As someone who knows way too much about Disney, I've watched the uses of Disney IP change and adapt with the times. Disney has branding that is so strong, it can be applied in all sorts of interesting ways. Shared universes based on the classic Disney animated films have been especially prevalent over the last decade or so, with IP like the "Descendants" movies, the "Once Upon a Time" franchise, and the "Kingdom Hearts" games. Recently, I stumbled across one that I wasn't familiar with - "Twisted Wonderland," which is a mobile game that looks very un-Disney at first glance
In "Twisted Wonderland," the player is transported to Night Raven College, a magical academy where the students are split into seven dorms, each inspired by a classic Disney villain - The Evil Queen from "Snow White," The Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland," Hades from "Hercules," Scar from "The Lion King, " Jafar from "Aladdin," Maleficent from "Sleeping Beauty," and Ursula from "The Little Mermaid." The story and character designs are by mangaka Yana Toboso, best known for the "Black Butler" series. All of the characters are male, which strongly suggests that the intended target audience is girls and young women. As you navigate through the school year, following the Night Raven students on their adventures, the main goal seems to be collecting up all the various cute guy characters and digital cards that feature them.
There's a whole genre of games like this, known as gacha games, which are often built around lootbox mechanics and character-based collectibles. The most popular titles like "Genshin Impact," "Honkai: Star Rail," and "Zenless Zone Zero" have millions of players and are especially popular in Asia. It's no wonder that Disney wanted to get involved. "Twisted Wonderland" launched in Japan in 2020 and did well enough that an English language version followed in 2022, along with the manga and anime adaptations. But what I find so fascinating about "Twisted Wonderland" is how peripheral the use of Disney IP is in this game. The characters are overwhelmingly original creations, with names like Azul Ashengrotto and Riddle Rosehearts, instead of variants of familiar Disney characters, like the ones in "Disney Heroes Battle Mode" or "Disney Mirrorverse." But looking at other gacha games, there's a very obvious template for success here, and Disney is clearly trying to appeal to the existing audience.
Though the Disney villains are referenced frequently, and clips of their movies are used in the anime, none of them actually appear as characters in "Twisted Wonderland." The only Disney character I spotted in the first three episodes of the anime series was the Magic Mirror from "Snow White," who is responsible for the player being brought to the "Twisted Wonderland" world, but doesn't do much else.
Where the Disney influence is the most obvious is the character and environment designs. The students from Maleficent's dorm all wear hats that resemble her horns. The ones in Hades' dorm have his flaming blue hair, and the Queen of Hearts' dorm features a pack of characters named and designed after playing cards in her color scheme. Others aren't so obvious - the trio from Ursula's dorm are very vibes based.
The villains are referred to in-game as "The Great Seven," and the students revere them, but also ascribe various qualities to them that don't square with what we know. Ursula is described as a "benevolent" wish-granter. Hades has somehow inspired a dorm dedicated to the most technologically minded students. The worldbuilding seems to be based on the idea that this is an alternate universe where the ruling villains managed to create a series of fairly functional magical kingdoms despite being baddies. There are Disney Easter eggs everywhere, and occasionally the characters will end up in places like the Seven Dwarves' mine. Several minor and background characters are also based on other Disney villains, like the gym teacher who looks suspiciously like Gaston from "Beauty and the Beast."
It's fascinating to see the approach that was taken to adapt Disney IP to something as aesthetically different as a gacha game. I have so many questions about the creative choices, like why these particular seven villains were chosen, while other fairly popular ones like Captain Hook were not. Is it because all the ones in the game are magic users, except Scar who's there for the Furries? Why theme everything after Disney villains in the first place, rather than Disney heroes or Tokyo Disneyland regions?
I know some of you are noticing that I haven't mentioned whether I think "Twisted Wonderland" is any good. Well, after watching a few playthrough videos and three of the available anime episodes, the answer is that "Twister Wonderland" definitely isn't aimed at me. Like most recent Disney multiversal media, I'm too old for it, and way too cynical to take it at face value. However, the implications from an IP management standpoint definitely have my attention.
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