mickey mouse with no ears

Mickey Mouse's Ears in Kingdom Hearts II.

r/gaming - Mickey Mouse's Ears in Kingdom Hearts II.

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level 1

While not related to Kingdom Hearts, one of my favourite little details in gaming is how in "Epic Mickey", his ears ALWAYS look right. I'm sure that to some people, seeing Mickey's ears move as you rotate the camera might look weird, but I love that they cared enough to do that.

level 2

Epic Mickey: A game people only bought in hopes it'd be kind of like Kingdom Hearts

level 2

never noticed that before!

level 1

That's just how Mickey has always been drawn. That's the style. Square wanted to keep that (in official art) because it's part of what makes Mickey, MICKEY.

level 2

Yeah, they always face the screen.

level 2

Yep. They even keep the tradition with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney Jr. It's really distracting to watch them move to face the camera based on the perspectives.

level 2

Actually this is a requirement that Disney implemented with Mickey Mouse. His ears have to both be visible no matter which angle he is facing. I remember reading that when Epic Mickey was being made, Disney required them to rig his game model so that no matter which way Mickey is facing, you always see both ears.

level 2

It's not just that Square wanted to keep that style. Disney Interactive had a liasion whose job was to enforce guidelines such as these. There are very specific rules about how Disney characters can depicted. There are apparently dozens if not hundreds of rules for each major character on ratios, motions, behaviors, etc. I only know this because I randomly talked with the lady who had this job (she only mentioned the first KH so I'm not sure if she was still the liaison for KHII).

level 2

I think it was also purposefully done this way so that any sort of "copy" character created by anyone else could be sued by Disney.

level 2

There's actually more to it. I have friends who worked for Disney's animation department.

Mickey is a brand. His head with the TWO ears is a logo. Disney has decided that, no matter what the situation, when Mickey is animated, you will see both of his ears in that exact configuration. (Think of the normal Mickey silhouette with the 3 black circles)

So, any official product licensed by Disney will have Mickey drawn like this.

level 2

That and there's probably pages and pages of Disney laws dictating how they can and can't present Mickey.

level 2

It was a creative choice by Walt Disney, and he insisted in his lifetime that Mickey always have both ears visible.

level 2

· 7y · edited 7y

Mickey's ears always seem to point directly at the screen in 2d animations. As if they were spheres, from whatever direction you look at them, they appear like a circle.

It's been like that from the first Disney originals.

TL;DR: you're right.

level 2

And Im pretty sure its a requirement from Disney.

level 2

Actually, as we know Mickey is quite the battle ready monster in Kingdom Hearts. Having gigantic ears could be quite the hinderance in battle. So he takes this into consideration. Rather than side-by-side for comfort, they're back-to-back for speed.

TL;DR If anyone was wondering, Mickey Mouse prefers Back-to-back for speed, rather than side-by-side for comfort