Epic Mickey/WMG

This is not a Kingdom Hearts game.
Dale, you went too far this time.

suicidemouse.avi is the bad ending.
Mickey, depressed from how he cannot erase the inert buildings, walks down a line a gray buildings and goes mad and kills himself.
 * Jossed.

Alternatively, suicidemouse.avi will be the projector leading back to
It will start out looking like the clip shown, but then it'll become just a series of platforms and debris. Nothing left except for that. Plus it fits being the final 2D level for the final stage.
 * Jossed.

The entire game takes place inside a Alternate Universe Walt Disney's head where he is Alive and Insane
The whole plot of Epic Mickey is really All Just a Dream or a dying dream, hallucination, or what have you of a alternate reality Walt Disney who never died decades ago. However he probably never became as successful as his counterpart here in our reality and failed in every animation job he ever had.

All this failure most likely led to years of self resentment and later self destructive behavior (excessive substance abuse, clinical depression, alcoholism) all this probably created a paranoid schizophrenic mentality which made him believe that his own cartoon creations were literally out to get him (primarily Oswald, his most beloved creation (at least in that universe) which he probably sold to another animator for drug/booze money), and only his other best creation, Mickey, could save him from his own nightmares.

So the entire game is just a typical dream in Alternate!Walt's mind who's watching us (the player as Mickey) from a fevered and Ranting third person perspective as we unknowingly fight the phantom blot (Alternate!Walt's Id Gone Horribly Wrong) for his very remaining sanity. And why don't we ever see this vision of a Wino/hobo raving Disney from the sidelines? Well, in most third person dreams the characters/creatures in them don't notice us watching them unless they're first person perspective/lucid dreams.

This also explains why Mickey in the game looks no different from his Golden Age appearance, since no Mickey cartoons were produced since the 20's. All the rest of the look of the game is just the rest of Walt's dreams are ruined and in dark disfigured tatters (a Disneyland/Disney World that was never created, all of Mickey's accolades he never received...)

One of the game's possible endings will be that Oswald gets out of the Wasteland
Think about it. Ever since Epic Mickey was even in the planning stage, Oswald's semi-unknown popularity has skyrocketed. He came back to the ownership of Disney through a flesh and blood human, where all of his classic shorts were quickly made available through Disney Treasures DVD. Also, inevitably, he will become even more popular once the game comes out. It's possible that they might even be Breaking the Fourth Wall as an explanation for him to escape.
 * Considering that the game already has No Fourth Wall, this is actually quite plausible.

Charles Muntz will be the man behind the Blot.
Muntz was named after the real-life Charles B. Mintz, who stole legally acquired the rights to Oswald the Rabbit from Walt Disney, forcing Disney to create Mickey...
 * Muntz is pure Nightmare Fuel and has an extreme obsession with the past. If anyone from Pixar makes it in, it will be him.
 * Well, this video has stated that Pixar would be somewhat involved with this, but since it isn't an official video, I'm not too sure.
 * Confirmed from the man himself: "My team and I have been working hard on our own and (get ready for the cool factor to go way up) in collaboration with folks from Disney Feature Animation and  Pixar."
 * It's more of a "consultants on animation and story" thing though. John Lasseter suggested to Spector to explore what a Toon's needs and desires are, similar to how Toy Story explored what a toy's needs and desires are.
 * One could wish, really, but Muntz is in too recent a production. If anyone from Pixar's going to be in Wasteland, it'd be the cast of A Bugs Life. It is arguably their least well-known film.
 * Correction: It'd probably be that guy from the Wally B short or whatever it was called that everybody forgot about. But that has nothing to do with Disney, of course...

The real Big Bad is Julius the Cat.
...who predated even Oswald as Disney's first recurring animated character.
 * Jossed.

The Phantom Blot has merged with The Horned King.
The way he looks like a Lich would have this explanation make sense, also taking into consideration that the Horned King is an obscure villain.

Pete is a reluctant ally.
Let's face it, if Oswald wants to rub out Mickey for being more well known, then the Blot will want to rub out Pete for being more well known.
 * Not really, but two of the four Petes appear as a bosses, even though they're not working for the Blot.
 * Half-and-half true.

At some point, Mickey will travel through settings taken from Song of the South.
It's obscure to the point where Disney has deliberately kept the movie from video release, sounds like it counts to me.
 * Jossed, unfortunately. Heck, Frontierland as a whole's been cut.
 * Don't you mean Critter Country as a whole's been cut? (Splash Mountain from what I read is only in Frontierland at Walt Disney World, but at all other parks it's located in Critter Country if the park has one, minus Disneyland Paris which lacks the ride due to the budget and cold weather), then again I have no idea how the Disneyland's map is since it's been ages since I've been there, but I'm pretty sure you mean Critter Country as well.
 * Technically, Frontierland was not cut out but covered. Look at Wasteland and you'll see Skull Island is where Frontierland should be.

