Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest

overmind · Mar 28, 2025

We've spoken about Howard the Duck before; George Lucas' Folly, one of the worst movies ever made, the one films that was supposed to be animated before some collective bout of madness made everyone around George that his idea to have it be Live Action was just what it needed. That kind of film, and how despite everything we did, George would do it as he liked the character and its different adventures, as well as the parody and satire that it delved into.

But, with no pitch on sight, I decided, to quote Thanos the Mad Titan, do it myself.

I mean, we own Marvel now, so at least the entire legal drama is not going to happen this time around with Gerber in our pocket, not to mention there is no Universal this time around to try to meddle or to limit the budget. Not to mention that perhaps now we can convince George that we can have the movie done in animation rather than try for a live action film. not to mention that I do want to see Howard be more like the detective they put him on much later after the OTL film was done.

Thus, I give you:

Movie Pitch:
Howard the Duck

GENRE: Noir/Action/Adventure

SUBGENRE: Comedy/Science Fiction

FORMAT: Animated Movie

Set Up: Based on the Marvel Comic (and Characters) created by Steve Gerber. Howard T. Duckson has had to deal with many odd cases in his life, beginning with his sudden transportation to a world ruled by hairless apes! Yet, let it not be said that he can't adapt. Becoming a detective with his own agency seemed to be the right choice, yet having to protect a young woman being hunted by a variety of weirdos, all the while trying to solve his most recent case to pay the rent might be more challenging than what he'd thought.

Director: Brad Bird
Composer: James Horner

Howard the Duck is a detective in New York, where he has made a new life for himself after the "Cosmic Axis" sent him to Earth. Like all detective and Noir films, there is an inner narration from Howard where he gives information to the audience at times. Despite Howard being an anthropomorphic duck, there is a sense of normalcy when he interacts with people, as if this is just another thing that they have to deal with, but not getting over-emotional with it.

The movie begins with a scene of Garko the Man-Frog drinking the potion that turns him into a half-man, half-frog monster, as he declares how he will enact revenge upon all who mocked him. However, he quickly becomes a real frog that is squished by a police car that is going to a building where they find a dead body. As they investigate, Howard arrives, and after some words he begins to investigate as well, his inner narration giving the information about his life and what he finds from the body and the apartment.

After an encounter with his landlord where he is told he's due for the month's bill, he goes to a bar to drown his sorrows where he meets Beverly Switzler, who asks for his help as she feels someone is following her. Though he wants to say no at first, she reveals that the dead body that he is investigating was her former boyfriend, which has Howard believe that she may be a lead, thus both decide to stick together.

Through the movie they are chased by menacing groups that wish to abduct them under the orders of Kong Lomerate, a real estate tycoon, as well as having to face his lead man, Count Macho, though they escape thanks to Howard's friend, Paul Same. They are also attacked by Dr, Angst and the Band of the Bland as they try to consult with Winda Wester to find a lead. After which they have to face against Le Beaver for no other reason than because he hates America and thinks defeating Howard will make everything better.

During the final confrontation with Kong Lomerate (who they find because the Band of the Bland told them who hired them) they have to face against Howard's arch-enemy, Bessie the Hellcow, whose many confrontations between them have become a thing of legend (though unfortunately, too much to recount at the moment). Bessie manages to capture them with the help of Kong, and bring them to their master; Pro-Rata, the Sorcerer Accountant.

Once captured, Pro-Rata monologues about his beginnings as a simple accountant, his rise as a sorcerer, and his criminal empire, as well as how he kidnapped Beverly because she was aware of it, though she denies it and claims she only quit because she had found a new and better job. A confrontation between both sides begins, though Howard and Beverly manage to trick Pro-Rata into destroying the source of his powers ("The Sacred Pen of Bureaucrats") after which he is arrested, though not before claiming he does not know anything about Beverly's boyfriend, as he did not kill him.

Back to Howard and Beverly in a bar, as the former is once more drowning his sorrows. Since he has not solved the case he cannot get paid, and Beverly is just as broke as he is as well. He happens to pick a newspaper which once more is denigrating him, causing him to blow his top and go give the man a piece of his mind, while Beverly tries to stop him.

Once in the Newspaper Office, he confronts the man, Lester Verde, who goes on a tirade about how Howard finally saw through his evil plans, which has Howard deflate and just go "What" in a flat tone as Lester exposits his entire past in a villain's monologue; how he was bullied as a child, discovered a talent for writing, and decided from then on to use his talent to bully others rather than be bullied himself, using the written word to have power over others who were more successful and powerful than him.

At one point during his tirade, Lester admits that he had been the one to have Beverly's boyfriend killed (manipulating the news to trick him into taking an overdose of sleeping pills) mainly because she refused to date him in College. As his tirade ends, Howard reveals that he had taped it all, and as Lester moves to attack, Beverly trips him, knocking him out until the police arrives and takes him into custody.

Lester, now awake, screams and swears vengeance at Howard as he is taken away. Both Howard and Beverly are left alone, they share some words, and as it seems that they are going to go their own ways, Howard calls to her, asking her out to dinner, which she happily agrees, as the both walk away hand in hand.

Howard T. Duckson/Howard the Duck: He is a three-foot-tall anthropomorphic duck, who generally wears a tie with his detective suit and is almost always found smoking a cigar. Howard is an inhabitant of "Duckworld" yet he was transferred to Earth through the "Cosmic Axis". With no way back, Howard has tried to make the best of the situation, opening a detective agency and trying to make ends meet. He is often irascible and impatient, though he mellows out when in the company of his friends (which he doesn't have many). He is also a master of "Quak-Fu", which at best helps him get out of messy situations.

Played By: Robin Williams
Alternate: Harvey Keitel

Beverly Switzler: She was a young life model from Cleveland who had to abandon her career in order to make ends meet, working for the evil Sorcerer-Accountant Pro-Rata (though she was not aware that he used magic, nor that he was evil). She gets entangled with Howard when the homicide victim case he was investigating turns out to be her former boyfriend. From there, the two embark in a bizarre journey where they have to depend on each other to survive, growing attached to each other despite their foibles and finding in each other a shared spirit. Beverly tries to look at the positive side of life, which at times makes her look naive, but in reality she is no one's fool.

Played By: Sarah Douglass
Alternate: Lea Thompson

Paul Same/Winky Man: He is a narcoleptic split-personality sleepwalker, an eccentric artist, and a good friend of Howard the Duck. Paul is a mostly calm person, who tries to take things slowly, and is very helpful towards his friends, as he takes in Howard and Beverly as they try to hide from those who are chasing after them. He also possesses an alter ego known as "The Winky Man" which appears when he falls asleep if he does not take his medication. When under this personality, his agility and brain power skyrockets, which lets him defeat enemies easily.

Played By: Fisher Stevens
Alternate: Rick Moranis

Winda Wester: She is a fortune teller who occasionally is able to make real predictions. An ally of Howard the Duck, she is the one to whom Howard usually goes to when he's stuck in a case and has no new leads. She speaks with a lisp which makes her difficult to understand, though at the same time she tends to use it in her favor whenever the time to use her "powers" comes about. Though she may not look like it, she does tend to see Howard as a friend, and her best costumer, as he is the only one that keeps on coming back.

Played By: Victoria Carroll
Alternate: Amy Irving

Kong Lomerate: He is a man turned monkey that made use of his transformation to create a giant real estate empire, while at the same time swindling buyers by selling them useless swampland... while also making use of said property to cheat on his taxes, which were handled by the evil Sorcerer Accountant Pro-Rata. Though Kong Lomerate tries to portray himself as a sophisticated being, his sudden outbursts of rage, and his mannerisms betray his animalistic qualities.

Played By: Christopher Lee
Alternate: Peter Cushing

Count Macho: He is a former martial arts master who used his training to bully and intimidate people, all the while trying to act like the heroes from martial arts movies, quoting many of their lines without understanding their meaning, just wanting to look cool. He is hired by Kong Lomerate to find and capture Howard and Beverly, though he cannot control himself and tries to hurt them as well, which has him distracted for when the Winky Man makes his appearance, and helps in killing him by throwing him out a window, Count Macho quoting lines till the end.

Played By: Dan Castellaneta
Alternate: Bill Murray

Pierre Dentifris/Le Beaver: He is a Canadian "Super-Patriot" who despises America for how it treats Canada as a lesser sibling or an annoyance. Pierre is an inventor who created an exoskeleton suit in the shape of a beaver to fight Howard the Duck in order to make Canada more respected. Neither Howard nor Beverly understand the reasoning, yet Pierre (or Le Beaver as he insists to be called) does not care and goes on to face Howard the Duck in deadly combat.

Played By: Rene Auberjonois
Alternate: Tim Robbins

Bessie The Hellcow: She is Pro-Rata's minion, a cow that was turned into a vampire and thus uses her powers and abilities to follow her master's will. She is Howard's archenemy, as both have clashed in numerous occasions, too many to even recount here or in the movie actually. After Howard was able to evade the many traps and capture attempts by Kong Lomerate, Pro-Rata sends her to capture them and bring them to him so that he may take care of them by himself.

Played By: Frank Welker
Alternate: Dee Bradley Baker

Pro-Rata: He is an evil accountant who discovered that he could use magic, and thus used it in order to help corporations and criminals to file their taxes, saving them millions of dollars. Beverly was one of the assistants at his firm who suddenly quit, making Pro-Rata suspect her of finding the truth about him (in reality, she had found a new job and wanted to start as soon as possible). Pro-Rata, despite his actions to capture both Beverly and Howard, did not kill her former boyfriend.

Played By: Jim Cummings
Alternate: Vincent Price

Dr. Angst and the Band of the Bland: They are a rock band who tries to make it big, though in reality they have nothing that makes them stand out from the other bands currently making waves. Their music is generic, their imagination non-existent, and their risk-taking is zero. They do not have an original thought in their heads at all.

Played By: Tangerine Dream

Garko The Man-Frog: He is a man who spent his time on a window-sill, debating with himself whether to drink a bottle containing a mysterious fluid. When he finally drank the fluid he changed into the Man-Frog and began threatening to kill everyone. His transformation was short-lived, however, as he quickly turned into a real frog and was killed when he was run over by a police car.

