Did You Know Gaming? has recently translated a retro interview which came from Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream and was originally published back in the mid 2000s. The interview was with The Legend of Zelda producer, Eiji Aonuma, and it has revealed that Shigeru Miyamoto was not a fan of the art direction for The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. Mr. Aonuma said that he and the rest of the team loved Toon Link and that they intentionally kept the concept designs from Mr. Miyamoto until the very last minute. When Mr. Miyamoto saw the concept art, Mr. Aonuma says that “he literally cringed” and made it clear that he would have liked a more visually realistic adventure for Link’s new adventure. Mr. Miyamoto stated in another interview that it would have taken the team around ten years to create a more realistic Zelda adventure, so he gradually accepted Wind Waker’s uniquely cartoonish style. When The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was revealed to the general public it caused a lot of heated debate amongst gamers due to its iconic art style with some claiming it looked too childish and would not be taken seriously by other console players.
“If I had gone and talked to him from the very beginning, I think he would’ve said ‘How is that Zelda?’ Aonuma recalls. “Miyamoto had trouble letting go of the realistic link art style until the very end. At some point, he had to give a presentation against his will. That’s when he said something to me like ‘You know, it’s not too late to change course and make a realistic Zelda.”