Oswald is the King of Sorrow.
To summarize, Oswald is a rabbit in charge of a desolate and forgotten world, who was driven to near-madness by his cruel fate, and thus engineered a cosmically suicidal plot, the ultimate goal of which is only to garner some attention to himself. The connection is transparently obvious.

The Mad Doctor is the one that builds the Beetleworx enemies
Was recently hinted at as appearing in the game and making creepy monsters like that would be very fitting.
 * Confirmed by the Game Informer article. The Beetleworx are simple maintenance robots... at least, that's what The Mad Doctor said they are.

Oswald will be made out to be fairly sympathetic.
Freudian Excuse aside, the guy's pretty similar to Mickey in personality. I'm having trouble picturing him as an outright villain.
 * Confirmed by the Game Informer article. Oswald is angry at Mickey for stealing gaining his popularity, and he does seem to confront Mickey several times, but it turns out he's opposed to the Phantom Blot. And yes, his Woobiness is deliberate -- even the game's creators felt sorry for him.
 * According to the interview, he really just wants Walt Disney, his father, to love him.

The game is set in the Kingdom Hearts universe.
Specifically, it's the story of how Mickey became king of Disney Castle.
 * Spector has said hearts are important in the game in regards to the opening sequence with the Mad Doctor trying to cut Mickey up and take it.
 * Maybe it's what's behind the "door of darkness", and in fact an alternate continuity? Also, the Cartoon Wasteland does remind one in story of Castle... oblibbity... oblostemy?
 * Oblivion. How appropriate you forgot the word.
 * *cough cough*

Mickey has been corrupted by the Phantom Blot's influence.
Look at this Game Informer cover and notice how the paint on Mickey's ears seems to be running off. I haven't thought out the specifics, but maybe Phantom Blot did something to him?
 * It may explain [[media:www.totalvideogames.com_69109_beetleworx_6.jpg|This thing]]. Either that, or that's a really mutated Mousekateer, fused with the mirror, or Judge Claude Frollo.
 * That's cause he is an animated character, you know, made out of ink and paint. Warren Spector says that the whole Wasteland is just ink and paint, explaining why Mickey can use paint and thinner to modify the environment, and how the Shadow Blot was created.
 * Worse, Mickey soaked up some of the Shadow Blot when the Blot temporarily ate him in the opening cutscene.

One of Mickey's allies is going to meet a tragic end.
Well, this IS designed to scare the crap out of kids. Why not instill them with the knowledge that we're all doomed to die sometime? After all, Disney is also famous for creating some tear-jerking scenes.
 * Well,, so... does that still count?

Oswald will either be a second playable character obtained later in the game, or a Secret Character unlocked after beating the game.
A lot of emphasis is placed on Oswald being the "half-brother" of Mickey, and how Mickey has to earn his trust once again. He's pretty much the second main character of the game. Therefore, it'd be a logical extension for him to be a playable character at some point.
 * Jossed. But that would be cool.
 * Well, Warren and Junction Point are considering having Oswald be a playable character in the sequel they're developing.

The Mad Doctor is the Phantom Blot.
In the 1933 cartoon, The Mad Doctor is wearing a black cloak that makes him look exactly like the classic design of the Phantom Blot. It'd be a nice little Mythology Gag (and plot twist) if the two were one and the same.
 * He looks more like That Freak-A-Zoid character if you ask me.
 * He looks like the bastard child of the Blot and Candlejack AW GOD DA
 * Jossed. He's actually working with the Shadow Blot.

A Brain In a Jar will be a boss
It will be all but said to be Walt Disney's.
 * I dunno, Yen Sid is being used as a rather blatant stand in for Walt.
 * Well, Yen Sid created the Wasteland, but he never said he created anything else. He's probably just "higher up" somehow. I mean, a statue of Walt Disney appears in there, and Mickey obviously knows who it is and reacts like you'd expect. Also, Oswald refers to the man himself in his dialogue, but only with pronouns.
 * Jossed.

