dtlfacts

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The Colorful Cast of Drawn to Life (Wii)

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for the Wii is known for having the smallest cast of characters in any Drawn to Life game, with a grand total of 15 characters actually appearing in the village under normal circumstances. However, not many people know of the other Raposa that do not appear in the village, but are in the game. These characters can be found in three different ways - cutscenes, specific unlock criteria, and Raposa Sports minigames.

Cutscenes

In the first major cutscenes, five characters appear that do not appear in the main game, these being Wilfre, Mayor, and three Generic Raposa Characters. While Wilfre also appears in a Creation template, and Mayor also has a statue and a portrait in Mari's house, this is the only place in the game where they are featured alive.

Specific Unlock Criteria

Some characters only appear in the village after certain criteria are met. For example, Zsasha only appears after rescuing him from the Treetop Village, and Erika only appears after DJ's quest begins. However, there is one character that only appears after non-story required criteria is met.

Stampy is a character that is only available to interact with after collecting all 10 stamps in the "Raposa" collection. Though the location of all ten of these stamps is currently unknown, 5 of them can be found in the following locations:

Raposa Eyes - Jangala Floor

Raposa Head - Tundara

Jowee's Goggles - Sky Arch Mountains

Mayor's Monocle - Wilfre's Lair

Galileo's Mustache - The Baldy Slopes

After collecting and purchasing all 10 of these, upon exiting the shop, Isaac will ask the player to stamp them onto his building. After completing the Creation segment and stamping the stamps onto the building, Stampy will introduce himself.

After this point, Stampy can be talked to by interacting with his sprite on the wall of Isaac's shop.

Raposa Sports Exclusive

In the audience of all Raposa Sports minigames, two Raposa can be found that can't be found anywhere else - Bubba and Count Choco. All three of these Raposa, as well as the other Raposa in the crowd, use their designs from an earlier design of the game.

Interestingly, a Female Raposa Template is also seen in the crowd, third from the left or right on the front row, seen in higher detail (but without textures) above. If she is counted, this brings the number of Wii-exclusive Raposa to 5 instead of the known 4.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) #Raposa #Wilfre #Mayor #Generic Raposa Characters #Stampy #Bubba #Count Choco #Unused Content #April Fools

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In the DS and Wii era of gaming, many games would send reviewers some themed bonuses with their review copies, and in the case of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter for the Wii, the bonus was a pack of sidewalk chalk.

Only two sources online have been found mentioning this chalk, including the blog post this image was taken from, (https://technogog.com/review/drawn-to-life-the-next-chapter-nintendo-wii/) and a single TikTok posted by @ryfichannel on April 24th, 2022:

It is unknown how many packs of chalk were distributed, but only these two are known to exist.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii)

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In both Drawn to Life and Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii), the final level of the Shadow-based world is a Lair, Shadow Lair and Wilfre's Lair respectively.

Due to the non-canon nature of the latter game, we have not had confirmation of whether or not these two locations are the same. Both of these levels have boss battles - Wilfre's Scorpion and Wilfre in Shadow Lair, and Boss in Wilfre's Lair.

Should these two locations occupy the same space though, it is possible that the City Gate's areas and Shadow City might have been intended to be the same location.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) #Shadow Lair #Wilfre's Lair

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In Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, the villagers of Galactic Jungle all have Hawaiian names, with the exception of Click. All of the following information has been sourced from Wiktionary or Wikipedia. From left to right in the above image:

Moani - From moani (“fragrant breeze”)

Hoaka - From hōʻaka ("to laugh")

Iolani - From 'io lani ("royal hawk")

Akamu - From ʻAkamu ("Adam")

Kamalah - From Kamala (either "Tamara" or "the aching")

Kaihe - ...

Kaihe's name is a bit harder (for me) to research, as neither the English Wiktionary nor the English Wikipedia have any usages of "Kaihe". When turning towards Hawaiian dictionaries - the Hawaiian Dictionary by Pukui and Elbert and the Māmaka Kaiao, neither of them have entries for "kaihe" either.

When using Wiktionary's list of all Hawaiian lemmas, "kai", "he", and "hē" all have entries, listed here:

Most likely, Kaihe is from kai hē ("sea grave"), though the true intention of 5th Cell is unknown.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter #Galactic Jungle #Moani #Hoaka #Iolani #Akamu #Kamalah #Kaihe #etymology

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The Raposa seen here - Mayor (left) and Butler (right) are the only Raposa in the entire series to not have known names - assuming their names aren't just "Mayor" and "Butler".

While many other characters have their jobs in their name, (Pirate Beard, DJ, Professor Chuck), these two are the only ones who are never referred to by their real names.

For Mayor, when not called "The Mayor" or just "Mayor", he is typically called "my/your father" to Mari. As for Butler, there are no instances of him being called anything but "Butler".

The true names of these characters may never be known, and for all intents and purposes, may have never been chosen by 5th Cell.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter #Mayor #Butler

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The Meadow Gate

The Meadow Gate is one of the only know locations cut from the original Drawn to Life. It was originally intended to be the fourth gate, between the Beach and City Gates. According to an insider source who has asked to remain anonymous, Chow Chern Fai and Karina Lye See Mun were responsible for the vast majority of art related to the Meadow Gate.

