Who can forget the ambitious Epic Mickey game? This platformer was heavily promoted, marketed, and given plenty of press for its unique (and gorgeous) art direction, but when the game was released, there was mixed reception and less-than-solid gameplay reviews.
You may also recall that despite some uncertainty, Junction Point tried a second round with Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, but still struggled to make the formula work. The poor reception resulted in Junction Point’s closure and a shelving of the series, but according to some information that has surfaced, a trilogy was originally planned.
Patrick Block, a concept artist, recently made sales on eBay for artwork from ‘Epic Donald’—a game that would have been set in the Epic Mickey universe and which would have featured, well, Donald Duck as the lead character. They had plans to set it in a 50’s reminiscent Duckberg and would have brought in everyone from Donald’s nephews to Launchpad McQuack…but the game didn’t materialize past the initial concept stage. Here’s what Patrick Block had to say about the artwork and his time spent on the Epic Donald concept:
“Greetings!
Walt Disney comic and gaming conceptual artist Pat Block here.
In 2012 I had the very great pleasure and honor of working with Warren Spector and Junction Point on a follow up to Disney’s Epic Mickey and Epic Mickey II.
The game was to feature Donald Duck, Duckburg, and the assorted classic world clan. I worked hard on a “Carl Barks” based Duckburg, puling scenes of the town from his comics and doing my best to keep a 1950’s feeling spirit about the game world.
Sadly, this was about the time Disney decided to switch over to it’s current gaming, more tablet oriented gaming focus.
While we were fully paid for our conceptual work on the project, to date, it has not been made.
With the new DuckTales project in the works, I have hopes we still might see the game, with some of our work, get made.”
It’s really too bad this game didn’t get made, but judging by the previous offerings and how they didn’t pan out as well as expected…perhaps it’s all for the best.