The setting of this game will appear in the next Kingdom Hearts
It will be called something along the lines of The Forgotten World. Oswald will be your ally, and the Shadow Blot, now a shadow of his former self, will be a boss (downgraded from the Final Boss).
 * Plus, the Japanese love Oswald.
 * Alternatively, Phantom Blot is the Final Boss and Big Bad.
 * Jossed. Nomura confirmed that KH 3's final boss is Xehanort.
 * Not necessarily. Nomura says KH 3 will be the end of the "Xehanort Saga." After that, everything's fair game.

The Phantom Blot's lair/Final Level will be The Castle That Never Was.
If this game happens after the Kingdom Hearts games, it'd be a good place to hang around, waiting for Mickey. The World That Never Was is also corrupted due the Blot's influence.
 * Both semi-confirmed and semi-Jossed by a recent Nintendo Power feature. The final level will be set in a dark Disney castle, but it's not connected to Kingdom Hearts in any way: it's called "Dark Beauty Castle," and it's presumably the huge, warped castle in the middle of Wasteland.

The Phantom Blot is why The Heartless and Nobodies exist to begin with.
At least the Pure Blood heartless. Notice how the Shadow Heartless look a bit like ink when they move around to assault you? The Blot's fault. The Nobodies simply were a side effect he didn't see coming after trying to create Heartless using people rather than only Ink. And he CREATED Kingdom Hearts! (The Moon, not the game)

Xion or an Expy of her will show up.
Toon Wasteland is home to Disney characters who are forgotten. Xion is a (semi) Disney character who is forgotten. I'd expect her to defend Mickey to Mortimer as she is also a
 * Jossed.

Characters from past Disney TV Animation shows are trapped in the Wasteland.
Considering how Disney basically likes to pretend their past TV cartoons never existed, it would not surprise me if Mickey were to run into Gadget Hackwrench or Tino during his travels in the Wasteland. Of course, since Darkwing Duck has got a new comic book coming out, that probably means he and his co-stars found a way out.
 * Boss Battle with a corrupted, evil Dr. Drakken? Sign me up.
 * The duck trio being turned into their older Quack Pack versions? Sign me up too.
 * Jossed.

David Xanatos will be involved.

 * Disney has screwed over Gargoyles so much that this will eventually happen.

The games started out as a throwback to Kingdom Hearts
Before Sora was created, Mickey was supposed to be The Protagonist, but Disney wanted Donald Duck.

The Phantom Blot Villain in the 1999 cartoon based himself off the Shadow Blot in Epic Mickey.
I mean, think about it! This could have taken place just before The Phantom Blot cartoon, and the guy behind the blot could have tried making himself this villain to become scary enough to cause a crime wave.
 * ...what "1999 cartoon"? You do realize that the Blot has been a recurring villain in Mickey comics since 1939? EDIT: Wait, you're referring to the Mickey Mouseworks short, aren't you? Well, he did appear in animation on DuckTales before that, if that counts.

This sounds unbelievably stupid, but it does make sense. You ever see kids go to the Haunted Mansion and Tower of Terror, where they end up screaming their heads off? That's what's going to happen to some of the rides there. At some of those same attractions, they would become torturous "rides" for the people that rebel against Phantom Blot. They would be brought through there, and perhaps turn into those freaky robots or mind manipulated, maybe even die in the process.
 * "Unbelievably stupid?" What are you talking about? This sounds epic.

The Power Rangers will appear in the game
Disney forgot about the show, so why not?
 * Because of Saban.

Kingdom Hearts Mickey will appear.
During a random boss fight, Mickey will be defeated, and then KH Mickey will intervene and save the day, and he will be an important ally.

On that note, there may in fact be Legacy versions of Mickey Mouse, just like there are Legacy versions of Pete and all of the extras.

 * No other Mickeys actually appear in the game, but there have been different versions: Musketeer Mickey, Sorcerer Mickey, Kingdom Hearts Mickey (mentioned above)... If Big Bad Pete has duplicate versions of his character, just in different costumes, then why wouldn't Mickey Mouse?

The Phantom Blot isn't an Inky Eldritch Abomination.
He's in a control room, controlling a Beetleworx that resembles his monstrous form, and when he's shown, he'll be in his cloak, as always. Jossed.

Chernabog will be a boss.
...No real reason for saying this, other than it would be awesome.

Chernabog will be THE Final Boss.
Above Troper's statement reminds me of a WMG I had with a friend the other day: Ink and Thinner didn't spontaneously create the blot: It was Chernabog. Creating the Shadow Blot, corrupting Cartoon Wasteland, wanting Hearts (perhaps to go to the real world?): an Evil Plan when he saw Mickey spill the aforementioned fluids. (At the very least, he should be a boss; he's both from Fantasia and mostly Forgotten by the Disney Animated Canon).
 * And the Shadow Blot will either be The Dragon or not so evil after all.
 * Or maybe Chernabog will be the Shadow Blot's One-Winged Angel form.