Played By: Danny DeVito

Lester Verde: He is a sensationalist journalist reporter who uses his talents in order to have power over those he writes about. He considers himself Howard's archrival, constantly denigrating him in his articles because he's jealous of how much attention he gets. He is also the one who had Beverly's boyfriend killed as revenge against her since she refused to date him.

Played By: Tim Curry

Newspaper Stand Owner: He is the owner of a newspaper stand near Howard's agency. Howard always buys a newspaper from him, which usually has many indictives against Howard.

Played By: Stan Lee

A.N.: Funny thing, this idea came when I was speaking with @Kaiser Chris about a possible premise for it, and just recently I found out that the original writers for the OTL film had the same idea for the premise, before studio involvement and legal battles had them discard it for what came later on. This time around, we can do justice to said idea. For animation I decided to go for Brad Bird, since I think he has just the right amount of originality and creativity to tackle the parody-heavy themes of the character.

wabbitking · Apr 2, 2025

Manga Pitch
Hundred Ghost Stories That Will Lead To My Own Death

Genre: Horror
Author: Junji Ito

Synopsis: In this horror anthology a boy Yuuma depressed from the death of his mother wishes to see her again and attempts to jump to his death. To prevent this his classmate Hina tells him of a supposed ritual where if a hundred ghost stories are told over a certain period of time the dead can be summoned into our world.
Each chapter will begin and end with Yuuma or occasionally another person. talking to the fourth wall(actually a camera and a unseen item implied to be an idol or shrine that's the conduit for the ritual)with the main focus of the manga the ghost story sandwiched in-between. As the story progresses it becomes clear that not all is well in Yuuma's home life (as well as why Yuuma is so desperate to see his mother again) and what begins as a desperate way to prevent a friends suicide takes on a more sinister bent as supernatural events begin to unfold.

The first stories
We're introduced to our two main characters Yuuma and Hina as Yuuma attempts to jump out the window of their school. Depsertate to avodi his suicide Hina tells him of a ritual where if one hundred ghost stories are told real ghosts will appear.

We are then introduced to Yuuma acting as he would normally. He's a generally cheerful boy who when not telling the story talks to the fourth wall like a friend. Happily showing off his favorite toy, a perfect score of a test and talking about school. However as the story progresses his awful home life is revealed. He's shown flinching when his parents arrive home or panicking when his father reaches out to ruffle his head. His step mothers berating and shadowy figure(his father) stumbling into his room at night and wrecking it. Any illusions of normalcy are thrown out the window when Yuuma not doing well on his report card get slapped by his Step Mother. When she sees him telling the next chapters story instead of studying she reaches to slap him again but in the first overt supernatural event in the main story a pencil impales her hand by itself.

The(on screen) abuse escalates from there as he's assaulted several times by the shadowy figure( his father), he spends several chapters locked in a closet(saved by Hina asking to see him). and his stepmother throws his favorite toy Umakin(a horse plushy) away to spite him. However several chapters later a demonic horse creature walks into his room. the next chapter it's revealed that Umakin has returned and his stepmother was assaulted.

Policeman arc
After his stepmother is attacked the police begin to get involved. Most importantly Officer Takayanagi who is quickly able to figure out that Yuuma is being abused. And uses the investigation as an excuse to get visit Yuuma and try to get proof of the abuse. In response his abuse by his parents is temporarily lessened to avoid being caught. No matter how friendly he is however Yuuma wants to complete the ritual and bring his mother back so he is stonewalled. and tries to get the officer to leave him alone. Including pushing him out of the window when he peers out it after notices Hina footprints in the yard. At some point Takayanagi touches the thing behind the fourth wall and begins to devolop bruises slowly spreading along his body.

Suspecting that Yuuma is telling people(specifically Officer Takayanagi) about the abuse his parents use the still unexplained assault on his stepmother to tighten control over Yuumas life by taking him out of school "for his own safety". At the end of the arc Officer Takayanagi returns covered in bruises from head to toe and is determined to take Yuuma out of the house. Yuuma not wanting to stop the ritual resists but a supernatural event grabs the policeman crushes his arm and flings him out the window.

Policeman death arc
After the death of the policeman the next chapters involve Yuuma hiding his body and covering up his death the best a child can do. Yuuma also loses Hina's moral support when she touches the figure behind the forth wall and starts to develop bruises like the officer did. Inevitably the corpse is found however Yuuma not knowing that the corpse had yet to be identified mentions it in passing to his stepmother who gloatingly calls the police. Soon a man Detective Kido interviews Yuuma and while the police in general believe someone else forced him to hide the body Kido is about to piece together the culprit is whatever occult forces Yuuma has called upon. He touches the conduit for the ritual and is suddenly covered with bruises. However he takes out a straw doll and it burns up taking the bruises with it.

Yuuma devises a plan to steal a straw doll from him and use it to heal Hina(whos bruises have steadily been progressing) He touches Kido with an unknown object that causes the bruises to appear. However it's reveled that Kido only had one of the dolls and has no way to cure himself again. Knowing he's going to die he uses magic to take on Hina's bruises and leaves. The next chapter Yuuma is depressed that he's caused a mans death. While Hina at first overjoyed at her bruises being gone doesn't realize that he's going to die and hopes he'd show up again so she can thank him. Once she realizes this she also gets despondent.

The Possession Begins
After Kido's death Hina begins to get more concerned with the stories leading her to attempt to burn whatever the conduit is when Yuuma is out of the room. However as she does so she is posseted by Yuuma's mother. While not immediately permanent as the stories progress it's clearly a losing battle as more and more possession incidents happen. Cumulating in the possessed Hina "tidying up the house" by killing and disposing of Yuumas father and step mother.(with the dads death onscreen as he attempts to beat Yuuma in his sleep).

The last stories
With Yuumas Mother fully in control on Hinas body the last few stores have her in tender moments with Yuuma but also lots of emotional manipulation as she urges him onwards to complete the last few stories. Yuuma however realizing his mother will be stealing Hinas body and he'll lose his best friend begins to have second thoughts (despite his mothers reassurances that she'll go to heaven). He asks his mother to allow him to talk to Hina one last time. During his talk with her she's overjoyed that his mother is coming back and can't wait to properly meet her but when she asks how Yuuma can't bring himself to tell her. Resolving himself just after the 99th story he cuts off the camera and ends the ritual.

Epilogue:
The camera comes back on to show a grainy image with an unseen storyteller. The story is of Yuuma a boy who loved his mother dearly and on her death his entire world upside down. Faced with loss and abuse from his father and stepmother he turned to whatever stories of the afterlife he could find growing obsessed with it. In the end he plans to end it all to see his mother again. But at the last second is stopped by a classmate who tells him a ritual that'll summon the dead. The perspective we've seen through in Yuuma's room this whole time is revealed to be (at least partially) a picture of Yuumas mother. And the perspective shifts to reveal a unfamiliar room and the one who told this story was Hina free of possession. She reveals that to end the ritual, save Hina and be with his mother in the afterlife Yuuma committed suicide. Feeling guilt and regret for not being able to help her lost friend and wishing to bring him back Hina ends the chapter by putting an end to her first story.

Yuuma: A normal boy driven to the edge of despair who only wishes to see his mother again. He begins the series about to commit suicide before Hina stops him. While he's a kind and playful child he has to bear the emotional weight of a his mothers death and his horrible home life. And he's willing to do anything to keep the ritual going including trying to cover up the Policeman's death. However near the end of the manga he has a change of heart once he realizes that Hina will be gone forever.

Hina: Yuumas classmate and friend. While she didn't know Yuuma well before his suicide attempt she swiftly becomes his closest friend during the events of the story. She's the one who told him about the ritual(possibly making it up) to keep him alive. As the story progresses the once happy girl becomes more terrified as the supernatural creeps into her life ending with her possession.

Officer Takayanagi: A kind police officer who investigates the attack on Yuumas stepmother. While investigating he realizes that Yuuma is being abused. While he's well meaning his investigation would likely take him out of the house and (thus disrupt the ritual) so Yuuma and the supernatural both try to stop him cumulating in his death by being flung out the window by unseen spirits. He's often just called Policeman.

Kido: A one eyed Detective working for the local police department. Once the body of Takayanagi is discovered he begins investigating the death and soon suspects Yuumas involvement (though the police believe in general he was forced to hide the body for someone else). He soon notices the item representing the fourth wall and reveals himself to have occult experience. He gives his life so Hina wont be affected by the cursed bruising the ritual gives to people who touch the conduit and is stated to have died offscreen.

Umakin: a stuffed horse toy that Yuuma cherishes. Not a character by itself but is possessed by a ghost and appears briefly as a horse like monster that is implied to have attacked Yuumas stepmom.

Yuumas family: Yuumas father and step mother. As the story progresses it's revealed that they are abusive and treat Yuuma's slightest failings as aa punishable offense. As Yuuma continues the story they find themselves on the receiving end of the supernatural ire for their torment of Yuuma (especially if it would interfere with his ability continue the stories). The events that unfold make them escalate things blaming Yuuma for the issues until they meet their end.

Yuumas mother: Only appearing in flashbacks. She represents a simpler and happier period in Yuuma's life that he desperately wants to return to.

Yuumas mother?: A spirit who begins to manifest as the stories continue. At first possessing toys and appearing as a vague apparition or unseen force before finally possessing Hina. As she's possessing Hina she looks like her but with black voids where her mouth and eyes should be. While it's unclear if it's actually Yuuma's mother (and if her actions are indicative of her personality when alive or if death and being brought back has warped her) or is just posing as her. While she's protective of Yuuma and can be seen enjoying time with him she becomes manipulative and takes on a (even more) sinister appearance whenever it's hinted that he doesn't want to complete the ritual. And is clearly desperate for him to complete it and make her possession of Hina complete.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I like horror manga and stumbled upon this one day and it's pretty good. And since Junji Ito's got his start early and is working for Marvel's manga line I figured he could work on it when he's not doing his OTL works.

overmind · Apr 3, 2025

Write What You Love, Write What You Fear

Though there were few and far between, there were moments when Steven Spielberg would look back to the past, and perhaps feel some regrets over decisions taken.

