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.
Could also offer our services to other IP owners. Offer to build rides and attractions with their IP in exchange for a portion of their profits or a worthy lump sum.
Dude, the Sega Saturn!? I expected us to get something closer to the Genesis or NES, perhaps SNES Lite if we pushed it, but you're telling me we're getting 3rd or 4th generation consoles already?
Seems a bit out there, is all I'm saying. I really hope Nintendo can keep up.
... I just think we should stick to buying DreamLand, but let's see what happens.
Well, our new "Playstation" console at least will be able to remain on the market for at least a decade if not more. In the meantime, we can make 8 bit games, 16 bit games, 32 bit games and 64 bit games for it without having to limit ourselves when it comes to story or worldbuilding. In a way, this is kind of freeeing since our console can suit itself for any kind of game we want for the rest of the decade without limitation.
We won't have to bow to conventional wisdom when they tell us a console should only havve certain kind of games, since from the beginning it will be able to do all of them.
This is good, I have some game Pitches to work on.
GUNPEI: STRONG HARDWERE GOOD GAMES AND STRONG STORIES! NINTENDO WILL RISE AND YOU WILL ACCEPT US AS EQUALS AND TITIANS OURSELVES!
Miyamoto: Hey can you guys help us make a Tie In Anime for something called Zelda?
Yamaguchi: Eisner.
Mike: Yamaguchi...how are sales?
Yamaguchi: They enjoy my companies work, tell me, do you wish to have brunch and discuss a deal, we've been talking with Sony, but they've been unusually preoccupied, so I wanted to see what you were interested in?
GUNPEI: STRONG HARDWERE GOOD GAMES AND STRONG STORIES! NINTENDO WILL RISE AND YOU WILL ACCEPT US AS EQUALS AND TITIANS OURSELVES!
Miyamoto: Hey can you guys help us make a Tie In Anime for something called Zelda?
Yamaguchi: Eisner.
Mike: Yamaguchi...how are sales?
Yamaguchi: They enjoy my companies work, tell me, do you wish to have brunch and discuss a deal, we've been talking with Sony, but they've been unusually preoccupied, so I wanted to see what you were interested in?
I have an Idea for a game on the Playstation. We should make one of those arcade collections, and maybe throw some of our own stuff on it. Like the Tron game concept I've seen on the thread, and a retro version of Wii Tanks
We should do that, yeah.
And by god, I hope that Nintendo partnership goes thorough. A shonen level rivalry would go hard in the videogame industry. We'll push eachother to the heavens and beyond!
Good Morning Mickey
Quality: 23+200=223 Audience: 56+200=256 Critics: 19+200=219
Basically an hour long cartoon block of the classic Disney shorts joined by the Looney Tunes with a focus on material from the 30s and 40s. Not exactly breaking new ground, but it was nice to see the return of such classics, especially the Looney Tunes and admittedly on some days you couldn't help but tune into the show just on the chance of seeing your favorite toons once more. Kids had a good time, parents loved seeing their childhood shorts, and audiences in general seemed rather happy with the return of the old mischievous Mickey. Sure he would never be outright Looney, but it was nice to see the Mouse be more daring and comedic rather than bland and safe.
Riding the recent wave of popularity in sports and exercise, Mousercise is a half hour exercise show hosted by Kellyn Plasschaert where kids would exercise in a variety of movements and workouts alongside many classic Disney characters in costume, and throughout the show there would be small bits where cast members would teach the value of nutrition and a healthy lifestyle in a sligthly comedic, though still informative way. Nothing too groundbreaking, just a Mickey Mouse themed workout video, but pretty decent in its content and little kids could have a good workout if they were dedicated.
When it came to your kids there were varying responses. Mary held a mild interest though she wasn't invested since it went on during pre-school hours. Sarah didn't care much for it at all. But Joseph loved the concept and while he wasn't a totally dedicated viewer, whenever it was on he tried to do cute little workouts with Carrie, though you seemed to notice Joseph was more passionate about sports where he was in movement or using balls.
It was received well by critics and audiences alike as a fun way for kids to be healthy and VHS sales for elementary and home were somewhat popular. Also for some reason Passchaert became an accidental sex icon with a lot of magazines calling her one of the most beautiful women on TV which seemed to coincide with the popularity of aerobic outfits in modeling and pinups. Even Joseph seemed to agree as he mainly referred to Kellyn as the "Pretty Lady". Well, you certainly didn't mind it when Carrie worked out...
