Crash Was Originally Going to be a Wombat
We know Crash as the world’s most popular bandicoot but there was once a time when he was supposed to be a wombat with a completely different name. Naughty Dog founders Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin originally planned to launch the now iconic platformer with a protagonist named Willie the Wombat. It wasn’t until Gavin and Rubin came across bandicoots in an Australian wildlife guide that the pair decided on changing Willie the Wombat to Crash Bandicoot—the name Crash being inspired by the fact that he would be smashing boxes.
According to Short List, however, Universal Interactive Studios was actually far more interested in the idea of publishing a game with a friendly, cuddly wombat at the head. Universal wanted to keep the character as a wombat and give him the name Wuzzle instead. Fortunately, Gavin and Rubin saved us all from the reality of a Wuzzle the Wombat video game. The pair insisted that if Crash Bandicoot wasn’t the game’s protagonist, they would abandon the project completely.
