And I think that's what the artist was going for wasn't it?