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.
The video game field is growing at a prodigious speeds. Everyone knows one can make lots of money in the field with projects that take a month or less to make. And yet, even as people flock to a simple path to make tons of money, it isn't sustainable. There are many new leaders coming in without much knowledge of the field, and even those rising from the field itself have limited understanding of the very new field. Consoles are moving in with Atari leading the charge with the reputation of excellence, and over the horizon personal PCs are likely to become a new platform competing with consoles and arcades. And Atari recently had a change of management, one with a different view on the business given the formation of Activision, the first 3rd party game developer which formed from disgruntled Atari programmers.
Atari is the flagship company of the industry, they are unrivaled in press and market share. And yet, it would be too easy to get complacent, to sink their own future without even realizing it. In the process possibly causing the rest of the console market to sink under it's own weight. Innovation at Atari has been stifled by it's new management, while at the same time poor treatment of their most vital staff leads to their competitors poaching them. In this stage and the near future, the biggest asset is reputation, something which can't really be quantified, and it's influence is subtle. Especially when the industry is being flooded with games as everyone competes for the finite attention of customers, which could very well backfire on the whole industry if the one respected giant were to fall. And they very well could, because even if they were to make the mistake of burning their reputation, they may fail to notice the damage because of the major profits earned through said sacrificed reputation. This fact, alongside the change of leadership has left a very precarious position, and possibly an opportunity.
Lucasfilms may not be directly connected to video games. But the reputation of quality may enable an opening to push through the flood, or stigma depending on when the choice is made to enter, in order to allow the products a chance to show their quality to the wider market. And with enough effort and resources, it should be possible to build a more solid reputation with the chance given and help keep the market healthy even if ATARI would collapse. A young man sitting in a study ponders, looking at the paper he has writing. The video game industry isn't in a healthy state, too new, too bloated from the many people seeking to milk the money printers that is games, with few understanding the industry. Something even he doesn't really understand.
"The PC market is likely to try to muscle into the console market. While they won't have as many games or the benefits of already being set up for gaming..."
"That could possibly be an opportunity, though risky because it would need to be able to work on a wide variety of computers. Which would be a possible problem. Some system to help customers find decent games could work in theory, but in practice, how could we do it without basically ending up with something that is just touting how good something is? Helping build up video game critics would take time, and even then, where would we even find people whom wouldn't just sink the new system's reputation? Though... Lucasfilms is a movie company, maybe it could be leveraged somehow. Making trailers in a similar vein to movies wouldn't work, because that would do nothing to actualy show the product, unlike when it's done for movies. Maybe..."
He continues muttering away, pondering what route might work.
I was thinking about how to provide content for our future television channel, here are some ideas I need to clear my head:
Animated series adaptation of our licenses: we do like ghostbuster, addams family, beetlejuse and men in black, it's quick, easy and inexpensive.
We bring back some already made from abroad: Captain Harlock comes to mind, but countries other than Japan have already made series.
We bought Tales from the Crypt and adapted it before anyone else had the idea.
now the question is which ireland market can we invest in and do we still want to invest in ireland?
If the IRL economic crisis also occurs in the quest despite the new Romanian market we have an opportunity for a potentially very profitable investment if a little risky and which would make us look very good while helping a lot of people, on the other after the refusal of our offer to invest in cars we could say "ah finally you don't need help?, okay."
now the question is which ireland market can we invest in and do we still want to invest in ireland?
If the IRL economic crisis also occurs in the quest despite the new Romanian market we have an opportunity for a potentially very profitable investment if a little risky and which would make us look very good while helping a lot of people, on the other after the refusal of our offer to invest in cars we could say "ah finally you don't need help?, okay."
I mean, if we go the soft drink route as well, we can have Guiness jumpstart the recent draft coffee and soda phenomena, given their stock of nitrogen.
-[X]The Other Biker: Sean Young… You never heard of her till a few weeks ago, but you like what you see. Rolled: D100 + 25 => 125
She was dynamite. That was all you could say when directing her. She was inexperienced and young and eager. She had told you about some of the time working with Harrison Ford, and how that was not the best experience for her. She was not entirely through it all.
