Steampunk Disneyland: the Tragic Kingdom
Sunday, August 2, 2009
I like a lot of steampunk stuff. I mean, I could happily live inside of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. (Sure, I'd have to put up with an authoritarian state and constant terrorist attacks... But on the other hand, there would be all those cool gizmos!) And I love a lot of the old Disney stuff. I'm cool with almost everything the studio did, pre-Walt's death.
Yet somehow, the prospect of a grim, steampunk take on Disneyland fills me with an overpowering boredom tinged with distaste.
Don't get me wrong, the leaked concept art for the video game with the working title of Epic Mickey is very well-designed, imaginative stuff. But seeing Disneyland and characters like Mickey Mouse and Goofy "re-imagined" as "dark" and "edgy" just feels wrong. Wrong like seeing your favorite teacher from elementary school turning tricks down by the docks. Wrong like watching toddlers get drunk. Wrong like that Loonatics mess. Wrong.
The game's plot apparently involves a bunch of old Disney characters (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit among them) trying to get revenge on Mickey because he let them fall into obscurity, or some painfully post-modern crap like that. It's kind of hard to believe Disney would sign off on this thing, given how fussy they are about keeping their characters so sparkingly wholesome. But maybe the Mickey merchandise wasn't selling so good with the under-25s, and it was decided that desperate measures were called for to re-brand Mickey for a new generation.
I've grown used to Disney's greed and cynicism, and their willingness to sell out their old characters - this, after all, is the company that brought us quickie, direct-to-DVD sequels to Bambi and Cinderella. I thought nothing they could do would shock me anymore. But I had not reckoned on steampunk Goofy.
Gawrsh.
So, is this the moment that steampunk officially died?
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3 comments:
Take heart, my friend. I am as disturbed as you, I promise. And yet, morbidly intrigued.
By the way, I'm a new reader, and I'm wholly impressed. Great stuff you have going on here. I am a daily reader now. :)
Thanks! Very much appreciated. You have some very striking and stylish art on your Deviant Art page... Although I'd suggest bumping up the contrast of your scans, the blacks could be blacker.
I agree that Disney is becoming an evil corporation destined to fall down the drain at SOME point, especially in the category of "characters". They might as well make all their merchandise "Hannah Montana" or "Jonas Bros." because thats the only way they are gaining revenue. But I look forward to the new game, if only to see how they plan on telling their story. If they can pull it off, it will be a pretty intresting victory, but if not, well, thats a mighty high place they will be falling from...
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