TBF, Mags, you have been doing a lot of the heavylifting for the quest, so this will be in good hands.
To be clear to everyone, this is just me burning out on imagination of the quest, since my muse has been hitting me over the head a lot with so many different ideas that I just can't find myself too interested in this.
I'll still hang out here, though, since this still does have a sepcial place in my heart.
I'd like to thank you all for making this a wonderful experience while it lasted.
I'd also like to thank @Magoose, @Fluffy_serpent, and @Martin Noctis for doing so much to help prepare and write this quest. I couldn't have done it without you all.
Adhoc vote count started by Magoose on Sep 18, 2024 at 7:10 PM, finished with 35 posts and 8 votes.
[X] Plan Return of Conan -[X] Prince Lukas
--[X] Nicolas Cage -[X] The Vizier/Narrarator
--[X] Max Von Sydow -[X] Subotai
--[X] Jackie Chan -[X] Amon Thoth
--[X] Christopher Lloyd -[X] Bêlit
--[X] Kim Basinger, Sean Young and Daryl Hannah -[X] The She-Devil of the Sea
--[X] Lynda Carter, Bo Derek and Tanya Roberts -[X] N'Gora
--[X] Laurence Fishburne, Denzel Washington and Ricco Ross -[X] Red Sonja
--[X] Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kathleen Turner -[X] Big Jax
--[X] André Roussimoff, Peter Mayhew and Richard Kiel -[X] Mikhal Oglu
--[X] Danny Trejo, Amrish Puri and Edward James Olmos -[X] Khosatral Khel
--[X] Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rutger Hauer and Dolph Lundgren -[X] Govenor Jehungir Agha
--[X] Juan Fernandez de Alarcon, Steven Bauer and Robert Davi -[X] Ghaznavi
--[X] Wallace Shawn, Paul Gleason and Tracey Walter -[X] Princess Octavia
--[X] Lisa Bonet, Janet Jackson and Rae Dawn Chong -[X] King Yezdigerd
--[X] Roshan Seth, Ben Kingsley and Naseeruddin Shah
It may be wrong for me to have favorites, but I really hope Lisa Bonet manages to win the audition. She played my favorite character in The Cosby Show.
-[X] Prince Lukas
--[X] Nicolas Cage -[X] The Vizier/Narrarator
--[X] Max Von Sydow -[X] Subotai
--[X] Jackie Chan -[X] Amon Thoth
--[X] Christopher Lloyd
It turns out that everyone was absolutely excited to come back and dropped everything to do it. However, Max needs a pay raise after the last time… not because he needs it, but because he needs to surprise a friend to whom he wants to give a vacation to.
Well actually everyone wanted a pay raise, because well, they may like you, but you also can make boatloads of money.
----------------------------------
Sean Young was absolutely the one you chose, not because of the tabloids, but because she had a true way of making things both exciting and… well you knew she would take the training seriously.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
And Danny Trejo makes his big debut, one year before OTL, and all thanks to us as well. The man just screams danger by standing still, once he's done with the training regime, he'll make everyone wet their pants with a scowl.
He was my favorite to win. he just has this weaselly charsima to him, where you know he's a scumbag, yet you can't help but also feel some liking for him because of it.
Ricco, you were supposed to have been a Mercenary in Aliens! Act like it!
But seriously, Denzel will be just fine, just hope he does not mind how his character dies during the end of the first act.
Man, Pfeiffer is on a roll! First she gets to be Chani, and now she gets to be Red Sonja! And we are making a movie about the character of course.
We need to wash away the failure!
And Roussimoff is already showing a great start for his first role with us. let this be the beginning of a fruitfuil partnership for the future.
And Danny Trejo makes his big debut, one year before OTL, and all thanks to us as well. The man just screams danger by standing still, once he's done with the training regime, he'll make everyone wet their pants with a scowl.
... Arnold, what the fuck man! This was right up your alley! You just had to be the Terminator once more!
Oh well, at least we have Dolph just before Rocky IV, fans will be arguing as to which was his best role for decades to come.
Wow, they all brought their A-Game here... and Robert Davi won!? Damn, he must have wanted it more I guess.
He was my favorite to win. he just has this weaselly charsima to him, where you know he's a scumbag, yet you can't help but also feel some liking for him because of it.
YES!! My favortie actress for the role won! Oh, this is going to be great for my Omake!
... Kingsley won over two Hindu's for the role of a Hindu King. Damn, he's good!
"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For the want of a horse the rider was lost,
For the want of a rider the battle was lost,
For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail."
For the life of her, Lisa Bonet did not understand just why was she doing this.
"Five minutes before the next one" one of the assistants called out to the rest of the hopeful auditioners, a flurry of action between them all ensued. Re-reading their lines, preparing for their turn, fearing the time limit as if they were to be the next ones even though they weren't. How did she know this? Simple.
It was her turn next.
She took a couple of deep breaths as her mind repeated the lines assigned to her, all the while also thinking on just why did she think it would be a good idea to try and audition for the next installment of Conan when she had at best some experience in modelling and ads. She was not even supposed to be here, it was a school day and she had yet to tell her mother about it. Did she really think that they were going to choose her? She had just seen Janet Jackson, the sister of Michael Jackson himself, a close friend of Bruce O'Brian's wife. As she'd arrived she'd also seen Rae Dawn Chong, an already award-winning actress!
Compared to them, just what did she bring to the table?
"Lisa Bonet! You're up."
Had five minutes passed already!? Looking at the clock on the wall she saw it had. She stiffly stood and made her way through the door, passing the rest of the girls, refusing to look at any place but forward lest she lose her nerve. Passing through the door, she found herself in a spacious room, a large table in front of her where three people sat on, looking at her.
Her nerves were such that she never noticed the cameras around her, not when her attention was on the man at the center of the table. Everyone and their mothers would recognize Bruce O'Brian by sight nowadays, the face of Han Solo and Batman had become ubiquitous through the entire country, yet for the life of her she could not recognize the other two who were with him.
"Alright. Welcome Miss. Bonet. Now, you're auditioning for the role of Princess Octavia, and according to the notes, you'll be reading her first meeting with Conan for this. Any questions?"
His voice was reassuring enough for her to try for one. "W-well, uh, what exactly is Octavia's motivation here?" Her voice growing smaller with each word uttered as she saw the disapproving glances sent by the men at his side.
Bruce remained smiling though, which she took as a good sign, as he replied. "Right, here's the thing. Some changes were done for the original character so what we want is not so much a word-by-word recreation, but something that aligns more to her new circumstances."
Alright, so she had not bombed out yet with her question. That's good to know.
"As such." he continued. "What we want for the character is a sense of alienation from everyone." Wait, what? "Octavia is the illegitimate child of King Yezdigerd, and she's known that her entire life. She never fit in the court, everyone rejecting her because of her heritage. When she was discarded and enslaved by her own family she found no allies nor succor from the slaves either, seeing her as the symbol of their oppression. She never belonged to either side, and she has to find her own way, her own path, and overcome that stigma that comes with her just for being born."
At one point, hearing Bruce describe all the different details of the character, Lisa's mind could not help but replay her life; she never knew her father, raised only by her mother. She was alienated in school by both the white kids and the black kids, neither seeing them as one of them. She never fit in Highschool, her way of thinking not conforming to the more normal children, at times wishing she could just adapt as easily as they did...
"So, think you can work with that?"
Her face, who'd been looking down from the moment she entered, lifted once more, her eyes now holding a near serene yet complex look in them that had even the other two members of the audition re-evaluating her.
"Yeah, I can do that." "...with Bierman out of commission after the death of his daughter, and no signs of any director willing to take on the challenge for the remake, the production of 'The Fly' entered a period of development hell that had Mel Brooks take one of his biggest gambles when he contacted his old colleague, David Lynch, and offer him the script. Though not the first choice that Kip Ohman would have gone with, in the end he had to acquiesce to the man who was basically funding the entire project. For all intents and purposes, he understood that he could just as easily be replaced, as Pogue had before him.
