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Miyamoto Finally Reacts To Disney’s Mario Homage
Shigeru Miyamoto has frequently cited Walt Disney's work and the character of Mickey Mouse specifically as a model for Nintendo and Mario's brand, so we wanted to get his take on when Disney tipped the cap back towards his work. On July 12, 2013, Disney released an animated short called Tokyo Go staring Mickey Mouse. In the cartoon, Mickey travels to Japan where he battles the commuter crowds on Tokyo’s tightly-packed trains. The short included an homage to Super Mario Bros., which you can see below at the 2:20 mark.
We were curious to know his thoughts on Disney’s reference to his classic platformer. “No, I haven’t seen it. I didn’t realize that was being done.”
After showing Mr. Miyamoto the video, he responded, “Is copyright an issue for them to use our sounds? [Laughs] It’s very flattering. We finally got a cameo together.”
We told Mr. Miyamoto that we thought this meant that he could use Mickey Mouse in one of his games, and he shook his head and said, “They are very strict. [Laughs].”
Watch our full video interview with Miyamoto from this year’s E3 right here to learn more about how Nintendo's brands are modeled after Disney and the challenges of developing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
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