Toontown Concepts

This is a sub-page of Development:Disney's Toontown Online.

To do: Finish this....

A design document written by Chuck Ballew, dated April 12, 2000. This document shows a slightly later and more refined look into the game's developmental stages. It can be read here.

Features#

• Jellybeans were originally Simoleons, which were counted in "zillions" after playing minigames. The name was thought up after the release of The Sims in February 2000, which coincidentally uses the same currency.
• "Hysterical Markers" were gold plaques on buildings that would present a humorous text message and backstory to the Toon when near them. The feature may have been an early form of the building names found on streets and the Knock-Knock Joke Doors.
• Cog buildings works just like the final, except that silver plaques would be present on there and it would originally give an idea of how many Suits are present rather than just showing building floors.
• There was originally a feature where Toons could send messages via interactable mailboxes on Streets, which likely was cut in favor of the Whisper feature. In the final, mailboxes serve as decoration and as a Silly Meter boost.
• Shticker Books originally contained a Friend List feature which would be moved to a separate button.
• Portable Holes were considered at that point, which made it to the final.

Start-up Sequence#

The very first conceptual start-up sequence for the game was planned out, which was animated video, but completely different from the final. It is unknown what the document specifics by "site", but it is likely referring to the game itself.

The sequence began with the viewer travelling down "a loooonnnngg tunnel", where they are sat in the back of Benny the Cab (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit), as he gave out color commentary to "terrified Toon trucks and Toon cars". After that, the viewer is greeted to a sign saying "WELCOME TO TOONTOWN", where Benny would shoot out into Toon Square, and steps up to Toontown Hall, right into the corridor and into the Toon Services office.

Additionally, the very first ideas for the Toontown website were a "taxi stands" motif, where if the user clicks on the banner they are driven on a taxi cab to Toontown.

Zone Types#

Safe Zones#

Playgrounds were originally called Safe Zones at this point of development, and worked much like they do in the final game. Each of them planned to have;

• An Activity Area, described as an "unstructured activity that may involve some simple problem-solving, but without scoring or win-lose scenarios", where it should be something to do while groups can do together or watch each other do while conversing. The gimmick partially made it to the final, mostly in the form of the maze in Daisy Gardens.
• An Arcade Entrance, which is a portal that leads into the "common arcade area". To leave the arcade, the player may choose which Safe Zone they can teleport to. The idea would be finalized as the Trolley Games and eventually the Gag Shop.
• A Store, where they'll need merchandise to fight the Suits, and each one will sell the same items. The idea would make its way into the game's late alpha stages as Goofy's Gag Shop. It mentions that it would be lightly themed to the zone, where it would tie into the Shopkeepers' names being different in each Neighborhood and the shop itself having variations in wallpaper.

Danger Zones#

Danger Zones, which are "many twisting streets", would be Streets in the final and have elements such as:

• Landmarks, that are structured after the Neighborhood's theme and are "above average in geometric complexity". Each of them would have "Hysterical Markers", where clicking on it would open up a small piece of text describing the building's hysterical origins, noting that the literature it would appeal to "girl players in a boy-heavy environment". The feature would be simplified to humorous building names and eventually Knock-Knock Doors in the final.
• Suit Satellite offices work the same as the final; Suits go into the building and it instantly becomes one of their four types. It was mentioned that the Suits would be "hidden" inside and the size of the room will depend on the number of them, than being separated into floors. The Hysterial Marker there would become a "Corporate Identity Plaque", where clicking on it would give a description of it's use in the Suit hierarchy and an idea of how many Suits are located inside. The final has the humorous building name marked as "Inc." and the floors show how many Cogs are inside.
• Toon Facades work the same as the final, but Suit Facades have the "same texture" despite having several different textures. It also mentions that the streetlights and trees would be converted to suit structures, but the element never really came to be in the final even though there are leftovers for it.

Neighborhoods#

A total of 15 neighborhoods were originally planned, each of them having a street and an important gimmick specific to them.