Thanks to a different anonymous source, we know the intended plot of the Meadow Gate in it's entirety, paraphrased below:

After the defeat of the Angler King and the rescue of Count Choco, the village began to be invaded by Shadow Pests (presumably Shadow Walkers), who were infecting the water supply. After a few levels of unrelated tasks, the Hero is tasked with sounding an alarm and rounding up the Shadow Pests. After this attack, many villagers are given the poisoned water on accident. The Mayor then sends the Hero into the Meadow Gate again to defeat the cause of the infestation, Rata, Tat & Tat, a trio of rats acting as the boss of the gate.

After being defeated, they would have transformed into the Three Blind Raposa, who would have given the Hero a key to a Village Hatch, possibly the Secret Gate.

As for rescued Raposa and Templates in the preceding levels:

Rescued: Fortune Cookie (rival to Chef Cookie) Template: Fish

Rescued: Indee Template: Mechanical Scarecrow

Rescued: Bob Row (Mike) Template: Messenger Bird

Rescued: Unagi Template: Kaorin Berry

The Hero attachment for this gate would have been the Pet, a dog-like creature who could run faster than the Hero and could have been ridden around.

10 enemies were also planned for the gate and sprited, but were removed.

From top to bottom, left to right, these enemies are:

Flea Fly

Stun Sun

RockFist

Boomaphant

Fyre Fox

Helipod

Leafy Green

Mew Pod

Yote

Ssslizzz

For more information about the Meadow Gate, feel free to visit the Unused and Removed page on the DTL Wiki: https://drawntolife.wiki/en/Unused_%26_Removed_Features/DTL1

#Drawn to Life #Unused Content #Indee #Mike #Unagi

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Due to the effects of the Kaorin Berry, the Hero grows to a massive size during the levels Rapocity and Windy Hills. In the latter level, an enemy called the Shadow Bird appears, with a Shadow Walker riding on its back.

Comparing the size of the Shadow Walker on the Shadow Bird to the normal Shadow Walker sprite, we can see that the Shadow Bird is similar in size to Frostwind, illustrated below:

The sprites for the Shadow Walker and Frostwind were scaled proportionally in the second image. With a straight back, the Shadow Bird is only about two segments shorter than Frostwind.

#Drawn to Life #Shadow Bird #Frostwind #Shadow Walker #City Gate

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According to a Discord message from Executive Produced Joseph Tringali, Crazy Barks is 205 years old during the events of Drawn to Life: Two Realms.

It is currently unknown what this means for Crazy Diggs or if Crazy Barks' old age is unique.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: Two Realms #Crazy Barks

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In Drawn to Life: Two Realms, the Creator has a drastically smaller role than they do in other games. For example, there is only one line from the Creator throughout the entire game:

However, in the game's language file, a second line for the Creator exists, meant to be displayed immediately after the above line:

"Don’t worry, I've made it so that they'll see Hero as human."

It is unknown if this line was skipped over due to a technical oversight or an intentional choice.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: Two Realms #Creator #Unused Content

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Joseph Tringali, founding member of 5th Cell and Executive Producer of Drawn to Life: Two Realms, has gone on record stating that he prefers not to share Game Design Documents (GDDs) and beta assets, as he may plan to use them in a future project. However, he has still shared two snippets of GDDs, one for the original Drawn to Life, and one for Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter on DS.

This snippet of Drawn to Life's GDD explains the events of the Beach Gate, though much changed between this GDD and the final game, summarized below:

Instead of being called the Beach Gate, World 3 is referred to as the "Del Mar Islands"

The player brings back a "Lake Page" instead of the "Beach Toys" page from 3-1

The player must draw a fence around Crazy Barks

The player must build a fruit juice stand:

Heather (called Hethers in this GDD) explains parts of her backstory after 3-2

The player brings back a "River Page" instead of the "Epic Statue Page" from 3-3

The player draws Pirate Beard a flag

Isaac (called Willham in this GDD) is corrupted by an object called a Shadow Stone and sets the village on fire

The second GDD snippet, this one from Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, doesn't explain any story elements, but rather a cut Map Minigame where the player would physically have to map out a course for Turtle Rock. Notable changes between this revision and the final product include:

Lavasteam is referred to as "Clockwork Canyon Isle"

Watersong is referred to as "Watersong Isle"

Color Jars have an early sprite not seen in the final game

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter #Unused Content #Crazy Barks

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The earliest known version of Drawn to Life is the video DrawnToLife1.avi, a video showcasing the most basic form of the drawing system and a flat platforming area.

The video's metadata dates it on December 12th, 2005, approx. 1 year and 9 months before the final release. The video contains graphics of the "Droogles", a dog-like race of creatures that were the precursors to the Raposa.

These Droogles had appeared many times before, most notably on Chern Fai's website, showcasing sprites of many creatures that are similar to Droogles, but are not confirmed to be them.

This video also contains a single power-up, a sword, and a single enemy, a red dragon.

