Looking for an eye-grabbing way to welcome guests to the 2011 E3 convention, the client wanted 5 original 10-foot tall posters that spoke to the ground breaking mix of Disney properties. Our creative solution had to communicate that rather than staring classic characters, this game follows mischievous avatars that don costumes similar to those of your favourite Disney characters, through adventures set in each of their individual worlds. For Disney fans, they wanted reinforcement of how these are new twists on nostalgic properties. Their desired tonality was that of humorous and adventurous multi-player fun for the whole family.

Upon closer examination of the impish heroes of this game, we found a group of true Disney believers. These costume-loving scamps were trying to save the various worlds from being permanently corrupted by an evil force. They might be mischievous and playful, but more importantly, they represent the true Disney fanatic. It then dawned on us that these are same kind of über-fans that memorise dialogue, write their own fan fiction and recreate their favourite moments of their favourite movies. Therefore, if they were asked to make a poster, they would most likely recreate their favourite Disney movie poster themselves.

In addition to overwhelmingly positive response from the client to the design of these posters, they generated tremendous buzz when they debuted as bigger-than-life banners at E3, the game industry’s massive trade show in Los Angeles. They caught E3 audiences’ attention and generated coverage in major game press, who read into details about Disney’s unique game revealed through each poster. Perhaps the biggest sign of success is how their design ultimately directly influenced creative through the life of the campaign, including becoming the basis for the game’s online viral videos.