This guest Dream Smasher was created by @EchoSaefir on Twitter, and thanks to Cart Boy for help with edits.
As far reaching as the Super Smash Bros. series is, there is one firm barrier it has yet to break: letting characters who originated outside the video game industry join the battle. Naturally, fans commonly discuss what these exotic, hypothetical picks could add. A wealth of compelling characters fit that bill. Some people joke about Dragon Ball’s Goku and SpongeBob SquarePants breaking the barrier, but a number of people genuinely hope they succeed. Other characters have deeper, more honest ties to this medium, like Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. Nevertheless, all of these outsiders feel like they face impossible odds in terms of joining the platform fighter. But if there ever was a character to have a chance at making the jump, I think the most famous cartoon in the world, and at that a version of him that’s connected to not only Nintendo, but gaming as a whole, wouldn’t be a bad choice. In fact, with Disney having already dipped a toe in the Smash Bros. pool, his odds are better than ever. So, let’s paint a picture and take advantage of Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed’s recent release to thin our options and see how Mickey Mouse could work in Smash (I‘m working so hard for these puns)!
Who Is Mickey?
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This may seem like a silly question. After all, who doesn’t know the most famous mouse in the world? But I feel like it would be disingenuous to not engage with this aspect seriously, considering the source material. Instead of going into his more ambiguous, in-universe backstory, let’s talk about his real-world origins, since these are more relevant to this particular version of the character. In 1928, after an unwilling separation from his prior creation—Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—cartoonist Walt Disney decided to create a new character and, unbeknownst to him, a worldwide phenomenon. He sketched a whimsical, mischievous, but good-natured mouse named Mickey, and had him debut in two cartoon shorts: Galloping Gaucho and the now iconic Steamboat Willie. The latter was the first cartoon to ever synchronize sound and animation seamlessly, with it famously starting as Mickey whistles a simplified version of the 1910 song Steamboat Bill, which the short itself was parodying. This created a revolution in animation and made Walt and Mickey some of the most historic figures in the world. Now, almost a hundred years later, both remain incredibly well known as both their mythos evolved, expanded, and became larger than life. But their origins will never be forgotten.
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This brings us to the specific version of the character we’re talking about. Disney Epic Mickey, originally released in 2010 across the world and in 2011 in Japan, is a game about mistakes and forgetting, but also the importance of remembering. The story begins with a younger Mickey sneaking into the workshop of Yen Sid, the sorcerer from the 1940 animated musical Fantasia. Mickey finds him creating a world for things that are forgotten, but after the sorcerer goes to sleep for the night, Mickey decides to give this world a touch of his own: a monument in his own image. Except, in his own hubris, he instead creates a monster, and in trying to destroy it accidentally ravages Yen Sid’s project, leaving it a wasteland. Years later, after finding the success he was destined for, the creature he created hunts him down in his sleep and drags Mickey into the Wasteland of his own creation, where it and the titular villain from the 1933 short The Mad Doctor leave him stranded alongside Yen Sid’s magic brush, which has the power to paint and thin cartoon elements. After escaping the grasp of these villains with the assistance of Gus (a Gremlin from the book The Gremlins, co-created by Roald Dahl and Walt Disney) Mickey has to now find a way home by tracking down his predecessor and technical brother, the aforementioned Oswald, to understand how the Cartoon Wasteland came to be and how to escape it.
