Wasteland is the world in which all the Epic Mickey games take place. It is home to forgotten Toons such as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the Mad Doctor and Gremlin Gus. The locations in Wasteland are based on various retired or rejected theme park areas, as well as old Disney memorabilia. As the first inhabitant of Wasteland, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was the ruler until the devastating Thinner Disaster, which allowed the Blot to usurp Oswald's power and rule as a tyrant with an iron fist.
History[]
Creation of Wasteland[]
A long time ago, the sorcerer Yen Sid began to work on his "latest and greatest creation," a paradise where Disney's forgotten, rejected and abandoned ideas and creations could live happily. Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, being the first inhabitant of this new world and Disney's first great creation, took the role as the leader, along with his beloved Ortensia as his consort. As more creations appeared - both forgotten cartoon characters and discarded ideas from Disney's theme parks - Oswald took steps to make sure the world was a beautiful and pleasant place to live. He accomplished this with the help of the Mad Doctor and his Beetleworx, as well as the dozens of Gremlins with their technical know-how.
Thinner Disaster[]
While Oswald and the forgotten Toons worked from the inside, Yen Sid provided help from the outside with the aid of his magic Paintbrush. However, shortly after the sorcerer added his "finishing touches" to this world, Mickey Mouse inadvertently wandered into his workshop and messed around with the brush, creating the Blot and his minions and spilling over a large bottle of Thinner into Wasteland. He unknowingly doomed all the characters that inhabited this world.
The catastrophic Thinner spill caused much of the world to become damaged, polluted and warped. The area known as Wonderland was completely wiped out, being at the epicenter of the thinner spill. The oceans became corrosive to cartoon matter, rising up to swallow some areas beneath the waves (such as Disney Gulch), and the pathways between the many lands were destroyed. What had once been a marvelous haven was now a Wasteland.
Beginning of the Blot Wars[]
No sooner had the thinner spill passed than the Blot beginning to terrorize Wasteland. An epic battle for the fate of the land commenced, fought between Oswald and the Blot. Most of the Toons sided with Oswald, but the Blot generated armies of Blotlings to be its footmen.
Sometime late in the war, the Mad Doctor defected to side with the Blot and lent his Beetleworx to the Blot's agenda. None were quite certain why the Mad Doctor changed allegiances, but it turned things against the inhabitants of Wasteland.
Sealing the Blot[]
Inevitably, the Blot's reign over Wasteland began, and the already warped world became even more nightmarish. Driven to the brink of defeat, Oswald and Ortensia made a last-ditch effort to stop the Blot. Confronting the monster on Mickeyjunk Mountain, they succeeded in sealing the Blot inside a large Jug (the now-empty bottle of Thinner that Mickey spilled on Wasteland), but the Blot managed to suck the Paint out of Ortensia, rendering her lifeless in an inert state.
Epilogue[]
With Ortensia as an inert statue, and now a Shadow Blot roaming free, Oswald exiled himself to a fortress on Mickeyjunk Mountain to guard the Jug and make sure the Blot wouldn't escape. Since then, Oswald has been forced to contend with the Mad Doctor's Beetleworx, and the Blot's cronies, who seek to free their master.
Mickey's Arrival[]
A very long time after his mistake, Mickey was pulled through his mirror, and consequently Yen Sid's Magic Mirror, by the Shadow Blot, into Wasteland. There, Mickey woke up finding himself strapped to an operating table where the Mad Doctor attempted to extract his heart, the life force inside of all non-forgotten Toons that is the key to escaping Wasteland. The Mouse escaped, however, with the help of Gremlin Gus, who taught Mickey about Wasteland and the Magic Brush. Mickey soon found that he had absorbed some of the Blot.
Mickey finally met up with Oswald in the fortress on Mickeyjunk Mountain. He decided to own up, telling Oswald he was responsible for the Thinner Disaster, which made Oswald even more incensed. Getting ready to fight, Oswald ended up cracking the cork of the Jug, which he was squaring up on, and accidentally released the Blot. The Blot stole Mickey's heart and gained even more power than before. He sent his Bloticles all over Wasteland to suck out all its Paint in an effort to become powerful enough to escape to the Toon World.
End of the Blot Wars[]
Working through each of the different regions of Wasteland, Mickey managed to beat the Bloticles infesting each area. Using the Moonliner Rocket in Tomorrow City, Oswald, Mickey, and Gus attempted to reach the stolen heart. But the Blot interfered and drained the Paint from the rocket, causing it to crash-land in Dark Beauty Castle.