Neither of these entities would be seen again, though the power-up vaguely resembles the power-ups seen in Drawn to Life: SpongeBob Squarepants Edition. Some concept sketches of the art in this video were also leaked around the time of the Milestone ROM Leaks, seen below:

All of this information collectively makes up the earliest known portrait of the Drawn to Life Series we currently have.

#Drawn to Life #Unused Content #Droogles #Raposa #Youtube

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Despite almost everything being different between the two versions of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, there are some notable similarities, which some fans have designated the "THQ Mandates". However, it should be noted and strongly emphasized that the role of THQ in these features is not confirmed.

The biggest and most notable similarity between the two games is their name and release date, as THQ seemed to insist upon a release date of October 2009, with the exact day varying between region.

Another notable similarity is the inclusion of Action Drawing, where the player manually draws into the world, creating platforms with different properties for the Hero to interact with. However, despite both games having these features, their implementations are vastly different.

Lastly, and the least likely to be THQ's influence, both games have a level designated as "Crystal Caverns". In the DS game, Crystal Caverns is the first level of Lavasteam's story, while in the Wii game, it is the third level of the Icy Wastes.

In the fandom, this name similarity is best known for when Seiinity accidentally made an arrangement of the Icy Wastes theme instead of Lavasteam 1, the track that plays in the DS's Crystal Caverns.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) #Crystal Caverns #Action Drawing #Youtube

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To help promote both versions of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, THQ hosted a contest that would allow fans of the series to draw their own Hero design and submit it to be placed on a billboard (as long as the submitters were from the UK). Out of all the submissions, there were ten regional winners:

However, the simple sprites created in the Hero editor were not what was put onto the billboards. Instead, THQ hired an artist to create higher quality artwork to be hung instead, making them the only "Fan characters" to have official art from THQ.

All 10 of these winners were given copies of both versions of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter and were invited to a premiere party, where their artwork was showcased:

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii)

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The Drawn to Life: Two Realms Soundtrack was the first full soundtrack of a Drawn to Life game to be officially released, though it wasn't the first Drawn to Life track to be officially released by a composer.

After the release of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii), composer Rich Vreeland, also known professionally as Disasterpeace, released a UST - an Unofficial Soundtrack - containing his six pieces from the game:

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: Two Realms Soundtrack #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) #Rich Vreeland #Bandcamp

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Though many super fans know that Mari's name was originally Mayonaise with one "n", she had a third name that was used briefly during development. In the leaked Milestone 5 Build (MS5) of the original Drawn to Life, Mari's name was Madison.

Interestingly, Madison comments on the name Mayonaise after completing Mt. Snowy in this build:

"Did you know my parents named me Mayonaise? But then the kids at school made fun of me... so now my name is Madison... Pretty cool, huh?"

In the Milestone 6 Build leaked alongside MS5, her name had become "Mari", and there is no mention of "Madison" or "Mayonaise".

#Drawn to Life #Mari #Unused Content #Raposa

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As revealed by Joseph Tringali in the Drawn to Life: For All Discord server, one of the earliest pitches of a third Drawn to Life game appears above. Nothing is known about this pitch aside from the information revealed in this picture, summarized below.

Mike is awake from his coma and is friends with Alana and Nolan (pictured on the far left). The three of them are interested in some kind of scene art, which may or may not the art seen below that was involved in a pitch.

Alana may have ended up inspiring the character of Aly in Drawn to Life: Two Realms, while Nolan does not seem to have influenced a character in the final game.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: Two Realms #Alana #Nolan #Mike #Unused Content #Aly

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There are many cut lines in almost every Drawn to Life game, and Wilfre is one of the few characters to have lines cut from most games. In the original Drawn to Life, his cut line was meant to appear at the end of his boss fight:

"heroname… I never intended for this to happen… But it's too late… The Shadow has consumed me…"

In Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii), Wilfre never physically appears, though he was intended to appear at the very end of the game, possessing the Artifacts of Power. The following is what he would have said, pulled from a Game Design Document:

"Just as the heroes think things are over, the “super-manniquin [sic]” comes to life and speaks with Wilfre’s voice which vows to return one day. Wilfre’s presence leaves and mannequin collapses and breaks apart."

In the DS version of Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter, Wilfre himself doesn't have a known line that was cut, though one of his disguises - Sock - does. This line was intended for the scene on Turtle Rock's balcony, where Sock explains the love of his life to Jowee:

"You'd be surprised... I once pursued the love of my life across the entire world. I made a decision that regardless of consequence, I would succeed. It cost me my looks... I'm hideous now. Anyway, it was worth it... Don't give up on her. I'll be here to help you, okay?"

It is worth noting that this is simply one half of a conversation with Jowee, and Jowee's lines are not present in the quote above.

Although Wilfre does appear in Drawn to Life: Two Realms, he does not have any cut lines. Rather, the game considers two different entities to be Wilfre, one called simply "Raposa" that is referenced the first two times he appears, and one called "Wilfre" in his final appearance.

#Drawn to Life #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter #Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter (Wii) #Drawn to Life: Two Realms #Shadow #Wilfre #Raposa #Sock #Unused Content #Bosses #Artifacts of Power