They were not many of course; he would never regret leaving behind Universal, the studio where the man he once thought of as a friend used him, exploited him, and then left him to rot when the final product seem to be a flop in the making. He would never regret taking on filming the first entry into the Conan franchise, despite the near stroke inducing stress, the constant setbacks when trying to make sure that no interlopers would destroy the sets, or even when Bruce himself began to despair that the film might not be finished on time.

He did regret directing 1941. Though in the end it did give him a much-needed lesson over getting overconfident, he could not help but think that perhaps going forwards with a talented, but untested, writer on his debut screenplay might not have been the right way to go. He could still remembered collapsing near the end, getting his own epiphany, and going right back into the saddle afterwards, with only the success of Marathon Madness being what saved his reputation with making comedy movies intact.

Robert had learned form it though, and he was so proud seeing him finally taking the first steps into being a director.

He certainly did not regret joining George and Bruce in their venture to make Lucasfilms into a Production/Distribution Company, not after the pitch they gave; freedom to make his own movies, full support and little to no meddling from the studio in his vision, a full team of writers that could aid him whenever he felt that he was stuck, paid vacations, and he could choose to collaborate with any writer, producer, or director for any new project on hand.

They had him at freedom to make his own movies.

He hadn't looked back ever since, and despite the previously mentioned regrets, he had to admit that overall, the benefits had outweighed the drawbacks immensely. He'd worked in amazing pieces of cinema that would stand the test of time, made his mark on one of the greatest franchises that had ever been done with Return of the Jedi, and right now, he was putting in the last touches to the continuation to the Indiana Jones Franchise, with the overall filming nearly done, and soon to be distributed by next year.

Yes, life was good, and he had little to no regrets.

...But there was one that still kept on nibbling at his brain, one that he had come to realize could be solved easily, yet his stubbornness had kept it as it was for years now.

A script (or at least part of a script) which he'd been putting off for over two years now, to the point that he was beginning to wonder if he would ever get to it or just abandon it like many others were forced to in the end. Looking back on it, this was all because of him joining Lucasfilms as well; the overall freedom and support that he'd been given had also given him the expectation that he would be able to work in any and all of his ideas after all.

The problem though, was that he had so many of them, and not enough time to make them come true.

Back at the beginning of the decade he'd been working with some of his friends in the industry on a sequel for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a mix of horror, drama, science fiction that he'd input so much of his emotions and ideas. Things he'd love to see, like a friendship between a young kid and an alien that would become part of the main plot. Things he feared as well, like the overall terror of other types of aliens that could appear and terrorize a family. Overall, all parts of his experience and dramatized for the big screen.

Not that it mattered much, as the project never seemed to get much traction in the end. That, and both George and Bruce had talked him out of it when explaining how his film never really needed a sequel in the end, not to mention that no matter how much he worked on it, the overall premise of Night Skies never seemed to fit correctly with so many disparate elements in it.

But even with a failed idea, there were still element that could be worked with, which you had; E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial had been what came from the failed idea, when Melissa had been in tears when hearing about the friendship built between a benevolent alien and a kid from a broken family. The script she wrote had allowed him to explore part of said elements from Night Skies, give Drew her first Live Action Role, and made an incredible impact in cinema... even if Fox had spoiled a lot of it with their tactics.

But there was also another element that he'd put aside, one that he'd worked intermitted between his other films, always promising himself that he would get to it eventually. And yet, as the years passed, he could not help but feel that he was running out of time. There were so many other movies he wanted to work with, so many other projects that called to him, yet he still had the half-finished pitch demanding his attention.

And in the end, he knew what had to be done, yet lacked the courage to do so. When speaking to Bruce about it he told him how he'd had the same problem as well; how he'd slaved and written a story to honor the man who had given him the chance to finally break into the industry, how he'd been hoping to be not only the director, but the main lead as well. As time moved on he found he could no longer play the lead, and as more projects piled up, he did not have the time to direct it either. At the time, he had to make a choice.

He would either abandon the film, or he would have someone else do it.

Steven recalled that talk, and he could not help but compare it with his situation. The entire idea was pretty personal to him. When Night Skies was being written he'd put in so much of himself; what he loved, what he hated, what he feared... And though part of what he loved had reached the big screen, he did not think he would feel right just letting the part he feared out of it as well. There were so many other movies that he would be a part of, and for now, it was for the best that he let this one go if he wanted to see it made.

He'd written what he loved with E.T., now he'd written what he feared with...

Movie Pitch:
Poltergeist

GENRE: Horror/Thriller/Supernatural

SUBGENRE: Fantasy/Mystery

FORMAT: Movie

Set Up: Life is very pleasant for the close-knit Freeling family until a host of otherworldly forces invades their peaceful suburban home. It starts with just an odd occurrence or two, but soon their house is turned into a swirling supernatural sideshow. The forces at work are anything but friendly, and if the luckless Freeling's don't clear out soon, they'll all be swept off into nightmarish chaos!

Director: Tobe Hooper
Composer: Jerry Goldsmith

Steve Freeling: He is the father of Carol Anne, a real estate salesman working under Mr. Lewis Teague. When he moved to his home at Cuesta Verde, he was not aware that his superior had built said homes over a cemetery without removing the bodies, causing the appearance of spirits and a poltergeist. Steve is usually relaxed and confident, but turns serious and determined when the spirits kidnap his daughter, doing what is necessary to protect his family. Though not a believer at first, once the evidence is in front of him he follows the lead of the doctors and medium with them.

Played By: Craig T. Nelson
Alternate: Kevin Kline

Diane Freeling: She is the mother of Carol Anne, and a housewife looking to live a quiet and peaceful life with her husband in California. She is a caring mother to all her children, though also protective when the situation calls for it. When the bizarre events and phenomena begin at the house, she at first finds them fascinating, though her feelings quickly change when her daughter is taken by the spirits. Diane is crucial in rescuing her daughter, even going inside the dimension the spirits are to take her back, and even going against everything the Poltergeist throws at her and her husband in order to keep her family safe.

Played By: JoBeth Williams
Alternate: Anne Archer

Carol Anne Freeling: She is the daughter of Steve and Diane Freeling. She senses the presence of Poltergeists and is kidnapped by them after speaking with them through the TV. With the help of her family and the doctors in para-psychology, they are able to get her back from the netherworld after the medium, Tangina Barrons, explains the situation and speaks to her so that Carol Anne can describe the place she is in. After her rescue, she witnesses how her house is later disintegrated by the remaining Poltergeist as it tries to capture her once more, before her family rescues her once more and goes with them away from there.

Played By: Drew Barrymore
Alternate: Heather O'Rourke

Robbie Freeling: He is the brother of Carol Anne, a regular kid that enjoys playing, swimming and still has some issues with thinking that monsters exist. Robbie tends to be on the cowardly side, still scared of both his sister's puppet, heights or creepy looking trees, but he is nonetheless determined to overcome said fears. During the film, he displays unusual courage when his sister is kidnapped by the spirits, willing to go and get her back from the netherworld himself, even if he has to tie a rope around his body and jump after her at the entrance. After Carol Anne is rescued, he and her are attacked by the Poltergeist, but are rescued by their parents.

Played By: Neil Patrick Harris
Alternate: Seth Green

Dr. Martha Lesh: She is a doctor in Parapsychology, the leader and the more clear headed of the trio when it comes to the study of the paranormal, as well as the more empathetic towards the members of the Freeling family in this trying times. Many times it is her who comes up with the answers to the different discoveries in the investigation, as well as the analysis of data that they receive. She is also the one who calls on Tangina Barrons when they are stuck and have no other option.

Played By: Beatrice Straight
Alternate: Anne Bancroft

Dr. Marty Casey: He is one of the doctors in parapsychology and the paranormal. Unlike his colleagues however, Marty is the more skeptical of the bunch, refusing to accept in the hints of the paranormal, claiming that there is either a scientific explanation for it, or that it's a hoax. It's not until he is directly confronted with it that he finally begins believing, and is scared shitless over it, with the spirits taking a perverse delight in pranking him or targeting him for any malicious act that they can think of.

Played By: Bruce Campbell
Alternate: David Naughton

Dr. Ryan Mitchell: He is one of the associated doctors in parapsychology and the paranormal. Though not as serious as Dr. Lesh, he does not share the cynism of Marty when it comes to the paranormal, instead being excited about any and all discovery of it. Ryan is still targeted by the spirits of the house, though not to the level that Marty is, and is always on the lookout for what they can find, absorbing all the knowledge that Dr. Lesh discovers, or Tangina delivers in the end.

Played By: Richard Lawson
Alternate: Philip Michael Thomas

Dana Freeling: She is the older sister of both Robbie and Carol Anne. She is the typical American teenager, usually more concerned with dating and her new boyfriend, and thus not as involved in the haunting of the house. She is taken out of the home with Robbie as things get more serious, though it does not seem to be as worried as the latter about the situation.

Played By: Dominique Dunne

Tangina Barrons: She is a dwarf psychologist and clairvoyant who aids the Freeling family and the doctors into finding out that the spirits in the house as nearly as trapped as the child is, as well as explaining just how it is that they can rescue Carol Anne while also exorcising the friendly spirits, while also weakening the Poltergeist.

Played By: Zelda Rubinstein

Lewis Teague: He is the boss of Steve Freeling. He was the one, who built a living place called Cuesta Verde in California, committing the unethical and unholy decision to only remove the gravestones and not to remove the dead from a burial place, where he later built the homes where Steve and his family live.

Played By: James Karen

A.N.: This came to me when while doing some research I found that the idea for E.T. came from the same place that the idea for Poltergeist came about. I think this means that, unless anything drastic has changed, Steven would still have with him the draft for what would become the latter, and the movie has yet to be done. Hopefully with this we can make sure that it at least gets a release for next year. Children actors are so difficult to find.