Through his best efforts, Mickey fought his way across the castle's towers to light the Fireworks to blow up the Blot, all the while fending off continuous attacks from it. In a desperate attempt, Mickey leapt inside the Blot and battled it from within. Mickey defeated the Bloticles holding his heart captive, and after it was returned, Oswald ignited all the fireworks, destroying the Blot and were they were sent flying in the sky with Oswald and Ortensia landing in Mean Street, while Mickey returns to Yen Sid's workshop where he gives Yen Sid the brush back. Paint began to rain from the sky, restoring Wasteland to its former glory, and at the same time, revived Ortensia from her inert state.
The Return of the Mad Doctor[]
After the Blot Wars ended, the denizens of Wasteland made a collaborative effort to repair and restore Wasteland. Unfortunately, near the completion of this effort, it was interrupted by mysterious earthquakes that damaged most of Wasteland. Seeing this as his perfect opportunity to seem helpful, the Mad Doctor travelled to Mean Street in his improved Snowglobe mech with his Beetleworx to offer help in repairs and recovery from the devastating quakes. He sang a song about how he became reformed, and warned the denizens of the new threat, Blotworx, before requesting for Oswald to join him at Dark Beauty Castle to discuss his reparation.
Ortensia and Gus, not trusting the Mad Doctor, built a television device to contact Mickey from the Toon World to aid them in this time of uncertainty. Mickey arrived in Wasteland soon after and helped his friends to escape the crumbling Dark Beauty Castle. Upon arriving on Mean Street, he met the Mad Doctor for the first time since their battle in Lonesome Manor. The Doc sang to convince Mickey of his newfound helpfulness before dashing off to Disney Gulch.
Fixing the Projectors[]
Mickey, Gus, and Oswald set out to repair the broken Projector Screens so Toons can once again travel across Wasteland. With the help of Gremlin Jamface, they use the Dahl Engineering Corridors to reach OsTown, and therefore the entrance to the Projector substation. After failing to find a solution, they respond to a distress call from the Mad Doctor by going to his new lab in the Gulch. There, they battle the Blotworx Dragon, the supposed leader of the Blotworx, and protect the lab. The Mad Doctor greets them and explains in a song that he is falling apart and he hopes that he can fix himself by fixing Wasteland. He then helps the heroes repair the Projector Screens and transports them back to Mean Street. Small Pete, who was working at the substation, arrives to tell Oswald that he found out what had damaged the Projectors: devices from the Gag Factory, Gremlin Prescott's domain.
Confronting Prescott[]
Mickey, Oswald, and Gus travel to Blot Alley, where Prescott is working on some projects, to question him about the sabotaged Projectors. They find he is missing and follow several leads to find him, before eventually ending up at the Floatyard where Prescott throws all his obstacles at them before subjecting them to a battle with his new Mech. The heroes win and are about to finally question Prescott when the Mad Doctor and a film crew arrive at the scene. Prescott is hypnotized by a Beetleworx and sings with the Mad Doctor about how he (Prescott) worked alone and is the sole person to blame for Wasteland's troubles. Big Bad Pete consequently brings Prescott back to City Hall to incarcerate him.
Getting to the Bottom of Things[]
Mickey sees something fishy in all this and wants to investigate further. He and Oswald look in on some of the Mad Doctor's plans and realize there is something being covered up in Ventureland behind his construction site for housing projects. Gus tries to make sense of Prescott's brainwashed foolishness, but to no avail. He then joins Mickey and Oswald in investigating the Ventureland construction site where they find an unlisted Projector Screen leading to Autotopia, a land thought to have been destroyed in the Thinner Disaster.
There they find siphons that are revealed to be pumping Guardians, the magical spirits of Wasteland, out of the ground, thusly causing Wasteland's earthquakes. After freeing the Guardians, the trio stumble across another unlisted Projector leading to Lonesome Manor. Upon arrival in the manor, they find an old vault containing a singing book device with a recording of the Mad Doctor explaining his evil plan and how he lied to Oswald.
Face-off at the Mad Doctor's Ride[]
Oswald is enraged at the news of his friend deceiving him and uses a Projector inside the vault to travel, with Mickey and Gus, to the Mad Doctor's new ride. Upon arrival, the Mad Doctor knows they have seen his diary presentation and are ready to fight, so he threatens to use his machine to revert Ortensia back to inert, along with Horace and Clarabelle, unless he is given Mickey's Paintbrush. Mickey and Oswald choose to bide their time and fight the Mad Doctor in his Snowglobe Mech so that he is unable to harm their friends, while also not handing him the Brush. Gus finds out that the Snowglobe Mech is operated by Tiki masks spinning around its cockpit.