"As for Lynch, his previous work at Lucasfilms had left him with a greater reputation, one which he was making use of to get funding for his long-desired project, 'Ronnie Rocket', found 'The Fly' the perfect vehicle under which to realize his ambition. The deal made with Brooks, aside from creative freedom, also included a promise for production of 'Ronnie Rocket' as the next project for Brooksfilms.
"Once the minutia was done, the task of finding the lead began. At first, Lynch was hoping to get Mark Hamill with whom he'd worked with during 'The Elephant Man', unfortunately he was already working in the upcoming Amadeus film. John Malkovich and John Lithgow were approached by Brooks, yet both refused citing either personal or professional reasons.
"It was not until the end of 83' when finally they got their lead as Brooks managed to get ahold of Pierce Brosnan..."
-Extracted from 'The Bizarre Production of The Fly', YouTube Channel 'Yesterworld Entertainment' For Tom Werner, the decision to leave ABC had come at the most opportune moment in his career. He was not ignorant to the fact that the current direction that the company was going through was beginning to enter its complacency stage, after nearly an entire decade of success and innovation, the company was ready to sit on its laurels and let the rest of the decade go by. And so, though it pained him to leave at the time when Three's Company was just starting to take the country by storm (and being told he was insane by more than one of his colleagues) he decided to leave and try for new pastures.
Not that he was striking out blindly of course. He'd been scouted by a newcomer to the game, one of the most unlikely ones as well, but the offer was intriguing enough to make it worth his while. The forming of a new Network in the Paramount Television Network presented both, new challenges and opportunities to those willing to take them, and he was determined to be one of them.
Not that he needed to do it alone of course.
"I spoke with Bill, so far he's still on the fence for that new actress, but he understands we can't hold off for too long either. Barry is patient, but not when the delay is because of one capriciousness". Said his friend and partner in this venture. Marcy was not what many expected when they thought of TV executives, yet he would not trust any other with his back, or project, as he did her. She had also been scouted by Paramount and proved herself as adept at producing in a new environment as himself. The both had worked in making sure shows like Taxi as well as Mork and Mindy became the new flagship series, along with Star Trek: Phase II and Gundam when the latter was still on the network.
And God willing, The Cosby Show will soon join their rank.
"We might have to cut the role if he remains stubborn, we just can't hold on for this long."
"Bill will hate that, and you know it. He's set on the fictional family to imitate his real one, and you know he has the near support of the rest of the cast. We might be able to replace them, but we are not getting another Phylicia to replace her." She argued.
"Well, what does he expect us to do?" Tom sighed. "Not like we can get his own daughter to audition, right?"
She rubbed at her brow as she actually considered Tom's words before shaking it off. Perhaps they could try looking at non actors or models, heck at this point she would be fine with even a regular highschooler.
Just, who knew casting Denise Huxtable would be that difficult?
Coming up next on "Dark Disney Night"; The golden hero from the East, 'Phantoman'. Then recapture the magic and scares from 'The Black Cauldron'. And finally, he thought he was bringing his friend back to life, but he could not have predicted what would happen then in 'Frankenweenie'
Only on The Disney Channel!
-The Disney Channel, October 31, 1984. "Cut! Alright, its good. Let's prepare for the next one!"
For Michael Winslow, working on his first big role on the big screen, the call could not have come sooner. It turns out that working for TV, or just small productions, was a whole other world than when you were trying for a big picture from one of the "Big Five" in Hollywood. He had not believed his agent when he'd said it, even when claiming that the most lenient like Lucasfilms would still demand the best out of his actors. But this was a comedy, one where he got to do the same thing he always did in all his appearances; make the funny noises and let everyone be wowed.
He wished he could go back in time and slap himself at this moment. Police Academy was turning out to be as demanding as he'd made fun off.
Moving towards where the cold drinks where, he wasted no time in just chugging an entire bottle of water to refresh his sore throat. It was near noon; they'd been at it since 4 A.M.! There had been small breaks like these ones, yet not long enough so that they can take advantage of every minute of darkness and sunlight they could get.
"It's all about the director you know"
Michael choked, the water coming out of his mouth in a rush as he tried taking deep breaths. He felt small pats on his back from the man where the voice came from.
"Sorry about that Mike, should've known better" Charles "Bubba" Smith apologized. The man moving like a ghost despite looking like the football player he used to be.
"No 'Cough' that's fine Bubba. No harm done" he said in between coughs and wheezes. Michael should have been more alert, what with the small space and constant calls from the director to begin with barely any prep time.
Wait. "What do you mean it's all about the director? Have you heard anything."
He looked shifty for a moment, making sure no one was hearing. "Well, I hear from gossip you see. Most of it not that good about the big honcho upstairs. Turns out, Murdock is preparing for some sort of big offensive at the theaters, and is pushing for as many films as they can be done, and if they're cheap then all the better. Our current director's deal is that he has a contract that allows him to direct this so long as it's both."
"Fast and cheap, huh? Yeah, that sounds just about right." The asshole, he thought as he went back to drinking his water.
"Could be worse man. I hear that the original plan had us go against Star Wars."
And there went his water again! By the time he'd recovered his breath, Hugh Wilson was calling the actors back to their places. Still thirsty, and somewhat hungry, Michael could only thank his lucky stars that at the very least his first movie would not have to face the juggernaut that was Star Wars.
He pitied the poor bastards that would though.
(...) George Lucas bought the rights for Christine, seeing it as an excellent portrayal of America's obsessions with cars, and in some ways a deconstruction of his own American Graffiti, hoping to produce it himself, but unfortunately had to be delayed due to massive well of support Star Wars received after Return of the Jedi. As the creator, this kept him busy moving from location to location during the first months, eventually delegating the project to Edward Neumeier.
His initial choice for director was Wes Craven, already known as one of the best at the craft, yet he had to refuse due to his already packed schedule. After which he decided to go with Sam Raimi, coming out recently from his third film, and having recovered from the ordeal that was Sisu. Raimi would tackle the project with the same enthusiasm and energy which he did on his previous films. When asked about his thoughts years later, Raimi's opinion on the book was not that it was that frightening, but it was just plain fun (...).
-From Christine (1985 Film), Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia August Sinclair: So, when did Marvelman came to your attention?
Jim Shooter: It came at a time when we were not able to do much, or perhaps better to say that we could but choose not to. By then, when we'd heard what [Dez] Skinn was doing after leaving our UK branch, we had so much to deal with, what with the expansion with our imprints [Eclipse and Atlas] as well as having to clean house and re-establish the hierarchy at Marvel after the buyout. Sure, we could have tried and sent a "Cease and Desist" order, but by the time we found out, Skinn and [Alan] Moore had successfully rebooted the franchise and gathered a significant following.
AS: Is that when the plan to have them join the Atlas imprint came about.
JS: Well, no and yes. At first, we were ready to go to court before cooler heads prevailed. Both Geoff [Senior] and Simon [Furman] were on site and had worked with Skinn before. They mentioned that he was more reasonable than we would give him credit for, and could be talked into a proper compromise. They argued that we would be wasting a very valuable fan base that could well join Marvel if properly handled, so with that in mind, there was agreement to try and speak with him first.
AS: It was not as things were done I assume? Marvel was not known to let other imprints or magazines use heroes with their names on it.
JS: The precedent was set that Marvel as a brand needs to be unique to the company only. Captain Marvel was made to take advantage, and despite reassurances from Geoff and Simon, we were still ready to turn this into a battle if we were pushed into it. Meeting Skinn was not what I expected however, though I should not have been surprised. If you'd met a creative in Marvel then you've met the baseline for all others. During the talks their main concern was less on the money but in how would this affect the story they wanted to tell. I think this was what convinced us to deal rather than sue in the end.