Welcome to Pooh Corner
Quality: 68+200=268 Audience: 86+200=286 Critics: 71+200=271
Disney's newest addition to Winnie the Pooh was its boldest venture as its first live action show for the honey-loving bear. Welcome to Pooh Corner featured the classic characters brought to life as human sized puppet suits. Each episode started off with a narrator greeting kids and reading to them a story like the first season of Classical Tale, and then the next half hour would follow the Hundred Acre Woods gang on their latest adventure, usually learning some life lesson or a new skill along the way. While Pooh Corner wasn't on the same level as the Muppets, it was pretty close and while the suits may be a bit off putting at first, the characters stay true to themselves and the stories are written well as fun and whimsical, and when they do talk about morals, the characters aren't afraid to discuss serious topics and handle it with similar care to a Mr. Rogers special. Pooh Corner is a show beloved by all as a warm and endearing showing of the Pooh Bear and it'll likely stay around for a while.
You and Me Kid
Quality: 56+150=206 Audience: 32+150=182 Critics: 37+150=187
Honestly this was pretty adorable. You and Me Kid was a series hosted by Sonny Melendrez where each episodes have five segments dedicated to building interactive skills between parents and toddlers based on exercise, creative drama, listening and observation and pantomime. There was also a fifth segment, "Famous and 1/2" which focused on celebrities interacting with their children or sometimes grandchildren. You were very surprised to learn that George had been the focus of one episode where he was playing storytime with Amanda at Skywalker Ranch where with the aid of Wally and Marcia, they played a game with Amanda where she was on a treasure hunt and searching for items throughout the ranch. You were shocked to see camera shy George so compliant to appear, but he had a great time with Amanda and Wally and it was sweet to see. Also, they did try and contact Carrie, but Sarah and Joseph were too old and advanced for the show. Maybe next year or two something can be done with little George.
Sure it may not have had the pure excellence of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and few but toddlers and their parents were going to watch, but it was a pretty wholesome and endearing show and apparently there are parents who are having fun watching and playing along with their kids, so mission accomplished you guess.
New! Animal World
Quality: 44+150=194 Audience: 54+150=204 Critics: 30+150=180
A reboot of the 60's show, also hosted by Bill Burrud this time, the show was a more condensed half hour version following Burrud as he travelled around the world and documented various animals in their natural habitat. Nothing crazy, just your standard nature documentary, but an overall fun and enjoyable time for animal lovers and the kids were somewhat interested if it was on. They actually focused an episode on that bird sanctuary you are sponsoring in Hawaii, so that was nice.
So wait a second, not only did Disney have a news show, but it was their most popular non-animated show and considered to be one of the best news programs on television? Well if Disney wants to dominate fields that Lucas is absent in, entering journalism is certainly a bold choice, and one that has clearly paid off. EPCOT Magazine is a news magazine program with half hour segments around noon and six daily along with an hourly weekend segment around noon on the weekend. Hosted by Michael Young, EPCOT Magazine sort of acted as a journalistic extension of EPCOT's mission by being a show that focused primarily on interest stories around the country with a primary topic of culture, people and progress for its various segments.
Each episode would see the show present various segments of topical news and entertainment from across the country with no two episode being alike. There were various subjects of art, food, fashion, and travel that helped to inform American households of an exciting and dynamic world that was going on beyond their town and how recent developments could change life for the better, though sometimes with admitted complications, and how one could change their own lifestyle. In addition to several fascinating niche topics and people that were fun to be educated on, EPCOT made sure to keep up to date on various big societal and national trends and developments. Heck, one of the May segments focused on California High Speed Rail and you had a brief interview with one of the reporters.
Surprisingly, EPCOT Magazine was really committed to make it clear that they were true journalists and weren't just going to record happy fluff pieces for the mouse. Depending upon how active a newsweek was, there was usually some sort of recap of the day's events to keep audiences formed on major developments and the end of an episode, especially the hour long weekend specials would be dedicated to a major social or political topic that was affecting everyone. Hell, the first hour long episode focused the spotlight on social security of all things. Thankfully these segments never were obsessed with pushing an agenda one way or another, but with keeping families informed and alert and starting a discussion, the most interesting parts of these being live polls for visitors at EPCOT to see where normal Americans stand and what the conversation was like. It was a very nuanced and grounded presentation, one that helped to expand a kid's horizons and make them think without beating agendas or scaring them about the world.
Still, if one didn't want to see the news, there was plenty of other interesting stories and material on every episode with at least one segment sure to hit home and grab interest from the diversity of stories being investigated and the overall high quality of reporting. EPCOT Magazine in a sense presented an America and world that was changing and becoming more connected, but showed that it could generally be a positive experience and wanted viewers to be part of this new dynamic age through connecting to stories and people which just wouldn't have been possible previously.
You still wouldn't describe the Disney Channel as Prestige TV like how LucasTV was referred to as, but EPCOT Magazine came pretty damn close and had the most similar success outside of the cartoons. Every single airing was always measured in millions of viewers with the average for daytime being around 3-5 million while the evening and weekend could be around 7-15 million. EPCOT became synonymous with family news and was considered essential viewing for Disney Channel households. Michael Young became a household name described as the Walter Cronkite of children and celebrities were fighting over the weekly host guest spot. What started as just another advertisement for EPCOT has become a legitimate news source, Lord help you for the next time Disney decides to break into an unorthodox field.