Oswald frees trapped Guardians who aid the heroes in their battle, before using his Electric Remote to slow the spinning Tiki masks so that Mickey is able to paint them and befriend the Mech, which then crashes itself on a ledge over a pool of Thinner, putting the Mad Doctor in danger. Oswald rushes to rescue his friend before the Doc tries to pull the Rabbit in with him. Mickey races over to help and paints the Mad Doctor's thinned out face to restore his expression. The Guardians are impressed by this and help Mickey, Oswald, and the Mad Doctor to escape the falling Snowglobe Mech and bring them to safety. The Mad Doctor sings a song of gratitude and professes that he is, in fact, truly reformed now because of the decisions of the heroes. Ortensia, Horace, and Clarabelle all are freed and the group returns to Mean Street for a parade celebrating Mickey's and Oswald's victories.
Epilogue[]
Big Bad Pete, Small Pete, Pete Pan, and Petetronic kidnap Gremlin Prescott for unknown reasons and enter the Ventureland Projector Screen and disappear. They are never seen again and no one knows what happened to them.
Mickey and Oswald continue to help rebuild Wasteland and resolve any missions opened previously. It is not explicitly shown if Mickey is able to return to his home in the Toon World afterward, but it can be inferred that he used the Moonliner Rocket to leave.
Geography[]
Wasteland is based on the Disney theme parks. It is separated into two sections: Hub Worlds and Action Worlds. It also includes a train system that is accessible only in Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.
Epic Mickey locations[]
Hub Worlds - A Hub World is an area that connects to Action Worlds, and allows the player to accept Quests, and talk with non-playable characters.
- Mean Street (Based on Main Street, USA)
- OsTown (Based on Mickey's Toontown)
- Ventureland (Based on Adventureland)
- Bog Easy (Based on New Orleans Square, and named after "the Big Easy," a nickname for the real New Orleans)
Action Worlds - Where Mickey performs his missions, finds items, fights enemies, rescues Gremlins and continues his heroic or mischievous deeds. This is where the bulk of the game takes place.
- Dark Beauty Castle (Based on Disneyland Ahaheim's Sleeping Beauty Castle)
- The Mad Doctor's Lab
- Castle Entrance
- Throne Room
- Fireworks Control Tower (Based on various fireworks control areas in the Disney Parks)
- Utilidor IV and Sorrow Tower
- Grief Tower
- Loss Tower and Utilidor VII
- Gremlin Village (Based on It's a Small World and Fantasyland)
- Slalom (Based on Utilidors, the underground passageways in the Disney Parks)
- Ticket Booth (Based on Fantasyland)
- Jungle Boat Ride (Based on It's a Small World)
- Asia Boat Ride (Based on It's a Small World)
- World of Gremlins (Directly from the cancelled movie and comic series of the same name)
- European Boat Ride (Based on It's a Small World)
- Clock Tower (Based on the outer façade of It's a Small World)
- Mickeyjunk Mountain (Based on the Matterhorn Bobsled Experience and retired Mickey Mouse merchandising)
- Tomorrow City (Based on Tomorrowland)
- Notilus (Based on Submarine Voyage)
- Tommorow City Lagoon
- Great Big Tomorrow (Based on Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress)
- Tommorow Square (Based on Astro Orbiter, PeopleMover, and Skyliners)
- Space Voyage (Based on Moonliner Rocket and Space Mountain)
- Space Voyage Roof (based on the exterior of Space Mountain)
- Pirates of the Wasteland (Based on the Peter Pan film and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)
- Tortooga (Based on Pirate Town in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)
- Jungle (Based on Hangman's Tree and the jungle from Peter Pan)
- Pirate Voyage (Based on Pirate Town and prison from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride)
- Skull Island (Based on Skull Rock in Peter Pan)
- The Jolly Roger (Based Captain Hook's ship of the same name in Peter Pan)
- Lonesome Manor (Based on the various Haunted Mansions across all Disney Parks)
- Graveyard (Based on the Haunted Mansion's graveyard queue)
- Foyer (Based on the entrance area of the Haunted Mansion)
- Stretching Room (Based on the Haunted Mansion stretching room)
- Library
- Ballroom (Based on the pipe organ and dance hall of the Haunted Mansion)
- Attic (Based on the attic of the Haunted Mansion)
Projector Screens - Transition levels based on classic Disney cartoons that teleport the user to different areas of the Wasteland.