AS: Not everyone was happy about it though. Alan Moore was among the biggest critics at the beginning.
JS: Yes, it was hard to make peace with the fact on his end. I don't know what it is about British authors, one would think they'd be more prone to keep in line what with their monarchy and all [Softly laughs]. It would take time for him to see that we were willing to keep to the agreement; Marvel as a brand becomes licensed to Skinn and Warrior magazine, and in return we get the publishing rights for the Atlas imprint in America. Both sides benefitted and we got a new title out of it.
-Interview with Jim Shooter, May 1, 1991.
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1973
The Final Programme
Catherine
1977
The Brute
Diane
1977
The People That Time Forgot
Charly
1978
Superman
Ursa
1979
Conan the Barbarian
Valeria
1980
Superman II
Ursa
1985
Howard the Duck
Beverly Switzler (Voice)
1986
Highlander
Brenda Wyatt
1987
Over the Top
Christina Hawk
1988
Twins
Linda Mason
1989
Lethal Weapon 2
Rika van den Haas
1991
The People Under the Stairs
Mrs. Robeson / Mommy
1993
Falling Down
Beth Trevino
-From Sarah Douglass (Actress) Filmography, Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia "Are you sure about this George, you're not going to go back on it?" Steven asked his friend, both trepidation and hopefulness in his voice.
"It's fine Steven. Look, I know that at the time the entire thing seemed amazing. But now, when I re-read this it just seems so..."
"Edgy."
"Edgy."
Both men looked at each other and chuckled at the entire situation. In the end, it was not as dramatic as one would think. The Script for Temple of Doom was not on a timetable, they had more than enough time to make the alterations as they needed, yet the stubbornness that came to them sometimes reared its ugly head.
"It's not like it's all bad, it's just that it could be better with just some simple adjustments. The framing you used in Conan... well, the first Conan now, to explain to the audience how this is a previous adventure for one. Show we're not trying to forget what's happened before."
"Might as well change some of the more insulting scenes when entering the palace. We can still have the gross out food, but perhaps we could show that this is either the corruption from the Sankara Stones, or that the higher ups are so indoctrinated that they see nothing wrong with eating that."
"Make it something of a joke, that's good." George was already taking notes as Steven brainstormed on what could be done to improve the script. "We are still keeping Willie though"
"Yeah, yeah, I know how much you love the character." Steven laughed. "I also want to keep the initial scenes with Lao Che and escaping Shanghai."
"No argument from me there. What about the ending? I still want Indiana to be rescued by the British."
"Perhaps we can change it by introducing a new character. We can look for a new actor to play the role of a militia leader who is looking for the missing children and runs into Jones when they need help."
"Hmm, it can work out. Now, how about..."
George and Steven stayed awake all through the night as they tossed ideas back and forth, the energy in the room infectious as they made sure to polish a diamond till it shined brighter than before. "(...) the explosive expansion of Dragon Ball through America caught Marvel with its pants down. Though they had expected the series to be somewhat popular, they had never expected it to reach the levels where every man, woman and child wanted to read about the adventures of Goku and his search for the Dragon Balls. The combination of childish antics, mature themes, and kinetic fighting scenes that found fertile ground among the more martial arts obsessed crowds combined to make a product never seen before.
"(...) The Expansion from America to different countries came when demand expanded near the second half of the 80s, when Marvel, once more stable after its many expansions, saw fit to license the publishing rights to different companies around the globe, provided that they agreed to a stipulated contract whereas they were forbidden to make any bootleg copy of it. Though nearly all countries agreed to it, many were the copies from the other side of the Iron Curtain that did their own thing, and that's without even mentioning China and their attempt at suing for infringement rights...
"(...) 'Amerimanga Magazine' was launched in 1986 in Japan to, as Marvel UK had done in Britain, expand on the distribution efforts in the East like Taiwan and the Philippines, but at the same time to find new talent that could be coaxed to work for them and perhaps bring in their titles for the Eclipse Imprint. For the first times, many Japanese were invited to take a look at the different comics from America, as well as the takes from the Eclipse imprint. Dragon Ball alone made them a small fortune, with Usagi Yojimbo and Bubblegum Crisis coming in a close second and third place...
"(...) Masami Kuromada was one of the first Mangaka's who submitted their work for distribution in America, with Saint Seiya (Known in the west as Knights of the Zodiac) making its first appearance in April 1987, and gaining its own loyal fanbase, with children everywhere buying the models and toys, discussing who would beat who, and which of the knights was clearly the strongest, with talks about Seiya or Ikki usually being in the top ten, though Shun would make for a tough opponent as well. Personally I would always think Shiryu could take them all...
"(...) A young game designer by the name of Ryo Mizuno who came with an entire new concept that many would refer to as if "Lord of the Rings was made in the East", but its creator would call it "Record of Lodoss War". A series of Mangas and stories which would tell the overall story of the world, as well as side stories describing the worldbuilding and characters that could not be expanded in the main story. From there, it expanded into TTRPGs made by R. Talsorian Games, with Ryu becoming one of those rare sights; a mangaka that would see its work expanded into games and anime as well. Record of Lodoss War was an epic tale that enthralled all fans of DnD, with it becoming a close second along with 'Forgotten Realms' in popularity..."
-Extracted from 'Marvel in Japan: Manga and Amerimanga', YouTube Channel 'Owen Likes Comics' Joey Mak marched along his fellow alumni, their placards high in the air as they made known their voice to the people and the government represented by the police around them. Though not at the number when they nearly managed to bring the city to a near standstill with the chaos, they still made for a sizeable number, enough that everyone around had to take notice of them instead of being ignored. All for the better in his opinion, as the people needed to know the truth.
Though the city of Hong Kong had yet to enter the rule of the Communists in the North yet, it was up to him, and people of like mind, to make sure that everyone knew just how dangerous such an occasion would be to them all, how close they were to destroying the small freedoms they had at the moment... how many of them had been duped into supporting them once.
Like he had before.
It shamed him to admit it, but he'd once been one of the main supporters for reintegration with the mother-... with the Communist in the North! He'd been drunk on patriotism back then, so sure that they would finally achieve their rightful destiny when they expelled the foreigners out, that the future could only be greater than what they had at the moment.
Then the Communists had to try and kill Bruce O'Brian and get themselves expelled from the international community. It still sickened him the amount of excuses that the so-called Leaders of the party tried to peddle as if they were to accept them. The constant hectoring and badgering, pushing them to not ask questions and just continue as if nothing had ever happened. That alone made him question whether he was on the right path, but it was the second wave of refugees from the mainland, and the stories they told, that cracked its confidence in the party.
When the leaders once more tried to shut them up, claiming that they were "enemies of the revolution" and that they deserved everything they had gotten, he knew that he had to leave.
They say that there is no zealot like a convert, and in that Joey was proving everyone correct. Freed from the belief of the Communists in the North, he embraced democracy and Home Rule like a fish taking to water, helping in the organization of his fellow students, meeting with the different organizations that would be willing to lend their aid in educating the population of whatever lies they may have been fed, and when the first proposals of independence under the Commonwealth were whispered about, he jumped on them and organized rallies to garner support.
And though he could not claim the entire credit, he'd liked to think that some part of his work make Hong Kong's new "Commonwealth Party" first rally a success. "...By the end of 83' it was already well known that the studio would be expanded, 'and about time' many of us thought. Now don't get me wrong, working on DreamWorks projects were some of the most enjoyable moments we had, when we could bring about our thoughts and opinions on just how a story should go. I still feel pride when Miss. Titus took heed of my thoughts for 'Basil of Baker Street' and applied them to the final draft. I was riding high those days, feeling like nothing would top that moment.