Kaiser Chris · Apr 4, 2025

Third Party Video Game Pitch: Rampart
Director: John Salwitz
Game Developer: Atari Games
Publisher: Microsoft Gaming
Platform: Arcade, Sega Genesis
Genre: Strategy/Puzzle

Premise: The player controls and defends a territory consisting of a wall surrounding a set of castles and cannons. Gameplay alternates between two time-limited phases, combat and building. In the building phase, the player attempts to repair the damage from combat and expand their territory. In the combat phase, they attempt to damage the enemy with their cannons. In single-player games, the player fights against a fleet of attacking ships, in multi-player games, the players fight each other with rivers separating the sides.

The game opens with an automated building phase in which the computer builds a wall around one castle. The ownership of a castle grants the player control over a number of cannons, and after building the wall the game enters a phase in which the user places the cannons within their controlled territory.

When the building phase ends, combat begins. In single-player mode, the player is attacked by a number of ships that approach the player's territory while firing cannons at their walls. The player responds by firing their cannons at the moving ships; the relatively slow speed of the cannonballs requires the player to "lead" their targets. In multi-player mode, the players shoot at each other's walls. The goal of the attacker in both cases is to make holes in the walls. Combat ends when the user sinks a certain number of ships, or in two-player, after a set time.

When combat ends, the player loses control of any area that is no longer fully surrounded by their wall, along with any cannons in that area. A user-controlled building phase then begins. Shapes like those from Tetris appear and the player moves and rotates them with the goal of placing them so that they close gaps in the existing wall or extend the wall around additional castles.

When the tile placement phase time ends, any castle or cannon that is completely enclosed by a continual wall is added to the player's territory. Afterwards, the cycle repeats with cannon placement again. Each surrounded castle awards the player with one cannon during each arming phase (the home castle grants two) but only if there is space.

Because the damage caused during the combat phase is normally spread out, repairing it can be difficult. The blocks are generally larger than the gaps (although one-unit blocks do appear sometimes) and filling the gaps often requires a large block to fill a small gap. The leftover extra bits of the block become barriers to the placement of future blocks, making it increasingly difficult to fix the damage as the larger blocks may not fit into the block-free area.

The player loses when they fail to have at least one surrounded castle after the tile placement phase. In single-player games, there is a fixed set of six levels, and in two player modes if both players survive the one with the higher score is declared the winner. If the player defeats the opponent, the player can execute the commander, by walking the plank or beheading. Cannons can be destroyed, bonus squares give extra points when captured, and when there are no grunts or craters.

YAIR · Apr 8, 2025

Well after much procastination here it is my promised Super Star Wars pitch I take away the Super from the title but if you think the Super should stay I will change it so give me your opinion, after all this is the first time I do something like this.

LucasArts Pitch

:

Star Wars

Set up: Based on the events of the first Star Wars movie the player plays across diferent levels based on the events of the movie with some changes made to the story to adapt it to video game format

Characters have to fight their way across multiple platformer levels with the help of their weapons against the many enemies that will attack the player while they try to reach their destination.

The player is able to initially control Luke Skywalker, then can choose Han Solo or Chewbacca as the game progresses. Other levels have players control Luke's landspeeder and an X-wing fighter.

With some exceptions most levels end with a boss battle where the player must defeat it to be able to advance to the next level

1. Dune Sea - Boss: Sarlacc Pit Monster
2. Tatooine I (Landspeeder, Level 1)
3. Outside the Sandcrawler
4. Inside the Sandcrawler - Boss: Lava Beast Jawenko
5. Part I: Land of the Sandpeople / Part II: Land of the Banthas - Boss: Mutant Womprat
6. Tatooine II (Landspeeder to Mos Eisley)
7. Mos Eisley
8. Cantina Fight - Boss: Kalhar Boss Monster
9. Escape from Mos Eisley - Boss: Hover Combat Carrier
10. Death Star Bay - Boss: Imperial Defense Droid
11. Rescue of the Princess - Boss: Detention Guard Boss
12. Tractor Beam Core
13. Death Star Attack
14. Trench Battle - Boss: Darth Vader's TIE Advanced

Laser Blaster
Flame blaster
Proton Seeker
Rapid ion gun
Plasma Wave Blaster
Lightsaber (only as Luke Skywalker)

Plasma shield - Temporary invulnerability
Thermal detonator - Clears screen of enemies
Health (Small and Large) - Regains health
Time - Increases time to finish the level
Bonus - Multiplies the number of points by 2
Health Sword - Increases size of health bar
Extra Life - One more life

Kaiser Chris · Apr 8, 2025

It's a Big, Big World

For over 40 years, the World Showcase at EPCOT resort in Walt Disney World, Florida has been a shining icon of Disney Imagineering and creative and cultural expression. Featuring 20 (21 if counting American Adventure) nations spread 1.5 miles across the world Showcase Lagoon, the Showcase both serves as a triumph and love letter of human history and culture, of a slice of the many different nations that compose of the Earth. Throughout the many changes at EPCOT, the World Showcase has for the most part in composition remained the same due to its timeless nature and it's become a distinguishing feature of the Disney brand itself.

Despite its popularity and prestigious fixture within Disneyworld, the World Showcase as it stands today is a significantly divergent and somewhat alien picture to its original concept and leading up to the opening of EPCOT, there were dozens of changes and near misses for the Showcase with it often being said that each time Disney advertised the upcoming land to the public, it was an entirely different presentation to what had come before. Yet just what were these differences and how did the World Showcase come to be the beloved land we know today?

How Blockbusters Saved EPCOT

From the inception of Disneyland, it had been the driving force of profits for the Walt Disney Company along with its lucrative merchandise empire. While Disney animated films were beloved, they rarely made enough profit to do more than fund the next picture and most live action Disney films were reliant on budgets built on the back of Disneyland profits. However, from the late 70s onward, Disney found its film divisions for the first time being a serious driver of profits that opened immense potential for a serious expansion of both its filmmaking capabilities and live entertainment ambitions. This proved especially true in 1978, the first year where Disney would gross over a billion dollars at the box office thanks to the trio of War of the Worlds, Halloween and The Black Hole. This was a very welcome development as it helped Imagineers to address a chronic issue of Disney World, lack of funding to achieve Walt's vision.

It was well known that Disney World was but a figment of a fragment of the original vision for EPCOT as an experimental and utopian corporate city. Even EPCOT in its current form was not supposed to be the endgoal as there was originally supposed to be the World Showcase and Future World as separate individual parks entirely, before the doldrums of the 70s placed the company on hard times and it was decided to simply merge the two parks together into EPCOT. It was a measure meant to save money, but there were still heavy costs with the original 30 planned nations reduced to 20 all the while EPCOT's original budget of $800 million found itself ballooning to $1.5 Billion. Here the Disney Blockbusters had a very fortunate effect where it provided a splurge of cash for the parks without incurring heavy debt or requiring new blood for the board room, while the design of the parks being kept at greater ambitions combined with blockbusters substantially increased Disney stock, creating another form of reliable revenue so that cuts could be limited.

When it came to selecting the nations to take part in the World Showcase, Disney Imagineering strived to have a balanced regional and cultural diversity while also meeting the demands for some of the more popular nations.

Morocco
Costa Rica
Taiwan
Australia/New Zealand
Switzerland

Holland
Germany
Brazil
Japan
Poland

Italy
Great Britain
Equatorial Africa
France
Mexico

Scandinavia
Israel
South Korea
Canada
Saudi Arabia

The end result was a relatively well balanced selection that could offer park visiters a slice of each region of the world save for South Asia and Southeast Asia (Due to a mix of regional instability, poor US relations and India's closed off economy). While at first national interest was limited with only the Arab world, Soviet Union, Poland, Germany and Japan showing interest; the rise of the Blockbuster era gave Disney enough financial lattitude to be more generous with sponsorships, only charging nations for the cost of the design and upkeep while Disney handled the construction. This was able to bring in all of the target nations by the middle of 1978 with Disney optimistic that all of the World Showcase could be built upon opening day. For better or worse though, fate would have other plans.

Politics, Religion and Ignorance

Imagineer Peggie Farris was once quoted as saying that the final product of the World Showcase was due to a combination of "Politics, Religion and Ignorance". While a bleak picture, it is a somewhat accurate read of the evolution of the World Showcase and why which nations were cut and how some certain pavilions came to fruition.

The first major change was the removal of Poland. The inclusion of any Communist nations was already a contentious idea that lead to the removal of the Soviet Union despite their interest, but Poland had been stubbornly in favor of representation, both to find some new economic life in cultural exports and tourism and a desire to become more independent of the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet-Romanian War would shelve these plans as the Romanian Genocide lit a wildfire in the near dormant anti-Communist sentiments and shareholders immediately protested Poland's inclusion, leading Disney to shelve the nation entirely.

Ironically, at the same time Disney had shelved Taiwan in favor of a China pavilion thanks to Jimmy Carter's normalization of relations. A bit hypocritical, but China had been neutral in Romania and the potential for Disney incursion into the Chinese market far outweighed any blowback. However, after the assassination attempt on the O'Brian family, Disney would again in the face of overwhelming public hostility, shelve China entirely and return back to Taiwan, further spurred on by the Reagan administration's deepening of relations with the Republic of China. Some of the Disney Board wanted to dispense of the controversy entirely and move onto a different Asian nation such as Thailand or Singapore, but the Disney family was adamant in restoring Taiwan to its pavilion, out of a sense of camraderie with the O'Brians and fear of any future attacks on them by the CCP for whatever reason. Thus to have Taiwan and not China be recognized in the World Showcase was an act of defiance to the People's Republic of China.

At the same time, Disney was still searching for a replacement for Poland. Disney had pivoted towards Yugoslavia, a Communist Slavic state that most Americans held a high opinion of and had been crucial in the Romanian War. Josip Tito was heavily supported of the concept and was committed fully with Disney Imagineers drawing extensive concept proposals for a Yugoslavia pavilion. However, after Tito's death, the Foreign Ministry was at gridlock over which version of Yugoslavia to promote and which states would be highlighted, where previously Serbia and Croatia had been the dominant focus. Thus, Yugoslavia broke its partnership in spite of Disney attempting multiple times to make a unified Yugoslavian pavilion with no favoritism to any member state.