She thought you would not help her become better. And honestly, you thought about it.
But instead, you decided to treat her like what she was, an inexperienced actress who was looking to play off you, and needed confidence. That was… well to say that it was fantastic was an understatement.
Carrie laughed when she saw you act with her, saying "Dose every woman you against have to have so much chemistry as we do?"
Because while you didn't mean to… well the pixie dust was in the air, and the script was as air tight as Carrie wrote it. And it was perfect.
Reward: Your chemistry with Sean Young was incredible. +50 to Chemistry Rolls for everyone between Sean and You. +50 to both Bruce and Sean's SP.
Rereading this a realization came to me. With Sean being the best of Bruce's non-Carrie love interests and having a similar level of chemistry and Bruce and Carrie themselves it presents a pattern. Either Bruce's type is clearly brunettes and he will only be at his most romantic when acting with a brunette like Carrie. Or, Bruce has a fetish for Harrison Ford love interests and whereas Harrison treats them rough Bruce treats them like Queens, lol. Gotta act with more brunettes or star with Karen Allen to test the hypothesis.
I was a fan of this show, and was introduced to it by a family member. I thought the premise was amazing, and the chemistry between all the characters was amazing. I could watch them talk to each other all day long, and I tried to do so whenever I could catch it as apparently it did not have a fixed schedule. I think this is the main reason why it took me so long to find out that this show was cancelled without finishing its first season, at only 15 episodes.
Frankly speaking, this could be one of the great series of the 80s if given the chance. The characters all have their own views on how love should be pursued, and while they tend to go to extremes sometimes, it's when they work together when they find a more common ground for success. Though Cupid/Trevor Hale may believe love is about passion and emotions, Dr. Allen believes that it should be more about friendship and patience. neither of those approaches are bad in themselves, but take them to be the only aspect needed and it may fall somewhat flat. I can see this as a show where in the end both sides learn from each other to achieve their own goals.
Thus I give you:
TV Pitch: Cupid GENRE: Comedy/Drama
SUBGENRE: Romance
FORMAT: TV Show
Set Up: A larger-than-life character who may or may not be the Roman god of love—Cupid—believes he's been sent to earth to bring one hundred couples together before he is allowed to return to Mount Olympus. Whether by fate or other circumstances, now going by the name of Trevor Hale, he is put under the care of psychiatrist, and self-help author, Dr. Claire Allen, whose own work is often based in romantic relationships. All the while, he plots his campaign to promote romance, and earn his way back to Olympus. While encouraging sexual abandon in others, Trevor remains chaste; as he believes sex with a mortal will confine him to Earth forever.
Showrunner: Donald P. Bellisario Composer: Mike Post
Cupid/Trevor Hale: Trevor Hale is attractive, witty, uncommonly intelligent—and he may be Cupid, the Greco-Roman god of erotic love. Probably not, but he thinks so. Trevor's insistence that he is Cupid lands him in a mental hospital where he meets psychologist Claire Allen. Trevor tells Claire that he has been stripped of his godly powers by Zeus, and exiled from Mount Olympus as a punishment for arrogance. To win his way back among the gods, Trevor must unite 100 couples in everlasting love, without his bow and arrows. Trevor finds work as a bartender, and regularly disrupts Claire's group therapy sessions.
Played By: John De Lancie Alternate: Bronson Pinchot
Dr. Claire Allen: She is a New York psychiatrist who leads a support group for singles seeking lasting, meaningful romantic relationships based on shared interests and friendship. She has been assigned the task of supervising and studying Trevor Hale (whose name she knows is an alias), and readmitting him to a mental institution if he poses any significant danger to the public. In her case study ("Cupid: A Case Study") she expresses the belief that Trevor's delusion is in response to the repressed memory of a former lover. During their interactions,
Played By: Marina Sirtis Alternate: Candice Bergen
Champ Terrace: He is Trevor's roommate, best male friend, and a struggling actor looking for his big break. Champ tends to do odd jobs in different locations, sometimes as a bouncer at the club where Trevor works at, while looking for auditions in different roles for TV shows, and is usually dragged along with Trevor during his schemes to bring together a couple. He doubt's Trevor's claims of being Cupid the most, and is usually the voice of reason when he thinks he's going a bit too far.
