The Epic Art Of Epic Mickey

For all the awesome art found in video game production — so awesome we run this regular feature on it — not too many publishers go to the trouble of releasing big, fancy coffee table books showing said art off. Which is a shame!

So it’s nice seeing Disney do just that with the better-late-than-never release of The Art of Epic Mickey, celebrating a game that may not have been that great as a game, but which was damn pretty to look at.

If you’re wondering why we’re looking at this now, well, the book’s only just come out. And if you’re wondering why the book’s only just come out, you should know that video game concept art is a trickier field than it appears. A lot of art gets stored under lock-and-key by publishers and never sees the light of day, and artists often have to get permission just to share works they themselves created.

So art being released almost a year after the game hit shelves isn’t that rare!

The stuff you see here is all in the book, which isn’t just good for the art. It’s also got a ton of commentary on the creation of the game and the artistic process behind it, including a lot of input from designer Warren Spector.

The Art of Epic Mickey retails for $US40, but if you look you can find it for a lot less than that.

Fine Art is a celebration of the work of video game artists.