The end of the Yugoslav partnership occured roughly around the same period as the reversion from China to Taiwan. Still in a highly patriotic mindset, Roy Disney turned to Romania as the best replacement. The country had just emerged victorious as the first Warsaw Pact to rejoin the free world, and it was currently the most popular nation within America alongside Japan with an explosion of Romanian culture in the US beginning. While President Nicolaescu was hesitant, Disney proved to be generous in their case by forgoing a commission charge and maintaining upkeep until 1990, by which such a point the Romanian economy would most likely recover and stabilize. As a practical gift, Romania agreed and thus the pavilion went from rustic Warsaw to a more gothic and Transylvanian theme.

Perhaps the two most ambitious pavilions were the Israel and Saudi Arabia, later United Arab Emirates pavilion. The two were to offer a glimpse into the Middle East with Israel focused on the biblical history and deep faiths of Jerusalem while the UAE was to be an insight into the Arab World. However, by grouping both pavilions together, both were unfortunately doomed to fail. When confirmation of the Israel pavilion was set, the UAE and partnered Arab nations were incensed at Israel's feature of Jerusalem, fearing that it would promote the Israeli position of Jerusalem as their capitol to the world. While Disney tried to reassure Arab partners that the pavilion was only focused on historical Jerusalem and would only recognize Tel Aviv as the capitol, miscommunication and inflaming regional tensions lead to the participating Arab nations to remove themselves.

This left Israel who while highly enthusiastic and willing to invest tens of millions of dollars into the projects, caused just as many, if not more headaches domestically. With the onset of the Satanic Panic, Judaism would become an occasional target of Far-Right action groups and by association anti-Israeli sentiment was on the rise. There were protests by Evangelical groups over the representation in Jerusalem, wanting it to be Christian-focused, while some Jewish leaders were also frustrated at having to share the pavilion with Christianity and Islam. Disney did its best to try and find a balance to please everyone, and had even postponed Israel to try and prevent controversy on opening day. Ultimately the Lebanon War and fears of Munich-style attacks at EPCOT pushed Disney to cancel the pavilion.

Unfortunately, the Middle East would not get any proper representation aside from at best tertiary association through Morocco. Regional tensions were hot with the Lebanon War, Iran-Iraq War, Gaddafi's antagonism and the bitter recent memories of the Oil Shocks put a damper on enthusiasm. There was some hope that if the Ayatollah regime was to fall, then old concepts for Iran could be resurrected, but such would be a decade into the future at best. While Turkey was considered, negotiations stalled too much and were ended by other strategic priorities and developments. For Israel, it would be replaced with Spain with Spanish architecture considered to be the best replacement for sightlines in the overall Showcase design. Meanwhile with the UAE, it would receive a most left field replacement, the African nation of Botswana. Botswana's inclusion was a major shock to the public where it had never once come up previously, and many did not even know about the existence of Botsawana in the pre-internet age. However, the last failure of the World Showcase lead to its sudden inclusion. Disney's ignorance.

When downsizing the Showcase form 30 to 20 nations, Disney tried to make up for the reduction by having some pavilions be of a regional focus instead of an individual nation. This was hoped to both draw in more participating nations through shared costs and to engage parkgoers with a diverse and rich set of pavillions. The UAE was broadly already one for the Arab world, but further pavilions would be Australia-New Zealand, Scandinavia, and Equatorial Africa. While noble in intent, the regional pavilions were a bit ignorant and naive in trying to cram multiple nations into less than a square mile and make a cohesive theme, something which would have at least required double the standard pavilion size.

For Australia and New Zealand, while both nations were on close terms and saw each other as siblings, they had two contradictory goals for the pavilion identity with New Zealand wanting Maori and settler representation while Australia was focused on the beaches and Sidney. New Zealand was frustrated with the Sydney Opera House replica taking more than half of the pavilion while Australia could not find any meaningful addition to the Opera House, though the most popular suggestion was an aquarium to replicate the Great Barrier Reef. Ultimately, both withdrew in frustration while the space would be taken up by the Philippines who had been eager for a spot shortly after the Showcase's debut and would fill in the Pacific niche nicely.

Scandinavia was a more heated example of Oceania as the three nations fought for each other for dominance in the display, matters not helped by the Imagineers often creating confusing and contradictory concepts which did not make it clear which nation was on display or getting national traditions wrong. Sweden would be the first to withdraw, followed by Norway who could not get the Imagineers to sponsor a ride focusing on the Norwegian oil sector, thus leaving Denmark as the sole representative.

Perhaps the worst pavilion in this case would be Equatorial Africa. Named at first "Safari Africa" in a somewhat demeaning manner, the pavilion out of all the concepts seemed to be the most stereotypical and lacking in cultural nuance, just focusing on the American image of Africa as a wild jungle and primitive land of tribal peoples than any authenticity. While perhaps not done out of malice, Disney Imagineering did not do themselves any favors by creating "Equatorial Africa" a bland term which could consist of more than a dozen nations depending on one's definition and including hundreds of different ethnic groups. The end result was at best a sanitized Pan-African portrayal with the focus on the African jungle. Ultimately, even with its generous terms, Disney struggled to secure reliable partnerships and the "Equatorial African" nations were at the most heated and divisive over which nations were set to be featured. The pavilion collapsed after EPCOT's opening and would instead be replaced with Venezuela, one of the more popular concepts and one whose design perfectly fit the niche of an environmental-focused pavilion Africa was meant to be.

With the continued frustrations of Equatorial Africa, Botswana was pursued as an alternative for sub-Saharan Africa in case the pavilion failed. It would prove to be a move of good foresight with Botswana taking over the UAE pavilion space and providing a look into life on the African plains through a generally more authentic experience. It also helps that Botswana has been a continually stable and successful democracy.

Lastly is the curious case of Holland. A rich nation with stable domestic politics and having a sizable cultural influence on the US, the Netherlands as Holland was hoped to be a popular hit with the park. However, in the early 1980s, the Netherlands simply stopped participating well into development. It's not really sure why is such the case, with the Dutch government having many contradictory narratives. For whatever reason, Holland was now vacant less than a year before EPCOT's opening.

In stepped the O'Brian family who caused the second major change to the World Showcas. Writer and producer Catherine Powell upon hearing of Holland's departure, immediately went to work, creating a team of Imagineers to then shift focus on creating an Ireland pavilion. Due to Powell's high standing in Disney and familial influence, Disney Imagineers simply assumed that this was done with Roy's blessing instead of a passion project. The end result was a beautiful pavilion said to be a slice of the Magic Kingdom come to EPCOT, combing classical Ireland with bits of Irish folklore to create a magical emerald experience. While the Disney Board was broadly positive of the design, there were overriding political concerns due to the heating Troubles, and that Ireland's inclusion could produce backlash from the United Kingdom and pull it out.

Then Bruce O'Brian happened.

Catherine Powell would share her creation with her brother Bruce. Bruce, a proud Irish citizen who wanted to invest heavily in his ancestral homeland, was highly enthusiastic at an Irish pavilion. Thus, in 1983, Bruce who was under the assumption that the opposition was due to money issues offered a no-strings attached check of $32 million for the construction of the pavillion and its upkeep, which would last well into the 1990's under such terms with no inflation. The Disney boardroom was shocked at such an offer, though concerns for the Troubles still kept them on hold. However, the Star Wars Peace and diplomatic developments pushed them to go ahead and greenlight the Ireland Pavilion the last approved pavilion which would fortunately open well after the Ash Wednesday Agreement.

Morocco
Costa Rica
Taiwan
Philippines
Switzerland

Ireland Open March 1985
Germany
Brazil
Japan
Romania Open May 1983

Italy
Great Britain
Venezuela Open September 1986
France
Mexico

Denmark
Spain Open September 1987
South Korea
Botswana Open May 1984
Canada

Pavilion Features

On opening day of Epcot on October 1st, 1982, 15 of the 20 planned pavilions would be opened for a full visitor's experience. The full geographical and cultural variety on display along with an expanded Future World, brought in high reviews in critical and public support, making EPCOT an instant success which would compete with Magic Kingdom and Disneyland throughout the rest of the 80s. The remaining five pavillions would be installed on an annual basis leading up to 1987 along with many further expansions to the pavilions through the rest of the decade as part of "Phase II" of EPCOT. The full complements of the showcase are:

American Adventure: Functionally similar to the OTL American Adventure, but physically different. It is a dark ride where riders are presented with a show of American history presented by Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin. Set in a futuristic dome at the entrance of the World Showcase to transition between the two parks.

Morocco: Same as OTL

Costa Rica: The most nature centric of the Pavilions. Costa Rican nature was the main attraction with gardens, a large aviary, and pier for fishing. The Pavilion's presence and popularity would spur Disney's involvement in the Golden Toad conservation efforts started by Bruce O'Brian.

Taiwan: Same structure as OTL but with a focus on native Taiwanese culture and history. The pavilion continually has to walk a fine line on its Chinese influences, and even with the break of Chinese relations, Taiwan is never explicitly referred to as the ROC. While loved by visitors, it's very politically controversial.

Philippines: A very fragmented pavilion split off into islands through the lagoon. Guests went on a tour which showcases a mixture of natural beauty and history of the Philippines on each island.

Switzerland: Along with the usual shops and restaraunts, the show-stealing star of Switzerland would be Disney World's Matterhorn. One of the largest Disney rides, the Matterhorn dominated the landscape and became one of the most popular Disney rides ever, making Switzerland a fierce rival to Japan.

Ireland: A more lowkey experience. The pavillion was a rustic Irish village with a focus on pre-occupation Ireland along with a heavy infusion of live performers and small attractions featuring Irish fantasy. Essentially an Irish Renaissance fair, with children loving the many storylines and hidden secrets, and adults loving the Irish Pub.

Germany: Same as OTL, but the planned Rhine River ride is a part of the attraction from opening day, making it among the most popular Disney attractions, especially with its variety of beer.

Brazil: The Pavilion is a recreation of Rio de Jainero. It's largely a marketplace with a restaraunt and frequent live shows in a dance hall. There is a giant foosball attraction where guests can partake in fun matches against one another.

