Wonderland

Painted Wonderland

A level based on Wonderland from the 1951 movie Alice in Wonderland was supposed to be in Epic Mickey.

An entire level devoted to that one movie may seem like a bit much, but it actually makes a lot of sense, since there was a wealth of scrapped characters and settings for that movie, thus Warren had a lot of material to work with. This being because Walt Disney had a great love for Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and it was that love that he his first work involving Wonderland was the Alice Comedies.

However, at the time of Epic Mickey's development, Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland was in the making. Warren didn't want his game to confuse people who haven't seen the 1951 version, so he scrapped the level.

The world that might have been.

Elements of the Wonderland level still appear in the final game, though. At the ticket booth, the Mad Tea Party ride appears in the area even though it's theme doesn't fit with the area itself. It is also noted that the wall behind it is composed of hedge maze textures and since the Wonderland level was going to be based off of a ride that WAS a hedge maze, this proves that the Mad Tea Party ride wasn't the only Wonderland object that made it into the game. The overworld of the area is on Yen Sid's Wasteland model.Also in Epic Mickey 2, if you revisit the Train Dioramas, you can find the scrapped Tea Cup Spinner that was due to appear in this level (that same enemy also appeared in the Epic Mickey 2010 E3 demo). It appears to have been based on Alice's Curious Labyrinth. After Mickey causes the Thinner Disaster and spills the Jug, the Wonderland model sinks into the resulting hole and disappears. This may have caused the real version to disappear as well, as it is not visible when Mickey tumbles into the Wasteland. However, it's possible the real version isn't there simply because Warren didn't want to show a level that wouldn't be visited. It should be noted that when Mickey and Oswald destroy the Blot and repaint Wasteland, the model is restored and thus, the Wonderland model is restored as well.

On a side note, the Jiminy Cricket Beetleworx may have been set to appear in this level as it (like Wonderland) had everything it needed to appear in the game, including animations and texture, but was scrapped entirely.

In addition, there is also a piece of Extra Content bought in the Ice Cream Parlor after coming back from Tortooga that shows Mickey in this level, specifically in the Tulgey Wood with a gigantic, angry version of the Cheshire Cat looking down at him.

The Wonderland place was also seen in the introduction part of Tales of Wasteland, and in the map of Wasteland found in the Disney Epic Mickey app and in The Art of Mickey.

Wonderland may appear in future Epic Mickey installments because in the book "The Art of Epic Mickey" it said that it was scrapped "But who knows what the future may hold?" which may hint that Wonderland may appear in a future game.

The real Wonderland was supposed to appears as a stage in Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion, as sucked by Mizrabel in her Castle of Illusions, but ironically was scrapped from the game.

External links

NYCC 2010: Talking Epic Mickey with Warren Spector and Chase Jones

Gallery

Power of Illusion Wonderland Concept

Power of Illusion Wonderland Concept

Concept art of Tulgey Woods