Played By: Michael Dorn Alternate: Howard E. Rollins Jr.
A.N.: Finding the actors was both the easiest and the hardest thing I've done. I mean, in a way, if this hits it off then they might have a harder time finding a place in Star Trek: TNG, but at the same time I can't help it as I do believe that they are the right choice for casting. Cupid is one of those shows where the Main Cast is small, while the rest is mostly are either guest stars or just one-episode characters, though sometimes they managed to get popular enough for the show to continue. So, let's see what happens here.
John Henry: Man of Steel Directed by: Brad Bird
Written by: Robert Zemeckis
Produced by: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Production Studio: Dreamworks Animation
Distribution: Lucasfilms
Starring: Michael Clark Duncan, Phylicia Rashad, Joseph O'Brian, Jack Albertson, John McIntire
Budget: $25,000,000 Domestic: 389,225,321 International:589,836,695
Total Gross: $979,062,016 VHS/Merch Sales:728,191,409
Holy shit! Brad Bird made a film to surpass War of the Worlds as possibly the greatest animated film ever (At least for now) and in the process he made John Henry one of the most iconic and beloved heroes of American folklore and culture. People debate on if Tomino or Don is the better master of animation, but with this and Miraculous being done at the same time under Brad's vision part of you is thinking that he's the best talent that Dreamworks has got, combining Tomino's masterful storytelling with Don's brilliant artwork. Two masterpieces and he's not even 23 yet. One can only imagine the monster that Disney might have become if you didn't recruit Brad and he joined them.
Although to be fair, part of the credit rightfully belongs to Robert who made a fantastic foundation to work with for the script. After Dreamworks was born, Robert had wanted a challenge for himself and thus he made a script for an animated movie. Robert felt it a nice writing exercise to chose a Disney type movie in an adaptation of a classic tale, and he went with John Henry because he felt the grounded story and setting would make for a more engaging and relatable plot than most Disney films. From there Robert wrote John Henry as a pretty faithful adaptation of the song and tale, though greatly expanded with the film starting in John's early days of freedom and the discrimination and challenges he faced on his journey to the railways, and how his resilience, strength, determination fuel his drive to do good labor and through the love and support of his family and friends, becomes a great man. After the first act which showed John's origins and his romance with Polly, it then switches to the C&O Railway where John is able to unite the Irish and Black workers into a forged brotherhood to complete the railway and earn their land, and then in the third act the legendary climax of John versus the steam-powered drill and how he triumphed at the cost of his life.
It was definitely for the best that Robert had written the script as the best part about the film was the character's and how they interact with each other with some of the movie's best scenes being the dialogue heavy ones, supported by the beautiful animation which expressed human emotion through body language in designs that are far more powerful than any live action actor could do and just couldn't be done in real life. Robert also isn't afraid to tackle the social issues of contemporary America as many films and shows set in the time period would like to gloss over in purposeful ignorance. The film literally starts out with John and Polly as slaves and the villain is a KKK member and plantation owner who was John's former master. Throughout the film the legacy of the Civil War and the stains of the Confederacy and Lost Cause are an ever present demon that can never be washed away fully, but John manages to expose the evils of the Confederacy and stand tall and proud against its bullshit. There's also greater themes of America's historical injustices against its melting pot as the plight of the Irish and their maltreatment is mentioned as well through the Irish rail workers, and from there John is able to form a community and bonds of solidarity through shared history of injustice and the common desire to build a better future for their children. Probably the most powerful film about race since To Kill a Mockingbird. That's not even mentioning the themes of labor exploitation and the power and worth of the working class, which coming out literally the month after the Hollywood Strike ended in total disaster, served as an excellent warning to corporate Hollywood that they couldn't just regress to the Gilded Age and the working man must have their due.
