THE LAST WORD
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Mickey Mouse and Video
by David Pierson
One of the most memorable
moments in motion picture history
featured Mickey Mouse as the
Sorcerer's Apprentice.
Anyone who has seen the Disney
film " Fantasia " no doubt remem-
bers the plight of Mickey: dressed
in the borrowed gown of his
master, the Sorcerer-he tried to
fight off the seemingly endless
rush of bucket-carrying brooms.
Though he took an axe to them
and chopped them into little
pieces , each splinter would
rematerialize into a whole broom,
intensifying the assault on Mickey.
What was it about this particular
scene in cinematography that has
remained forever stamped in the
memory of those who've seen it?
After all , it 's only a silly cartoon
character in an apparent comic
struggle.
And exactly how does it relate to
video games?
Well , if psychologists are inter-
ested in studying the appeal and
effect video games have on Ameri-
can society, they would do well to
consider the video struggles in the
light of Mickey ' s seriocomic
struggle.
Starting with Space Invaders and
continuing with Asteroids and
other hit games, we find the
players of video games taking on a
role similar to that of Mickey Mouse
as the Sorcerer's Apprentice .
It's one against many where the
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" many" are unthinking, unrea-
soning foes bent solely on annihi-
lating the player/Mickey. And, no
matter how hard the player/
Mickey fights back, more enemies
appear in always greater numbers,
with even more determination to
crush the individual.
Psychologists may see here an
archetypal pattern which speaks
subliminally to each one of us.
That's why the comical Sorcerer's
apprentice has remained in the
consciousness of modern society.
And that 's also a good possibility
why video games have so captured
the imagination of society. like the
Disney film , today's video games
speak to us on another level.
Obviously the Disney film pro-
ducers were aware they had
tapped something with the
" Fantasia " scenario because they
used it time and time again in other
motion pictures-the most mem-
orable of those reuses is Davy
Crockett standing alone on top of
the Alamo fighting off the whole
Mexican army, of course, Davy
Crockett probably wasn 't the last
to die (and probably not exactly
like that ), but the producers saw
the scene as good cinematography.
And that 's the same reasoning
that brought about the video game
phenomenon . By following upon
the same theme that made Space
Invaders a hit, manufacturers were
able to turn out other hits which ,
strangely enough, seem to be
tapping the same chords in people
that Mickey touched so many
years ago.
What does it all mean to the
video game business?
For one thing, the parallels are
obvious and can easily be elabo-
rated upon when industry people
talk with television and newspaper
reporters. For the reporter, it
means good " copy. " For the
industry, it means good press
(After all, aligning the appeal of
video games with something as
unquestionably wholesome as a
Disney film has to be beneficiaL) .
Also , given the recent alignment
of the motion picture industry with
coin-op amusements, perhaps
what we need is'a manufacturer to
theme a video game-with all due
royalties proceeding to Disney
Productions, of course-on the
Sorcerer's apprentice theme. Such
a game could probably help drive
home the point that anything that
can incorporate Mickey Mouse
can 't be all bad .
While a Mickey Mouse video
game might be a little unrealistic, it
is realistic for operators, distribu-
tors, and manufacturers to point
out parallels between video games
and other mediums. There 's prob-
ably no better way that this industry
Ci!n show it is essential to modern
society, that ·it serves a purpose,
and must be allowed to flourish .
PLAY METER , June 15 , 1982