The second of the EPCOT programs, Dream Finders seems to be a show created by Imagineers for Imagineers as an opportunity to go wild in creativity and engineering passion. The show is based off of the Journey into Imagination ride at EPCOT with Dream Finder and Figment the Dragon from the ride being the main characters, taking children on a journey each episode where they would adventure through a fantastical land and be met with all kinds of challenges on their journey which they must solve through the power of imagination. The rotating cast of kids would interact with animatronics and puppets in a very adventurous and fantasy version of the Muppets with each episode presenting a new scenario for kids to confront while they explore strange new worlds......
Wait just a minute, Disney made a Roleplaying Tv Show!
Once again, the Disney immunity strikes as all the bible thumpers who screech at Dungeons and Dragons and Cyberpunk are silent or love the show. Audiences in general enjoy Dream Finders as an impressive display of practical effects and engineering while the writers for the show always manage to create new and exciting adventures that are just as gripping as the likes of Sword in the Stone or Black Cauldron. Though you shouldn't be surprised, Cat is on the series rotating writers and her scenarios were praised as the best episodes for how it challenged kids to think outside the box and made for very engaging worlds. You knew there was a reason she had been super insistent on joining RPG nights for a couple of months!
Critics while praising the production quality and creations of the Imagineers are a little put off by the roleplaying format, disregarding it as another children show instead of the fantastical adventure that the series was. Well, as frustrating as it can be that Disney made a Roleplay show first, at the very least this could serve as a gateway to the genre in general, and the more kids and families were accepting of it, the more books like Cyberpunk and Forgotten Realms would sale.
People could say what they liked about LucasTV, but few but the delusional could say any show was an outright failure. Disney could not say the same with one of their shows being in the running for the Worst Game Show in History, Contraption.
The show saw contestants, usually ages 4-8 compete in two teams. Half of the gameplay was the kids watching a clip of a Disney movie and answering trivia questions from that clip. The other half was just the kids racing quirky vehicles which you guess was the "Contraptions". Winners of each round received "Contraptiles" with the team with the most Contraptiles winning some sort of Disney themed Grand prize.
Unlike Mafia which was a fun and thrilling social game meant to test each person's deduction skills, Contraption was just a very cheap kiddie game that was basically an ad to buy Disney VHS. Half of the runtime was dedicated to clips from the Disney movies, thus making it more of a glorified kidshow than a gameshow. The questions from these clips are really basic observational questions that Joseph and Sarah could easily answer. While the host did his best, there was also the issue that he was working with a bunch of little kids who probably had their first time on camera, so there were plenty of awkward interactions or the kids just not being smart so the host and judges had to be lenient with points.
Then there was the sole non-triva aspect of the competition, the races. Very simple and childish contraptions that looked more like attractions for a carnival game or little gimmick games to entertain fans between innings at a baseball game. Probably the worst part was that they repeated the same three stupid games literally every single episode.
After the first couple weeks of airing, the ratings dropped hard with Contraption never managing to get past 50,000 viewers reguarly and being highly dismissed by both kids and parents as boring, with critics happy to tear it apart as one of the worst shows of all time. Though it wouldn't be counted as the worst game show ever, that title would always be with 3's a Crowd.
Understanding they fumbled hard, Disney quietly pulled Contraptions off the air in fall and from that point on it became something of a lost media where the only copies outside of the Disney vaults were VHS recordings. A pretty major fail by Disney, though you have to give credit that at the very least, none of the kids looked like they were miserable and there was no scandals of abuse or the like so at the very least no one involved was hurt, that had to count for something.
Wish Upon a Star
Quality: 68+200=268 Audience: 86+200=286 Critics: 26+200=226
Well this was a pretty wholesome show. A reality program where hosts Joyce Little and Sharon Brown answered letters from kids and helped to make their wishes come true for a day. Said process was resolved in a number of ways from stuff like learning how to perform magic or hanging out with a famous celebrity. It was a pretty straight forward premise, but seeing so many kids have the time of their lives was pretty wholesome. Critics thought it was boring and exploitative, but audiences really enjoyed the heartwarming stories.
Probably the weakest of the documentary shows, but still a pretty strong series overall; EPCOT's America, America was a show focused on modern American families and their various lifestyles and cultures spread throughout the states. Each episode focused on a different part of the country with a focus not only on American culture and the American experience, but also the lives of many immigrant families and their cultures and how it all comes together in a great melting pot. Not the most professional in direction, and you suspect the purpose for the show's existence was to sell VHS in other countries. However, audiences seemed to enjoy it and this was actually the highest rated documentary by critics who preferred the natural style of filming and the many stories presented, with comparisons often being made to your Olympic documentary for the similar styles. It seems like after the mess that was the 60s and 70s, Americans just wanted to feel good about themselves and their country and were happy that such a show could shine such a positive light on all Americans.