The script is aided by Brad's masterful direction where he gives the really dramatic moments great power and weight but also makes sure to balance the movie with a good dose of inspiration and hope. Much like Hiawatha, the animation for John Henry is stylized based on the culture and contemporary art with Brad choosing to animate the film in a mix of American Realism and Social Realism to drive home the themes and give the backgrounds a sort of aethereal watercolor look that standout in landscape shots. You're also really glad to have this movie be animated instead of live action as while the voice actors could have probably done great live, the battle of John Henry vs the Drill would not have been nearly as impactful with Brad turning the Drill into a sort of demonic beast while John Henry's strength is shown in all of his glory as he becomes a titan and does the impossible with his strength and hammers. One possible issue of note that you should keep an eye on is that Dreamworks employees had some complaints that Brad was a perfectionist throughout the film and wanted extreme attention to detail along with having a tendency to hover over the various departments. Thankfully, Don was able to intervene and guided Brad to have a more friendly approach and trust his team, so hopefully he was able to grow and most of the issues were just stress with the Miraculous stuff.
Voice acting as usual for the Dreamworks standard was pretty damn good. Michael Clarke Duncan practically stole the show with his standout performance as John Henry, helped in part by the fact that the dude literally looked like a real life John Henry with how he was built like a football player and did do some construction odd jobs where he legit swinged a sledgehammer. Duncan did amazing work giving John great nuance and depth with a lot of emotion and weight in his words as he struggles against the world around him, yet with that maturity comes great joy and excitement that shows that John at heart is just a simple young man who is proud to do good for himself and those around him. You made damn sure to keep his contact info as you could see Duncan being a future star for Lucasfilms. Phylicia Rashad plays excellently off of Duncan as Polly and did a good job at engaging the watchers through her narration work and was a beauty in the dramatic and sorrowful scenes plus some great chemistry with Duncan in the romance stuff. You were rather shocked when last year while you were filming the Dagobah scenes, that Dad had come with Mom because apparently Brad had reached out and offered him the role of Thomas Leary the Irish foreman. Dad was skeptical since he had no interest or experience with voice acting and only accepted because it was a Dreamworks movie. You're really glad that he did as the raw talent and greatness that was on display in Five Dates and Moonlight Diner was very present here with him as Thomas adding a voice of experience and support for John that helped to deliver the race themes very strongly. Seeing his performance in the movie along with the positive reception people held for him really gave Dad a drive to do his best in Moonlight Diner and he's been delivering some great work.
Lastly for the film, since it was a movie about a Black folk hero, Brad decided the only way to pay homage with the soundtrack was through a music selection that was a mix of Blue Folk, Gospel and country. A mixture of Black artists were chosen to help record with a guy named George Walker hired to compose the songs and write some of the lyrics. While George himself had no previous experience with films, he was a damn good composer on a close level to John Williams and made a beautiful collage that was an excellent homage to classical Black music. Thankfully the cast while not Broadway experienced or musicians in general gave decent vocals with a couple of weeks of coaching. Turns out you got your vocals as genetic from Dad with how strongly he got into the Irish hymnal and railroad chant songs.
Mike chose to release the film on President's Day not only because it was a holiday and Friday, but apparently February has now become Black History Month which is a term that was created in 1970 and has been gaining some prominence so it felt the most appropriate. It was a really nice break from filming to do a half day and then head to the premiere and see a nice Dreamworks movie, although you weren't a fan of the paparazzi gawking at and taking photos of Carrie's great belly. It was nice though seeing your parents walk down the red carpet with Mom in a beautiful dress, holding Mary's hand who wanted to be with her Grandpa-Grandma at the movies since she always went with Debbie, and Dad getting the spotlight and attention he deserved.
