Disney Shut Down This Game in 2013, But Teens Kept It Alive

It was the summer of 2013 when a group of teenagers, devastated by the news that Disney was shutting down Toontown Online, took matters into their own hands. Disney had just announced its decision to close the game, a massively multiplayer online experience designed for children and families. In Toontown Online, players took on the role of cartoon animals tasked with defending their vibrant world from gray, humorless business robots known as Cogs.For many kids who had spent years immersed in the game, the announcement was a crushing blow.

Toontown was more than just a game; it was a virtual playground where friendships were formed, online identities developed, and early interests in fields such as storytelling, art, graphic design, gaming, and computer engineering were nurtured. It had become a beloved part of their childhood, where they connected with other players from all over the globe.As the end of the game loomed, these young players refused to let go of the world that had given them so much joy. They banded together, driven by the desire to preserve their beloved digital world and keep their memories alive. This group of passionate teens wasn't about to let Toontown fade into history.

With less than a month remaining before Toontown Online was set to shut down, teens like Joey Ziolkowski, then a 15-year-old high school student from Maryland, embarked on what seemed like an impossible mission: to resurrect the game by re-creating it on their own private servers—without Disney's permission. They decided to call their project Toontown Rewritten.Ziolkowski, looking back, recalls the initial mindset: "The thought was mostly like, this will be a fun little experiment. We'll learn some stuff. Maybe we'll bring the game back online for a couple months, or maybe a few hundred people will play it, and then either we'll hit a roadblock, or we'll get a cease and desist from Disney, or something will happen. We'll pack up our bags, and it would have been a fun little thing."

But what began as a small, experimental project soon grew into something far larger than they had ever anticipated. Their love for the game and determination to save it from extinction sparked a movement, drawing more developers, fans, and players who were equally invested in preserving the world of Toontown. The project quickly gained momentum, and they discovered they were not alone in their desire to keep the game alive.In the summer of 2013, Disney announced it would shut down Toontown Online, a beloved massively multiplayer online game where players, as cartoon animals, fought against gray business robots. The game had been a cherished world for thousands of kids who formed friendships, developed online identities, and explored passions in art, gaming, and tech.With only weeks left before the game's closure, teens like Joey Ziolkowski, a 15-year-old from Maryland, decided to save Toontown by recreating it on their own private servers, even without Disney’s permission.

The project, initially seen as a small experiment, became Toontown Rewritten. Ziolkowski recalled: “The thought was mostly like, this will be a fun little experiment. We'll learn some stuff. Maybe we'll bring the game back online for a couple of months, or maybe a few hundred people will play it. Then, either we'll hit a roadblock, or we'll get a cease and desist from Disney, or something will happen.”Fast-forward to today, Toontown Rewritten has more than 2 million registered users, with 50,000 monthly and 10,000 daily active players. Now 26, Ziolkowski, a professional game designer, is still part of the volunteer team keeping the game alive.

However, the Toontown Rewritten team is aware that they could face legal action at any time from Disney, especially since they operate without a licensing agreement.Despite the potential legal risks, the game has thrived and continues to grow, maintaining the community and the essence of Toontown.In 2013, when Disney announced the shutdown of Toontown Online, a beloved massively multiplayer online game, a group of teenagers, led by Joey Ziolkowski, set out to save the game. Toontown Online was a digital world where players became cartoon animals, defending their colorful world from gray, business-minded robots. For many kids, it was a cherished space to form friendships, develop online identities, and explore passions like art, graphic design, and gaming.With just weeks left before the game's closure, Ziolkowski, then 15, and a group of other teenagers embarked on a seemingly impossible mission: re-create Toontown on private servers without Disney's permission.

The result was Toontown Rewritten, a project initially intended as a small experiment. Ziolkowski recalled: “We thought this would be a fun little experiment. Maybe a few hundred people will play, and then either we'll hit a roadblock or get a cease and desist from Disney.”But Toontown Rewritten defied expectations. Today, the game boasts over 2 million registered users, with 50,000 monthly active players and 10,000 daily users. Ziolkowski, now 26 and a professional game designer, remains involved in maintaining the game alongside other volunteers. However, they know they operate in legal gray areas, without any licensing agreement from Disney.The Toontown Rewritten community is fully volunteer-run, with funding from donations. The cost of running the game, including server costs, is substantial.