- Mickey and the Beanstalk (Links Dark Beauty Castle to Slalom)
- Steamboat Willie (Links Jungle Boat Ride to World of Gremlins/World of Gremlins to European Boat Ride/European Boat Ride to Clock Tower)
- Clock Cleaners (Links World of Gremlins to Village Tower/World of Gremlins to European Boat Ride)
- Thru the Mirror (Links Mean Street to Ostown)
- Mickey's Steamroller (Links OsTown to Mickeyjunk Mountain Heaps)
- Alpine Climbers (Links the Heaps to the Piles/the Piles to Mt. Osmore Slopes)
- Trolley Troubles (Challenge in Mt. Osmore Caverns)
- Great Guns (Challenge in Mt. Osmore Caverns)
- Oh What a Knight (Challenge in Mt. Osmore Caverns)
- Ye Olden Days (Links Mt. Osmore Caverns to Jug area)
- Plutopia (Links Mean Street to Notilus Harbor/Tomorrow City Lagoon to Tomorrow Square)
- Mickey's Mechanical Man (Links Notilus Harbor to Tomorrow City Lagoon/Tomorrow Square to Space Voyage)
- Jungle Rhythm (Links Mean Street to Ventureland/Tortooga to the Jungle)
- The Castaway (Links Ventureland to Tortooga/Tortooga to Pirate Voyage)
- The Whalers (Links the Jungle to Tortooga)
- Shanghaied (Links Pirate Voyage to Skull Island)
- Lonesome Ghosts (Links Mean Street to Bog Easy/Bog Easy to Lonesome Manor Graveyard)
- The Mad Doctor (Various links in Lonesome Manor)
- The Haunted House (Various links in Lonesome Manor)
- Sleeping Beauty (Links Mad Doctor's Lab to Throne Room)
- Fantasia (Links Throne Room to Fireworks Control Tower/Fireworks Control Tower to Utilidor IV/Sorrow Tower to Grief Tower/Grief Tower to Loss Tower)
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two locations[]
The following is a list of the Action Worlds new to Epic Mickey 2, and will exclude Hub Worlds as they are returning from Epic Mickey.
Action Worlds
- Rainbow Caverns (Based on Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland and Rainbow Caverns Mine Train)
- Angel/Devil Caverns
- Disney Gulch (Based on Frontierland)
- Disney Gulch Laboratory
- Blot Alley (Based on the rejected Disneyland area Edison Square)
- Train Tunnels (Based on the Disneyland Railroad)
- Fort Wasteland (Based on Fort Wilderness in Disneyland Anaheim)
- Floatyard (Based on discontinued Disney parade floats)
- Prescott's Arena (Based on more discontinued Disney parade floats)
- Autotopia (Based on Disneyland Anaheim's opening day attraction, Autopia)
- Mad Doctor's Ride (Based on Paradise Pier)
Projector Screens and D.E.C.
- Dahl Engineering Corridors (abbreviated D.E.C) (Based on Walt Disney World's Utilidors and named after Roald Dahl, creator of the Gremlins)
- The Band Concert (Links Mean Street to OsTown/Floatyard to Prescott's Arena)
- Building a Building (Links Rainbow Caverns to Angel Falls/Fort Wasteland to Floatyard)
- A Night on Bald Mountain (Links Angel Falls to Disney Gulch/Lonesome Manor Attic to the Mad Doctor's Ride)
- The Old Mill (Links Disney Gulch to the Disney Gulch Laboratory (twice)/Floatyard to Prescott's Arena)
- The Skeleton Dance (Links Mean Street to Bog Easy/Bog Easy to Blot Alley)
- Music Land (Links Blot Alley to Train Tunnels/Train Tunnels to Fort Wasteland)
- Mickey's Service Station (Links Mean Street to Ventureland/Ventureland to Autotopia)
Trivia[]
- In the opening cutscene of Epic Mickey, there are locations on the map of Wasteland that are never seen in the actual game; these were most likely removed from the final version, or completely destroyed by the Thinner Disaster. Some, however, do get a description under the Wasteland map in the Epic Mickey app.
- According to Warren Spector in an interview with Nintendo Power, a Cartoon character doesn't realize that they are cartoons made for people in the real world to watch until they enter Wasteland. And even then, their grasp on the real world that we inhabit isn't strong. This is why there are references to Disney animators and media in the game. However, there is one apparent contradiction to this: in the introduction to Epic Mickey, Mickey can be seen accepting an award. However, it is possible that the characters are aware of the cartoons they star in but not that they are made for the inhabitants of the real world.
- In Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel, it is revealed that the waste that makes up the Cartoon Wasteland is brought from the Disney Theme Parks and Studios by Yen Sid's magic, explaining the alleged neatness of the real world's Disney Parks.
- Wasteland was originally going to be a world of "trash" that is literally in a garbage dumpster behind Walt Disney Animation Studios. The concept art showed it as a steampunk post-apocalyptic world.
- An earlier look would've had Wasteland be similar to Mount Purgatory from Dante's Inferno, with Mickey descending to meet the other characters.
- The name 'Wasteland' is simply 'Walt Disney Land' with some letters removed or rearranged.
- In the internal files for Epic Mickey, the original Disney Parks names are often used to refer to in-game areas, likely as early placeholders. For example, Lonesome Manor is often referred to as Haunted Mansion and the Gremlin Village part of the game is often referred to as Fantasyland or It's a Small World.