The premiere was also a great foreshadowing of what was to come as despite most people coming in and thinking it was just gonna be a cartoon movie, everyone got really emotionally invested and engaged from start to finish and when John Henry died most of the theater actually broke out into tears over such a scene. When the film was done, a lot of Hollywood's Black A-listers had approached and shook your hand and Brad's in gratitude for bringing such a great hero to life and giving the film all the beauty it deserved. However, bringing Mary was kind of a mixed bag as while she enjoyed most of the movie, when John Henry died she bust out into tears and was crying hard that Carrie had to take her out for a minute and calm her down. She didn't like how John had died right when he won and left his wife, son and friends when it should have been a happy ending, even though it was a faithful portrayal of the tale and lent its weight to the power of the movie with such a bittersweet ending. Mary kept asking for the movie to be changed and since you couldn't you had to settle for letting her sleep with you and Carrie for the night as compensation. Hopefully she enjoys the movie more as she grows older.
As for how the film performed, it was a tremendous success which went above and beyond your wildest expectations. John Henry was the movie that could and despite being a Black-lead animated film released in February, broke box office records and became the highest grossing animated movie of all time, just shy of a billion dollars. You remember well your promise to Roy that Dreamworks would be at the top of the box office for the next decade, but after Hiawatha you tempered expectations only to be proven true and in dramatic fashion with John Henry. Most likely the film is gonna be as important to animation as Snow White, War of the Worlds and Gundam and John Henry to be a mascot for the studio. Hell, if it weren't for the Dreamworks logo already being the boy and the moon then Mike might have very well pushed for it.
Audiences instantly fell in love with the movie and everything about John Henry's story with him being uplifted from a faded folktale to an American icon and hero on the same level as Superman. Audiences approved of the fusion of mature storytelling with the whimsy and fantastical realism of animation and all the praises in tone that they had for War of the Worlds was thankfully shared here. The Black community heavily approved and sang praises of such dedication and love to an important hero and icon when in the past Black characters in animation were simply relegated to stereotypes. It also helped that John Henry was so respectful and great instead of simply playing to stereotypes or pandering like the recently departed Blaxploitation genre. Dreamworks was given great approval from many Civil Rights leaders of the past decade who saw the film as a beautiful showcase of Black culture and adversity and lamenting that many great heroes like Doctor King weren't here to see such a masterpiece. It was also a nice sight that this love for the film was shared by just as many non-Black viewers with people of all races and colors enjoying the film and even lots of white kids wanted to be like John Henry.
Of course, there was the elephant in the room over how the Deep South would react to a Black film that took strong shots at the Confederacy, showed the evils of slavery front and center, and exposed the Lost Cause as bullshit. As expected, there was a decent amount of pushback and opposition from white communities in states like Mississippi, Alabama or George with many Blue Dogs and Republican converts like Maddox and Thurmond calling it a gross exaggeration and attack on southern heritage. Thankfully, there wasn't some sort of mass protest movement or race wars as Mike had feared with opposition mainly limited to disorganized boycotts and vocal opposition on television and print. Still, it didn't stop the Deep South from having large profits or theaters filled with white customers seeing the show. For every Southerner opposed to it on principle, there was one who enjoyed John Henry. Hell, George motherfucking Wallace actually made a public statement saying John Henry was a good movie and giving his full endorsement. You heard that the man had seen God and changed greatly since getting shot, but for Mr. "Segregation Forever" saying such high praise was something.
Perhaps what surprised you most about the performance was that international box office actually succeeded domestic greatly even though it was such an American film in topic and themes. Seems like the themes of prejudice, adversity and the power of labor were pretty universal as audiences all over the globe no matter their race had a deep love for the character and film. Latin America and Africa gave the film Lucasfilms' best performance outside of Star Wars, and apparently it was a super hit in Japan as the country was starting to see automation so it kind of lit a fire in the Japanese worker. Perhaps where John Henry performed its best was in Yugoslavia, which continued to be an odd Communist nation of Lucasfilms stans with John Henry making over 100 million. Not only did they love the labor themes, but the portrayal of race relations kind of hit hard considering they were a federation of South Slavs who often held grudges and bickered with one another. Critics were in universally high praise all around with many calling it the best animated movie they had ever seen. It made you wonder, last time War of the Worlds had been snubbed for Oscars. Maybe John Henry could win something, although it was unfortunately out for Best Picture thanks to Empire releasing.