Apparently there will be a second season focused on Americans who exceed in their chosen fields and exemplify the best that America has to offer, covering their lives and also their opinions on modern America and how the country is moving forward. Meant to play off of the '84 election, Cat gave you a warning that Disney is interested in including you. Oh boy.
Disney's Studio Showcase
Quality: 91+250=341 Audience: 90+250=340 Critics: 39+250=289
The last of the Disney documentaries, the Disney Studio Showcase was a neat show which offered a behind the scenes look at the many ongoing film productions and other major events and operations within the Walt Disney Company. While you were very experienced with the behind the scenes operations from a decade with Lucasfilms, it was still interesting to see how the competition was performing with lots of inside looks into near future films and park events and showing the world what went into running such a great entertainment empire. It was a very educational show for all ages, and Mary and Sarah loved to watch it for the technical and engineering works at display and the behind the scenes animation respectively, especially the Animation Around the World special which really entranced Sarah. There was also some occasional insights into Disney competitors, with ILM being a focus of one episode for SFX and VFX, so that was some nice free advertising, though if nothing else Disney likely did so to make you more amenable to allowing potential contracts. Still, it was surprising that this show happened to fifth highest rated documentary on Disney Channel as audiences fell in love with the Disney magic despite being let in on the magician's secrets so to speak. Thus it seems that documentaries shall be a staple of the Disney Channel.
Another classic cartoon compilation show, for this particular show it was done as a parody of PBS' Masterpiece Theater. Hosted by George Plimpton, he gave commentary before and after on each classic Disney and Looney Tunes short as if it were a piece of high art. It was mainly meant to fill in empty airspace after films until the start of the following show, and while nothing extraordinary, it was a funny little gimmick and any excuse to see more classic toons was fine.
Thank the Lord that Disney was only releasing DuckTales on Disney Channel because you're not sure how LucasTV would have been able to handle it being on one of the Big Four. You take great pride and joy in what Hanna-Barbera has produced and do on a personal level prefer the New Scooby Doo Adventures or The Nguyens to Duck Tales, but there's a good reason why so many are saying it's the best children's show on the air, it's just so damn good! A faithful adaptation of the highly beloved Duck Tales comics, the show sees Donald Duck's nephews go on adventures with their Uncle Scrooge along with Donald himself and new friends such as Webby Vanderquack, Launchpad MacQuack, and...Daffy Duck as Cousin Daffy (Explained to be on Scrooge's other side of the family)?! Each episode usually revolves around the ducks being on adventure in search of treasure or ancient mysteries, often battling various villains seeking to steal Scrooge's fortune.
Ever since Star Wars came to theaters, the Adventure genre has dominated screen and book alike as people try to replicate the magic and fill the human desire for journeys and wonder. DuckTales really stands up there as the pinnacle of the genre along the likes of Buck Rogers and Indiana Jones, just nonstop fun and wacky action really pushing the best of animation. It also helps that most of its episodes are some variation of an adaptation of the classic comics, with its writer being one of the Executive Producers, bringing the art and fun of the comic line along with some new concepts and ideas from a modern setting.
Every episode is just amazing from start to finish and the worst or weakest only gain such a title from having like a single flaw and 99% of the episode is still amazing. A fantastic cast of mallards all memorable and fun in their own right, including giving the triplets some distinct personalities and unique appearences beyond just different colors. Best of all to your enjoyment was the Daffy episodes, where he stole the spotlight while the show still remembered its leads and cast, adding his brand of goofy fun that can really drive an episode from 0 to 100 in an instant with no ability to guess where the plot would head. Stellar animation, great comedy, one could argue that this was peak Disney and it'd be hard to argue against them.
The show was the greatest success on Disney, and was perhaps its biggest push for the great subscriber climb as everyone wanted to watch DuckTales with the Ducks becoming the flagship of Disney Channel, helping to push it to 20 million subscribers by year's end. Duckmania was insane as DuckTales merch was definitely outselling Mickey merch at the parks and Disney stores while the Duck Tales comics were competing directly with the likes of Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. No matter what came to Disney the rest of the decade, the Ducks would be leading the charge. Perhaps it was only inevitable that the best weapon to fight against a Goose was a duck.
Had it not been for just the sheer awesomeness of Duck Tales, Chip N Dale would have likely been the most popular and beloved Disney toon. A fun fusion of modern cop shows and adventure serials, Chip N Dale sees the two titular chipmunks go on various adventures with their friends as part of the "Rescue Rangers" to save those in need and take on any crime no matter how small. It weirdly makes you think of it being Disney's Charlie's Angels, especially with Mac and Tosh of Looney Tunes fame taking on the role of Charlie of sorts. Chip N Dale does well in combining the best of its two inspired genres and like Basil of Baker Street, creates a fun and vibrant miniature world coexisting alongside the human world that our heroes venture into every episode. A really likable cast of memorable characters with strong personalities, fun and creative settings and cool action, what's not to like?
