Although Game Informer has had the information for weeks, today Disney Interactive officially revealed Junction Point's upcoming Wii-exclusive Epic Mickey - or as Disney calls it, Disney Epic Mickey. Not sure why they needed to throw in the company name randomly in the title like that, but there we are.

Disney's press release was sure to mention a bit more about the game's story, which will include appearances by forgotten Disney characters like Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Mickey Mouse's usage of paint and thinner drastically affecting both Mickey and his world. However, of more interest were recent statements made by producer Warren Spector regarding comparisons to a certain other gaming franchise featuring Disney characters, and the real story behind the game's Wii-exclusivity. For all that, plus a horde of screens and artwork, hit the cut.

First, in an interview with Kotaku, Spector confirmed that Epic Mickey will not use Wii MotionPlus, as the technology became available too late into the development process. "We played with it and I think that it would be a great fit for our core mechanic, but the best I can say is that in the future we'd love to do more with it," said Spector.

Spector also stated that the game's storyline will be far deeper than anything seen before from the house of Mouse. Spector, a former teacher, drew influences from a variety of sources to tell a story that deals with themes of consumerism, modernism, and the hero's journey.

However, one area that was not an influence for Spector was Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts franchise, which has successfully merged Final Fantasy's heroes with Disney's most popular characters, and presented them to a generally older audience. "I played the Kingdom Hearts games, but they weren't much of an inspiration. They treated the Disney characters much more conventionally than I wanted to. They are not reintroducing or reimagining as much as they are offering these characters as folks you are going to interact with in a new medium."

However, Spector's most notable statement today was a comment made to Official Nintendo Magazine UK, stating that Epic Mickey began life as a game for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC before being moved to Wii.

At that time we were talking about a Wii port and I was begging people - no, we can't just port to the Wii, it's not going to work. It needs to be its own game. A lot of the design ideas just won't work on the Wii, we need to give the Wii its dues. Graham looked at me and said 'What do you think about a Wii exclusive?' And I went 'Holy cow - yeah!'. They walked away from three other platforms - no other publisher on the planet would have done that. It was a magic moment for me. No-one has even mentioned other formats since that point.