Speaking of, from your inside source in Cat when you had a joint dinner with her family, Disney was apparently in full panic mode with John Henry. Before they could rest on their laurels with War of the Worlds as the best of cinematic animation with the new Disney animation crew perfecting their craft and synergy with Fox and the Hound. Only John Henry came along and was perceived as better and almost made a billion dollars. While Cat had assured that the Fox and the Hound was gonna be a good movie, it was no John Henry. Thus Roy was putting on his gloves and getting ready for an 80s animation war with blank checks in money and creative support so Disney could hold its throne. Anything and everything was being looked at with classic Disney, princesses, Looney Tunes, fairy tales, Dark Disney, Space, Anime and more. Cat had an mischievous glint in her eye while talking, promising that she was gonna do her part with the scripts to give Dreamworks a run for their money. Although you all did share a nice laugh as your simple letter sent to Roy with the words "Here's your knock" had become something of a legend at Disney.
Meanwhile with Universal and Blue Sky Studios, they're still hyperfixated on that weird Ice Age movie and going through hell to see it cross the finish line. One of Mike's spies snapped some pictures of the animation cells, and you couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with you for wanting to punch that Ice Age baby.
Lastly something interesting is going on at DC Comics. When production of John Henry was starting, Alan had approached you with concern over the usage of the epithet "Man of Steel" as he considered that a Superman trademark and Dreamworks was going to profit off of Superman brand recognition. You politely pointed out that many versions of John Henry had indeed called him the Man of Steel long before Superman and the plot of the film shared nothing to Superman, and Legal had pointed out that Man of Steel was neither a trademark or copyright. After that was complete silence on Columbia's end and you assumed it was the last of it. Then a few weeks after the movie, you came across an adorable image of Mary reading a Superman comic she had taken from a bulk set of DC comics you had recently purchased. Wanting some nice bonding with your daughter, you joined in reading and noticed something peculiar, a new Superman character named John Henry Irons who bravely "defended" Clark Kent from a supervillain with a Sledgehammer.
Apparently DC's answer to the Man of Steel debacle was to appropriate the public domain John Henry into their comics and take advantage of the film, a rather bold choice since the comic came out the week after John Henry's release and it must have been written months before. Apparently the new John Henry was a weapons engineer who worked for a company that had used his inventions to supply criminal gangs, supervillains and dictatorships. In disgust, John faked his death and hid in Metropolis, and through a series of events becomes friends with both Superman and Clark Kent (John being unaware of them being the same). Superman helps John get some justice, only for John then to remain a supporting character and sort of become Superman's tech guy. Two years later, and the first issue of the Steel comic would release.
One of Mike's spies snapped some pictures of the animation cells, and you couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong with you for wanting to punch that Ice Age baby.
Well that went pretty well. And a lot less reaction than I feared. Personally I think we missed out on not having it be a musical like so many classical disney animated films, but that's just my personal taste.
I actually forgot that George Wallace, one of the most racist people in America, actually had a full change of heart after his near death experience. Yeah that hardly forgives 40 years of pushing racist rhetoric, laws, and oppression, but I guess anyone can change.
Given the subject matter of American race relations and the triumph of labor you'd think the Soviets would actually allow this film. Too bad Lucasfilm very much earned a permanent ban.
now i'm realy hopping we will se john henry in "who frammed roger rabbit",what about treasure planet for the next animated work ?
edit:
no cultural impact roll like for conan ?
...I wonder what Mohammed Ali thought about the film, and if it pissed off the Soviets something fierce that America produced one of the best films, if unintentionally it looks like, about the plight of the worker.
...was he supposed to have been in the Marines at some point as an NCO with them bloodstripes?
I figure some film goers are gonna think it's a nod to Han Solo's Corellian Bloodstripes (mostly those that don't know better), but that's a different matter.
