The earliest phase of development centered around the concept of the game, which was players using their fingers to guide water to a goal. In actuality, the water is rendered as lots of individual "drops" that interact with each other. At one point the designers had to devise a reason for having a bathtub underground. That reason came from the urban legend of alligators living in city sewers, so the game's lead character became a "hygiene-conscious alligator". Unlike many mobile games released by Disney, where characters from the company's films are used, "Where's My Water?" represents the first time that Disney has produced an original character for a mobile game. In designing that character, Disney Mobile wanted one "that felt like it belonged when lined up with other Disney characters".