While the Walt Disney Company may be known for its cheerful and happy-go-lucky characters, there have been on occasion some very questionable moments (both in film and in gaming) that paint a different picture. In many ways, Disney games and movies have always had a target audience of children and, more than likely, nothing will ever change that. Because, at its core, the Disney brand focuses on positivity, fun, and happy characters.
Disney has been making video games since the early 1980s and while not all of them have been successful, most of them have been–at the very least–memorable. There are a massive amount of Disney titles throughout both the Nintendo and Super Nintendo lineup, and even Sega had a reasonable amount of thrilling Disney games. Most of the Disney gaming catalog through the late 1980s and into the mid-1990s were focused around two things: Disney’s family lineup of afternoon cartoons and Mickey Mouse.
In a very surprising move last year, Disney announced that it would be ending its Disney Infinity game library. This move came as quite the shock to both collectors and gamers, as the figurines in the toys-to-life brand had been quite popular. With Disney’s acquisition of Marvel and Star Wars, the lineup’s latest entries had included classic Marvel and Star Wars characters, all of which directly tied into the theatrical releases. Disney hasn’t announced a replacement concept as of yet, but given that the multi-brand universe sells itself, it’s safe to assume a return in some form is on the horizon.
While Disney may focus its game library on positive and adventuresome moments, their games have included some dark and disastrous elements. Here is a look at fifteen times Disney went off the rails.
15 Ninja Stars And Donald Duck’s Head?
In 1988, the NES was treated with the delightful Mickey Mousecapade, a game that stars both Mickey and Minnie and pits them on an adventure to thwart the troublesome Pete. Nothing about that sounds too messed up or weird, right? What could be disastrous about Disney’s most wholesome couple going on an adventure together?
The game originally released in Japan and was ported over for American audiences, where a few mindboggling differences were made. The game does features different boss battles per region, which is more unique than anything else. The game was originally developed by Hudson Soft, but was published by Famicom in Japan and Capcom in the US. In the Capcom release, Mickey and Minnie throw ninja stars, of all things, to defeat enemies and in the Famicom release, Mickey and Minnie pick up Donald Duck’s head to fill their lifebars.
14 We Didn’t Actually Want Him To Die…
The Kingdom Hearts games are cherished by Disney fans and gamers alike, thanks to the fun and magical elements the games focus on. Who wouldn’t want to mash up Disney characters into an RPG-styled universe the likes of Final Fantasy? While the sequels haven’t released in a timely manner, the games have been re-released in multiple formats to give fans ample reasons to replay them.
One of Disney’s most messed up moments comes when it appears that Goofy gets killed off during an attempt to save Mickey’s life. A giant boulder finds itself hurling in Mickey’s direction and Goofy immediately leaps to the rescue. The boulder smacks Goofy directly in the face and launches him backwards. It turns out later that Goofy isn’t actually dead, but his apparent death is enough to send Mickey and friends off for revenge.
13 What Is This Guy On, Anyways?
Aladdin, for both the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, is an incredibly popular title that led players on a side-scrolling adventure throughout several key places from the insanely popular film. The game was challenging in its own ways, forcing players to time jumps correctly and to move across the screen to avoid danger in some very specific ways.
It gets pretty weird, however, when one of the levels forces players to enter inside the genie’s lamp. This insane level features a lot of trippy stuff, like the genie’s floating head and his arms creating random platforms of clouds for Aladdin to hop between. There’s also all kinds of oddities floating in the background. It’s not clear why Disney thought the game needed to go inside Genie’s lamp, but this level gives you a pretty good idea of how crazy it would be to do so.
12 This Was Hard Enough To Watch In The Movie
The Lion King is one of Disney’s most successful films and it only made sense to have a video game tie into the events of the movie. Players here would pilot Simba on his adventure, following nearly an identical path to the one he takes in the movie. Similar to Aladdin, the game is focused on timing jumps correctly and dodging the dangerous level elements.
Arguably, one of the scariest and saddest moments from the classic Disney film is when Simba loses his father during the stampede, while nearly dying himself! So, why would Disney think it’s a good idea for players to relive that experience? There’s nothing that could be more traumatizing than watching Simba die, repeatedly, after getting stomped to death in a game simulation of the stampede.
