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Nintendo

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Nintendo Co., Ltd. (任天堂株式会社 Nintendō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a multinational electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. The company did business with Disney as early as 1959.

Nintendo is well-known for their mascot Mario, who is the main protagonist of his own series, as well as one of the most famous video game characters in history.

History[]

Founding[]

The company was established on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi as Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. (任天堂骨牌株式会社 Nintendō Karuta Kabushiki-gaisha). Hiroshi Yamauchi took over the company after Fusajiro's death.

In 1956, Hiroshi visited the U.S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that they were using only a small office. Yamauchi's realization that the playing card business had limited potential was a turning point.

The company changed its name to Nintendo Co., Ltd. in 1963.

Association with Disney[]

In 1959, Hiroshi acquired the license to use Walt Disney Productions' characters on playing cards and board games to drive sales.[1]

Roy Disney and Hiroshi Yamauchi

Roy O. Disney meeting with Hiroshi Yamauchi

Later on, many Disney-themed video games would be created for Nintendo's gaming systems by third party developers and publishers. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck hold the distinction of being some of the few licensed characters (the others being Popeye and Snoopy) to feature in Nintendo's Game & Watch line, through the Mickey Mouse and Mickey & Donald titles, released on October 9, 1981 and November 12, 1982 respectively.

Disney has also had history with the Pokémon franchise, which Nintendo co-owns with GameFreak. From 2002 through 2005, Disney distributed four Pokémon movies through Miramax Family in the United States upon their original release. These films included Pokémon 4Ever – Celebi: Voice of the Forest, Pokémon Heroes, Pokémon: Jirachi—Wish Maker, and Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys. The US rights were held by Disney until 2010, when they sold Miramax and its catalogue to Filmyard Holdings.

In 2008, Disney introduced the Disney Magic Connection software, an interactive tour guide for Magic Kingdom which ran off special Nintendo DS Lite units. Randomly selected test users throughout the park could use the application to view maps, details on wait times at various attractions, directions, available character meet and greets, and other park information. It was quickly discontinued due to a lack of interest from park attendants, mainly because of its high security deposit fee required to rent a unit out.[2]

Mii character with Mickey

A Mii character walking alongside Mickey Mouse in the Disney Magical World 2 video game

Dance Dance Revolution Disney Grooves, Disney Channel All Star Party, Disney Magical World, and Disney Magical World 2 all feature Mii characters; Nintendo's own customizable avatars that are used on several of their systems and mobile apps, making Mii characters the first Nintendo characters to ever interact with Disney properties.

Nintendo also lent some of its characters to Disney for the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph, Bowser being the most prominent, as well as a Super Mushroom making a small appearance in the scene where Ralph is looking for a medal. During the production of its sequel, Disney expected to include Mario at various scenes, but the plan was ultimately scrapped due to Nintendo not allowing the use of its character for the film (around the same time, Illumination was already in-negotiations with Nintendo to produce a new CGI animated film based on their most successful franchise, which was later revealed to be known as The Super Mario Bros. Movie).

In a 2015 interview, Disney Interactive Studios vice president of production John Vignocchi shared the company's hopes for a possible crossover with Mario and Mickey Mouse, stating "hopefully, the day Mario meets Mickey Mouse is not that far away."[3]

On October 5, 2021, it was announced that Sora, a Disney-owned character and the main protagonist of Disney and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series, would become the 82nd and final fighter to be added to the Fighter Pass Vol. 2 paid DLC in Nintendo's crossover fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, after being the most requested character from the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballet that occurred in 2015. He was finally added to the game later the same month on October 18.

Disney games developed or published by Nintendo[]

Connections[]

The following actors, who have appeared in Disney productions, have voiced or portrayed Nintendo characters in various adaptations.

References[]

  1. ↑ "The Surprisingly Long History of Nintendo"
  2. ↑ "Disney’s DS Magic Connection test was a hard sell"
  3. ↑ "E3 2015: Disney Wants to See Mickey Mouse Meet Mario"

External links[]

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