Mickey Mouse finding his inner rat

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney Co. is adapting its iconic character Mickey Mouse to keep him relevant for modern audiences, a project developer said.

Mickey Mouse started out as a bit of a rascal, who got into fistfights and chased after love interest Minnie Mouse. He was a mischievous, if adorable, culprit as the sorcerer's apprentice in "Fantasia."

For decades, however, he has been type cast as the sympathetic friend to all, who gives advice to dog Pluto, cheerfully MCs Disney shows and revels in doing good deeds.

Disney is now carefully seeking to revamp Mickey's personality, giving game developer Junction Planet, which Disney owns, permission to develop a new side to its melioristic mouse.

"Mickey is never going to be evil or go around killing people," said Warren Spector, creative director at Junction Planet. But "I wanted him to be able to be naughty -- when you're playing as Mickey you can misbehave and even be a little selfish," Spector said.

Teasing out Mickey's inner rat is a carefully monitored initiative that that includes input from Disney Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger, the Times said.