Importance to Nintendo & Series
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Disney’s relationship with Nintendo spans almost the entire history of both companies. Even before video games were the purview of the Big N, it was one of the first Japanese companies to strike licensing deals for Disney’s characters for use in their playing cards and toys. And when Nintendo eventually found its intended path and started making video games, Disney remained by their side. Some of the earliest Game & Watch units featured none other than Mickey Mouse himself, and over the century Mickey has often found himself on Nintendo platforms. Pinocchio on SNES and Mickey’s Speedway USA on N64 were published directly by Nintendo, with the latter even being developed by the then partially Nintendo-owned studio Rareware. Meanwhile, Capcom’s close relationship with the House of Mouse led to one of the most spectacular runs of licensed games that were, at the time, Nintendo exclusive. DuckTales, Goof Troop, TaleSpin, Aladdin, The Lion King, all excellent games that are intrinsically tied to Nintendo’s platforms. And while Disney has never been exclusive to Nintendo (SEGA’s Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse and, of course, Kingdom Hearts come to mind), their close relationship is so enduring that Disney even returned the favor by letting Bowser show up in one of their films, 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph, and allowing Kingdom Hearts’ Sora to show up as the final DLC fighter in Smash Ultimate, among other things.
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With that, we reach Epic Mickey’s development. Starting in 2003 as a project born from a think tank held by Buena Vista Games (later Disney Interactive), development started with the simple concept of Mickey and Oswald meeting for the first time. At the time, Disney didn’t own the rights for the latter character. But when Bob Iger became CEO of The Walt Disney Company, he made it one of his immediate goals to negotiate the rights for Oswald so that the game could enter full production. The chance finally came around in 2006, and afterwards Disney bought up Junction Point Studios, created by Warren Spector, co-creator of the Deus Ex series. The game was initially developed for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but around 2008 the game switched entirely to be developed for the Wii, as the console offered the chance to create a more unique control scheme. After the game’s initial release in 2010, Nintendo approached Disney Interactive to assist with and publish an updated release in Japan. This release notably improved upon the worst-received aspect of the game, its camera system, as well as tweaking several graphical elements.
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Its sequel would end up being released for multiple platforms instead of staying a Nintendo exclusive, though it did end up being a launch title for the Wii U. Additionally, a Nintendo 3DS-exclusive spin-off subtitled Power of Illusion (a successor to SEGA’s Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse) was released as well. While further plans to develop the Epic Mickey franchise existed at the time, unfortunately a change in management led to Junction Point and Disney Interactive shutting down within a few years of each other. All seemed lost for several years, but then SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated developer Purple Lamp and parent company THQ Nordic collaborated with Disney and series co-creator Warren Spector to remake the first game as Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed. The Nintendo connection was still tremendously felt with this remake, as it was announced through a Nintendo Direct and proceeded to appear at several others prior to its release. And while the remake was multiplatform, Nintendo clearly understands and appreciates the series, with several elements from the Japanese release ending up in the new version.
Colors & Design
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Epic Mickey was the first piece of Mickey Mouse media in decades to bring back his iconic look from his early years, but even so it features some slight changes that actually stuck around for future iterations on this design. During much of the era preceding this game, Mickey had his well-known face with peach-colored skin and humanoid eyes (featuring scleras instead of pure black eyes). But starting with this game, Mickey’s face returned to his more classic appearance (with white face and beady eyes). His proportions are still similar to his modern appearances, but they feature more of the squash and stretch that gave rubberhose animation its name. The rest of his appearance is mostly history: red trousers with white buttons (on the front and back), yellow shoes, white gloves, and of course his ever-camera-facing ears. But the one other element unique to this design is Yen Sid’s magic paintbrush. The brush that lends Mickey much of his abilities stays on his back when not in use, but is often found in his hand, ready to spray Paint or Thinner at any problem Mickey faces. Finally, in terms of animation, Mickey has drip! Or rather, he drips. Upwards. Black goo oozes from Mickey’s skin, a result of him partially merging with the monster he created (called the Blot). Mickey’s voice would be provided by his most recurrent current voice, Bret Iwan, as he also voiced him in all three Epic Mickey games, and continues voicing him to this day.
