With the Epic Mickey franchise being ported off to other consoles besides the Wii, and despite having two competitive figurine lines, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Nintendo and Disney might be at odds with each other.
However, according to a rumor on gaming website GoNintendo, the two companies have negotiated a deal for films, video games, toys, and other merchandise.
The deal supposedly allows the two companies to use each other’s IP for certain types of media and merchandise. For instance, Disney is reportedly interested in making a Mario figure for Infinity, as well as having the plump plumber star in future Disney films like Wreck-It Ralph 2 (similarly to how Bowser and other Nintendo characters had cameos in the first film). However, the GoNintendo post says not to hold your breath on whether amiibos will be compatible with the new Infinity 3.0 coming out, as both companies are still negotiating the specifics.
A separate rumor doing the rounds (though originating from the same source) states that Nintendo mobile games will be available on the Amazon App Store some time in the near future. This isn’t quite as interesting as the Disney partnership though, considering that DeNA is already developing mobile games for Nintendo, which was announced alongside the new NX back in March.
It should be emphasized that this is all just rumor at the moment, and neither company has confired or denied the claims; but if Nintendo and Disney truly have entered into a deal together, it’ll be interesting to see how they plan to utilize each other’s characters. Mickey Mouse as a racer in Mario Kart? An adventure game featuring the best-known and loved characters of both companies, à la Kingdom Hearts? How about a Pixar film based on The Legend of Zelda? The potential is certainly exciting, to say the least.