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Credits
Mickey's Morning Mayhem 2026
Event Design
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Jason Dillon, Melanie Lapovich, Lorelei Samuel
MOTION DESIGNERS: Jasper Chou, Jeannine Mari
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Amy Trinh
EVENT DIRECTOR: Rick Henson
The third edition of our favorite event, MICKEY'S MORNING MAYHEM, has returned to the Walt Disney Studio Lot!
This year's event theme celebrates classic horror movies; more specifically, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea! I had the opportunity to work with our partners in Anaheim to create branding that was displayed across the Lot, on event-branded merchandise and on My Disney Today in order to get people excited to register.
Event Branding
For this year's branding, we incorporated our usual studio lot theming with a classic monster movie feel, embracing the fact that 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was filmed in Soundstage 3. We chose this specific soundstage because it refers to it being the third year of this event.
The event organizers like to create merchandise for event participants, especially pins, so I had to keep that in mind when designing the logo.
Event Backdrops
To build a world for this event, I created a few backdrops that would continue the story beyond the gameplay.
The first is a branded backdrop that includes a reference to the iconic wallpaper of The Shining, continuing our classic horror theme along with the iconic orange, green and cream color scheme of the Studio Lot.
The next is a backdrop of the Studio Lot, where Mickey is ultimately found, which needed special care to keep appropriate for him to be pictured in front of.
Finally, the third backdrop references the Nautilus and other elements of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It contains tons of hidden and fun elements, from the more overt Mickey-shaped portholes to the titles of each book on the shelf.
Photos by Derek Lee
Mickey Short Posters
We had the opportunity to design custom posters for hypothetical Mickey Mouse cartoons based on the mysterious theme of the event. These posters were displayed physically in Legends Plaza and digitally on the outside of the Studio Lot's main theater.
My poster, The Bungalow Burglary, refers to the historic Hyperion Bungalow, which is the last remaining structure of the original Studio Lot on property.
Intro Video
To set the "stage", event attendees are first ushered into the Studio Lot's Main Theater to watch a short intro video that establishes the context of the event and the rules of the game.
Melanie, Lorelei and I illustrated the static assets, and Jeannine and Jasper put them together to create a captivating animation that was jam-packed with Easter eggs and world-building. Topped with voiceover work from Hunter Hopewell and Mickey Mouse himself, Bret Iwan, this video took a village and successfully enthused competitors for their morning of sleuthing.
Merchandise
After creating these brand assets, they were sent off to the Special Events team to create merchandise for the event's attendees. While I didn't directly create these, the direction of asset use was crucial to make these fun and authentic to the original branding.
PAST YEARS' WORK BELOW
Past Event Signage - '23 & '24
This event first took place in 2024, and was quickly renewed for 2025 due to high guest satisfaction from the Cast Members who attended. I've been lucky enough to work on it every year, so here are some of my signage and other contributions from the past 2 years!
Legally, I must disclose that my thoughts and opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of The Walt Disney Company. All work here is ©Disney
How We Got Here
With every project, the process is always the most important part. The successes, failures, twists and turns are all important learning lessons that make a project the best it can be.
In past years, I only really got to contribute to signage, so there isn't much trial and error there. In 2025, I created a logo concept that ultimately didn't make it to the end, but I've included that among the process of 2026's iterations.
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