There are TWO Phantom Blots in the Wasteland.
In the game's introduction, we see a guy in a Phantom Blot costume working with Oswald to slice open Mickey and steal the mouse's heart, despite the audience knowing full well the Phantom Blot that Mickey accidentally created is an Eldritch Abomination. The "normal" looking Blot is most likely the one who is slowly corrupting Oswald, breaking the rabbit's spirit and directing all his hatred directly at the mouse, all under the order of the "Demon" Blot. In fact, the "normal" Blot may be the avatar who represents the "Demon" Blot to the Wasteland Public, directly enforcing the "Demon" Blot's rule and setting up all the evil that occurs. In fact.....
 * That guy in the black outfit is the Mad Doctor in his "raincoat" from the opening of the short of the same name.
 * Actually,

is The Dragon to the Phantom Blot.
This character is even MORE forgotten by the Disney universe at large. While Oswald is an actual, living character created by Walt Disney himself, separate existence in the Wasteland shows that Yen Sid's magic being able to not only house forgotten individual characters in a separate pocket dimension but also previous IDENTITIES that are strong enough. Meaning. Though is more well known than Oswald by the most diehard Disney fans, the company itself has COMPLETELY buried this piece of information and most people who aren't big cartoon fans would forget about it rather quickly.
 * Jossed.

Should there be an Alice in Wonderland section, the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle will finally make an official appearance.
They HAVE to. They just HAVE to!
 * And the Jabberwock?
 * Jossed.

Tetsuya Nomura is going to copy his neighbor's test and bring in elements of Epic Mickey into future installments of Kingdom Hearts
Looking for more things to add to his Kudzu Plot and going "Why didn't I think of that?" at some of Junction Point's ideas, the Kingdom Hearts series will see the following:
 * Phantom Blot and the Blotlings will form a fourth enemy race: One made up of the incomplete materials that make up a Somebody's Heart, Body, and Soul.
 * Wasteland will be another of the Worlds in the Realm of In-Between comprised of things that never fully came into being in the worlds of the Realm of Light, including what made up the original World before the Keyblade War.
 * Oswald as a lost Keybearer of Disney Castle
 * The Mad Doctor becoming an in-house researcher of the Heart's mysteries in a re-formed version of Maleficent's Legion of Doom

The Blot is only staying in the Wasteland due to a loophole.
The requirement to be in the Wasteland is to be a forgotten character, nobody else knew about the Blot, and Mickey forgot he even did that, so, Yen Sid couldn't remove the Blot, and he wasn't forgotten himself, meaning he can't get in his own creation, meaning that he can't get rid of the Blot because if the Blot isn't remembered, then he can't be destroyed; Mickey being brought into the Wasteland was probably a bad idea for this reason, it means that the Blot will be destroyed because Mickey remembers his mistake, and is going to fix it.

Mr. Toad will be a villain.
Warren mentioned that defunct DisneyLand/World rides will appear in the games. Mr Toad's ride was scrapped without any remorse from Disney, not to mention he did have an animated movie that was also pretty much forgotten. Add the fact that he was really kind of obsessive and insane in the film, and there's perfect villain material.
 * Toad is still at Disneyland, where his cult following will ensure it stays that way.

The Cartoon Wasteland is The Badlands/Keyblade Graveyard.
It makes at least as much sense as any of the other Kingdom Hearts based guesses.

The Spiritual Successor will be Legendary Luxo.
After working with PIXAR Animation, Warren Spector decides to take the concept of The Wasteland to create a Cyber World for PIXAR characters.

The basic premise is that back when CGI Animation was still new, and PIXAR was still creating small shorts, John Lasseter and Ed Catmull had created a kind of Cyberspace called "Render Remanence", to store all of their rejected and outdated ideas and characters. The first of which being Andre and Wally B., Pixar's first animated CGI stars. They become the rulers of this world, but are sore and distasteful at the studio for only being one-shot "test" characters and harbor an intense resentment to Luxo Jr., the company's favored mascot. Luxo Jr. accidentally enters this world after following his star ball into an old 1993 Pixar Computer. Interested, he finds a locked container entitled "Early Toy Story" and, as usual, he decides to hop on it. Unfortunately, this releases the Complete Monster known as the Black Friday Woody, who is now a jumbled mass of corrupted render software. Luxo. Jr manages to escape, but with Black Friday Woody loose, he quickly devastates Render Remanence.

