It’s no secret that Disney holds some of the world’s most valuable entertainment IP. From Star Wars to Marvel to Pixar and Disney Classics, the Magic Kingdom company has been astute at turning its movies and television shows into gaming experiences. Yeah, we all know there have been hits and misses, but that’s the nature of the gaming sector.
Indeed, even beyond Disney games, we are in a golden era of gaming choice. From top online browser games to handy mobile puzzles and console exclusives to RTS game masterpieces for PC, we’ve never had it so good. Disney and its associated studios have played a crucial role in supplying many of the characters and worlds we love.
Of course, developers do return to the tried and tested well of IP from the likes of Marvel and Star Wars time and time again. But Disney does have plenty of IP that is arguably underrepresented. Below, we look at some content that could be fertile for future games:
The Black Cauldron
It’s 40 years since The Black Cauldron was released in theaters and it’s 39 years since the only official game based on the fantasy adventure was released. Like the movie, the Black Cauldron video game (developed by Sierra-On-Line) was flawed, but it was not without its merits. There would certainly be scope to do something interesting with it, or even the wider world of The Chronicles of Prydain, on which the movie was based.
Pete’s Dragon
The 2016 live-action remake of Pete’s Dragon (1977) feels like it deserved a little more attention from the mainstream. Certainly, it was well-received by critics. Nonetheless, the underlying story, characters, and concept would offer something enchanting for a potential video game. We could imagine a Stardew-Valley-type sim game, where you can raise your own dragon.
Treasure Planet
The 2002 movie Treasure Planet was, in our view, criminally underrated and deserved more love from the box office (it was once ranked as one of the biggest box-office flops in history). Nonetheless, a flurry of game releases accompanied the movie, with mixed results. The concept—a sci-fi reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island—is brilliant and highly flexible for different gaming genres.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
We aren’t going to pretend that Atlantis: The Lost Empire was a perfect movie. It was muddled in terms of plot and character development. Yet, there were some brilliant underlying ideas that would fit snugly with any adventure-type game. Atlantis was a little ahead of its time, and it dealt with some mature themes, so it could match up with some gritty Tomb Raider-style exploration concepts.
John Carter One of the most important movies of our age. No, really. Many movie experts believe the failure of John Carter in 2012 led to the era of sure bets by Disney. What that means is that it became afraid to take chances, relying on established IP. Other studios have clearly followed suit. Anyway, digression aside, John Carter’s world and the wider world of the Barsoom series have had many adaptions, especially in comics, but there is no official game. There’s a huge amount of interesting stories to develop into a gaming universe.