With family like this, who needs enemies? Like jeez does she hate her brother or something? I'm also saddend Bruce didn't send a letter to Roy saying 'here's my knock' or something as a response to his letter in Hiawata.
Well that went pretty well. And a lot less reaction than I feared. Personally I think we missed out on not having it be a musical like so many classical disney animated films, but that's just my personal taste.
I actually forgot that George Wallace, one of the most racist people in America, actually had a full change of heart after his near death experience. Yeah that hardly forgives 40 years of pushing racist rhetoric, laws, and oppression, but I guess anyone can change.
Given the subject matter of American race relations and the triumph of labor you'd think the Soviets would actually allow this film. Too bad Lucasfilm very much earned a permanent ban.
Hmmm...I could edit it to make it a musical, same with Hiawatha. It's just that @overmind never specified whether they were like Disney musicals or just narrative-driven with a soundtrack. What's your opinion Overmind? If nothing else, this would be natural since the Disney John Henry had half of its runtime be a musical.
Yeah, I thought of racists who would be against the movie, and remembered George Wallace only to remember he recently turned a new leaf at this time thanks to his literal Come to Jesus moment. That line wasn't meant to forgive Wallace for his past, more a neat head turner moment to show how Bruce is affecting the world and how important people see the movies, and I think he actually would like it.
Yeah it's pretty ironic that the Soviets and China banned us when Dreamworks just released one of the most powerful pro-labor movies ever. Were it not for Romania then this would probably be a blockbuster in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc, though at the same time it does expose the supremacy of American animation against Soviet animation. At least when the Iron Curtain falls John Henry will probably make a billion dollars off of that money alone.
I'll also add a small sentence describing how John Henry was a huge hit in Yugoslavia since Yugoslavia are Lucasfilms stans and the message of race and labor would hit deeply home in the nation.
Yeah I can definitely see John Henry making an appearence in Robert Rabbit though I'm unsure what. Roger's personal trainer?
I also had in mind the image of a funny gag where the movie makes a reference to Gundam where in the middle of a chase scene, Roger is frantically painting Benny the Cab Red. Eddie asks Roger why the hell he's painting Benny red in the middle of a chase, to which Roger replies that it'll make Benny go three times normal speed, to which once the coat is applied Benny zooms like a racecar and Char's theme is played.
...was he supposed to have been in the Marines at some point as an NCO with them bloodstripes?
I figure some film goers are gonna think it's a nod to Han Solo's Corellian Bloodstripes (mostly those that don't know better), but that's a different matter.
Probably just a coincidence as sadly the Marines didn't let Black men enlist until Truman desegregated the military. Here I imagine Brad wanted to make a fun easter egg and nod to Han Solo since Bruce has working class roots and is probably seen as just as strong as John Henry.
With family like this, who needs enemies? Like jeez does she hate her brother or something? I'm also saddend Bruce didn't send a letter to Roy saying 'here's my knock' or something as a response to his letter in Hiawata.
My intention wasn't for Cat to do it out of spite or hate towards Bruce. It was more meant to be teasing as well as a personal challenge to herself to make films just as good as Bruce and Carrie. If she really saw Bruce as an enemy then she wouldn't share all of that. I'm also a bit confused by Magoose' decision to have Cat go fully Disney, but I think she just has a strong sense of pride and wants to make great stuff on her own without family handouts. Plus there might be a bit of jealousy that Bruce gets to bond with their father over movies where he has given Joseph roles but Cat hasn't.
Hmmm...I could edit it to make it a musical, same with Hiawatha. It's just that @overmind never specified whether they were like Disney musicals or just narrative-driven with a soundtrack. What's your opinion Overmind? If nothing else, this would be natural since the Disney John Henry had half of its runtime be a musical.
To be honest, I always made the animated films with the intention of them being musicals in the vein of Disney movies. So, yeah, both Hiawatha and John Henry also have songs and musicals. As well as the other animated films and pitches too, unless the Director says something against it.
The OVAs and Animes though, that's a whole other can of worms.