Years later, Luxo Jr. has forgotten about this and is asleep by a computer, when suddenly a massive wall of corrupted text grabs him, pulls him through the old computer, and into Render Remanence.

The main objective is to befriend Andre and Wally B., RR's first deleted characters. Luxo Jr.'s main weapon in this game is an animated computer mouse he managed to grab before being pulled into the Cyber World. It's capable of Deleting and Restoring any old computer files.
 * Lotso definitely needs to be involved somehow, possibly as The Dragon.
 * Personally, this is too shameless a copy-pasted idea, but there's enough info found in the deleted scenes in the Pixar DVDs to fill such a world up. The blob aliens that were cut from Wall-E comes to mind.

The game's Pre-Final Boss will be .
Ever wondered why Scrapper Mickey was removed from Mickey's play style in the game? Sure, Warren Spector might claim that it's because he "didn't want to mess with Mickey's image", but the real reason is so that he can serve as the pre-climactic boss in the game. Because think about it. The Wasteland is a place for rejected Disney characters, right? Well, Warren Spector created a meta example of this when he opted out to use the Scrapper, thus forcing him into the Wasteland. He might not be the game's final boss (I think that goes to the Phantom Blot), but he will definitely be the pre-climax boss.
 * This would have been, in my mind at least, the perfect payoff to the 'Essence of Blot' absorbed by Mickey in the opening.
 * This would have been, in my mind at least, the perfect payoff to the 'Essence of Blot' absorbed by Mickey in the opening.

The Blot is just like Oswald.
Think about it. When Mickey first created the blot, it was scary, sure, but it didn't do anything malicious to him. Mickey freaked and tried to get rid of it. It brought Mickey into the Wasteland about 80 years later for the Mad Scientist, or at least due to his manipulations. The Blot was rejected by his father, Mickey, just like Oswald was rejected by his father, Walt. The Blot turned his rejection into anger, but could only vent it on the Wasteland. Oswald, on the other hand, fought to protect it as it was all he had left, as opposed to the Blot who had nothing to protect or care for. And as for Oswald, he can't lash out on his own father Walt, so he lashes out at Mickey instead.

Mass Character Guess.
This is the catch-all WMG for character predictions in a hypothetical sequel (whether or not the posters of the above entries want to simply delete theirs and copy/paste them here is up to them)
 * The Hitchhiking Ghosts.
 * Dreamfinder (or whatever his name was from the Epcot ride)
 * Alice (the version from the Alice Comedies)
 * Robin Hood
 * The Pig Baby
 * Perri
 * Mira Nova
 * The Fish Footman
 * Maui Mallard
 * Nimrod The Rabbit
 * David Xanatos
 * The Horned King
 * Dennis The Duck: he and Nimrod were Ertazes for Oswald, now that Disney has Oswald, what do they do now?

Kopa will appear at some point.
Think about it. He starred in a few comics, before Disney green-lit The Lion King 2 and he was replaced by Kiara. I wouldn't surprise me if was in a similar position to Oswald, having been pushed aside by a sibling.
 * Perhaps in a future installment or something, but definitely for Epic Mickey Warren Spector stated characters and series will only go up to the 1960s The Jungle Book.

There will be an "Oswald Mode" after completing the game.
BECAUSE IT WOULD BE AWESOME, THAT'S WHY

There will be an ending in which you can redeem the Phantom Blot
He'll be revealed to have had his own feelings of rejection and hatred for his 'father' (that would be Mickey) be manipulated by the Mad Doctor. After he's defeated, the player will have a chance to either blast him away with thinner or use the paint to make him into what Mickey was originally going for in the opening cinematic. The latter turns Blob into a Ridiculously Cute Critter, who immediately sacrifices itself to stop the Mad Doctor from killing Mickey from behind. ...Just a thought.
 * Partly true.

If there's a sequel, the Wasteland will reflect Disney World.
Sure, it'll need to have four times more content than the first game, but you can't deny the allure of a post-apocalyptic MGM Studios or EPCOT or Animal Kingdom.
 * I can see that each park is filled with forgotten characters, like for Epcot would have Dreamfinder, MGM would have Roger Rabbit (he had a unbuilt land in the park, planned during the 1990s) and for Animal Kingdom, there would be a level based off the aborted Beastly Kingdom where Mickey would face off with the final boss, the Dragon from the Dragon Tower ride.