For instance, in 2023, the server costs alone amounted to nearly $17,000, while total expenses, including fan conventions and the online museum dedicated to the game, reached $22,000.Despite operating without Disney's blessing, the team hopes that their efforts are seen positively. As Maya Cohen, an art director for TTR, puts it, “Even though I don’t know for sure, I like to imagine that when the people at Disney are looking at us, maybe it warms their heart to see the impact that their project had on its players and how they’re keeping it alive for so long.”Toontown Online holds the distinction of being one of the first massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) designed specifically for families.

Created by game designer Jesse Schell, it launched in 2003 and drew inspiration from the whimsical worlds of Toontown in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Duckburg, the fictional setting for Disney characters like Donald, Daisy, and Uncle Scrooge, originally conceived by artist Carl Barks.In the game, players assume the roles of Toons, customizable cartoon animals who must defend their vibrant world from the invasive business robots. These robots take over streets, businesses, and shops, transforming them with their bleak, corporate offices. To fight back, Toons team up to complete missions and use playful, silly gags like cream pies, seltzer bottles, and other cartoon-inspired tools to battle the robots and restore their beloved town.The charm of Toontown Online lay in its unique blend of playful combat, cooperative gameplay, and family-friendly design, offering an interactive, safe space where younger players could engage with others online while developing skills in teamwork, problem-solving, and creativity.

Toontown Online is widely regarded as the first massively multiplayer online game (MMO) designed for families. It was the brainchild of game designer Jesse Schell and launched in 2003. The game's design drew inspiration from the Toontown seen in Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Duckburg, the fictional hometown of Donald, Daisy, and Uncle Scrooge created by legendary artist Carl Barks.In Toontown Online, players assume the roles of customizable cartoon animals, called Toons, tasked with defending their world from the invasion of business robots. These robots, known as Cogs, take over various parts of the town, turning shops into dreary, corporate spaces. To fight back, Toons work together to complete tasks and use whimsical gags, such as cream pies and seltzer bottles, to defeat the Cogs and reclaim their town.

The game's satirical humor was central to its appeal, with Cogs having names like Mr. Hollywood, Corporate Raider, Micromanager, Ambulance Chaser, and Legal Eagle. These Cogs attack Toons using everything from clip-on ties to buzzwords and bounced checks, emphasizing a work-versus-play dynamic. This setup aimed to resonate with parents and children, especially during the early days of families having personal computers and kids playing online games.Interestingly, the approval process for such a unique concept at Disney was not without its challenges. The game was originally going to feature evil businessmen or "Suits" as the antagonists. However, when Roy Disney Jr., nephew of Walt Disney and son of longtime CEO Roy O. Disney, previewed the game during its development, he wasn't pleased with the idea. This feedback led to a shift in the game's antagonists to the Cogs, allowing the game to move forward with Disney's blessing.

The following day, Jesse Schell's team received a memo from Roy Disney Jr. expressing his dissatisfaction with the game's original concept, which featured evil businessmen as the antagonists. To address the concern while maintaining the game's anti-corporate theme, Schell's team quickly revised the concept. They responded to Disney's feedback with a simple statement: “OK, we heard and understood. We will be changing it. The enemies will now be robots.” However, they cleverly left out the detail that these robots were, in fact, business robots.As Schell recalls, "It never came up again." This subtle adjustment allowed the team to preserve the game's satirical critique of corporate culture while keeping the project on track under Disney's approval.

By June 2003, Toontown Online was officially launched in the United States. Its straightforward storyline, simple gameplay, and controlled environment quickly made it a favorite among kids and parents alike. The game became a space for players to work together, build new friendships, and even learn valuable life skills.For Maya Cohen, an art director for Toontown Rewritten, the game had an especially profound impact. “I actually learned most of my English from Toontown,” Cohen recalls. Growing up in Israel, she started playing the game with her brother when she was 12. At first, they didn’t even realize they were playing with real people because they didn’t understand the language. Despite the language barrier, the game became a place for them to connect with others and develop their English skills over time.

In the context of video game history, Toontown Online was a pioneer. Not only was it the first massively multiplayer online game designed specifically for kids (predating World of Warcraft by more than a year), but its developers also introduced several groundbreaking features. One of these was SpeedChat, a dropdown menu of pre-prepared chat messages that allowed players to communicate safely in real time. Additionally, they created a server framework that allowed players to continue playing as their Toon across different servers, a feature that would become standard in many online games.Toontown’s success would go on to inspire a whole genre of kid-friendly MMOs. One of the most notable examples was Club Penguin, which launched in 2005. In Club Penguin, kids could play as cartoon penguins in an Arctic-themed open world. It featured multiple servers and a safe chat system, much like Toontown. The game proved immensely popular and was acquired by Disney in 2007 for an estimated $700 million, with further payouts based on performance.