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In terms of alternate outfits, Epic Mickey Rebrushed makes this simple thanks to it bringing back several alternate outfits from Epic Mickey 2. I predict that Disney would, like with SEGA for Sonic and Bandai Namco for Pac-Man, not be the most receptive to having Mickey’s iconic trousers and shoes change color too much. Instead, we’re gonna keep it safe and play within the confines of what Rebrushed is comfortable doing—while pushing the envelope where I think it’d be possible. His first alt features a firefighter hat, taken from his short Mickey’s Fire Brigade. Next up, we have a colored take on his construction outfit from Building a Building. Just like in the original game, this would also change Mickey’s gloves to yellow, a common inconsistency between posters and actual animation during this era. His next outfit is one that, quite frankly, couldn’t be missed: Steamboat Willie. On top of the hat and removal of his gloves, Mickey’s entire color palette would change to grayscale with this color, matching Sora’s Timeless River alt. His next costume features an entire model swap to an old-school American football uniform, based on the Touchdown Mickey cartoon. And since this is a completely different outfit, I do feel comfortable making a simple palette swap of it for his next alt, featuring the blue-purple color scheme of Gremlin Prescott (one of the antagonists from Epic Mickey 2). His next alt is another full outfit swap, this time based on the 1938 short Brave Little Tailor. And to finish things off, since we have another costume swap, his final outfit will be a recolor based on Pete Pan, an alternate and forgotten version of Mickey’s nemesis Big Bad Pete that takes after Peter Pan.
How Would He Play?
Mickey’s stats and properties:
- Weight: ∼ Sora (85)
- Height: ∼ Ness
- Overall Speed: ∼ Luigi
- Walk Speed: 1.1
- Run Speed: 1.65
- Air Speed: 0.96
- Jump Height: ∼ Sora (30)
- Multi-jumping? No
- Crawling? No
- Wall jumping? Yes
(A closer look at the stats)
Epic Mickey is not necessarily a combat-based game. Mickey’s primary objective is to explore and either paint or thin the environment both to traverse and to affect the world in some way. That’s not to say he doesn’t get his hands dirty, however. Between the Blot’s mischievous minions and The Mad Doctor’s mechanical monsters, as well as larger-than-life boss fights, Mickey does have an arsenal that we’re going to take advantage of, one we’ll bolster with moves from other opponents and adventures.
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In classic Scrimblo fashion, Mickey joins Smash as something of a brawler (not unlike Mario or Banjo). A lot of his normals see him relying on his large fists to wallop opponents, 1920’s-style, but with a bit of flair from the bit of the Blot he absorbed. Naturally, some of these moves are taken from Epic Mickey, notably the Ground Pound and Dash from Rebrushed, as well as the Spin Attack he can do both on the ground and in the air. Mickey is a bit slower than his peers, but still somewhere in the middle in terms of overall mobility. But his floatiness can lead to a lot of interesting possibilities while in the air, aided by some assistance from his pseudo-brother Oswald. The rabbit brings in some of his natural abilities, such as lifting Mickey through the air with his ears, as well as his affinity for mechanical wonders, as seen in Mickey’s smash attacks.
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What brings Mickey’s kit together is, of course, the weapon that made the Blot terrified of him in the first place: Yen Sid’s Magic Brush. It appears in several of Mickey’s normals and specials, translating some of Epic Mickey’s freeform nature to Smash. As in his home game, Mickey can choose between Paint or Thinner at any time during the match by holding shield and pressing special. This change is felt in both the effects of his attacks, as well as in the UI (where a paint splatter will show what type of ammo Mickey is packing). Paint is a force of creation, heavy with the responsibility of what one creates, and as such its effects tend to deal higher knockback. Meanwhile, Thinner is an agent of chaos that cherishes destruction, which means that its effects focus on dealing more damage. The choice of ammo is only half the battle though, as the other half of the equation is the brush’s capacity to “saturate” enemies with the chosen effect. Similar to the Inklings, Mickey can leave Paint (or Thinner) on opponents to afflict them with a brief affliction: Paint makes Mickey’s attacks launch opponents farther, while Thinner deals continuous damage to affected foes.