Hmmmm....maybe you should greenlight the Basil sequel soon.
Most definitely something you never could have imagined when watching the Jungle Book, TaleSpin is a rather odd choice of a spinoff with Baloo the Bear going from a happy and free ursine in South Asia into an adventuring bush pilot in what appears to be an African island in the late '30s. TaleSpin is perhaps the most reactionary of the Disney toons with it being made in response to the newly rising Adventure genre which was dominating fiction thanks to Indiana Jones, along with the heavily popular "Tales of the Golden Monkey" on ABC. For the most part the series is fine and fun with a likable cast of characters and exciting animation with consistently high quality action scenes, most especially the flying with Baloo giving Launchpad MacQuack a run for his money as a pilot. You have to give credit in that the show does in a sense perfectly embody the old Adventure Serials with it being a consistent favorite in the Lucas household for obvious reasons. Unfortunately its lack of a central focus along with a grounded setting leaves it often out of the spotlight in comparison to Duck Tales or Chip N Dale. Still, it's a fun experience for people wanting adventure stories and there is another season in production with rumors of a tale spin coaster for one of the parks.
Definitely the weakest of the Disney toons, Loonatics Unleashed was the strangest concept, somehow weirder than Baloo being a Bush pilot. Instead of having the first Looney Tunes show focused on the Tunes, it was focused on their descendants in the 21st century who gain superpowers after a comet hits Earth and then fight crime as super heroes. Alright, the Looney Tunes parodying superheroes make sense, especially in light of their former cousins in DC's success, but basing a whole show around it, and not having the actual Tunes themselves star? It was a pretty risky and bold gamble, and while it probably hasn't reached the success Disney hoped, it did managed to stick a landing and find its own fandom as a fun little chapter of the franchise.
Had they gone with a super serious and edgy story played straight, it would have probably bombed. Thankfully, most likely through the influence of Warner vets, Loonatics is very self-aware and knows what its parodying, and thus while at times it can be serious and gritty like Batman, this is done through comedic parody as it kind of dissects the recent wave of superhero popularity and the many tropes of comics while adding a good ol' Looney twist with zany physical comedy and some clever dialogue at times. It wasn't perfect, but at least it felt like genuine Looney Tunes, helped by many elderly Tunes making cameos throughout the show. Considering the wide slate of Looney Tunes content Disney announced, it's not like fans will be dry of material for years to come, and there are many kids who are growing up and having a good time, so you guess there's no harm done.
Anne of Green Gables
Quality: 44+300=344 Audience: 87+300=387 Critics: 96+300=396
In addition to its four main "Disney Toons" there were two Japanese imports on the Saturday morning block with reruns in the afternoon. Anne of Green Gables from Nippon Animation and Touch from Group TAC. At first you considered this just to be a distribution stunt to try and recreate Gundam, but you became very concerned after a trip to Dreamworks when the Japanese animators warned you that Disney had some of the best anime in their lineup, and boy were they right.
Growing up, Anne of Green Gables had been a favorite book of yours like a laid back and calm final chapter to the Western genre. You had been in the mind to do some sort of project for it, but never got the motivation to follow through. Now you might never will as the Anne anime has sort of cemented itself in the minds of many as the definitive version. It's a pretty faithful adaptation that highlights the best of the book along with some new stories, and the animation while not movie quality like Sunrise, is still a beautiful show that brings warm and nostalgic feelings of classic Disney animation, which is ironic with its eventual distributor in the US. The stories are heartwarming and magnificent, reminding you a lot of Little House and the Prairie at its peak.
Audiences and critics fell in love with the show and Japanphiles, or Weaboos as they are called for some reason, are stoked that there's another venue for excellent anime besides LucasTV. Admittedly, Disney chose well by distributing one of Japan's best works in slice of life and drama which showed the full potential of animation as a medium for serious and grounded storytelling, and admittedly Sunrise has mostly been focused on various forms of fantasy and action. Although it is slightly frustrating that chronic Lucasfilm critics point to Anne as a right example of how to keep animation family focused, even though Anne absolutely did not shy away from the book's more mature themes and stories.
WHY?! Why is it always Disney that can do no wrong?!
With the anime's success, it has brought Anne of Green Gables back into the public consciousness and it's now appeared on many school reading lists overnight. Disney has also done its best to make Anne a Disney character of sorts by managing to negotiate with Nippon to have Anne be a permanent fixture of the Canadian Pavilion at EPCOT, which Canada was more than happy with since Anne was first and foremost a Canadian character so it was a nice bit of national pride for the country. You have a feeling you'll see many Anne reruns on Disney for years to come.
Also, you got some messages from Sunrise that Anne's successful western distribution combined with its existing popularity has sparked a debate within Sunrise on whether or not they should animate Shoujo original stories and manga, not just female-lead like Miraculous, but shows fully in-line with the traditional genre.
