Exploring the tinier side of things.
Tinkerbell and Her Fairy Crew (Good Idea) – by Kimberly Keller
First off, I know these are probably already in the works over at Disney headquarters. After all nothing makes money faster than targeting tween girls, and, secondly, I know most of you hate that it’s coming. From an outsider’s perspective, the Disney Fairies are super sweet, super friendly, and, of course, super girly, but they are also super magical, and for that, they deserve a second chance.
Each fairy featured in the franchise comes from a different sect of the fairy world, and thus have different powers. In the first movie Tinkerbell conveniently befriends one fairy from each group get to see each of their unique powers. Let’s sum it up: Fawn can befriend and communicate with animals, Rosetta helps plants grow, Silvermist can manipulate water, Vidia controls the wind and flies extremely fast, Iridessa can direct sunlight, and Tinkerbell, well, she tinkers... with stuff. There is even the newly introduced Periwinkle, a winter frost fairy, but her wings kind of melt in any type of heat, so she’s maybe not the best asset.
Saban's next season: Power Rangers Fairy Force.
Each of these fairies can easily have their own figure (cha-ching!) and I honestly don’t think their play set would be that unbearable. Imagine a large woodland area where you’re shrunk down to fairy size as you traverse the different seasons (in Pixie Hollow seasons are permanent fixtures that have their own areas) and ride giant critters around. You could even journey around to find the random “lost” human objects that Tinkerbell uses to create many of her oddball inventions.
The thing I’m most looking forward to, however, is the Toy Box. These fairies possess magic that they can use whenever they want! If designed right, that could be a real visual treat and add a nice variety to the game. Plus, fairies can fly, which is awesome. I don’t think they would be allowed to fly around wherever they want though, as that would give players a nearly cheat-like ability. I do hope it would give them an edge somehow, instead of just having them float a foot off the ground like we’ve seen in games like Injustice: Gods Among Us.
One last thing I’d like to point out: Tinkerbell, and many of her friends, really aren’t as sweet as the merchandise shows off. They regularly sabotage each other, Tinkerbell ignores authority on a nearly daily basis, which usually leads some catastrophic event that nearly kills everyone, and they are always ready to fight and go on extremely dangerous missions. It really wouldn’t be that far of a stretch to give them access to all the weapons, abilities, and vehicles the power discs provide. The vehicles can just be sized down or they could ride a horse sidesaddle. Tink is probably going to sneak off to human world anyway in her next movie and learn to drive a toy fire truck or whatever that she’s tricked out with an engine made out of acorns.
Ratatouille (Bad Idea) – by Becky Hollada
It's been pointed out that up to this point, Disney Infinity could be practically renamed Pixar Infinity, guest starring other popular Disney franchises, and for obvious reasons. Characters already modeled in 3D are likely a lot easier to redesign for the Disney Infinity world than 2D characters. But there are definitely a few Pixar characters that wouldn’t be up to snuff.
A Ratatouille play set lacks a lot in terms of characters and features for Power Discs. Remy, Emile, Linguini and maybe Colette would be the only recognizable characters to feature, two of whom would be extremely limited in the Toy Box. And for Power Discs, Linguini’s moped is just about the only distinctive character item that could be used. The possibilities here are extremely narrow, unlike many other Pixar films that have been featured and likely will be featured in Disney Infinity in the future.
He would have a better chance of his fleas killing people with the bubonic plague than using that blaster.
While Linguini and Colette could be interesting characters, it becomes problematic when Remy, or even the other rats like Emile, are up against others in the Toy Box. Disney could certainly fudge the size of these rats to eliminate some of the gap between Remy and the rest of the Disney Infinity cast, but Remy relies on four legs to move well. Pixar was careful to emphasize the difference in movement when rats in the movie walked on two legs instead; they were slower and sometimes actually waddled. When Remy needs to move quickly and smoothly, he always reverts to four legs. So Remy trying to walk and run while holding Rapunzel’s frying pan or Stitch’s blaster? Or even ride Angus? Some things could be less ridiculous for Remy in the Toy Box, like driving a car Stuart Little style, but not nearly enough to make it work for him.
The only redeeming feature to a Ratatouille play set would actually be Remy’s home world. It could give a really cool dynamic to the game, something akin to the Castle of Dreams world in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, where you’re mouse size while exploring the city’s notable landmarks and moving through houses and sewers. As an added bonus, players could search Gusteau’s kitchen for recipe ingredients and work between Remy and Linguini to cook without getting caught. Since size has yet to be explored in the existing play sets, something like this could be interesting and different.
Obviously not all Pixar films, despite being the easiest to model, are cut out for Disney Infinity. The world of Ratatouille is too limited in terms of characters and distinctive detail in comparison to the other sets we already see in the game to make a strong, well-rounded play set. Fans of the Remy might eventually see some small cameo material in Disney Infinity, but developers would be hard pressed to make this work well if they tried it.