In 2013, Disney decided to shut down Toontown Online, largely due to the lack of significant revenue from its $9.95 monthly subscription and the company's shift toward other projects, like Club Penguin. By that time, Jesse Schell, the game's original creator, had already left Disney to run his own studio, Schell Games. Disney’s decision to close Toontown marked the end of a beloved game for many players, especially those who had spent nearly a decade immersed in its whimsical world.However, this didn’t spell the end for Toontown itself. A group of teenagers, led by Joey Ziolkowski, decided to take action. In the summer of 2013, with only a month remaining before the game’s closure, they set out to recreate the game on their own private servers. The project was called Toontown Rewritten, and while they knew they were operating in uncertain legal territory, their goal was simply to preserve the game they loved. What started as a small experiment quickly grew into a massive undertaking, with the game now boasting more than 2 million registered users.

Today, Toontown Rewritten continues to thrive with around 50,000 monthly players and a dedicated team of volunteers. The project operates under a nonprofit banner, with efforts to minimize potential copyright concerns, such as removing Disney characters and making the game free-to-play. Despite the risk of legal challenges from Disney, the team remains committed to keeping the game alive, fueled by donations and a passionate community.In a way, the success of Toontown Rewritten echoes the themes of the original game. The story of Toontown was all about resisting corporate control and defending a playful world from the oppressive, soul-sucking influence of business robots, or "Cogs." Ironically, the teens who revived the game are now embodying the same spirit of resistance, defying the corporation’s decision to shut it down and keeping the world of Toontown alive for future generations to enjoy.

The Toontown Rewritten team, initially a group of high schoolers, faced the daunting task of reverse engineering the game to bring it back online after Disney announced it would shut down Toontown Online in 2013. In their pursuit, they enlisted Sam Edwards, a skilled college student and fellow Toontown fan, to help create a server system capable of supporting thousands of players. The team’s passion for preserving the game grew into a full-time effort for many of them, including Edwards, who ultimately dropped out of college to focus on the project. Despite not expecting the revival to last long, the group managed to re-create the game, providing a nostalgic refuge for millions of former Toontown players.The team worked tirelessly, digging through existing game files and utilizing online resources, including lectures by Toontown's original developers.

Their efforts were a labor of love, driven by a desire to save a cherished game and community. This work, though initially conceived as a fun project, turned into something much more significant as the Toontown Rewritten team grew in size and determination, ultimately building a platform that now boasts over 2 million registered users.By September 2013, just days after Toontown Online shut down, Joey Ziolkowski published a teaser video for Toontown Rewritten (TTR) on his YouTube channel, showcasing early gameplay. Though it lacked key features like Cogs and Toon Tasks, it captured the essence of the original game, drawing attention with familiar music and sound effects. By August 2014, TTR had reached its beta phase, including Cog battles and boss fights, and by September 1, 2017, the game opened to the public, leading to a significant surge in players.This growth required the TTR team to adapt, transitioning from a group of enthusiastic hobbyists to an organized volunteer-driven operation.

Edwards described how the project, which had been a loose collection of volunteers, needed more structure to support its expanding player base. Today, about 130 volunteers manage the game’s ongoing development, including seasonal updates and major remasters, such as new neighborhoods and enhanced visuals. Ziolkowski now serves as TTR’s creative director, working with key figures like Cohen and Reedy, who lead the art and creative media teams, respectively, to keep the game alive and growing.In a full-circle moment, Joey Ziolkowski now works alongside Jesse Schell, the creator of Toontown Online, at his game studio as a designer. Schell, having been impressed by Ziolkowski's work on Toontown Rewritten (TTR), has passed the torch to the TTR volunteers, allowing them to steer the future of the game. However, Schell remains engaged with the Toontown community, attending events like ToonFest and answering questions from fans about the original game.

The TTR team’s primary focus is preserving the original artistic style and gameplay, ensuring it remains true to the spirit of Toontown Online. This dedication has inspired other fan-driven projects, such as Corporate Clash, which reimagines the game with new gameplay elements, artistic styles, and tasks.Toontown Rewritten has captivated a new generation of players who never experienced the original game. "I'm actually able to play Toontown with my 6-year-old and my 9-year-old," says Ron Weaver, one of the original developers of Toontown Online. "That's a huge gift to me. I never imagined I'd be playing the game with my kids."Veteran players, too, have returned to relive the fun of their childhood, even if, in some cases, they now resemble the corporate Cogs they once fought. Still, the fundamental values of Toontown—teamwork, working toward the greater good, and having fun—remain alive, creating a fitting and nostalgic Disney-like ending.