If there's a sequel, then there will be nightmare versions of Disney's idol singers and teen stars.
Warren Spector said that he wanted to make a game that would scare the youth of today, just as how the Disney Animated Canon scared his generation when they were kids. And what better way to do that than to take the characters that they love from the Disney Channel and fill them with ten tons of Nightmare Fuel?

The material doesn't have to be just from the present day. Disney's been in the "tween" business since before the word "tween" existed, going all the way back to the The Fifties with Annette Funicello and The Mickey Mouse Club. That show alone has had dozens, if not hundreds, of Mouseketeers in its various runs. Most people probably can't name more than a dozen -- and most of them probably come from the latest iteration of the show, which brought us Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, and their ilk. There's bound to be countless forgotten stars hiding away in the Wasteland. Of course, since we're dealing with real people here, they'd have to be No Celebrities Were Harmed versions unless they could get permission from the people and estates involved.

And why stop at The Mickey Mouse Club? Disney's history doesn't end with the death of Uncle Walt. For example, does the name Fiona Phillips have any relevance to you? No? How about Jett Jackson? And those shows made it to air and ran for several seasons! On top of the shows that have been aired and subsequently forgotten, there's probably tons of unused ideas for Disney Kid Coms and animated series that were never broadcast, and are probably gathering dust in the Disney vault. Plus, think about how this can be used for Nightmare Fuel -- the perky, optimistic, teenaged characters from a Disney Channel Original Series that hit 65 episodes and ended a few years ago find themselves being sucked out of their normal lives and into the Wasteland as their Fleeting Demographic moves on to the Disney Channel's new hit series. There, these once-normal Disney teens get corrupted by the returned Phantom Blot/Shadow Blot, or whatever new villain appears in the sequel. Only problem is that satirizing the disposability of such shows might be a bit too subversive a subject for a Disney-produced game to tackle.

To close this off, I have just four words: Laugh Track slowed down.  
 * Yeah, those four words sold it.
 * THIS MUST HAPPEN.
 * But is Disney willing to pony up the dough to use all those celebrity likenesses in the game? And how will paint/thinner affect them? (Actually, that could be a plot point.)
 * At the very least, Toon!Lizzie McGuire needs to make an appearance.
 * RavinSimone will Mind Rape you.

The Toontown Online Toontown is part of Wasteland (also compatible with the House of Mouse theory below).
Go to Ostown and look at the sign. You can see where a "T" and "O" were knocked over to the left of "OSTOWN," and the "S" there could be the "N" turned on its side. Also, if you play Toontown Online, then surely you will have noticed that the graphics on this sign are exactly the same as the "TOONTOWN" sign in Toontown Central's playground, excluding the altered letters. Toontown is probably a little big to fit in the Ostown area, but it could be that only Toontown Central is there and all the other neighborhoods are scattered all around Wasteland and accessed via Projector Screens (after all, who knows what lies behind the darkness of the street tunnels?).
 * Possible explanations of the relation between the two games/why Mickey and the gang are there:
 * 1. Toontown Online takes place years in the future, after Wasteland is all fixed up and Mickey and all the other Disney regulars have lost their hearts for real and are trapped in Wasteland (perhaps Disney finally became nothing but crappy teen pop stars, or perhaps Disney is just gone altogether). The classic characters were put in charge of different neighborhoods of Toontown (the sign originally said "TOONTOWN" ever since Yen Sid created Wasteland, but Oswald changed the sign before the events of Epic Mickey. It was changed back sometime in between the two games, seeing as Oswald is no longer the only fitting ruler here,) and newly-created Toons instantly go to Wasteland because not enough people in Real Life were ever made aware of them. Wasteland/Toontown is all the Toons have left, so when the Cogs come along, naturally all the Toons want to fight them, especially since the mere sight of a businessman fills them with bad memories of the Executive Meddling that forced them to live in Wasteland.
 * 2. Toontown Online actually takes place before the Thinner Disaster. The playground versions of the Disney characters in Toontown Online are older prototypes of the animatronic characters seen in Epic Mickey. They look less robotic, but their A Is are far less advanced and they can only say a few things and walk around in circles pretending to talk to the residents. The sign is left as Toontown up until the Thinner Disaster because Oswald felt no need to change it yet. Also, he didn't build a new Animatronic Mickey after this prototype because he decided he wanted to be Mickey. And perhaps aqcuire the rodent's place of residence in addition to that.
 * Possible explanations of the Cogs:
 * 1. The Cogs are Beetleworx. Beetleworx are robots with "Toony" exteriors made of paint; exactly what the Cogs appear to be. And after they are exposed, they look like Skelecogs. The Mad Doctor could also be the elusive Chairman we've heard so much about, but of course that is a statement literally waiting to be Jossed.
 * RESPONSES?!
 * Or you know, the Ostown sign is just Oswald imitating Disneyland's version of Toontown, seeing as the entire Wasteland is a Disneyland facsimile.
 * Toontown Online is based on the Toontown sections of the themeparks, which in turn was based on Roger Rabbit... so yeah, Older Than They Think, anyone?
 * (Original poster) I'm perfectly aware of how old the "Toontown" concept is, thank you. But what you're doing is you're applying this "X was based on Y" Doylist talk to a Watsonian WMG. So what if Toontown Online isn't the first Toontown, it's still a setting that has the name and the sign. And this is Wild Mass Guessing.
 * If Disney is nothing but Popstars, where's the Spider-Man and Wolverine worlds?
 * It's somewheres. Either that, or I meant DISNEY Disney, not Marvel Disney.