11 The Saddest Ending Of All Time
Capcom’s 1989 classic, Ducktales, is so insanely popular that it’s been remade into an HD version and was added to the Disney Afternoon Collection released earlier this year. In fact, the show (and comic) is such a cherished part of Disney history that it was recently rebooted/retooled in a new animated hit featuring the voice talents of multiple celebrities.
The game, while incredibly challenging, focuses on Scrooge McDuck going from adventure to adventure to amass even more treasure for his vault. Where things get pretty dark and depressing in is the game’s secret ending. Players can spend Scrooge’s money to regain life during levels, at the expense of $3,000,000 each time. Players can spend all of their earnings to refill Scrooge’s life and end the game with $0. Doing so will lead players to a different ending, one that features Scrooge now completely broke.
10 The Beast Shows No Mercy
Like many other titles on this list, Disney marketed one of their film releases with a video game release in Beauty and the Beast. The game was released on the Super Nintendo and was a platform game, in line with many other Disney titles. Throughout the course of the game, players played as Beast, fighting against the curse on his castle. It didn’t necessarily follow every plot point of the film, but it came close.
Where it deviated the most is in its brutal ending, one vastly different than the film it is based on. In the film, Beast and Gaston fight on the castle wall. Gaston falls, clings to a ledge, and Beast shows compassion by helping him back up (only to have Gaston try to stab him with a knife). Things go quite differently in the game. Gaston serves as the final fight, one that wins by Beast literally sending him off the castle to his death.
9 Ariel’s Lost Voice
Disney tried to release its variation on Roger Rabbit in the form of Bonkers, an animated adventure show that felt more like a bizarre ripoff than anything else. The show wasn’t very popular and neither was the video game released in its likeness. The game was yet another side-scrolling adventure, a type of game that Disney fans were all too familiar with.
The plot of the game centered on Bonkers having to track down three classic Disney items: Mickey’s magical hat from the Sorcerer’s Apprentice bit from Fantasia, Genie’s Lamp from Aladdin, and a locket that contained Ariel’s Voice. What? Out of all the items and mystical elements of every Disney film ever made, this game needs you to find the voice of its most famous mermaid, somehow trapped inside of a locket. How does that even make sense?
8 Cousins!
In typical marketing fashion, the Star Wars franchise has repeatedly released its video game tie-ins perfectly in line with the theatrical releases they’re based on. Disney Infinity’s 3.0 gaming suite had an Episode VII tie-in, where the toys-to-life brand allowed players to reenact the adventures from The Force Awakens. Players were excited to play through the film after seeing it, but were a bit taken back by a suspect line of dialog during a key scene.
After being foiled by Rey in Disney Infinity, Kylo Ren appeared to call Rey his cousin. This line of dialog obviously wasn’t in the film, and led many gamers to believe the Infinity game had accidentally spoiled a major plot point (if Rey is Kylo’s cousin, it would mean Luke is her father). The internet went crazy over the dialog, which forced several prominent websites to cover the blunder. Kylo doesn’t actually say ‘cousin’, but rather says ‘Curses’.
7 Mizrabel Wants Minnie’s Lifeforce
Castle of Illusion was a popular Disney title released for the Sega Genesis and featured Mickey Mouse. The game was loved by many, mainly for its fun adventure design and its bizarre creepy atmosphere. It’s a side-scrolling platformer, like most of the early Disney games, and features many of the typical Disney game tropes (collecting gems, bouncing to defeat enemies, etc).
The game’s main villain, Mizrabel, has captured Minnie Mouse and wants to steal her youth. That’s right, Minnie is in danger of losing her lifeforce. The game has had its share of sequels and re-images, and due to Mizrabel’s nasty nature, she has been featured as a villain numerous times over. The life-stealing witch, aimed at ruining Minnie’s youthful spirit, has been a fan favorite for years.