Toontown Central#

It was originally called Downtown Toontown in development, and was planned to be separated into different districts amidst the large size. A lot of features were planned for the Playground but were cut for time or technical limitations;

• Toon Hall was originally bigger and had multiple rooms. There was originally a Toon Services place where the player can take a photo of their avatar for use in their Shticker book, and an option to retire your Toon and start over. In the final, the player cannot rename their Toon nor start over their Laff Meter, but can delete them.
• A long, corridor called the Hall of Fame containing experienced Toons in portraits was planned, where clicking on them would show the stats of the things they have accomplished. It was reworked into the Toon Platoon system found in the Toon Headquarters.
• A scrapped Mayor's Office location would have been for Toons that have accomplished an immense task, where the player could talk with Mickey Mouse ran by a server administrator rather than a pre-defined set of phrases.
• Another removed location and feature was the Zoning Office where it included a large map of Toontown with locations of each and every one of the Suits.

A second part called North Toon Square was considered as an additional location, with some more features;

• There was originally a Toontown News location which showed newsletters of three different themes with three different characters represented;
  • The Toontown Tourist magazine included topics a first-time player should read, serving as a tutorial or refresher. The Three Caballeros represented this magazine.
  • The Toon Talk Newsletter covered "public announcements" for the game itself, who would've been ran by Daisy Duck as a job as "the local society maven". Considering the next paragraph describes the news for the game's overall updates, this may have linked to the Cog Invasions or Events like Fish Bingo, which were done by Toon HQ in the final.
  • The Toontown Tattler newspaper covered general news, consisting of "announcements of great victories, future enhancements, trends". Goofy would've been the representative, dressed in a reporter outfit.

Though this feature would appear on the website's Official News and Guides, this feature would be reworked as Toon News...for the Amused!, later in the game's lifespan, which included all three of those in a singular newsletter.

• The Carltoon Ritz hotel was further considered as a location for Toons since the beginning of development, this time with a lot more ideas compared to the previous document;
  • This place would've offered Private Chat Rooms or Clubs, managed by Horace Horsecollar (appearing as flat 2D graphics than a 3D model). It would've given the player an option to Check In or Visit, where the Toon would go into a room, or select a room from the Guest List.
  • Each room has a pre-set amount of furniture, but has two pieces that are interactable, only by clicking. The Phone option allowed the player to add names of the Toons on their Friend List into the Visitor List, while the Door option allowed the player to add their name to the hotel's public Guest List which can be enabled and disabled.
• A tutorial and combat practice area called "Goofy's "How-to" Cartoon Academy" was planned, showing gameplay basics of fighting against Suits. Humorously, it'll show Goofy in the tutorial in a "what NOT to do" sort-of manner.
• Toons could originally have their look changed at "Ludwig Von Drake's Spastic Surgery Center", which was scrapped entirely and wasn't brought back in the game's life. If the feature made it to the final, the location's name would've likely been obviously changed...

A THIRD area was planned, known as South Toon Square.

• There was an area called Pete's Pandemonium Palace, which was an area consisting of a completely scrapped element from the final. It allowed the Toon to participate in Ultimate Battles, where Toons would've fought each other if they have defeated one of the Suit Central Towers, suited towards experienced players. Other Toons would've been allowed to spectate over any battle in general allowing to see the view of the battle from the point of view from the combatants. Additionally, a sign outside the entrance would've lighted up if any battles were in progress.
• An area called Balloonatic Park, consisted of several balloon machines where interacting with them would make the Toon's change their appearance. They would make the Toons' heads, arms, or their entire body big. If they got big enough the Toon would pop and go "whizzing around like a balloon" before they turn back to normal. This idea may have served for the Big Head, Big Legs and Giant Toon effects in the final.
• Duckingdale Department Store allowed the Toons to buy Props (known as Gags in the final) in the store with their money on hand, obviously reworked into the final as Goofy's Gag Shop. In the document, it is possibly stated to be directly opposite the Arcade Entrance, but it is unknown if it was an incomplete sentence or formatting error.