== The original Phantom Blot exists in Wasteland, but had to go into hiding because of people thinking he's associated with the Shadow Blot. ==
 * He IS pretty close to "forgotten" status. Plus, Warren Spector outright said that he was "lame" and made a new one. So, possible Canon Discontinuity aside, he'd naturally be there, since he's a forgotten Disney character.

Mickey didn't see the whole of Wasteland.
As can be seen here, there are dozens of other forgotten characters in Disney history that don't appear in the game, so it stands to reason there were parts of Wasteland where Mickey didn't go (as it was unnecessary to do so), and that's where those characters are. Assuming, of course, they weren't all in Alice's Curious Labyrinth. The projector screens to those areas were taken down for whatever reason.

The classic Donald and Dippy Dawg did live in the wasteland, but were killed in the thinner disaster.
If you talk to the gremlin in Os Town, he says Donald's tugboat sank and when it came up, he wasn't there. This leads me to the theory that Donald and Dippy were riding the tugboat right before the thinner disaster happened and they were 2 of the casualties.
 * Except Animatronic Donald is the one with the parts to fix the Tugboat.
 * Also, when Daisy mentions that there is an Animatronic Donald, Gus says Oswald never met the real Donald, so Donald isn't there at all.

Teirland existed at some point...
But was destroyed somehow. Maybe those crates of dynamite they keep everywhere finally ran out of luck. Maybe the Blot or the Mad Doctor destroyed it. Maybe it was destroyed by thinner. Or, maybe, since Teirland is the least "colorful" and "animated" land, maybe it was destroyed by PAINT, or converted by paint into OsTown.
 * Teirland?

House of Mouse takes place in the distant future of Wasteland, similar to (and compatible with) the Toontown Online theory above.
This would explain the massive Disney crossover; it takes place after everything related to Disney's animation studios has somehow been forgotten. The announcer who says "On Main Street..." in the show's opening messed up his line and was actually supposed to say "Mean Street." The Disney cartoon creations that happened not to have been made before House of Mouse just, coincidentally, never go to the House of Mouse club, and the CG characters live in a different dimension of Wasteland. Also, the House of Mouse club exists in Wasteland because of the House of Mouse series itself being forgotten in the future.

The events in Epic Mickey don't take place in 2010. They actually take place sometime in the late 20th century.
...and a lot of toons you saw in the game have since regained their hearts and escaped The Wasteland. Horace and Clarabelle will get out in 2001 when House of Mouse first airs, with Oswald following close behind when he returns to Disney in 2006. Heck, if you wanna get really idealistic, the whole damn cast can potentially gain hearts in 2010 just from this game alone.
 * Most likely true. In the opening of the game, after the Thinner Disaster, Yen Sid says he doesn't find out Mickey was behind it for a "very long time". Cut to the calendar in Mickey's room flipping pages featuring shorts and films he was featured in as time passes. The last two pages were from Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Prince and The Pauper, which were released in 1983 and 1990, respectively.

The projectors tap into the memories or immediate thoughts of the one who jumps through.
The projector stages are the only places in Wasteland completely unaffected by the Shadow Blot, or any Thinner for that matter, which is everywhere otherwise. Most of them are also based on Mickey's shorts, which shouldn't make sense unless all of Wasteland is preparing for Mickey to arrive. Gus is not with Mickey in these stages, only present when Mickey is right by the exit projector (but is unseen, meaning he may already be on the other side -- notice that he does not explain things or offer commentary when in such stages). Finally, we have characters like Sherman (the panicking pirate in Tortooga) and Oswald jumping through these projectors without the sort of difficulty Mickey goes through.