Boxing Ring Title: “From ToonTown, U.S.A.”
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| Series Icon |
Stock Icon |
Kirby Hat |
| Move Type |
Description |
| On-Screen Appearance
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A projector screen appears as Mickey jumps out of it with a ripple effect, causing it to collapse. |
| Stance
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Mickey stands hunched over and ready for action, bouncing from one foot to the other and keeping the brush in his right hand. |
| Idle #1
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Mickey twirls the brush around his fingers and maintains his battle-ready stance. |
| Idle #2
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Mickey stands up straight and looks side to side, then returns to his hunched stance. |
| Walk
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Mickey stands upright and walks forward in an exaggerated manner. If he’s barely inching forward, a subtle noise is heard as he walks. |
| Dash & Run
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Mickey runs forward in a similarly exaggerated manner to his walk, but with a faster pace, leaving a cloud of dust behind himself. |
| Crouch
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Mickey goes even lower to the ground while keeping his knees bent similarly to his stance, leading to his butt sticking up a bit and his tail twirling in the air. |
| Jump
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His initial leap off the ground has him bending his knees and leaping upwards in a similar pose to his default stance, almost like his squash-and-stretch nature willed itself upwards. For his second jump, instead of stretching upwards, he curls up into a ball and does a spin in the air. It doesn’t rise as high as other double jumps, but it does keep him at his apex for longer than expected. |
| Damage
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Mickey stumbles backward when hit, with all his weight being put on his backside. |
| Shield
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Mickey holds his hands in front of his face while still holding the brush in front of himself, retaining his battle-ready pose. |
| Dodge
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Mickey isn’t the most agile person in the world, but he still knows how to stop, drop and roll. When dodging on the ground, he does just that, except when he’s spot dodging. Instead, he does a quick sidestep while making a worried face as he almost falls over. |
| Floor & Edge Attacks
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When standing off the floor, Mickey gives quick punches in front of and behind him. While similar to Little Mac’s, his version is sloppier and more animated.
When climbing off the edge, Mickey attacks by doing a very similar swipe to the one Mii Brawler does, but instead of using his hand, he uses his brush. |
| Neutral Attack:
Spin Attack
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Based on Mickey’s most iconic attack, he leaps briefly into the air while spinning with the brush extended, causing it to hit anything to his front and back. |
| Forward Tilt
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Mickey does a small kick forward. Similar to many other brawlers, it’s a simple tool used to end combos and deal a decent bit of knockback, particularly at higher percentages. |
| Up Tilt
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Mickey stabs the paintbrush directly above himself. While no burst of Paint or Thinner appears when doing this, there is a tipper effect that inflicts Paint or Thinner saturation. |
| Down Tilt
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Very similarly to Cloud, Mickey does a sliding kick. What makes this unique is that the main hitbox isn’t actually the kick (though, it’s still good for closing distance), but rather the fact that, as he slides, Mickey lets the brush splash behind himself with Paint or Thinner. Overall, this move’s best used as a combo extender with the Paint or Thinner hitbox. |
| Dash Attack
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Mickey bursts into a headbutt while leaving splashes of his own color behind himself. This move is uncharacteristically quick for him, serving as a fantastic combo starter due to its low damage and knockback angle. |
| Forward Smash:
Spinner Beetleworx
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Oswald pops up (where taunt buddies like Rex or Morgana do) with a Spinner Beetleworx in the foreground, which Mickey warily stares at. Oswald hacks into the Beetleworx with his remote while the move charges, and once the button is released, the bot moves forward and makes its blades dance close to the ground as Mickey and Oswald jump into the air. |
| Up Smash:
Fireworks
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Oswald places a pile of fireworks on the ground as Mickey covers his ears. With the button’s release, the fireworks ignite and fly skyward a bit before exploding. |
