Summary
Epic Mickey: Rebrushedimmerses you in a world that celebrates Disney’s forgotten characters and overlooked properties from its early years. Drawing on the rich history of Disney animation, this game reintroduces fans to long-lost characters who once graced the screen but have since faded into obscurity.
At the heart of the game is a deep sense of nostalgia, paying homage to Disney’s early days in a tale as old as time. Epic Mickey transforms Disney’s rich but overlooked history into a vibrant, interactive experience, where characters like the Mad Doctor, Oswald, and Clarabelle Cow take center stage once again.
10Yen Sid
Yen Sid is the least forgotten character on this list, thanks to a new lease on life in theKingdom Hearts series. He debuted as Mickey’s sorcerer master in Fantasia (1940). It is his magical hat that grants Mickey his magic and led to the creation of the iconic Sorcerer Mickey, as seen in the Disney nighttime show, Fantasmic.
Yen Sid was revived in the early 2000’s in House of Mouse and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse before playing a more prominent role in the Kingdom Hearts series as amagical mentor and retired Keyblade master.
9Clarabelle Cow
Clarabelle Cow, a staple of early Mickey Mouse cartoons, first appeared in 1929 and was a recurring character throughout the early years of Disney animation. She is close friends with Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck but rarely starred in the spotlight herself. Despite this, Clarabelle was a beloved character, and while she was officially retired in 1942, she experienced a resurgence in the 1990s.
ince then, Clarabelle has regained popularity through her appearances in House of Mouse and Kingdom Hearts 2. She also plays a role in the Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction in Disney theme parks.
Clarabelle is voiced by April Winchell in Epic Mickey, her official voice actress since 1996.
Originally, Clarabelle was paired with Horace Horsecollar, even getting engaged in the 1931 short Clarabelle’s Boarding House. However, in more modern portrayals, she is often seen as a romantic foil to Goofy. Their romance is highlighted in The Three Musketeers, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and House of Mouse.
The pair even featured together in the 1994 Walt Disney’s World on Ice show, solidifying their modern status as a couple.
8Horace Horsecollar
Horace Horsecollar, once a staple of early Mickey Mouse cartoons, has a rich history in Disney animation. He debuted as Mickey’s horse in The Plowboy (1929), but quickly evolved into a more anthropomorphic character and one of Mickey’s closest friends.
Known for his impressive strength and big-hearted nature, Horace was always ready to help, though his tendency to act without thinking sometimes led him into tricky situations. Despite his loyal and well-meaning personality, Horace’s on-screen presence dwindled after 1940.
However, starting in the 1990s, Horace began making a comeback with appearances in The Prince and the Pauper, House of Mouse, and Mickey Mouse Works. More recently, he’s returned to the spotlight in shows like Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures, and Mickey Mouse Funhouse.
7Telephone
Mickey’s Telephone in OsTownis an anthropomorphic candlestick phone that originally debuted in the 1936 animated short Thru the Mirror. In this short, Mickey falls asleep while reading Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll and dreams of entering a mirror world (sound familiar?) where his furniture and possessions come to life, mimicking Wonderland’s whimsy.
The Telephone is one such character, springing to life to assist Mickey. It answers itself when a call comes in, and its cord proves helpful to Mickey, acting as both a climbing aid and a jump rope. At the climax of the short, the Telephone can be heard calling the police. Epic Mickey was the Telephone’s first appearance since Thru the Mirror.
6Radio
Like the Telephone, the Radio was a character in Thru the Mirror. The vintage radio is box-shaped, with two dials at the top of the radio acting as eyes and a receiver as a mouth. In the short, the Radio is inspired by the beats of Mickey jumping rope with the Telephone and turns itself on to dance to music. After the King card calls out for his card army to assemble, the Radio raises the alert.
In Thru the Mirror, the Radio shouts, “Calling all cars,” which is a play on the radio phrase, “Calling all cars.”
Unlike the Telephone, the Radio does not play an important role in Epic Mickey,outside of being the answer to a riddle. In Epic Mickey 2, he appears as an inanimate object in Mickey’s house, suggesting that the real Radio is still at Bog Easy.
The Mad Doctor, first introduced in the 1933 animated short The Mad Doctor, was a villain determined to attach Pluto’s head to a chicken’s body to see if “the result would bark or crow or cackle.” While the short ends with the reveal that it was all just a dream, the Mad Doctor left a lasting impression as one of the more eerie and eccentric characters in early Disney animation.
The Mad Doctor was inspired by Dr. Jekyll from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Though the Mad Doctor never reappeared in any other cartoons, his legacy lived on in various forms. He made appearances in video games like Mickey Mania and Kingdom Hearts 3, while also being referenced as an Easter egg in several Disney comics.
4The Blot
Epic Mickey’s main antagonist, The Blot, draws inspiration from the classic Disney villain, the Phantom Blot, who first appeared in the Mickey Outwits the Phantom Blot comic strip series (1939–1960). The Phantom Blot, a mysterious, black-robed figure designed to resemble an inkblot, became one of Mickey Mouse’s most dangerous adversaries.
His schemes ranged from burglary to grand plots of world domination, making him a recurring nemesis.
The idea of the Phantom Blot being made of ink originated in the House of Mouse, not Epic Mickey.
After the comic series ended, the Phantom Blot continued to make occasional appearances in various Disney media, including the Wizards of Mickey comic series, DuckTales, and House of Mouse. In Epic Mickey, the initial concept art for The Blot closely mirrored the original Phantom Blot design.
However, as the game’s world and story evolved, the character was reinterpreted, creating a more monstrous and abstract villain to fit the darker tone of the game.
3Bunny Children
Oswald’s Bunny Children made their debut in the very first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Poor Papa (1927). In this short, Oswald anticipates the arrival of his children, delivered by the iconic stork. But all chaos breaks loose as stork after stork drops off more and more babies. Overwhelmed, Oswald struggles to keep up with the seemingly endless delivery of bunnies.
Just like in Poor Papa, the Bunny Children in Epic Mickeywill swarm you once they spot you.
Oswald desperately tries to manage his new life as a father, including antics like drying his children on a clothesline after a bath. Despite his best efforts, the storks keep coming, and Oswald finds himself swamped by the sheer number of baby bunnies.
2Ortensia The Cat
Oswald’s girlfriend, Ortensia, made her first appearance in The Banker’s Daughter (1927), replacing Fanny Cottontail as Oswald’s love interest, though she only appeared in eight cartoons between 1927 and 1928.
According to Epic Mickey lore, Ortensia is the mother of Oswald’s 420 Bunny Children.
In the original cartoons, Ortensia was never given a consistent name, being referred to by various monikers, such as Sadie, Fanny, Miss Zulu, or Kitty. When developing Epic Mickey, the game designers wanted to give Oswald’s girlfriend a more definitive identity, opting for the name Ortensia, which provided an alliterative match to Mickey and Minnie’s naming convention.
1Oswald The Lucky Rabbit
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit holds a unique place in Disney historyas Disney’s original mascot. Created by Walt Disney in 1927, Oswald starred in animated shorts from 1927 to 1938. However, in 1928, Universal Studios took control of Oswald, leaving Disney without the rights to their creation.
After decades of being forgotten, Oswald was finally brought back into the Disney fold when the Walt Disney Company purchased his rights in 2006, specifically for Epic Mickey. Oswald was given a central role in the game, representing Disney’s forgotten characters in a world of neglected cartoons.
Following this revival, Oswald made his first appearance in a modern Disney cartoon with the 2013 short Get a Horse! and has since made appearances in the parks, solidifying his return to the Disney universe.