Of course, I was wrong, but more on that later.
Despite it all, you'd hardly find any animator that was not being used in a single project at once, since most of the time we were needed to make up for the lack of inkers, writers, painters... you name it. Thank the lord that DreamWorks invested so much in the new technological advances, otherwise we would not have been able to bring out a single movie for at least two years!
It was with that thought in mind that we approached the New Year Party. Now let me tell you, parties when we worked at Disney were somewhat rare, but still enjoyable between members of the staff. Parties at DreamWorks? You did not want to miss them! Even more when you had the chance to meet with the Head Honchos of the place!
And for me, it was the day when my big break came... and nearly undid me as well.
I'd been spending the time with my fellow writers, some of us getting into a drinking competition (with a designated driver of course, we were not suicidal!) when I had to leave for the bathroom. I must have been more blitzed than I thought because finding the right way became like a trip through the labyrinth of Knossos. At least until a kind soul happened to find me and walked me back. I was still somewhat drunk, so I could not see him very well, but he was easy to talk with, always with a polite small on his face.
I must admit that after that I could not completely recall just what happened. I know that I accompanied the man back to the main hall for the festivities, and I do recall meeting and speaking with Mr. O'Brian about the different scripts and drafts it would take to make an animated film come to life, but also how the computer technology had advanced enough to aid us in the development.
I recall assenting to many things that night, but I'd forgotten them by the morning when I awoke back home vowing vengeance against the sun and its tyranny, spending time with my family, and in general just enjoying my time off, when I suddenly got a call from Terrell.
"Steve, just what the hell just happened?! What the fuck did you do?!"
"Wha- Terrell? What's the matter?"
"How the fuck did you got as the lead writer for the next animation project?!"
"WHAT?!"
Yeah, that man who helped me get back? That was Jim Henson, who'd arrived and spoken to Bruce O'Brian about the newest project he wanted them to produce. An animated movie this time, and one that I'd somehow managed to get myself involved, and had to now make sure it was written and animated to its best capabilities.
You should know its name by know. At the time they were calling it "Henson's Folly".
We knew it as 'Tale of Sand'.
-Extracted from 'At the Feet of Titans: An Insider's Look at DreamWorks Animation' by Steve Hulett Laughing at the most recent Jump Magazine, a young Eiichiro Oda could only lament that this was the last chapter of Dr. Slump that they would be presenting, with a message at the end promising a whole new direction they would be taking from here on end, and with new vistas that would change the way Mangas are written.
For him though, he could only lament that he could no longer read Dr. Slump. Toriyama-Sensei was one of the most amazing Mangaka's he'd ever read, and that was saying something considering that he'd read as much as he could for the day when he would join his ranks.
He'd tried writing to the magazine and asking if they knew anything about where did Toriyama-Sensei was planning to write his newest adventures, yet nothing had come out of it. It almost seemed like he'd vanished from the world.
But perhaps it was luck or destiny, the day he met a tourist family, and their son was reading a... what did they call it again... a "comic"? Yeah, that's what the west called its Mangas. A comic that had drawings that were very familiar to him. The child was clearly waiting for his parents, so he approached hoping to find out more about just what was he reading.
He should have remembered that tourists don't speak Japanese.
Through some grueling attempts at communication, which at some points involved charades of all things, the impasse was resolved when out of all things, the kid understood when he said Toriyama-Sensei's name. Well.. not so much understood as butchered it when he spoke it backwards, but hey, it was the thought that counts.
The kid's parents came and took him before he could understand much of what he'd said, but Eiichiro understood at least two different words he'd said beyond just Toriyama-Sense's name...
The first, the name of the comic; Sand Land.
And second, the name of the Magazine...Marvel.
Toriyama-Sensei was still making Manga, only now for Marvel, a company in the west.
What else could he be working at, he wondered. And what could draw him from Japan to work in America of all places.
And though he did not know it yet, at this point in life, was when the first seeds were sown for his future endeavors. A.N.: I've had all these snippets or small Omakes with me for different ideas, but at the same time I did not feel that they could be properly developed into a big Omake. So, I thought that perhaps I would put them all together and bring it, sort of like an anthology for all of you to enjoy. The theme here is the "Butterfly Effect" and how all our changes, big or small, have consequences that perhaps we don't think about it, but they still influence the world around us. Hope you like it.
[]Tech is going to be huge (CDs are happening... but this time, without the bullshit)
[]The fuck is going on at Sony? (The Hollywood spies are confused.)
[]Oda San gets good (Oda has an idea, but first, he might need a plane ticket to Tokyo. Marvel is hiring, and he might be able to get a job at the Japan office.)
[]Holy Hell (Henson's folly will begin production... next year)
[]Disney is back on top... Maybe (Disney Channels raitings are the second highest in America.)
[]Oda San gets good (Oda has an idea, but first, he might need a plane ticket to Tokyo. Marvel is hiring, and he might be able to get a job at the Japan office.)
[]Holy Hell (Henson's folly will begin production... next year)
[]Disney is back on top... Maybe (Disney Channels raitings are the second highest in America.)
[]Oda San gets good (Oda has an idea, but first, he might need a plane ticket to Tokyo. Marvel is hiring, and he might be able to get a job at the Japan office.)
I assume that this is going to happen when he's older since right now he should be around eight years old.
And no one can resist the lure of the One Piece!
...The Cosby show should be at least in paramount, considering that the shows currently in it were produced by the same people who produced and created The Cosby Show.
Life was strange, and in how a few decades everything that seemed normal and would never change would suddenly flip on his head. Such was the case for Abraham Fujimoto where growing up in post-war America, he often times had to pretend he was Chinese to avoid the ire and suspicion of veterans and white elders who harbored feelings of hatred and disgust to Japan for their actions. His elder siblings and parents weren't too shy of sharing stories of burden and sorrow from the interment camps, and even forty years later it left a tremendous scar on their psyches. Abraham's own name was a consequene of such trauma, where the Fujimoto's sought to act as white American as they could with Abraham being named after President Lincoln to show how American they were.
Now, with the 40th anniversary of Pearl Harbor just last year, things had changed in a way that still left his relatives in a near constant state of daze. Now America and Japan were not only close allies, but Japan was one of the most beloved and idolized nations in the US. Boomers and Gen X as the youth were called were fascinated by Japanese culture and history while corporate America looked to the Japanese Miracle with envy and tried to replicate their success. Kids played Japanese video games at the arcade, teens drove around and vibed to Japanese pop music on the radio, Japanese cinema had a dedicated following, manga was being more frequently seen hand in hand with comics at stores. Even Japanese restaurants like Sushi and ramen shops were now the vogue culinary destinations.
Most importantly, and perhaps a major factor in the creation of the "Japanese Invasion" was the rise of anime. Mobile Suit Gundam while not on the same level as Star Wars, was its own level of iconic within pop culture and characters like Amuro and Char were household names. With the creation of Gundam and other Dreamworks material, anime was now mainstream and seen as cool and respectable to watch for all ages instead of how animation had been relegated to kiddy stories since the end of the Disney Golden Age. Sure stuff like Toshiro Mifune's performance as Obi-wan and the Hoth scenes from Empire really pushed Japanese cinema. But it was another thing entirely to have anime be seen as elite and prestigous, Zeta Gundam currently breaking records and achieving popularity thought impossible since Snow White.
America wanted anime, and it wanted it yesterday. The good thing was that anime was a heavily diverse medium, not a genre persay but a way of storytelling with multiple genres that could cater to everyone. The major studios after Gundam created entire new divisions to import Japanese media or form new connections, and anime was at the top of the list. Fortunately Lucasfilms in its hubris only sought to uplift Sunrise, and while they were the best persay, that did leave an entire market with rich untapped potential, and it wasn't as if all the good artists were solely working at Sunrise.