6 Animatronic Donald Duck
Epic Mickey was a big gamble for Disney. The game was designed with the sole intention of placing Mickey in a much darker universe than he’d ever traversed. Elements within the game were so dark and bizarre that many parents questioned whether or not the game, starring Mickey Mouse, was actually aimed at children. The game was meant to push the limits when it came to the Disney universe, and boy did it succeed.
One of the most bizarre and disturbing elements of the game comes in the form of an animatronic Donald Duck. The concept itself is scary enough, but the game takes things to a whole new level by the deteriorating design of the character. His pieces have been scattered throughout and he assigns Mickey the quest of finding them for him. Talk about creepy!
5 Disney Face Tattoos
Disney’s cute take on commonfolk turning into royalty is nothing new and the animated hit Sofia the First doesn’t really grasp for high praise or worship. It’s a simple kids show that features a young girl who ascends to royalty. It’s meant to be cute, aimed at kids, and is supposed to be a good time. There’s nothing messed up or creepy about that.
Where things get super weird is in the Sofia the First web-based game, titled Sofia the First Face Tattoo. Of all things, Disney, why face tattoos? Sure, face tattoos can be fun things to do at a carnival, but why turn this into a web-based game? The title falls under the ‘Games for Girls’ brand, which happens to also feature other Disney characters getting face tattoos, like Tinker Bell and Frozen’s Elsa.
4 Jessica Rabbit’s ‘Phone Line’
Who Framed Roger Rabbit was a huge success for Disney, so it only made sense for the company to merge that license into several video game tie-ins. The Roger Rabbit game was released on the NES and, for the most part, featured an innocent adventure through LA and Toontown to help solve Roger’s case. There’s nothing too messed up about that, even if the film is filled with adult content.
Where things get pretty messed up is in one part of the game, Roger ends up at Jessica Rabbit’s workplace and players search tables for clues. Hidden at one of the tables is an actual 800 number, which players could call and would receive tips via an automated message from Jessica. That’s right, young gamers were encouraged to call and speak with Jessica Rabbit for gaming tips. Disney later abandoned the phone number, which eventually turned into–of course–a phone sex line.
3 Fighting Count Dracula
It’s no secret that the game Quackshot is Disney’s gaming version of Indiana Jones, starring the non-adventurous Donald Duck. The game released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis and featured plenty of weird and messed up elements, like Donald Duck’s weapon shooting plungers, popcorn, and bubble gum.
But its most messed up element has to be one of the boss fights, which pits – for some reason – Donald Duck against Count Dracula. You read that right. Over the course of the game, Donald Duck takes on several questionable villains, like ghosts and ancient Vikings, but none as dangerous as Count Dracula (in duck-form, of course). While the game focuses on Donald finding himself in grand adventures, it seems pretty messed up to have a character such as Donald fighting the world’s most renowned evil vampire.
2 Space Aliens
In 1984, Disney released one of its first video games for the PC. The game was meant to be a fun and kid-friendly adventure, based on Disney’s most popular character, Mickey. But when Disney attempts to be educational, the results aren’t always perfect. As is the case with Mickey’s Space Adventure, a game that focuses on jettisoning the loveable Mickey into space, along with his dog Pluto, so they can track down alien gems hidden on planets and moons.
This game was the first non-Game and Watch styled game for Mickey, and while space adventure might not be too weird, it’s the story here that is most messed up. Mickey decides to help aliens track down stolen gems that can be found on planets throughout our solar system. Why is Mickey’s first video game based around space aliens?
1 The Coachman Gets What He Deserves
The Coachman has to be one of Disney’s most disturbing animated villains. In Pinocchio, he abducts little boys and takes them to an island, where they play mischievous games and all get turned into donkeys. That’s just straight up bizarre. However, in the film, no real justice ever comes for The Coachman. After Pinocchio escapes, The Coachman is literally never seen again–completely unpunished for his bizarre and creepy behavior.
He gets a different fate in the video game adaptation, thankfully. In Pinocchio, released for the Super Nintendo, players play through the game as the titular character. It’s a platformer, featuring lots of leaps and climbing. One of the final levels features Pinocchio climbing a cliff, where he finds The Coachman atop. The goal is simple: push The Coachman over the edge. Plunging The Coachman to his death progresses the game.
