This ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Art Lets You Collect The Collector

Downtown Disney’s WonderGround Gallery is a great place to find beautiful art pieces featuring your favorite characters and attractions. I was surprised to happen upon a fun print featuring none other than Taneleer Tivan, The Collector—clearly inspired by the new Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT! attraction at Disney’s California Adventure Park.

It turns out the artwork was created by Creative Director of Marvel Themed Entertainment, Brian Crosby who also worked on the attraction. I spoke to Crosby about his inspiration for the piece and the possibility of an Easter Egg hidden with the art. When it comes to Marvel, you never know when a character might pop up!

You can find Brian Crosby this weekend at D23 Expo at the Marvel booth for How To Draw Marvel!

Marvel.com: Having worked on Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: BREAKOUT! Was this piece inspired by the design of the ride or perhaps used as inspiration during the creative process?

Brian Crosby: This piece was actually used as a Disney Parks exclusive variant cover for the Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: Breakout! Comic book. The Disney Merchandising team at the Disneyland Resort liked the piece and decided to make it available, not only as a comic book, but also as a digital print. What’s really cool about the book is that it’s a completely new story that brings icons, like The Collector’s Fortress, into the Marvel comic book continuity. So, the cover is certainly inspired by the ride in that the Guardians are now being held captive by The Collector, but the costumes the characters are wearing are from the book. So, it is a bit of a mashup.

I was flattered that the Jordan D. White, the Editor of the book, asked me to be a part of it and create a cover.

Marvel.com: What medium did you use to create this piece?

Brian Crosby: The original drawing was done traditionally, good ol’ pencil and paper and then it was painted digitally.

Marvel.com: I like that you incorporated Tivan’s feathers, the man definitely has style. What made you go with the Contest of Champions outfit rather than the original Don Heck tie belt and big collar, or even the onscreen fur cape version? I would really like to see the Collector’s entire cape collection.

Brian Crosby: Props for your attention to detail and your sense of Marvel history!! The costume was chosen for me, actually. This is the costume that Tivan wears in the book so I was matching that.

Marvel.com: There are so many Easter Eggs on the attraction, did you decide to add any into your artwork?

Brian Crosby: There are two. The first one is pretty simple. The one deviation I made from the comic book look of the characters was Groot. Groot is seen in my piece in his “Baby Groot” incarnation as he appears in the attraction and in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. And the other is really obscure and actually isn’t in the final colored piece at all. The original drawing was sold at Disney California Adventure and it featured one other character in a vitrine. None other than…..Howard the Duck!

Marvel.com: Are there certain subjects you are drawn to more than others?

Brian Crosby: Typically, I draw super heroes. It’s just always been my favorite thing to draw. Sometimes out of necessity I’ll draw normal stuff like people, cars, etc. But nothing beats super heroes in my book for pure joy and escapism. I guess that’s why I do what I do!

Marvel.com: Will we be seeing any more of your work popping up at WonderGround Gallery?

Brian Crosby: Most likely. I’ve done quite a bit of work for the Disney Parks over the years even going back to my days as a Walt Disney Imagineer. I’ve done illustrations of the Haunted Mansion, the Enchanted Tiki Room, Alice in Wonderland, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Rocketeer (to name a few) and now I can add the Guardians of the Galaxy to that list! I did a painting of Groot himself last year for the gallery.

Keep an eye out for more of Brian Crosby’s artwork in the WonderGround Gallery at Downtown Disney.