Japan: While architecture is roughly the same, it's majorly revamped. The Art gallery is replaced with "Meet the World", a revolving theater showcasing Japan's history and culture with live performances from seasoned Japanese stage actors. There is a movement simulator which simulates a Japanese bullet train taking visitors on a tour of Japan and throwing in some action scenes such as Kaiju and tokusatsu. In the late 80s, Mt. Fuji is added as a roller coaster. Japan is often considered the highlight and favorite of the World Showcase both due to its design and Japan's overall popularity. It also serves as a massive gateway to Japanese entertainment thanks to its shop selling anime, manga and movie and show home media. A section of the store also always contains Nintendo games and consoles.

Romania: A Transylvanian village leading to a giant castle featuring a dark tour which is sort of a historical showcase of life in pre-Ottoman Romania. There is also a theater showing a forty-five minute movie of life in post-war Romania and how Romanians are rebuilding and moving forward.

Italy: Aside from the shopping courtyard, there are two main features of the Italy pavillion. The first is a Gondola darkride, either going through the pavilion in a shortened version with a restaraunt overlooking the ride or for a long version, heading out into the Lagoon and taking a boatside tour of the Showcase. There was also an expansion in the late 80s of a "Roman Ruins" where guests partake in an interactive museum of Ancient Rome.

United Kingdom: Same as OTL, but with an attached Theater with a mix of animatronics and live actors. Starts off with a Christmas Carol, then in the 90s and beyonds rotates plays based off of classical British literature.

Venezuela: Split between an entrance courtyard modelled after Caracas, and a huge and expansive indoor section where guests are taken on a Skyliner dark ride which explores both Venezuela's nature and its history.

France: Same as OTL. Chances of Ratatouille coming are non-existent thanks to Lucasfilms owning Pixar.

Mexico: Roughly same as OTL, but with original concepts for the temple along with Rio de Tiempo being twice as large and more detailed.

Denmark: A quaint Danish village in the winter season. There are no rides and many shops, but the highlight is "Lego Kingdom", an attraction which features a series of exhibits that show Danish life and major cities along with Disney parks and overall being a fun and immersive visual experience with thousands of stories told among the figures.

Spain: One half of the Pavilion would have been focused on a dark ride taking guests on a journey of Spanish history from the Reconquista to modern day. The other half was heavily focused on restaurant where Tapas were the highlight.

South Korea: Sort of what the Japan Pavilion became OTL in terms of structure. Outside of shops, there is a museum with Korean artifacts and a theater where performers do Pansori performances. It's a very relaxing pavilion.

Botswana: Roughly divided into three areas. The entrance is a traditional Tswana village with recreational performers teaching about the Tswana's tribal history. Transitions to a mine attraction where visitors can "mine for diamonds" through a mining and panhandling simulation meant for children with fake jewels that can be bought. Sometimes the Seven Dwarves show up here. The last section is a courtyard resembling Gaborone with the pavilion's shops, showing Botswana's progress.

Canada: Same as OTL but Anne of Green Gables and other prominent series characters are usually present as cast members and frequently rotate out. Anne is frequently one of the most popular of the cast members and a delight for most who visit.

While the World Showcase didn't quite reach the original ambitions, it is still an impressive feat of showmanship, engineering, artistry and a proud example of EPCOT at its best in education and cultural engagement. Each Pavilion is considered as iconic to the parks as Cinderella's Castle, Pirates of the Caribbean or Splash Mountain and it is hard for anyone, diehard or casual Disney fan, to imagine a different Showcase.

A/N: Watched a two part Yesterworld video on the World Showcase, got obsessed over how it played out here. Here's the results.

Kaiser Chris · May 30, 2024

Wally's Edit

"Trapped inside an arena where love and escape do not compute."

Marcia Lucas couldn't help but snort and roll her eyes at such a line of narration so cheesy that it was practically chedder, and then watched with blank disinterest as the rest of the trailer then showed a fast paced and choppily edited sequence of Tron's lightcycle sequence which while the graphics were certainly a cool image and revolutionary, were organized in a somewhat sloppy fashion that didn't show anything close to their true beauty like how the Battle of Yavin completely changed the paradigm for science fiction and cinema in general.

Right now Marcia was in her personal editing studio at Skywalker Ranch with her latest project being the official trailer for Tron, the debut film for Pixar and what was currently being planned as Lucasfilms' Christmas blockbuster, and while not being directly involved as even a producer, was sort of a special interest project of George who felt so strongly that Tron would change cinema the way his Star Wars had five years prior.

George felt so strongly about the film after making frequent trips to Pixar throughout the production process that he had used his co-owner authority to place Marcia as the film's editor. Not that Marcia minded at all, watching footage from Tron's filming and then travelling to Pixar and see how it was all aligned with the computers to create the CGI backgrounds and action scenes was a very fascinating process and Marcia had a strong gut feeling that like Star Wars, she was in the midst of a film revolution and future cinematic historians and casual viewers would look back at her marks on such a great piece of history.

Thus for most of 1981, she was primarily focused on Tron, her old job of micromanaging Skywalker Sound thankfully no longer required as her teams had over the past five years become highly skilled and talented artists who could be trusted with crafting a movie without her direct oversight.

It was a shame though that the Tron trailer team had a fair amount of new blood who resorted to the old school style of narrator trailers pre-Star Wars where they just had a single man describe the concept in detail and basically tell you the main synopsis along with a few cool action shots at the end. It worked in the past, but it was not a good format for the new Blockbuster era and it truly did Tron injustice. A few people might be intrigued, but it would go over the heads of most audiences and wouldn't grab anyone the way Star Wars did.

Fortunately, the editing for the film itself was mostly done so all Marcia had to do was deal with the trailer, and then she would have a few weeks of light work load before taking the next great step of her life and becoming a mother once more with her and George's adoption of the soon to be born Amanda Lucas, finally growing their family when for so long they believed that all they would have is Wally.

Speaking of, Marcia turned to the sound of the door opening and smiled brightly as she noticed her son strutting in excitedly with Indy following at his heel, George greeted her with a shy wave, "I'm gonna go see the County now and the little padawan here wanted to work with his Mom for the day." George said, said meeting in particular was negotiations for Skywalker Ranch to get its own fire department.

"How long you gonna be gone?" Marcia asked.

"Eh, probably til around 6-ish. Was thinking of grabbing a pizza on the way home so we can just relax." George offered, neither of them really being enthusiastic cooks like Bruce and til Wally had been born, mostly been content with frozen TV dinners.

"Pizza?! Pepperoni Daddy!" Wally exclaimed happily at the news. Marcia shot her husband a dirty look as now they had to get pizza or else she was the villain for denying it. Oh well, Wally hadn't had any in a while and one pie wasn't bad.

"Don't forget the Breadsticks this time or I'm revoking your restaraunt choosing priviliges." Marcia warned.

George chuckled, "Yes Ma'am. Bye Wally, see you later."

"Bye Daddy!" Wally said, giving his Dad a great hug and kiss.

George then left with Wally setting down his bag of books and toys then trying his best to climb on top of the chair next to Marcia to prove he was a big boy like how Mary was a big girl, but he kept on squirming and failing due to his height. Marcia watched with amusement while Indy curled up by her feet and laid down with a yawn.

With Wally getting frustrated, Marcia stepped in and lifted her son on top of the seat, an endeavor which she found more difficult by the day as Wally's growing size proved he was no longer the little baby she brought home from the hospital.

"Watcha workin Mommy?" Wally asked with interest, swinging his legs excitedly.

When Wally became walking and talking, increaisngly developing a love for all things film, Marcia had become briefly concerned that Wally would only be interested in the flashy side of filmmaking with George's directing and he wouldn't care or dislike her work. Wally did seem to be more of a "Daddy's boy" and while she knew Wally loved her, they didn't have that same father-son bond that belonged to both George Lucas'.

Fortunately, her fears never came to pass as while Wally didn't exactly understand much of the technical stuff, he showed equal fascination and appreciation for Marcia's editing as George's directing and camera work. According to Wally, Marcia fixed messes and made good movies great so she had a cool job to him, which made Marcia smile all the brightly at Wally's enthusiasm. Who knows, maybe she would win the vocation wars one day.

"Well, right now I'm working on a trailer for a movie called Tron." Marcia informed.

"Daddy's computer movie?" Wally asked with interest, then his face suddenly morphed into a grumpy expression, "It a kid movie right?" He asked with crossed arms, a sight that made Marcia laugh, only to make Wally more crossed.

As George Lucas' number one fan, Wally wanted to watch every film his father involved in, but the issue was that currently came down to a very limited pool of three directorial movies and two producer films. THX was certainly out, not something for Wally until he was a pre-teen at least. Star Wars was a must and while Marcia didn't want him to see American Graffiti, George had worn her down with arguments that if it was good enough for Elvis to show his daughter then it was good for Wally, and thankfully most of the mature themes went completely over the toddler's head when he mainly liked the movie for the car stuff.

Now her son had waged a war with her for the last couple weeks over getting to see Indiana Jones, which unlike Star Wars had a pretty high level of grounded violence and most especially concerning was the ending Ark scene which had Marcia put her foot down. This made Wally develop a bit of a bratty phase for a while and while Marcia tried to hold firm, George was a sneaky tag teamer and wore her down until she agreed, if nothing else than to keep Wally happy so there wasn't any bumps before he became a big brother.

"Well, I guess it is." Marcia surmised, with Wally giving a satisfied nod. Tron was perfectly suitable for a PG rating where outside of a few lines of suggestive dialogue between the main trio at the beginning there wasn't anything outright adult and it was a fun adventure movie with the only dangers being maybe a little kid would find Master Control too scary in the same vein Darth Vader scared a few kids upon his debut. Thankfully, Wally had more grit than most kids as he thought the intense Ark opening scene was "Pretty cool".

In fact, maybe Wally could be a perfect test audience to help Marcia find what she was missing. "You want to see the Trailer Wally?"

Wally nodded with anticipation, "Yes please."

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtyHX7z8fi8

When the title card dropped, Marcia turned to see her son staring at the screen with a bit of a neutral look, "That Trailer yours Mommy?"

"Nope." Marcia answered. "How did you know."

"It not good like you, you always good." Wally complimented, making Marcia sport a wide smile.