Thus came Abraham's latest vocation, being the "Vice President of Japanese Relations" for Buena Vista Distribution. It was a very fancy title that in essence meant Abraham was in charge of networking and negotiating the importation of Japanese media to be distributed under the Disney brand domestically. In the grand scheme of things he wasn't high on the corporate ladder for Disney, though it didn't stop his parents from bragging constantly that their son was a Disney VP.
It was a huge step up from where Abraham had been in the mid 70s as an executive assistant helping the Parks Division with the construction of Disneyland Tokyo by being an interpreter and the middle man for exchanges. Even then he merely lucked in getting the position because he was Japanese and spoke fluent Japanese, a gift he was thankful to his mother for drilling in spite of the family's Americanization. It had been a very strenuous four years since his promotion in 1978, but Abraham was proud of the work he did and all the major connections Disney had created, his greatest being the importation of Castle of Cagliostro and gaining the trust and respect of Hayao Miyazaki.
Many of his relatives were bewildered on why he would work for Disney when Lucasfilms had opened the door for the Japanese Invasion and in a roundabout way, had played a major role in healing the post-war sentiments. While such was hard to dispute, Abraham didn't feel like jumping ship when Disney had treated him so well for so many years. Besides, while Lucasiflms may have had a head start, there was no reason Disney couldn't do the same, if not better if given enough time and some good old mickey magic.
This lead to what Abraham was focused on currently, helping to bring anime to the Disney Channel, Disney's very own premium channel set to release next year. Thanks to Gundam, Miraculous, Pacific Rim and Pluto, TV animation could now be made in a cinematic fashion. Disney, eager to remain the kings of animation and not be usurped by Dreamworks, was going to do their best to follow by creating original content for the Disney Channel, and if Abraham was successful, make anime a staple of the network.
His pitch would be delivered in early November at Walt Disney Studios. Such an action would already be of high importance, but it was even more critical that day as he was going to do it as part of a collective meeting of Disney Channel's leadership to discuss changes in direction, mainly in response to LucasTV and its success and recent developments.
The conference room where it was sited was certainly more grandiose than anything at Buena Vista and certainly gave the chamber an air of a war council rather than a corporate meeting. For the most part Abraham kept to himself as everyone was preparing and conversing with one another, being a bit demoralized from heavy interaction when the receptionist treated him like he didn't speak any English just from appearance, although he certainly did look the part of a salaryman.
At 10 precisely, Jim Jimirro and Alan Wagner, the heads of Walt Disney Home Entertainment and the Disney Channel respectively entered. Abraham, embarassingly reinforced stereotypes by performing a deep bow at his superiors, still stuck in the Tokyo business mindset that he had taken on for near a decade, though thankfully they didn't seem to notice or care so he sat down and did his best to avoid attention at the far end of the table near the door.
The meeting started off with some minor good news, mainly that the board had successfully purchased a tower down the street for the Disney Channel to use as their corporate offices separate from the studio proper. Though such niceities and positive developments were few with Jimirro immediately adopting a war face.
"Now, as I'm sure you are all wondering, shall the Disney Channel still be America's Family Channel in light of the commercial success and popular and critical acclaim of LucasTV." Jim began, casting dark clouds over what was a bright and sunny day.
From what Abraham understood, a mix of cold corporate strategy and earnest belief in Disney Magic had lead to the design of the Disney Channel being that of a "Family Channel". In short, the broadcast day would be divided into four runs for separate age groups. 6 am to 10 am was for little kids and pre-schoolers to start the day the Mickey way and engage them with fun learning and developmental programs. 10 am to 3 pm was for adults who stayed at home, were on break or off work. It would mainly consist of movies, but most importantly in the lunch hour was EPCOT Magazine which would serve as a behind the scenes and news program for all developments Disney.
3pm to 8pm would be a time for general audiences where kids and adults could watch together and have fun, though most programming was hoped to aimed at pre-teens to young adults. Some days would be movie focused, but in general it was meant to be original content that told new and imaginative stories focused on the Disney brand. Then there was Disney Nighttime from 8pm to the channel's closing at midnight. An adult focused block, though lacking in sex and profanity, mainly a mix of airing classive live action movies, popular PG imports, more "edgy" content like the Looney Tunes or anything in general that was bold and daring rather than the safe magic Disney was known for.
Ultimately, no one expected the Disney channel to be a dominant channel on its own that would be a peer to the Big 4 or for Disney to be lead by its televised content. Rather, Disneychannel was meant to serve as a gateway to build Disney families where kids would fall in love with the company and adult fans could relive their childhoods and form new memories with their friends. It also helped that the Disney Channel would be a family first channel during a time where sex, violence and maturity were all the rage.
Then LucasTV debuted and dropped a metaphorical nuke on the world of television.
It was bad enough that most of their shows seemed to be of genuinely spectacular quality that easily guaranteed a majority of the LucasTV library to be in the Nielsen Top 30 with appropriate critical acclaim, it was bad enough that Lucasfilm's catalog of prestigous movies was now available on TV with frequent appearences, it was bad enough that Lucasfilms was collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from merch via shows like GI Joe and Luke Cage. Worst of all for Disney, it was that Lucasfilms seemed to crack the code and beat them at a "Family" channel eight months before the Disney Channel was set to release.
Rather than designing the channel so that certain segments of the day would be catered to only certain age demographics, Lucas made it so that LucasTV would be "All ages all the time". Programming such as Family Ties, The Nguyens, Mafia and Cupid were designed as such so that relatively everyone besides little kids could be invested and enjoy on an equal level while the movies combined with Hanna-Barbera reruns kept the old and young engaged throughout the day. Hanna-Barbera's new reinvention from cute concept dialogue-driven shows into high quality story-driven shows gave LucasTV the title of the best animation on TV, also aided heavily by Zeta Gundam and Macross. Really the only mature shows were the prime time action-driven stories, and even then it was accessible enough that teens and older kids could happily watch.
PrestigeTV was a nickname for LucasTV, and when you could get the best programming that the entire family could rally behind, why bother with any other subscription, even the Disney Channel?
"To start off with, I have spoken in length with Roy and the Board, and they have agreed to drop our plan to $5 a month." There was a chorus of sighs and sucked breaths of varying nerves. Thanks to their ludicrous cash reserves that were enough to rival Scrooge McDuck, LucasTV could engage in financial illiteracy and offer their plan for only a dollar per year, something that would have made the likes of HBO bankrupt. Disney may have doubled its income in the past five years, but no one, not even Roy or Ron Miller was willing to operate the Disney Channel at a loss.
The $5 per month instead of the planned $10 would certainly attract more customers, but asking for customers to spend $60 per year instead of $1 for comparative quality and quantity with Lucas was going to be a hard sell. That limited the market to diehard Disney fans and the middle class and rich. Technically not new ground for Disney, but the company wasn't eager to have the urban and rural youth grow up devoted Lucas fans. Nevermind the logistics and how the reduced price plan meant that they now had to get 4 million subscribers to break even instead of the previous target of 2 million.
"Can't we just increase our free preview times? Maybe we do two weeks instead of one or cover entire holiday cycles like Thanksgiving week or Christmas break?" Asked a female executive.
"We will be doing such, offering a combined six weeks of previews throughout the year instead of the agreed four, but marketing has stressed that the dollar subscription of LucasTV is going to be the biggest hurdle for outreach. Even if our shows are the greatest television ever made, working-class Americans will prioritize financial safety and ease of access. Our competitors will be following similar approaches, even if none of us can outright match LucasTV's cheapness." Alan Wagner responded.
"What about seasonal deals? 'Sign up for Disney Channel this Christmas season and you can get your subscription for 50% off your first six months'."