The second Saturday morning anime, Touch was an adaptation of the manga by the same name following two twins and their best friend as they try to follow their dreams in sports, and navigate the mess of adolesence, made all the more confusing by a love triangle between the three. Considering Touch was breaking manga records and was selling millions per year along with being competitive with Zeta Gundam, it was clear that Touch was something special. Yet its performance was still stunning as it was the second most popular program on Disney Channel, just behind Duck Tales.
Its success can be attributed to Touch hitting so many genres and niches that were super popular right now. America was obsessed with Japan, Touch showed a slice of life story set in suburban Japan and your average Japanese youth experience. America was obsessed with sports, the main characters are all involved in their own sports with baseball being a central focus. Romance fiction was seeing new heights of success, we have a sweet and heartfelt love triangle that motivates the audience to watch and pick sides. It offered a lot of new experiences in animation that Americans weren't familiar with in the cartoons of old and did it with a great cast and awesome stories. While you can't say animation was consistently artistic, when it shined in the drama or sports highlights they really put in the effort.
For your personal take, why Touch was most successful was because it told an authentic-ish teenage story. Unlike your average American show where teens are an afterthought or a plot device for wacky shenanigans in family sitcoms, in Touch they are the main focus and it shows all the highs and lows of growing up in relatable storis that go past the culture barriers and when written with likable and endearing characters, it makes for a show that kids growing up can really get and relate to. Add in all the other factors, and it's no wonder it's a hit. It certainly grabbed Joe's attention who is utterly fascinated with a sports cartoon of sorts.
While it didn't hold the same popularity and social spread as say Gundam and Pacific Rim, Touch did reguarly see more than 10 million viewers and was considered a popular series with kids, while at the same time being considered Disney via association. Critics have consistently given Touch high praise as an endearing tale of adolesence and great showcase of Japanese culture. Some kids get more interested in baseball. Also strangely, Minami like Sayla explodes in personal popularity and is considered a quentessential childhood crush, although that makes sense considering she's a literal girl next door and holds a lot of qualities you see in Mary Jane from Spider-Man.
In late 1983, the Touch manga would see an English release in the US where it sold competively with Marvel Eclipse and works from DC and Charlton. With its success, a growing topic within the world of animation is how they can do a sports show and not repeat the mistakes of the Globetrotters cartoon. Hanna-Barbrea believes they have the answer, or at least one potential answer, stressing that you meet with them when you return to approve production of an Olympic cartoon.
Lupin the Third Part 2
Quality: 68+300=368 Audience: 95+300 Critics: 36+300=336
While Disney may be okay with anime on their channel, it's clear they want to do venture into more mature anime the likes of Dreamworks and Sunrise, but at the same time the Disney image prevents such material from being Saturday morning material. With Disney Channel prime time set for "Disney Night time" to rerun movies and a lack of primetime shows, there were limited opportunities to support such. Still, Disney persevered and created an anime-exclusive lineup named Jetix (What the heck does that mean?) to show new anime episodes geared towards more mature stories on Saturday nights. The lead of this lineup and star was Lupin the Third.
Having already struck gold with Castle of Cagliostro, Disney was eager to follow up on Lupin, and fortunately Part 2 came around which managed to remove the uncomfortable edginess of Part 1 and make it an excellent comedy and wacky adventure series. Everything that was great about Cagliostro is present here and while the obvious draw is the cool heist and adventure stories, the dubbing cast managed to really outdo themselves and turn what was already a funny script into one of the most hillarious shows of all time with their translations which even if not 100% authentic, elevated the lines and made it more relatable to American audiences. It's easy to see why the franchise has become so iconic in Japan by just watching a single episode, and overnight Lupin III has managed to become more famous then his original namesake.
Lupin III while facing confusion and occasional disapproval from critics, was wildly popular with audiences and achieved a respectable 5-10 million viewers per new airing. Had it been syndicated on LucasTV then you suspect it could have been a Top 30 Nielsen material, with its performance in Disney only limited by the brand and Disney's smaller viewer pool. Audiences generally felt Lupin III was an amazing heist series and exciting adventure with favoritism for the memorable cast, great voice acting, hilarious comedy and exciting action. It may not have had the pure cinema of Cagliostro, but damn it was a fun show.
You hoped that perhaps somewhere down the line you could find an opportunity to work with Lupin III like how Lucasfilms distributed the live action film so many years ago. But the end of the decade would cement Lupin being an unofficial Disney icon when the 'Lupin III Epic Stunt Spectacular!' opened in Disney World's Hollywood Studios and became an instant icon and must see attraction for the park. Darn you Miyazaki!