| Down Smash:
Electric Blast
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Mickey and Oswald prepare together while the move charges, with Mickey closing his eyes and bracing for impact while Oswald tinkers with his remote. When the button is released, a dome of electricity encases them as they both look around in awe. |
| Neutral Aerial:
Aerial Spin Attack
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Almost the same as the grounded version of this move, but with Mickey gaining some additional air time (which means clever players can use this as an extra piece of Mickey’s recovery). |
| Forward Aerial
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Mickey, helped by his cartoony proportions, swings from high to low with his fists. This move’s good for poking since it’s fairly quick, but it also has a great spike hitbox to take advantage of for offstage shenanigans. |
| Back Aerial
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One of Mickey’s trickiest moves to hit, his tail straightens out and shoots behind him. It has a very thin hitbox, but when it connects, it has a strong tipper that serves as a shockingly effective kill move. |
| Up Aerial
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Mickey spins the brush above his head, like with Pit’s up aerial. However, as he spins it, Paint or Thinner comes out, leading to a wider hitbox with a sweetspot on the brush itself. |
| Down Aerial
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Like in his latest release, Mickey has access to an effective way of reaching the ground while demolishing everything on the way down. This ground pound leaves some inky residue as it hits the ground and is very powerful, particularly if Mickey hits anyone on the ground. But you have to be careful when using it offstage, as it’s a very committal move, and if you’re not careful, it’ll end Mickey’s stock earlier than any opponent can. |
| Grab
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Mickey holds onto his opponent with his free hand. |
| Pummel
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Mickey uses his brush to smother the foe with Paint or Thinner, kinda like Ranno’s special pummel in Rivals of Aether II. |
| Forward Throw
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Mickey takes some inspiration from Pit and uses the blunt handle of the brush to bash his prisoner and send them forward. |
| Back Throw
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Mickey holds his opponent with both hands to spin them around once, then throw them backward, like with Mario’s back throw. |
| Up Throw
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Mickey echoes that time he fought a giant and does an uppercut, only to fall on his butt. |
| Down Throw
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Mickey keeps his copies of typical moves coming by hitting his enemy with an exaggerated chop, slamming them downward and upward |
| Neutral Special:
Paint / Thinner
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Tapping the button causes Mickey to shoot a burst of Paint or Thinner forward when on the ground or downward when in the air. Holding the button causes him to send a continuous stream of Paint or Thinner forward that can be angled slightly upward or downward. Opponents hit by the stream aren’t dealt any knockback, but instead slowed down and damaged as they remain under fire. And the longer they’re hit by the stream, the more saturated with either Paint or Thinner they’ll be. As for the burst, it deals an instant flash of Paint or Thinner that deals respectable knockback, but only saturates enemies a little. |
| Side Special:
Guardian
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Under normal circumstances, this attack does nothing. However, once Mickey’s used enough Paint or Thinner on opponents, a Guardian will appear beside him on its own, which will activate the actual use of this attack. This Guardian effectively acts as a homing missile that targets the foe closest to Mickey and fully saturates them with either Paint or Thinner in one shot while dealing a good bit of damage or knockback. Unlike the original game, only one Guardian can follow Mickey at a time. And the Guardian can’t shift between Paint or Thinner on demand like Mickey can, so choose carefully how much of which you use so you can generate the Guardian that’ll best suit the situation. |
| Up Special:
Oswald’s Ear-copter
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Mickey tosses Oswald skyward, then hangs onto the rabbit’s feet as he spins his ears like helicopter blades. Unlike in Epic Mickey 2, the move has a lot more vertical movement than horizontal, with it working a bit closer to, say, the Propeller Mushroom from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. |
| Down Special:
TV Sketch