The following Danger Zones were planned:

• Post Office
• Toon County Courthouse
• The Hoosegow: The city jail
• Clara Cluck's Opera House
• Mortimer's Playmouse Club

McDuck Municipality#

Minigame Hub#

Hub World#

In the game's early development stages, there was never a Trolley and an arcade-based minigame hub was originally considered. Four different styles were originally decided before being ultimately reworked;

• A video arcade which would either be called "Goofy's Games", "Hewey, Duey and Louie's Tooncade" and "The Mickey Mouse Club" would have contained a diverse selection of arcade machines and separate rooms with activities like chess.
• A carnival tent called "Clarabelle's Carnival", "Mickey Midway" or "Goofy's Games" was also planned which would have contained carnival-styled games like ring toss, shooting gallery or darts.
• A third option in the form of a Magic Portal would transport the Toon to an area drastically different from the place of Toontown they're in was also a plausible option. Pleasure Island from the animated Disney adaptation of Pinocchio was the first option where Toons would play minigames with a slightly edgier style and would potentially get donkey ears when entering the area. Another option was Sorcerer Mickey's where the entrance would be shaped like his trademark hat he wore in Fantasia, and the minigames would have a magic theme to them.
• A casino area, optionally called "Scrooge McDuck's Lucky Duck Casino" was considered to be a satirical depiction of Las Vegas or with focus on the negative connotations on a casino. Games "of chance and skill" like Poker, Blackjack and Go Fish were also considered, but was the least respected idea due to the games' respective gambling nature. If the idea had happened, it may have caused a higher age rating.
  • Interestingly, the Fishing feature was going to have a Fish Poker feature but was cut.

A bus was part of the idea, which may have been a loose inspiration for the Trolley.

Minigames#

Minigames were originally planned to be based on old Disney cartoons, nearly all of them having a unique theme. Almost All of the minigames concepts never made it into the final game;

• 3 Little Pigs: The players have to help Practical Pig build a house in time, where The Big Bad Wolf blows down the other houses. If the house isn't built in time, the player loses, but if it is built in time, they win and they dance around singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bald Wolf?".
• Pluto's Secret Stash: Pluto digs up his bones in the backyard and the player has to memorize where he buried them, and dig them up in the right order.
• Chip & Dale's Tree House: The player has to gather all the acorns before Donald Duck takes them all.
• The Tortoise and the Hare: A racing game where the player picks either a Tortoise or a Hare with their own advantages/disadvantages; Tortoises move slowly but are easy to control while Hares move in sudden bursts of speed but will go down the wrong paths if not controlled properly. The sentence mentions that up to ten can race, but only four Toons can participate in a minigame in the final.
• Ferdinand's Flower Fury: In a field of flowers, the players must gather five flowers to pacify Ferdinand as he dashes all over the garden or if they get hit they'll lose all the flowers they've collected.
• Casey at the Bat: A baseball game where players must take turns to not strike out.
• Huey, Dewey & Louie's Tricycle Race: A racing game where you control one of these characters and race a track around their house.
• The Old Mill: A game where the player has to get past the mill's vanes blowing wildly in the storm to the front door, where the first one who makes it wins.
• Minnie's Bake-off: The players must gather specific ingredients for the bowl and work together against Minnie Mouse, where she is fast in the minigame.

Miscellaneous#

Famous Toons#

Primary Citizens should be seen as "walk-around characters", that are associated with specific neighborhoods, while Secondary Citizens are described as those that "might appear in graphics or text, but not as walk-around characters". It is worth noting that many more Disney characters, mostly from old cartoons, Silly Symphonies and Ducktales were planned to appear in the game, but many of them would not make it to the final. The ones the list that were ticked would end up getting their own neighborhoods.

• Primary Citizens;

• Secondary Citizens:

• Strangely, Daisy Duck was not ticked despite getting her own Neighborhood, but she didn't physically appear at launch.
• Scrooge McDuck and Gyro Gearloose were not ticked either, but they would both be used as a plot point in the Flash intro of the game's earlier versions.
• Chip 'n' Dale would eventually get their own neighborhood in 2008, as Chip 'n' Dale's Acorn Acres, as walk-around characters.