"Maybe, but the board will not allow any deviations in price until the first year has passed and we have established a definitive subscriber base." Wagner affirmed with a defeated air, the room sharing a resigned glum at the price war. It would be one thing perhaps if it was just the Disney Channel which was going to be the main focus for the company, but with so many new ventures across the globe, they just couldn't be so cavalier with finances like Lucas.
"Will we be able to offer mature content for Disney Nighttime?"
Disney Nighttime referred to the Disney Channel's night time block meant for adults and late teens. While planning so far tried to paint it as a mature block, it was more of a venue for Disney adults to relive beloved childhood movies rather than the more edgy and daring content that Touchstone was making.
Jimirro sighed, "I've been in discussions with Roy and while he thinks that there could definitely be a time to broadcast stuff like Halloween and The Thing on Disney Channel, that it's a bit too counterintuitive to the channel's identity and could potentially keep away customers. Perhaps things might change for next Halloween, but we can't go higher than PG-13 for the moment, and even then it may be a stretch. Some of the board will also only back such a move if Touchstone VHS sales justify the existence of a demand."
Considering Jimirro main priority as head of Disney Home Entertainment was handling the company's VHS sales, such an endeavor was arguably just as, if not more important than the Disney Channel's success. While Abraham personally had mixed feelings of Carpenter's work, he appreciated the quality and admitted it was a right step in pushing Disney to stay competitive instead of just being a kid's company.
"Now, let's do a review of the LucasTV content and see where we stand in comparison. I would also welcome performance reviews of our current productions when approached."
Thus for the next two hours, the conference room picked apart the LucasTV lineup while offering their own reports on the current state of the Disney Channel original productions. It was undeniable that LucasTV had a raw edge in terms of quality, although the room was confident that even with the new state of Hanna-Barbera and their Sunrise offerings, that LucasTV was weak in broadcast share to children and that the channel lacked a firm identity with rather abstract theming and mixed daytime schedules hurting the casual viewing experience. It was the common belief of those present that were it not for the movie catalog and extreme cheapness of the price, that subscriptions would be far more modest and in line with competitors.
So overall, Disney could hypothetically have competitive daytime ratings, though school days would see weak numbers and prime time was agreed to be a bust as LucasTV's prestige shows would have no direct competition from Disney who just viewed it as movie nights. Weekends could be competitive, though the USFL deal was going to be a major headache for Sunday ratings.
Really the only avenue for initial success without spending hundreds of millions of dollars in developing primetime shows was to drive home heavily its role as the family channel so at the very worst, America's youth would grow up with Disney and Lucas stories as their fondest childhood experiences.
Though it was not all bleak, there was one potential avenue for direct competition, perhaps even overtake Lucas if the cards were played right, animation. As part of the radical overhaul to Walt Disney Animated Studios that Chuck Jones brought, a new sister studio for original television animation had been made in the past year after the success of The Black Cauldron. Its mission was to introduce Disney to the silver screen and make new shows that would be just as iconic and magical as the Disney theatrical lineup.
So far there were four interesting products to make up the Saturday morning lineup. The shows were designed to be new takes on classic Disney characters while also building on current popular trends. The star of the animated block was Duck Tales, an adaptation of the wildly popular comic book with Donald Duck's nephews going on adventures with Scrooge McDuck, the series being stylized like an adventure serial comparable to Indiana Jones.
Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers saw the titular duo rise from minor shorts to become detective heroes helping animals in need, with Mac and Tosh from the Looney Tunes now becoming part of their lore as Chip N Dale's financial backers, thus turning the series into a loose parody of Charlie's Angels.
Tale Spin was a really bizarre and out of left field choice to have Baloo the Bear from the Jungle Book be a cargo pilot going on adventures in Africa in the late 1930s. Abraham had no idea how one could think of such a premise when watching Jungle Book, but Indiana Jones was hugely popular and every studio was trying to make their own serial to capture the George Lucas magic so it was hoped to draw in general audiences from the aesthetics alone.
Lastly was a show nearly as bizarre as Tale Spin, Loonatics Unleashed. With the recent success of Looney Land and the Disney Channel's debut to see the airing of the Looney Tunes go to Disney World, it was undeniable that the Tunes would get their own show. Somehow thanks to the wild success of Superman and Batman, that translated to a futuristic superhero parody as a slightly edgier version of the Justice Friends. Apparently Miraculous and rumors of a second season in the works at Sunrise were the main motivation for a superhero show, but whereas Miraculous was an exploration of superheroes, Loonatics was to be a wacky and fun action fest with a primary emphasis on comedy.
Altogether it was a pretty solid lineup and it was perhaps Disney's one of Disney's best directions and a strong return to form for its animation department with the quality nearly matching the Sunrise animation and the focus on magic and fun sure to bring back old fans and form new ones. It was doubtful that any one could match the cultural weight and popular following Zeta Gundam was accuring, but just maybe Disney could make some new childhood memories.
And if Abraham played his cards right, his team could be a part in shaping that experience and Japan would get some much needed cultural exposure to further build on its latest success in the West.
"Now, I believe that Mr. Fujimoto here has some proposals for Japanimation to join our lineup." Wagner introduced, with Abraham doing his best not to wince at the once again butchering of the word anime. At the very least though, the meeting had taken his reports on Zeta Gundam and Macross seriously, and while no immediate counter could be produced at this time, there was ongoing research for an original mecha or space creation with the most popular push being a Duck Dogers series depending on the movie's spinoff.
"Thank you Mr. Wagner. While we cannot deny that Dreamworks and Sunrise have made some truly spectacular shows, it would be ignorant to say that this is the only works of art that Japan has to offer. Sunrise was not made in a vacuum, and as Lupin III has proven, there are artists with high talent that exist independently of Lucas-Sunrise and prefer the House of Mouse. Nevermind how in the luster for "Sunrise Smooth", animation fans forget the wealth of stories which exist before and concurrently."
Abraham took a deep breath and rose, gathering a collection of slides and some VCRs he intended to use for the projector for his demonstration. "For the past two months, my team at Buena Vista International have gone over anime productions within the last decade and have found a collection of shows that we believe would not only complement our original Saturday morning lineup, but for some could serve as an independent block on Disney Night Time to introduce anime for older audiences and complement our recent pursuits in Disney Dark and other mature takes on animation within Disney."
There was a chorus of excited whispers and gossip at this announcement. It was one thing for Disney to make "Dark" movies like War of the Worlds and Dark Cauldron, as even in Walt's times Disney could be bold and daring in the presentation of its films, one didn't play safe by having the Devil appear in Fantasia after all. However, no one thought to shift Dark Disney to TV, and if anime comparable to Gundam could be aired, that would open up the floodgates for the Disney Channel to be a truly all-ages channel.
"That is quite an interesting offer to present Mr. Wagner. I can't make any guarantees for an animation block on Disney Night time, or any regular show block, but why don't we start with Saturday morning imports and work our way to there?" Wagner offered.
Fujimoto bowed his head in thanks, not expecting much more and presented his first anime, "Now, we at Buena Vista are well aware that Disney original programming must come first, and as such all we ask for daytime programming is two anime series. Each cater to boy and girl demographics respectively and are genres that Dreamworks has not yet explored." Abraham said, grabbing their attention.
"First is a show for which I must apologize to our film department if there were any concepts for an adaptation, but I assure you this is the penultimate adaptation in the same way many regard Bruce O'Brian as the definitive Batman. This is Anne of Green Gables."
"It has been floated around the studios to make an Anne movie, but there hasn't been any definitive work on it." Chimed in the head of Disney Television Animation Gary Krisel.
"It is rather fortunate as I must admit that Walt in his heyday would struggle to match this." Abraham admitted, catching people's attention. Sure Walt Disney wasn't perfect, but he was WALT and even though everyone by now knew of his flaws, it was rare to be so flagrant.
