Wasteland

The Cartoon Wasteland is the setting of Epic Mickey. It is a world created by Yen Sid, that cartoon characters go to when they are retired, rejected or forgotten, and is based on all five Walt Disney parks.

History
Long ago, a world was created by the powerful sorcerer Yen Sid using a magic paint brush. After finishing his work, a young Mickey Mouse sneaked in and fiddled with the brush. He accidentally created a demon like creature known as the Shadow Blot. Mickey left horrified leaving the world to fall into the hands of the blot. The world was now known as the Wasteland. Years later, Mickey was kidnapped and brought to the wasteland. There he meets forgotten friends and rejected versions of his friends and foes as well. He also meets the king of the Wasteland who is also his older brother; Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Together, they advise a plan to defeat the blot. Eventually succeeding, the Wasteland has become paradise once again although Mickey was forced out by Yen Sid, he still may return to the world for one more adventure.

Geography
The Wasteland, like Disneyland, is divided into different themed lands, but due to the Thinner Disaster, most of them are connected by Projector Screen. From Mean Street is a hub that leads to OsTown (at the foothills of Mickeyjunk Mountain), Tomorrow City, Bog Easy (home of Lonesome Manor) and Ventureland (linked the port of Tortooga and the Pirates of the Wasteland region). Though the hub faces Dark Beauty Castle at the center, there is no direct path anymore to and from it, though it is connected to other parts of Wasteland via a Utilidor link to Gremlin Village. Towering in the northeast is Mickeyjunk Mountain, where Oswald sent all the Mickey merchandise that fell through into Wasteland along with keeping the imprisoned Shadow Blot in the Jug at the summit.

Areas that were destroyed in the Thinner Disaster included a towering beanstalk and an Alice in Wonderland inspired hedge-maze, though these may have been restored by the destruction of the Shadow Blot.

Toon World
The Toon World is the world that Mickey Mouse and his friends live in and may even be the Disney universe in general.

The Toon World was first revealed by Warren Spector in Nintendo Power Issue 277. According to Spector, the Cartoons living here have no idea that they are cartoons made for people to watch. Once the characters that live in the Toon World become forgotten or neglected/retired they are sent to the Cartoon Wasteland. And even then their grasp on the Real World that we inhabit isn't strong. This is why there is references to Disney animators and media in the game. However, the one contradiction to this is that in the Introduction to Epic Mickey, Mickey can be seen accepting an award.

Also, many characters from films whose characters possibly/technically reside in the Toon World have counterparts in Wasteland. Some examples of this fact are Smee, Animatronic versions of Goofy, Daisy, and Donald, and the Lonesome Ghosts.

Development
Wasteland was present in the earliest concepts for Epic Mickey, originally conceived as taking on more of a dumpster shape in the Disney Interactive Think Tank pitch, before being gradually developed into a very Disneyland inspired form.
 * Lonesome Manor is the ghost house.
 * There are bushes at the Fair that look like Donald Duck, Dumbo, and various other Disney characters.
 * The Fair has various attractions that look like the attractions at Disneyland

Known Inhabitants

 * Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
 * Ortensia
 * Horace Horsecollar
 * Clarabelle Cow
 * Animatronic Captain Hook
 * Mr. Smee
 * Gremlin Gus
 * Shadow Blot
 * Gremlins
 * Big Bad Pete
 * Lonesome Ghosts
 * Pete Pan
 * Small Pete

Trivia

 * In the opening sequence of the game, there are locations on the map of Wasteland that are never seen in the actual game; these were most likely removed from the final version, or completely destroyed by the thinner disaster.
 * In Epic Mickey: The Graphic Novel, it is revealed that the waste that makes up the Cartoon Wasteland is brought from the Disney Theme Parks by Yen Sid's magic, explaining the alleged neatness of the parks.
 * Wasteland was originally going to be a world of "trash" that is literally in a garbage dumpster behind the Sleeping Beauty Castle. The concept art showed it as a steampunk post-apocalyptic world.
 * The name 'Wasteland' is simply 'Walt Disney Land' with some letter removed or rearranged.