Lucy: For the environments, a huge point of reference was Emperor’s New Groove and its striking shape language, simple backgrounds and expressive colour script. The level of detail in focus areas vs surrounding environments informed our biggest rules, along with the exaggeration of silhouette. Other references on our moodboards were Gravity Falls, for its fairy tale stylisation, Asterix & Obelix, for its sense of adventure, and Zootropolis Toontown from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, for their cohesive and believable worlds.


HOW CLOSELY DID YOU WORK WITH DISNEY? Chris: We worked very closely with Disney in that we would have weekly catch-ups with the team over there to take them through what we were working on, but it was very much a collaboration where we were all working together to create the best possible game.


Aj: Something that Disney made


clear from day one was that they didn’t want to bring us on to make a game like Disney would make a game. They wanted us to come and make the experience like Dlala would. Lucy: Disney understood our vision for the world, and our catch- ups were mostly about making sure we kept true to the iconic characters and discussing any ideas that were sparked, between us, as we presented new art. During important updates, we presented the journey the art took, like showing how the characters went from their initial exploration to final, and the way they would move. This way, Disney could understand the thought and intent that led to each decision.


Chris Jones, Art Manager


“We worked very closely with Disney in that we would have weekly catch-ups with the team over there to take them through what we were working on, but it was very much a collaboration.”


September 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 41


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