INTRODUCTION: David Mitton's Deal
Feburary 5, 1982
Shepperton Studios: Surrey, England
Britt Allcroft and David Mitton were sitting in the latter's office. For about a year, the two had been working on creating an adaptation of the Railway Series of books written by the Reverend W. Awdry. The publishers, Kayne and Ward, agreed. However, they added a catch; the production crew were required to have all the stories be adapted from the Railway Series for its first two seasons, then adapt at least five Railway Series books as episodes for every season thereafter.
"I was actually called by Jim Henson the other day," said David after a brief silence.
"What did he say?" asked Britt, perking up in hopes that their way out of the trouble had arrived.
Mitton took a breath of announcement.
"He did say that he'd call me back," replied David. "But he called me again last night, and told me that George Lucas is interested in the idea."
Britt was ecstatic, as one could tell from her face alone. The fact they had gotten the Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, to provide narration despite his schedule was already reason to be pleased, but George Lucas? This was a major vision that could be seen happening.
"Great!" she exclaimed, "When is he open to talking."
"About two weeks from now," replied David. "The fact that we're using models to make this is apparently what got him hooked, so I think our prospects are pretty good."
"So do I," said Britt, barely attempting to contain a smile.
"He says he would like to see the layouts we're using when he comes," went on David. "So if we can have them ready, and running, we should be good."
At any rate, I was going to wait until the main TL reached 1982. However, I decided I ought to just start now so I don't end up forgetting.
Shepperton Studios: Surrey, England
Britt Allcroft and David Mitton were sitting in the latter's office. For about a year, the two had been working on creating an adaptation of the Railway Series of books written by the Reverend W. Awdry. The publishers, Kayne and Ward, agreed. However, they added a catch; the production crew were required to have all the stories be adapted from the Railway Series for its first two seasons, then adapt at least five Railway Series books as episodes for every season thereafter.
"I was actually called by Jim Henson the other day," said David after a brief silence.
"What did he say?" asked Britt, perking up in hopes that their way out of the trouble had arrived.
Mitton took a breath of announcement.
"He did say that he'd call me back," replied David. "But he called me again last night, and told me that George Lucas is interested in the idea."
Britt was ecstatic, as one could tell from her face alone. The fact they had gotten the Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr, to provide narration despite his schedule was already reason to be pleased, but George Lucas? This was a major vision that could be seen happening.
"Great!" she exclaimed, "When is he open to talking."
"About two weeks from now," replied David. "The fact that we're using models to make this is apparently what got him hooked, so I think our prospects are pretty good."
"So do I," said Britt, barely attempting to contain a smile.
"He says he would like to see the layouts we're using when he comes," went on David. "So if we can have them ready, and running, we should be good."
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Hello, all of you. With this first post begins my supplementary material for Blue Skies in Camelot by @President_Lincoln, and is slightly inspired by the Flying Scotsman supplement provided by @QTXAdsy. As one can guess from the above, the POD is that Kayne & Ward, then publishers of The Railway Series, forces Britt and David to agree to adapting every book in the original series at certain points. Being that this would be near impossible with the budget OTL's shows had, this means that David Mitton chose to look to big producers like Jim Henson and George Lucas. Eventually, they manage to settle with the latter, as we will soon learn more about.
At any rate, I was going to wait until the main TL reached 1982. However, I decided I ought to just start now so I don't end up forgetting.
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