Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's second video game appearance. Oswald's first video game appearance was in the 1995 Brazilian Woody Woodpecker game "Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau", for the Mega Drive and Master System consoles. "Epic Mickey" from 2010 is his first major video game appearance, in his fully original form.
There is a hidden basketball court on Mickeyjunk Mountain, a reference to how Imagineers and cast members placed one in a hidden break room inside the upper parts of the Matterhorn attraction at Disneyland, the level's primary inspiration.
Gus and the other Gremlins are from an unmade World War II film project, ''The Gremlins'', which was based on a short story written by Roald Dahl.
Several Gremlin names are references to Disney history: Gremlin Hyperion in the Gremlin Village world is named for the street the original Disney Animation Studio was located in Los Angeles. Gremlin Marc in the Pirates of the Wasteland world is named for Marc Davis, one of Walt's Nine Old Men and the primary designer behind the Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion rides.