Space Battleship Yamato
Quality: 24+300=324 Audience: 56+300=356 Critics: 44+300=344
Considering the moon landing is coming up in two years, Zeta Gundam's supremacy on the airwaves and Return of the Jedi coming out, you would have expected Space Battleship Yamato to be the most popular "Disney anime". However, while well liked, it doesn't appear to be held in the same league of adoration and fandom as its children, most likely through a combination of older animation that can age roughly in some spaces and a more bleaker setting. As dark as Sunrise could get, they never got close to Yamato starting off with Earth dying thanks to radiation bombardment and humanity only having one year to live. Still, one cannot deny the excellence of Yamato's storytelling and its rich cast of characters, and the space combat scenes while not Star Wars level, are gripping engagements. When watching it, it's quite easy to see where Gundam and Macross descended from, and you can respect Yamato for starting so many trends and innovations in Japanese Sci-Fi and being bold in its presentation. Space Battleship Yamato may not be anywhere close to its domestic popularity in the States, but many Americans are no aware of it and are fans, and that's a win for Japan.
Mazinger Z
Quality: 48+300=348 Audience: 88+300=388 Critics: 29+300=329
Unlike Yamato, Mazinger Z had no trouble achieving the same relative popularity as its spiritual children and proved why it was the OG of mecha anime. While some critics said the plot was stale and simple, audiences didn't care as they fell in love with Mazinger Z for the same reason as Godzilla, cool monsters and awesome fight scenes. Seeing the Mazinger go all out against the Hades Robots was awesome to watch every time and you can see a lot of influences that would later go to Pacific Rim. Sure it may not have been the most epic story, but it was a fun show from start to finish and showed that super robots are really super and can stand just as tall and proud as real robot. Though it was liked for very different reasons, everyone agreed that Mazinger was in the same league as Gundam, making Disney very excited to distribute the sequels in the future.
Speaking of Super Robot, apparently Marvel before being bought out worked on some live action superhero shows for Japan. Something called Super Sentai? Maybe you should give it a look.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Quality: 89+200=289 Audience: 87+200=287 Critics: 96+200=296
Okay, why did no one from Dreamworks or Sunrise tell you that one of the best shows of all time was a King Arthur anime?! A retelling of the many Camelot tales with a focus on Arthur's rise to becoming King and forming the Knights, the anime straddles the line between faithful retelling and a sort of classic Disney-ish adaptation style that makes it more family friendly and turns it in different directions from the original material. No matter what is written down, it can't be denied that the anime perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Camelot lore and delivers a truly epic adventure and grand opera tale so great that it may be a definitive version for King Arthur, it's certainly leagues above Sword in the Stone.
Toei Animation may not have the same working conditions as Sunrise, but they somehow managed to create a masterpiece that feels like it should belong to Sunrise on quality alone, something that makes sense considering Sunrise did a number of co-productions with Toei before you bought them out. The animation is gorgeous, smooth, vibrant, cinematic. The action is exciting and epic. The characters are iconic and play their roles perfectly for a great drama and grand story. It was a glorious spectacle and probably among the best non-Dreamworks animation out there.
Considering it was far more family friendly then the rest of the Jetix lineup, reruns of King Arthur would be played in the afternoons alongside the other Disney Toons, and as such it managed to be wildly popular with heavy critical acclaim as some of the best fantasy works in animation. Audiences most certainly love it and it's considered a peer to Black Cauldron with many kids playing their own adventures of King Arthur. The only thing that holds the show back is that its new episodes come first on Jetix and it's reruns are a secondary priority, likely internal Disney politics at play for fear of Sword in the Stone becoming irrelevant and not wanting greater competition to the Prydain trilogy in production. If Sunrise ever makes full blown fantasy anime, you suspect they'll have done so taking notes from King Arthur.
The Looney Tunes Go to Disney World
Quality: 26+250=276 Audience: 74+350=424 Critics: 13+200=213 VHS: $275,638,846
A two hour commercial, that was the most common derisive tagline that critics gave to 'The Looney Tunes Go to Disney World'. It was a sentiment you couldn't help but agree with, for while it was undeniable the movie was of high production quality, having originally meant for theaters, at its soul it was just one cinematic ad for Disney World and Looney Land at Disneyland. Yet while the critics harp and complain about the commercial, damn if it isn't a glorious nostalgia fest and a movie that any fan of Warner Bros and Disney Animation would die for just for the pure awesomeness of seeing so many characters interact with one another.
That really was the novelty of it, just two hours of glorious fanservice where everyone's childhood icons just interact with one another on the screen from all of the Disney and old Warner canon. Sure, the Tunes and the Sensational Six have interacted with each other lots of times by now through shorts, but it was another thing to not only have all of the Merry Melodies cast, but have cameos from every Disney character too, a first for Disney itself. Even if many characters only had a couple of lines or non-speaking cameos, seeing such a huge collective like Peter Plan flying with Dumbo, Eilonwy hanging out with the Disney princesses, or all the classic villains scheming together was a pure delight.
It was a beautiful love letter to old Warner Brothers, what they had been before the rotten state they died in the 70s, and a celebration of all things Disney. Taking the best of both companies animations, the comedy and chaos of the Looney Tunes with the magic and wonder of Disney into an awesome fusion that was just pure fun and joy.