"It's a very beautiful story combined with crisp and painting animation with all the hallmarks that would associate with a classic Disney film. The story will be familiar to many of our older viewers and can be a major draw to advertise in English-speaking Canada as a French dub has met with heavy acclaim in Quebec. At the time of its release, Anne of Green Gables was widely well received as one of the best children's anime and had similar ratings to Miraculous." Abraham emphasized, murmuring some excitement.
"Little House on the Praire is ending next March so this would be timed perfectly and draw in a lot of fans, not to mention it fits well with the company's western ventures." Wagner admitted.
"And if the show is successful enough, we could add some Anne themed materials to the Canada Pavillion at EPCOT." Abraham suggested.
"Let's keep out of parks Fujimoto, while television material being featured would be great, we can't order them and that's a whole different breed of company politics we don't have leverage over right now." Jimirro affirmed, with Abraham nodding in concession.
He then showed the executives some clips from Anne, and the animation alone had been enough to capture their hearts, with their profit-driven minds approving of the focus group reports who admired the similarities to classic Disney.
"As for boys, while our lineup leans more male-centric, it can be weak in grabbing the focus of adolescent youths. Right now the demographic among many interests is obsessed with sports thanks to recent cultural shifts and the success of Kung Fu Kid. While LucasTV may be airing football, we could focus on developing entire series set around sports." Abraham said.
"There's too much hassle and liability nightmare to do any fictional sports show and broadcasting sports games veers too far from branding."
"True, but with animation, entire sports and teams can be created with no danger of real world injury and any sport can be brought to the small screen with no limits in creativity or presentation. Japan has been developing the genre for the past decade and right now there is one series dominating young boys and girls entertainment that would fit well within the Disney Channel brand. Touch.
A coming of age story focused on the lives of two twin brothers and their female neighbor, there's a mix of sports at play with the main sport being baseball, but also elements of boxing and gymnastics present. There's lots of exciting action though its mixed with plenty of interesting character dynamics and drama for non-sports fans, especially the love triangle between the three main characters which can draw in girl demographics. It's manga, the Japanese comic book, has sold eight million copies and the series has been consistently within the top 5 of Japanese ratings with high enjoyment across all age demographics."
While Abraham enjoyed Anne, he had to admit that he was rooting for Touch hard to be accepted. It reminded him a lot of his own childhood and it's slice of life and sports stories could be an excellent route for Disney. Most importantly, Touch did what Sunrise surprisingly neglected, tell grounded stories set within modern Japan. Sunrise seemed to heavily favor the future or the past for national storytelling, so it was nice to have Touch show what life in Japan was like and share that experience with American children, bringing the two nations further together and preventing tragedies like WWII from happening again.
While the audience was skeptical at first, demo's that showcased the animation with the sports events which was close to Sunrise Smooth and the interesting dynamics that played out between the main trio had the room convinced that there was some potential within this slice of life. It also got some of the veterans excited that if this type of story could succeed, it could revitalize the family films of the 50's and 60's.
"Overall, Anne of Green Gables and Touch tell character driven and heartwarming stories that can be embraced by the entire family with narratives that complement the Disney brand while their successful distribution can further our relationship with Japanese media. The more mature and grounded topics and themes present in both can also serve as a testing ground for anime-style storytelling and productions of Television Animation." Abraham concluded.
Fortunately Abraham had played his cards right and chosen well by presenting some of the best that anime had to offer for the Disney Channel. While there was some hesitation towards Touch, the board couldn't deny that both shows fit well within Disney and it was hard to argue against the numerous focus groups who all had pretty strong reception.
With this greenlight, Abraham had at least succeeded in some of his objectives. Now came the hard part, pushing mature animation for Disney.
"I understand it is unlikely that these shows will be able to be played on a daily basis or have daytime reruns, but I think as a nightly block at least once a week that anime can help to garner at minimum casual primetime interest with some greater potential for franchise collaboration between Disney and the respective studios in whatever form it takes." Abraham stressed.
"Firstly is Lupin the 3rd Part 2. The series is an episodic adventure story surrounding Lupin III and his friends as they travel around the world performing heists while frequently confronting vile criminals, all the while pursued by the relentless Inspector Zenigata."
"Why Part 2, why aren't we doing part 1?" Asked an executive.
If Abraham was animated he was sure to have performed a sweat drop, "Well part 1 admittedly had a more crass and dark tone that even with new directions wouldn't fit for Disney. Part 2 is more popular and generally enjoyed by all ages as a lighthearted action-comedy, plus it serves as a soft reboot for the setting so there's no need to watch Part 1, or even Castle of Cagliostro." Abraham was rather fortunate no one at Disney had watched Part 1 before distributing Castle or else the movie would never have seen the light of day in America. Fortunately, the room was instantly on his side thanks to the success of Cagliostro.
"To counter Mobile Suit Gundam and Macross, even if on a limited scale, we would have Space Battleship Yamato. In the year 2199, humanity is under threat by the evil Gamilas who have irradiated Earth's surface and threaten to wipe out humanity. However, in its darkest hour, Earth receives an alien transmission of an offer of aid from one of the Gamilas' rivals which can help them win the war. By retrofitting the old battleship Yamato into a space warship, an international coalition of its crew flies off to save mankind before its too late.
The concept was an easy grab for the room as while Disney did its best to replicate Lucasfilms' Sci-Fi success as seen with Black Hole, Duck Dogers and Starship Mayflower, they never were able to copy the formula from Disney or Dreamworks. Fortunately for them, Battleship Yamato was in many ways a massive inspiration for Gundam and its premise shared a lot of similarities to Macross, both links Abraham repeatedly stressed.
"Just as Yamato influenced the space aspects of Sunrise Mecha, so too did this series heavily influence Gundam, Pacific Rim and Macross, in many ways it is the first true modern mecha, Mazinger Z. When the mechanical hordes of evil under the nefarious Dr. Hades seek to conquer the world, the only thing that can stand in their way is the Mazinger Z, a super robot entrusted to Koji Kabuto, the grandson of the Mazinger's inventor who must rise to the occasion to save the world."
Admittedly, Mazinger would have to have a fair amount of edits in the dub and some minor animation changes to make it palptable, the villain being Dr. Hell was not an easy sell in this time of heightened religious ferver. Still, the overall story was servicable as a sort of superhero story with mecha and Japanese youth enjoyed it with no issue, though it would probably be the most likely to stay in Disney Nighttime.
"Lastly is a sort of callback to our own stories, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. A retelling of Camelot lore with some interesting original changes, it's an action packed adventure with similar presentation to Excalibur and finally brings the Epic to the silver screen."
"Well Mr. Fujimoto, this is quite an interesting selection. I can see where you are coming from and the choice of the inspirations for many Sunrise anime is a good call. I think it's safe to say that we can go ahead with Anne and Touch, but for the others I'll need to run this by the board so we can go in with a united consensus."
Abraham bowed in thanks, "Thank you sir. If you have any further questions or would like for us to pass on our findings to the board, my office is always open.
Flipping through the Disney Magazine during his lunch break of the Conan auditions, Bruce O'Brian was very intrigued by what the Disney Channel had to offer. He had no doubt that LucasTV was objectively the superior product, especially with Zeta Gundam leading the charge and Carrie's USFL becoming the new craze of the nation. Still, it seemed like Roy and his team did make some interesting shows and anyone who was a diehard Disney fan like his niece and nephew would absolutely fall in love. Bruce also unfortunately knew there was a good chance he'd have to subscribe, if not for scoping out the competition than to satisfy the kids who would most likely be jealous if they ever discovered it at Cat's house.