"Thank you very much for the compliment Wally. Why isn't it good like mine?" Marcia asked.

Wally hummed audibly in thought as he adopted a thinking pose whenever Wally wanted to look smart like his best friend Mary, "Mommy trailers make story with movie. This tell me story, then show movie. It boring, too much storyteller talking, thinks I dumb." Wally explained, and if a three year old felt like he was being dumbed down then that most certainly wasn't a good sign.

"Any other criticisms?" Marcia asked, to which Wally gasped.

"Mommy, I no critic! Critics bad people who are mean to good movies." Wally protested.

Marcia raised an eyebrow, "Who told you that?"

"Uncle Bruce." Wally said simply, making Marcia shake her head at the Goose's influence.

"Wally, a critic is just someone who describes how something makes mistakes or is flawed. They explain the good and the bad of the movie, and sometimes they say nothing but good things about a movie. Uncle Bruce gets a little frustrated with them, but that doesn't mean they're bad people or criticism is bad. It's part of my job, I critique other people's work and help them make better movies." Marcia explained.

"Oh." Wally said, receiving a sort of mini epiphany at her education.

"Anything else you don't like about it?" Marcia pressed further, trying to subtly guide her son into problem solving and help further develop his creativity.

Wally thought for a while more than answered, "Trailer not show much of computer world. I wanna see computer world, not normal actor people. Then when computer world, things happen and I no know what going on and why." Wally explained. It sort of put to words what Marcia was feeling, how the premise was thrust upon the viewers with heavy handed exposition, a sudden burst which revealed one of the main gimmicks of the film's central premise too early, and then a whole bunch of nothing with a selection of lower quality clips acting as filler, in essence like shining keys to a baby.

"So what do you wanna see Wally?" Marcia asked.

"See computer world, lots action and cool bikes and ships. Make cool adventure story in trailer like Luke's story, wanna root for hero, be excited." Wally suggested enthusiastically.

While a bit of a childish explanation, Marcia felt it was alluding to the core of what Tron needed to be a good trailer and draw people in. Overall the narrative was admittedly Tron's weakest point as it lacked the grandiose structure and callbacks to classical theater that were filled in Star Wars, it was a simple adventure movie, but the trailer was treating it as a story equal to Star Wars. The main draw of Tron was always going to be the cool and innovative computer imagery, so why not let the world of Tron become the star of the show, draw people in through there and the sequences that previously weren't possible, then let the story play out once they sat their buts in the theater?

"Well, I'm gonna make a better one right now, want to be my helper?" Marcia offered.

"Yes!" Wally said excitedly. Nearby, Indy was wagging his tail excitedly and hopped onto one of the nearby chairs, wanting to be part of the moment.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jp2gGqgn3Fw

While she didn't finish by the time George returned with his pizza, with Wally's help, Marcia was pushed into a right direction for a great introductory trailer. Instead of making half the trailer about the human section, it would be left out for now and implied, instead taking the audience straight into the computer world with expansive shots of the digital setting and being intrigued naturally by the Master Control instructing Sark on how to deal with the newcomer Flynn.

There was a great air of mystery and intrigue at what exactly was going on without anything spoiling away. A basic narrative structure was presented by focusing on the gladiatorial aspect, the exposition being delivered not by narrator, but by the dialogue within the film, giving an air of epicness and a weight while telling the viewer all the minimal necessary details they needed to get hook. Add in a highlight reel of a lot of the cool fight scenes and vehicular chases and it was sure to be as enticing as a chunk of peanut butter covered cheese on a mouse trap.

Come Christmas, Tron would be released and change the game of moviemaking forever, or how it was called at Lucasfilms, just another day at the office.

overmind · May 29, 2024

I remember watching this show, and feeling that while not as good as the Power Rangers, or the many other variants they tried making/taking from Japan's other shows, it still had its own charm to it that made me watch it on a regular basis, if only for the uniqueness of seeing what it was clearly an attempt at making a western mythological version of a Tokusatsu show. Frankly, watching it now again, I find that making it a live action TV show was clearly a mistake, as it limited what the actors could do, what the myths would be allowed to be shown (seriously, it's set in what is clearly a mythological Ireland and they're using Greek mythological monsters!) and the special effects needed for it to work were way too expensive for it.

Which is why I think it could be made into a Comic.

Marvel has experience with this kind of stories. From the adaptations of Conan the Barbarian, to Thor's run by Walt Simonson, I think a good compromise can be made to make sure this kind of story could be made, while also introducing a bit more of Bruce's beautiful Irish Mythology to the imagination. Show that they can be as commercially viable as the more known Greek myths.

Thus, I give you:

Comic Pitch:
Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog

GENRE: Fantasy/Adventure/Drama/

SUBGENRE: Mythological/Action

FORMAT: Comic

Set Up: Based on Celtic legends, specifically the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology. When a tyrant queen from the land of Temra invades the peaceful land of Kells, King Conchobar must rely on an ancient legend which foretells of an orphan who will find the mighty warrior Draganta and "bring peace to Kells for 1000 lifetimes." The legend also tells of the four Mystic Armors and Pyre the fire dragon. The recipients of the Armors are Angus, a miscreant of sorts; Ivar, a Moorish prince; Deirdre, Princess of Kells; and Rohan, a destiny-bound druid's apprentice and the young man foretold in the legend. They are joined by Aideen, a young fairy; Fin Varra, the king of Tir Na Nog; and Garrett, the eventual fifth Mystic Knight. Together, the five Mystic Knights continue to defend Kells from the Queen Maeve and all her evil magic.

Artist: Walt Simonson
Writer: Louise Simonson

Rohan: An orphan raised by the druid Cathbad, he is noble, courageous and steadfast. His weapon is the Sword of Kells, which can emit fire. He also has possession of the Dragon's Breath Dagger, which can be used to summon Pyre, the Dragon of Dare. To become worthy of wielding the power of Fire, he had to defeat the Ice Lord of Temra. Once victorious, he shouts "Fire within me!", to obtain said power. It is later revealed he is the son of Queen Maeve, and Lugad is his Half-Brother.

Deirdre: She is the princess of Kells. Her weapon is the Whirlwind Crossbow, which shoots a burst of air. To win said weapon, as well as the ability to wield the power of Air, she had to defeat the Lightning Bat of Temra, speaking the words "Air above me!" to use said power. Deirdre is the most logical-minded of the Mystic Knights, and is therefore sometimes frustrated by her companions' foibles. She is also fiercely independent, though also a good team player.

Ivar: He is a prince from a distant land who came to Kells in search of his country's sacred chalice. It is later revealed the chalice was stolen by Torc; Maeve's general. His weapon is the Barbed Trident which shoots blue bolts of electricity. To obtain said weapon, as well as the ability to manipulate water, he had to defeat the Sea Serpent of Temra, then shout "Water around me!" to gain the ability. Ivar is loyal to his friends but can be distracted by his search for the stolen chalice, often to his own detriment.

Angus: He is Rohan's best friend and a well-known, boastful reformed thief who often gets into trouble. His weapon is the Terra Sling Mace which throws giant boulders and can cause earthquakes. To obtain said weapon, as well as the ability to manipulate Earth, he had to defeat the Rock Wolf of Temra, then shout "Earth beneath me!" for him to gain and use the ability. He's usually laid back, though at time he can feel like he doesn't belong in the group to his background, feeling somewhat lesser than his new friends.

Garrett: He is the prince of Rheged, an ally of Kells. Prior to joining the others, he was magically controlled by Maeve, leading him to act against the knights in wicked fashion. However, they eventually freed him with a magic potion and he joined the team. Garrett has a unique ability to command any animal by locking eyes with it. His weapons are the Twin Timber Axes which shoot a beam of energy. To obtain them, and his ability, he had to defeat a giant spider that dwelled in the Banshee Woods and shout "Forest before me!".

Princess Lynette: The princess of a faraway kingdom. She became shipwrecked due to an attack by a beast called the Oilliphéist which had been pursuing her for quite some time. The Oilliphéist came to the island of Kells in search for her and attacked the kingdom's warriors, and the Knights; but fled after a lengthy battle. It later attacked the castle, but was repelled by the Knights. Lynette warned them that it would return at sunset before attempting to leave the castle for their safety, but the Mystic Knights convinced her to stay while devising a plan to lure the Oilliphéist out into the opening. Finally Princess Lynette and Rohan use his sword and slay the Oilliphéist, which she alone could do which as it turned out to be the reason was why Oilliphéist had been pursuing her. After the monster's final defeat, Garrett became her personal escort; with implications of feelings blossoming between them.

Cathbad: He is a druid and advisor to King Conchobar Mac Nessa. He also raised Rohan when he was an orphan. A father figure who did his best to raise Rohan as an apprentice. Cathbad is opposed to Rohan's hanging around with Angus because he tends to cause trouble. He can foresee the future and mentors the rest of the Knights. Cathbad's powers can rival Maeve's, but are limited largely to extra-sensory perception. His teacher was Seethchenn who had allied with Maeve.

Pyre, Dragon of Dare: He is an ancient dragon associated with the Mystic Knight of Fire. At first unwilling to tolerate any human presence, he soon comes to admire Rohan and later recognizes the Knight as Draganta, the legendary hero. He also has a fierce rivalry with Tyrune the Hydra. Pyre wears a gem-studded cuirass, through which he presumably makes contact with the Dragon's Breath Dagger wielded by Rohan. His likeness is worked into the Mystic Knights' armor.

King Fin Varra: The King of Tir Na Nóg. A fairy with great power who gives the Mystic Knights their weapons, as well as occasional advice. He is the rival of the dark fairy Mider.

King Conchobar Mac Nessa: He is the king of Kells and the father of Deirdre. With Maeve using dark magic to try to help her win the war between their kingdoms, he is in desperate need of the Mystic Knights' help.

Aideen: A sprite who assists the Mystic Knights. She has affection for Rohan and is consequently jealous of Deirdre.