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A TV appears slightly above and in front of Mickey, then falls toward the ground (or off a ledge, which causes it to despawn not long after falling beneath Mickey’s feet). Of course, anyone in its way gets launched upward, and upon hitting the floor, the TV creates a circular field around itself that draws foes inward (literally compelling them to watch it). And if an opponent gets too close to the TV, they’re temporarily stunned, with how long they’re stuck depending on how damaged they are. The TV can be destroyed by hitting it a few times, splashing it with Thinner, or simply waiting for it to disappear on its own after a few seconds. By the way, the screen’s partially visible, showing a staticky version of Steamboat Willie, including the exact recording of Mickey’s whistling as its heard in Epic Mickey:
Epic Mickey: TV Sketch – Steamboat Willie |
| Shield Special:
Paint & Thinner Swap
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While holding down Shield, Mickey can instantly swap between two materials for his brush: either the corrosive Thinner, dealing damage over time, or the more blunt Paint, which makes opponents fly off at the flick of a wrist. The change is always reflected on the tip of his brush, as well as via a splatter on the back of his portrait. Will he paint the world? Or thin it to nothing? The choice…is his. |
| Final Smash:
Thinner Disaster
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The camera pans up to the sky, to a model of the Wasteland as Mickey recreates the Thinner Disaster and brings back the Storm Blot (this time on purpose), who appears behind the stage and wreaks havoc for a few seconds with his giant hands. Afterwards, the monster’s sucked into the Thinner Jug by Oswald and Gus and taken off stage, after which Mickey resumes the fight as normal. In practice, this Final Smash works a lot like Piranha Plant’s. |
| Up Taunt
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Mickey playfully bounces the brush off the bottom of his foot and back into his hand. |
| Side Taunt
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Oswald pops up behind Mickey and mocks him by either thumbing his nose or putting his hands to the side of his head while moving his fingers and tongue. When Mickey turns around curiously, the rabbit acts innocent by whistling, rocking on the back of his feet, and putting his arms behind his back. |
| Down Taunt
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Gus apparates next to Mickey and greets him, to which Mickey responds sheepishly. Then, Gus strikes a pose and disappears in a quick burst of color. |
| Victory Pose #1
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Mickey finds a red chest and opens it with his brush. As light glows from within, he peaks inside as a pin (either bronze, silver, or gold) floats into the air above him. Mickey looks as it rises and, once it’s above him, jumps in the air while twirling to grab it. |
| Victory Pose #2
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Mickey walks up to Oswald and greets him while the rabbit acts grumpy, then Gus apparates and flies around them, prompting them to laugh it up and hug. This is in reference to the iconic sketch Walt Disney made back in 1925. |
| Victory Pose #3
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Mickey appears asleep in bed, with a copy of Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass atop the blanket. As the announcer says his name, he suddenly wakes up for the freeze frame, then looks side to side a bit before going back to sleep. |
| Victory Fanfare
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With some shortening, this little jingle could simply be reused from the original game. For some context, it plays when opening treasure chests (while the upload says it’s unused, that’s just because the in-game mix has Mickey’s voice mixed into it), and Epic Mickey composer Jim Dooley’s soundtrack doesn’t need a remix. |
Closing Thoughts
Whether Disney likes to admit it or not, Epic Mickey is one of the most relevant and important video games they’ve ever been involved with, due to the simple fact that it’s what allowed them to regain Walt’s original creation. The work of the developers at Junction Point was beyond influential for Mickey and Oswald, and the fact that over ten years later the game still has a tremendous amount of love from fans old and new speaks greatly to how much its message and gameplay resonate with people. Celebrating that in a crossover as grand as Smash sounds like a fitting idea to me. After all, how often do games have such a big impact on non-game characters with a reach as vast as Mickey’s? While discussion is constant in the realm of non-gaming fighters in Smash, the house of mouse’s prior involvement with the platform fighter and Nintendo’s connections to Epic Mickey, aided by Rebrushed’s newfound audience, could lead to a little mischief finding its way to the Cartoon Wasteland once again.
I’d like to thank @Templates4Smash on Twitter for the splash screen template and LKGamingART for the damage meter template used in this article.