Flipping past a page focusing on a rather bizarre Looney Tunes show, Bruce was completely stunned when he saw several images with familiar anime aesthetics, this particular section titled, "East Meets West: Disney's Anime Imports."
Fucking amazing @Kaiser Chris! It does highlight some weaknesses in our scheduling and pverall structure of our channel, but frankly, at this point I'd call them features rather than bugs as it were. Disney taking over the different animes not made by Sunrise is another way to get one over us. It's just a shame we can't do the same since we are beholden to Sunrise.
And I really loved that King Arthur anime, I remember watching both versions.
Edit: not to mention how, when looking it all together now, it is kind of mindboggling how we've turned the entire culture of America on its head by accelerating the embrace of Japanese cultrue by at least 20 years. There are still veterans who've fought the Japanese who must be living in their worst nightmares right now!
And the fear of Japan taking over America with their companies (which was very real OTL) must be increasing even more nowadays as well. How the heck is Card avoiding having an aneurism, I'll never know.
I'm really excited since although I can't fucking sleep since I fell asleep earlier today, fucking up my schedule, and my new sleeping pills stopped working, someone who I've been trying to get to watch Arcane so we could talk about it for a while now finally started. I'm also super close to finishing my Omake for Undertale (I'm a little over 2/3rds of the way finished I'd say) and it'll be be second actually completed Omake ever! I'm pretty excited.
To: Mr.Bruce O'Brian,Mr.George Lucas and Mr.Michael Eisner
From: Mr. Edward Magorium head of the toy sub division "sunset toys"
Date: Twelve April 1983
Re: Progress report on the creation of new Star Wars toys and merchandising as well as stocking of a sufficient quantity to meet demand for the upcoming new film List of completed or abandonned projects and milestones achieved:
Polly Pocket and Micromachine: The collaboration between Bluebird Toys (Polly Pocket) and Galoob (Micromachines) is progressing very well. The development of mini vehicles, mini figurines, and mini pocket universes is nearing completion, with the majority of models ready for production. Both Bluebird Toys and Galoob are extremely pleased to be working with the Star Warslicense, and they are ensuring that all aspects of the collaboration run smoothly.
Bluebird Toys, in particular, had already been exploring ways to expand the Polly Pocket line to appeal to a male demographic through their upcoming "Mighty Max" range. This foresight has provided them with a wealth of designs and concepts that require minimal adaptation to align with the Star Wars theme, streamlining the development process.
Given the success of the collaboration so far, and the strong synergy between the mini universe and mini vehicle product lines, it is expected that similar partnerships in the future will be seamless and highly successful.
Jabba the Hutt Lollipop : We have completed the disposal of the preproduction models for Lollipop Jabba the Hutt, which were intended for group testing purposes. This task was notably challenging, as is typical with such matters. It has come to our attention that some of these prototypes were distributed internally within the company; however, we have successfully recovered all copies that havn't been eaten.
In addition, we have retrieved all related documentation, including design materials, promotional content, memos, and other pertinent documents. Non-disclosure agreements have been signed where necessary to ensure confidentiality.
A single box containing the final version of the prototype, along with all related documents, has been securely archived for record-keeping purposes.
It should be noted that the intern, Frank Smith, who was partly responsible of this incident has been formally addressed .
We advised to cease any further references to the Lollipop Jabba the Hutt prototype and ensure that this matter remains confidential.
Waffle maker: All tests for the new waffle maker have been successfully completed. Production is now underway as planned.
It has been decided that a selection of approximately twelve designs will each have their own dedicated decorated waffle maker. This includes notable designs such as the Death Star, Millennium Falcon, R2-D2, and the Jedi Crest. The remaining designs are plate only and will be available for purchase separately.
One of the key features of these waffle makers is the ability to remove and replace the plates. All plates are designed to have a uniform general shape and feature a consistent hanging hollow for the attachment clips, allowing for easy swapping between different designs.
We are confident that this approach will enhance product versatility and appeal.
C3PO Tape Dispenser: To address concerns about the initial placement of the tape dispenser's outlet, we have revised the design so that the tape now dispenses from a different location. This adjustment ensures that the tape is dispensed in a more practical and aesthetically appropriate manner, rather than from C-3PO's groin area.
This change has been implemented to enhance user experience and avoid any potential issues related to the previous design. We are confident that this updated design will be more satisfactory and align better with both functionality and customer expectations.
Task planned for next months:
Contacting Lego: Our toy department has developed significant interest in the possibility of collaborating with LEGO on Star Wars-themed sets. Our creative team has already drafted several designs, which have been well-received internally. Given LEGO's existing track record for high-quality construction sets, we believe this partnership could enhance both brands and drive significant consumer interest.
We understand that Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who recently inherited over leadership of LEGO, may be particularly receptive to exploring this opportunity. This collaboration would provide him with a unique opportunity to leave a personal mark on the company and build on the legacy of his father and grandfather. Should this initial collaboration prove successful, there is potential for expanding the partnership to other licenses within our portfolio.
New designs: I am pleased to inform you that the designs and molds for the new Star Wars characters, ships, creatures, buildings, and related items have been completed. The final designs encompass a broad range of products, including action figures, t-shirts, costumes, coloring books, remote control vehicles, and more.
With the design and mold development now finalized, the next step is to dispatch these materials to our manufacturing partners. This will allow us to integrate the new items into our existing product lines and ensure their availability in the market.
Dog costumes: The marketing department has identified a promising opportunity in this market and has conducted preliminary discussions with design offices specializing in canine apparel.
The design offices have proposed a range of innovative ideas (a sample in the attached file) for dog costumes, reflecting their expertise in this niche. We are currently in the process of negotiating a contract with these design firms. We anticipate that formal agreements will be finalized shortly, with work on the project expected to commence next month.
Current roadblock:
Bubblegram: We have encountered significant challenges in the mass production of the Bubblegram decorative novelties. The primary issue stems from the fact that these items are derived from a patented technology originally developed by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) for holographic effects. The production process for these Bubblegrams involves the use of laser technology, which, while effective for small-scale or custom projects, has proven unsuitable for large-scale manufacturing due to the fragility of the equipment, the labor-intensive nature of the process and the substantiall difference between the original ILM creations and the Bubblegrams. This mismatch has led to difficulties in achieving consistency and efficiency in manufacturing.
Our team is actively working to resolve these issues. We are currently exploring existing laser technologies that may be adaptable to our production needs. Our goal is to identify a suitable laser that can handle the requirements of mass production without the need for developing an entirely new system.
We will continue to provide updates as we work towards a resolution, and we remain confident that a viable solution will be found to move forward with production.
Aquarium decoration: Weneed to review the electronics of our glowing aquarium decorations. Recent attempts to modify these products post-production have proven ineffective. The necessary adjustments to address performance issues are extensive, including the replacement of both the bulbs and batteries. This change will require enlarging the cavity within the decorations to accommodate the new components.
Our primary concern is to ensure that these modifications do not delete the risks of overheating, which have lead to battery combustion and explosion. We are prioritizing this issue to prevent any safety hazards and ensure compliance with all relevant safety standards.
Additionally, I want to address the impact on our team. Janice from the accounting department, who suffered injuries and damage to personal property due to shrapnels from the explosion of the Boba Fett decoration in the aquariem next to her, has been offered compensation. This includes coverage for her injuries,damage to her handbag and a significant bonus. Furthermore, the accounting department has been allocated a budget for a new mascot to replace Sir Swim-a-Lot, who was unfortunately lost in the incident.
We are actively working to resolve these issues and will keep you updated on our progress. Should you have any questions or need further information, please let me know.
finished,once again i would be happy to hear any constructive critisism or modification suggestion if i missed something or got it wrong.
Side note in regards to the japan-american relations in this quest: In RL the translations from japanese to english are... sloppy at best, to put it politely, has this changed here in this quest?
