Disney Infinity 3.0 launched in North America on Sunday, August 30. There's quite a few new characters and figures. (You can watch our unboxing video HERE). We'll have our impressions of the game and figures coming up.
We had the chance to talk to Jeff Bunker, VP of Art Direction for Avalanche Studios, to discuss how the figures are designed and become the final versions we're able to get our hands on.
COMIC VINE: Can you briefly describe what it is you’re in charge of with Disney Infinity?
JEFF BUNKER: I’m in charge of the look of the game in general. It’s primarily my job to make sure everything in the game, the toys in the Toy Box, the play sets, the figures all belong to each other and have the same aesthetic.
CV: Is that an easy process because we have the basic style of the characters. Is it an easy transition to get a new character to fit with that style? Or is it a process to make sure the character is recognizable?
JEFF: It’s definitely a process. When we start with any given character, we look at it primarily as an artistic approach. We just want to create the best sculpture we can. We’ll get something we think is looking pretty nice. Then we’ll throw it over to the filmmaker, the creator of the character. They’ll say, “That looks really nice but that’s not our character.” There’s a really nice give and take where we’ll do work, give it to the filmmakers, get feedback, and iterate until we get someplace where we fell like it’s making a good Infinity statement and they still feel it’s representative of their character.
CV: How long is the design process from paper to sculpting and approval?
JEFF: I would say it goes anywhere from two weeks to three months.
CV: How many people are involved with the first part of the design process.
JEFF: It’s a crazy number. We have some really talented artists. It’s amazing how little ego they have. They share their talent with each other so much. Somebody might start a concept. Another of the artists might add on top of that one and then another. One of our sculptors will take that concept and do a 3D rendition of it. Then the concept artist will go back and do a paint over on top of the 3D. We just have an amazing team that works really well together. It’s very rare that there’s a character that is taken from front to back by just one or two artists.
CV: Are there ever debates like the figure should have his right hand up or just the positioning of how they’re going to stand?
JEFF: For sure. I’m not sure if we’ve nailed the pose from start ever. There’s a number of opinions we have. The filmmakers definitely have their opinions. In the end, we’ve learned if we’re make the creator of that character happy, we’re going to end up making the fans of that character happy. So we bend over backwards to try to make it right for the filmmakers.
CV: How long does it take to make the actual 3D physical figure?
JEFF: That probably takes anywhere from two weeks and a month. Then there’s a whole process of another month where we’re engineering it with the factories, figuring how best to split it apart and get it prepared for the plastic injection and mass production. We inspect the paint hits and try to make sure the initial vision makes it all the way to the shelf.
CV: Once you’re finished with the figure, is it a constant process where you’re working on one figure and it gets to one stage, you’re also working on another?
JEFF: Yeah, we’re never down. We’re always another. It’s kind of funny. When a lot of the team is finishing up the software side of a character, we’re a year ahead of the rest of the game, working on other characters. We really need about a year from when we decide on a character to when it’s finally going to end up on the shelf to get it all the way through design, approvals, manufacturing, and get it shipped across the ocean. It’s a revolving door.
CV: The releases for 2.0 were between September and March. Will there be a longer window for 3.0?
JEFF: What I can say is I think we’ve gotten to a really good place with Disney Infinity 3.0 where there’s really nice spacing between the films we’re supporting that allows us to get the characters where we’re not just putting them all out an launch. They’re nicely spaced through the year. We’ve announced quite a bit and there’ll be more announcements coming.
CV: Of the many characters already announced, which ones are your favorites?
JEFF: I would say…oh man. That’s a tough one. I’m not lying when I say my favorite character is whatever character I’m working on that day. Each one has its unique challenges. It’s just fun to work on something new. I like our Darth Vader. As far as playing a character, Yoda is just a blast to play with.
Available at a suggested retail price of $64.99, the Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition Starter Pack includes the Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition video game software and base, the Star Wars™ Twilight of the Republic Play Set piece, Ahsoka Tano and Anakin Skywalker character figures, and a web code card that unlocks content for PC and mobile devices.