Originally it was meant to be a theatrical release, but office politics along with LucasTV forced it to be the innagural movie on Disney Channel, to support both the Channel and Disney Home Video with the movie meant to mark the opening of the Disney Vault. In this measure it succeeded in both regards as the free trial of the first week meant over 50 million households watched the movie and it sold more than a quarter of a billion in VHS titles. A hell of a way to start a channel, and a brilliant move from Disney on the great chess war of animation.
Fortunately for Lucasfilms, you already had a veteran of crossover animations with Hanna-Barbera, and the definitive best work of animation with Gundam. As Bugs himself would say, 'This means war!'.
Was thinking of doing a pitch based on the concept of the Marvel Mutant ForgetMeNot.
For the uninitiated, ForgetMeNot is a mutant with the power to be... completely and utterly forgotten every time you look away from him, any memory of him is completely erased from memory. And if you do look back at him? Those prior memories don't come back, so he's in a state of always being forgotten.
So I was thinking that a sort of depressing movie about a man whose entire thing is that he's forgotten, maybe it's set in a world of superheroes maybe it's not. I just thought it could be a neat sad movie with a hopeful ending, as I was thinking that he would eventually find love with someone who has a similar affliction just... reversed, they always remember everything no matter what, and it surprisingly works as a sort of counter to his own power. When she looks away she forgets, but when she looks back? The memories come rushing in.
so throwing upgrade idea (some copied from those who didn't made it last time) and see what stick:
Security: general improvement in the security of our installations, updating already existing security systems, adding new ones where useful and hiring more guards to keep pace with our expansions.
Set and props warehouses: most studios when they have finished a film (and unless a sequel is already planned) sell the sets, costumes and props and throw away what cannot be sold, because the maintenance of all These things can be expensive, you don't want to do that, keep them in good condition for the future.
Going green: An effort to reduce the ecological footprint of your installations, solar panels, wind turbines, regreening/reforestation of the surrounding area, improved building insulation, reduced single-use plastic and other waste, tried to source locally rather than the cheapest on the other side of the world, etc.
The Skywalker Sound Subsidiaries Extravaganza: expand it so you get even better sounds
The Mike Eisner Division Subsidiaries Extravaganza: Even niger buildings,more people and subsidiary abroad for international marketing,better marketing
The legal division Extravaganza: go to hell sony and other things like that.
The THX Subsidiaries Extravaganza: extended it to not only take care of the sound in the screening rooms but of the screening rooms in general, always looking for ways to enhance the enjoyment of watching a film in an approved THX theater.
Marvel Printers: extend the distribution reach of our comics by creating printing houses abroad, whether in Africa, Oceania, Eastern Europe or the Middle East if there is any market potential try to penetrate or create it.
Expend Oatfield,with the publicity you made for them they may have the potential to use a expention.
Lucasfilm Europe: Emerald Campus: Lucasfilm plans to expand its presence into Europe, with the best place to start in your mind is in the home country, Ireland. The Lucasfilm Europe Campus is set to be established in Galway [which, given Dublin's current urban congestion, gives the company room for expansion], serving as an office space, for production and legal, and feature state-of-the-art facilities for film production, post-production, and visual effects. By leveraging Ireland's talent pool, Lucasfilm aims to acquire and distribute European films and television while contributing to Ireland's entertainment industry and economic growth. The campus will foster collaboration, host industry events, and provide opportunities for local talent, positioning Ireland as a thriving hub for creative industries.
Bruce O'Brian's Glorius Gallery of Bootleg Films: After Robin brought home the suggestively titled "The Tramps And The Planet War" to watch after your weekly DnD session you got an idea so stupid that everyone laughed their asses off and beg you to actually bring it to fruition... So that is how this museum was conceived, which will be dedicated to immortalizing the awfully hilarious string of knockoffs and rip-offs from Hollywood movies that have been produced throughout the whole world, including masterpieces like the Russian Winnie the Pooh, The Korean King Kong, The Turkish James Bond and so forth... The exposition will not only include all the merchandising acquired (mostly through smugglers), the film itself via VHS or film reels, and the info about the film itself and the movie it imitates... The best part is that with every ticket is included a pass to see one of these bootlegs in a small Cineplex under the museum (the films rotate regularly).
Lucasfilm´s advisory committee of experts: Lucasfilm is a studio that cares to portray things in their movies with as much historical and scientific realism as possible (within reasonable limits) and is committed to making faithful adaptations... So it is well worth it to have several university teachers and other scholars in several fields (Physics, archeology, history, literature...),as well as craftsman,sportives,soldier and people of all kind of skill and knowledges in your call to serve as consultants...
I think we should have a quality and control Division considering we gain a lot of money from merchandising we don't want to get our customers crappy toys because one of our partners decided to cut corners