Queen Maeve: She is the queen of Temra. She believes that being the ruler of Kells is her birthright, so she recruits the help of the dark fairy Mider. She is later revealed as the mother of both Rohan and Lugad. In the final battle, she takes over Kells until Lugad frees the captive Knights during her fight with Rohan. She uses her magic to assume the form of a naga-like creature with eye beams. Upon being defeated and regressing back to her human form by the combined powers of Rohan and Lugad, Maeve is banished to another island by King Conchobar.

Torc: He is Maeve's general who was a former general in Kells before he betrayed them. He stole a silver chalice from Ivar's kingdom, which Maeve needed to enable Mider to travel back and forth between Temra and his realm of dark magic. During the time Lugad was with Maeve, Torc used the Defender vehicle that was meant for Lugad only to lose it to Ivar. In the final battle, he learns that Maeve has been defeated and flees with his army as the Knights have defeated her.

Nemain: She is the former ruler of Temra until her student Maeve took it over by force. Since that day, she dwelt in a ruined castle and was seemingly content to raise and mutate Lugad on Maeve's behalf. When Maeve retrieved Lugad, Nemain now and then aided the Mystic Knights in the disguise of an old man. When Maeve is defeated, Nemain reveals herself and claims the Silver Chalice declaring her revenge on Maeve complete.

Tyrune: He is the three-headed hydra of Temra. Maeve tricked Rohan into saying a druid incantation that released Tyrune from his imprisonment. This giant flying creature sometimes attacks without any warning. Often fights Pyre as they are rival dragons. Tyrune's heads can separate from its body and can attack independently.

Lugad: He is half-human, half-demon creature and raised primarily by the sorceress Nemain who was responsible for his mutation. Lugad is the son of Maeve and the half-brother of Rohan. He eventually turns against Maeve to help Rohan defeat her and leaves Kells. Before Lugad leaves, king Conchobar tells Lugad that he is always welcomed in Kells.

Mider: A dark fairy who helps Maeve with dark magic. He uses the silver chalice from Ivar's kingdom to transport back and forth between a dark realm to increase his powers. After Maeve's defeat and banishment, he aligned himself with the sorceress Nemain.

Far Darrig: Sometimes known as Rat Boys as they are said to be rather fat, have dark, hairy skin, long snouts and skinny tails. They are little people who work as spies for Queen Maeve.

These are the four beings that the Knights had to fight in order to gain their Mystic Armor. They later fell under the control of Maeve, having formerly served their creator Mider.

The Ice Lord of Temra: A skull-headed ice lord and Queen Maeve's main general. He fights with a curved ice sword. Rohan fought him in order to gain his Mystic Armor.

The Lightning Bat of Temra: A bat-headed member of the Four Sentinels. Deirdre fought him in order to gain her Mystic Armor. He wields a bat-shaped boomerang.

The Sea Serpent of Temra: A sea serpent-headed member of the Four Sentinels. He uses a weapon called the Serpent-Tongued Whip. Ivar fought him in order to gain his Mystic Armor.

The Rock Wolf of Temra: A wolf-headed member of the Four Sentinels. Angus fought him in order to gain his armor. He wields a set of claws on his forearm and a sword.

Bugganes: Huge, Ogre-like creatures who are also shapeshifters. The buggane is generally described as a malevolent being that can appear as a huge man with bull's horns, glowing eyes and large teeth.

Am Fear Liath Mòr: Also known as "The Big Grey Men". Whenever they move, fog goes along, making it impossible to have a clear look at them. Many have reported them to be over 10 feet tall, with grey skin and broad shoulders.

Ellén Trechend: A three headed monster that causes havoc and destruction wherever he travels to. Though not unlike the Cerberus, no one can be sure whether he has the body of a dog or any other creature from the forest.

Fachans: Monsters or giants described as having a single eye in the middle of its face, a single hand protruding from its chest instead of arms holding onto a giant club, and a single leg emerging from its central axis. Very stupid, but nearly invulnerable.

Selkies: Creatures that can shapeshift between seal and human form. They can be friendly or enemies to humans, occasionally intermarrying, though in danger if they not return to the sea in a set amount of time.

Specters of the Banshee Woods: Female spirits who herald the death of those who hear their lamentations, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. They live in the woods, ruled by their queen, Clíodhna, who is hostile towards anyone who dares trespass it.

Oilliphéists: Sea Serpents residing in the lakes and rivers of the land of Kells and adjoining kingdoms. Maeve manages to control and summon several of them to become like a plague on the lands.

Fuath: Malevolent water spirits that inhabit the waters. They can take monstruous and giant appearances, or more human like, though still monstruous, ones. They prey on unsuspecting humans who get near their waters. Maeve managed to round up many once to attack Kells.

Wyvern: Mythical dragon with two legs hailing from the English shores and making his new home in the lands of Kells. Though not as strong as Pyre, it is faster and can attack at any time and any place.

Bánánach: They are preternatural beings, described as specters which haunt battlefields. During the many clashes in the history of Kell, some of the dead warriors' spirits, not satisfied with their deaths, haunt the land looking for either victims, or those who will grant them a final fight.

Werewolves: They are wolf human hybrids that are descendants of a legendary figure named Laignech Fáelad whose line gave rise to the kings of Ossory. They possess great strength, speed, and ferocity, though it causes them to have less rational minds, and to be led by battle lust.

The Fomorians: A supernatural race of beings that hold power and dominion over land and sea. Though bound to their territory by treaty with the humans, there are independent bands or individuals who make way to the human lands regardless of it.

The Pooka: Shapeshifters, bringers of fortune to whoever makes a deal with them, or whomever they decide to harm/aid. The Pookas are malicious creatures that are dangerous in that no one can find out if they are responsible for an act until it's too late.

A.N.: I've made some changes, mainly that the main characters instead of gaining armor they gain the ability to control the element of said armor (because it would look a bit too goofy adding said transformation in the comic), and most of the monsters are from Irish/Gaelic mythology which should add a bit of original flavor to the mix.

Kaiser Chris · May 28, 2024

Rescue on Fractalus!

Game Pitch: Rescue on Fractalus!
Game Developer: LucasArts Entertainment
Director: David Fox
Genre: Science Fiction

A space combat simulator developed in homage to Star Wars, Rescue on Fractalus is meant to be an innovative game to test vehicular combat, first person shooter, and the potential of Science Fiction in gaming for future franchises such as Star Wars, not to mention the introduction of its revolutionary fractal technology for which the game is titled after.

In the story, the player is a pilot for the Terran Federation piloting a "Valkyrie" combat shuttle on the planet of Fractalus. Humanity is fighting against the Jaggi, a Reptilian species with eye stalks. In each level, the player must traverse a highly mountainous and arrid planet, having to defend themselves against anti-aircraft and Jaggi ships which the player will have the opportunity to shoot down with their blaster canons. The primary objective of the game is to rescue downed pilots, with their location being shown by the wayfinder.

Once the pilot is located, the player will set their aircraft down and can do one of two things. Either wait for the pilot to come to them, or exit the spacecraft and go in search of the pilot. Exiting the spacecraft will lead to a first person shooter mode, where the player will be armed with a blaster and walking in a spacesuit. The motivations for entering this mode are to ensure the pilot reaches the Valkyrie safety in avoidance of native wildlife or Jaggi, and to go out and scavenge the downed ships for their supplies to fuel the Valkyrie's canons and shields. Therefore, when landing players must either chose for safety and the pilot to come to them, or take a risk to get more supplies.

Important information to note is that Fractalus has an acidic atmosphere, gradually lowering the shields of the Valkyrie, and will act as a danger to the player when in first person mode, thus giving them limited adventuring time. Another twist is that on some occasions, the pilots when approaching the player, either in the Valkyrie or outside, will be Jaggi in disguise, causing jumpscares and thus forcing the player to fight against them. Thus, the player will have to be on constant watch and it will provide motivation to play it safe inside the Valkyrie.

There are in total 24 levels with players scores being determined by the amount of enemies they have killed and the amount of pilots rescued with rescued pilots giving far more points than kills, thus forcing the players to remain on search and rescue. Players will be given a ranking system based on completion (S,A,B,C,D, F) and if given three Fs the game will be over. Players who receive an S rank in 12 or more missions will unlock a secret ending where they will receive a medal in a awards ceremony mirroring the end of New Hope.

A/N: Another Lucasarts original and like the Sportsball pitch, will be given a major upgrade in gameplay thanks to tech. Rescue on Fractalus was pretty bold and innovative for its time thanks to it being a pioneer of 3D fractal technology and its jumpscare mechanics, the latter of which surprisingly was added by George, and here it can be an early pioneer of FPS hopefully too.

RealOtto · Mar 9, 2023

Prompt Name: The Adventures of Bully Maguire: A Marvel Series
Genre: Comedy, Marvel, Action, Adventure, Slice of Life, Dancing, and Light Romance (Romance not Prioritised).
Sub-Genre: Parody
Format: Animated TV Series
General Idea: First episode shows how Bully Maguire was created, he was bitten by a radioactive venom spider (this version of venom) and goes through the normal Spiderman Plotline with more aggression than before. However it comes to a certain point in some part of the episode of him having to fight his alter ego, Venom, to have complete control over himself. After a grand battle that takes a lot of the episode, it ends with Peter winning and purifying and fusing Venom's powers.

When he become awake (The battle is based in his mind.), he discovered that MJ cheated on him with Harry and a certain photographer took a picture of his regular suit (red and blue) and somehow turned it dark, thus Jonah J Jameson leads the charge to ruin Spidey's credibility.

Amidst of this..he snapped. Then becomes Bully Maguire.

After Episode One, this entire series follow the adventures of Bully Maguire, how he manages to grow in power in a believable rate while also exploiting/exploring the Marvel Lore of this Version of Universe 616/Raimiverse. (Examples: Bully Maguire's revenge story against them, Deadpool's fear of Bully Maguire, Mr. Ditkovich Plotline, Joe's Pizza Plotline, Bully Maguire vs Avengers, Bully Maguire vs Cyclops, his..relationships with the other heroes, villians, etc. The different powers he learns that he can attain, etc.)

This is the Theme song of the Animated Series:

View: https://youtu.be/Nl-RVIdTUVI

N/A: Wrote this since people complained we don't have enough animated-related content..I accept the challenge to make more of them

Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest

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