The only explanation is that each projector, in their natural state, will manifest a different world for each individual who goes in based in a notable event in his or her life, and the danger level in these projectors is related to the character's level of guilt. The projector stages pertain to the theme of the chapter because Mickey is thinking of that topic, except the gremlin chapter because he just got in Wasteland and is thinking of his legacy. That is, perhaps Sherman has only ever been in one adventure that would be notable enough to be a Disney production, and every projector would display the same stage or two, neither of which is much worse than a short walk because the events in Tortooga were through no fault of his own. Consequently, Oswald feels guilt over Ortensia and his failure to hold back the Blot, so his stages are more dangerous. Mickey gets the most dangerous stages as he progresses through the game because of increasing guilt over his starting the Thinner Disaster. However, some projectors can be tweaked to remain fixed on one stage, such as Oswald's projectors in Mt. Osmore Caverns or the Sleeping Beauty one in the castle through an unknown technique. (I cannot explain "Plutopia", as it's not part of Mickey's memories.)

This means that if the Shadow Blot or any Blotlings jump through a projector, they'll find themselves in a world based on what the Shadow Blot has seen, and Thinner can't even get in because it's nonsentient. In turn, this also means it's entirely possible for Blotlings or even Bloticles to still be present in the projectors, exiting through to plague the Wastelanders once more.

If there will be a sequel, the Mad Doctor will be the villain in one of them.
The Mad Doctor was launched into the sky upon defeat. But what is the sky in Wasteland? Yen Sid's room. Somehow, the Mad Doctor, inadvertently or not, crafted a way out of Wasteland, where he'll be free to scheme and cause havoc in Mickey Mouse's own world.
 * The Mad Doctor is the Big Bad of the sequel, but he's still stuck in the Wasteland.

Oswald doesn't know that Walt Disney lost his contract; he believes that he was outright abandoned.
Consider this dialogue from the game: "Gus: He was the first to become a star... and the first to be forgotten. Mickey: Forgotten? Why, what happened? Gus: You happened."

Now, anyone who is familiar with the dispute over Oswald's contract should have had alarm bells going off during this scene. Gus is making it sound like Oswald was forgotten because Mickey was created, which isn't true. Mickey was created because Oswald was lost. Thus, we are to assume that Gus doesn't really know what he's talking about.

While this could usually be Handwaved as Gus misspeaking, Oswald does the exact same thing whenever he discusses why he was forgotten. "Oswald: Now I really do see why he liked you better."

Erm... better? That makes it sound like Walt had a choice in the matter. Apparently, Oswald isn't entirely sure of what he's talking about either.
 * Walter Lantz consulted with Disney after he was put in charge of Oswald, but Disney said he could keep the rabbit, since Mickey was by then very popular. So maybe Oswald saw this as the ultimate abandonment.

The bunny children are rabid Mickey fans.
They aren't really attacking Mickey, they're just tackle hugging him to death.
 * Confirmed, the bunny childrens' love for their "Uncle Mickey" is All There in the Manual. Why this seems to involve throwing him into a vat of thinner... ah, we'll inquire about that if there's ever a sequel.

In the sequel, there will be more playable characters than Mickey and Oswald
Donald (as Maui Mallard, who was also dragged to Wasteland), for instance.

The sequel will have a Bonus Feature to toggle old-school character designs with modern designs.
The Rule of Cool demands it.
 * I can definitely see the modern design for Mickey being used, but what about Oswald...?

Fanny will appear in the sequel.
She'll be an Anti-Villain in full-on Woman Scorned mode because Oswald chose Ortensia over her.

Scrapper Mickey will be the sequel's villain.
The creepy rat-like version. After all, he wasn't technically used in the first game...which means he should be somewhere in the Wasteland plotting revenge.
 * Elaborating on this- this world is like a full-fledged version of the library of all the books that were never written in The Sandman. Essentially every discarded, forgotten character in existence, characters who were thought up on a whim but never given a purpose or backstory could show up.

Ortensia isn't really the mother of the rabbit children.
They were around in the very first Oswald short, "Poor Papa", before Ortensia was even created. After having children with Fanny the rabbit, Oswald must have lost her somehow and ended up raising the kids with his new wife.

Paint Thinner is essentially The Dip.
Not much of a stretch, is it? The ingredients used to make The Dip are essentially the same as in paint thinner, which is why it's deadly to Toons and harmless to humans. The function is the same, even- it's the only thing that can kill a Toon. And Mickey WAS in the film, so why not?

(Hey, does this mean we can have a cyborg Judge Doom as a boss in the second game?)