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...I feel really stupid right now.
Edit: Fixed the dates. I think I accidentally combined December 31 with January 1 and... well, that happened.
Laughin' Place: Redefining Disney
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...
...
...I feel really stupid right now.
Edit: Fixed the dates. I think I accidentally combined December 31 with January 1 and... well, that happened.
I'm excited for what's to come in the 1980s. Seems like it's going to be a heated decade with the entertainment war at full throttle.
It happens to everyone, you’ve more than made up for it with quality dialogue and great storytelling. Keep up the good work, I’m loving the “Evil Genius” Eisner storyline, it keeps getting better and better.
And so into the 80's we go.
I don't know why but for some reason when I read that last update I have the strange notion that Walt is going to encounter Flying Scotsman again. I don't know why I'm thinking of that other than perhaps having that damn locomotive on the mind, hehe!
Maybe if the Disneyland in Sydney opens in say, 1988 or '89, that was when Scotty was there as part of Aus Steam '88. Would be a funny encounter to imagine, but I'm going off into the realms of fantasy...
Anyway, I'm curious as what the animated pipeline will be like for the '80's for Disney as rivals start to pop up. Looking forward to seeing how the '80's shape up.
I don't know why but for some reason when I read that last update I have the strange notion that Walt is going to encounter Flying Scotsman again. I don't know why I'm thinking of that other than perhaps having that damn locomotive on the mind, hehe!
Maybe if the Disneyland in Sydney opens in say, 1988 or '89, that was when Scotty was there as part of Aus Steam '88. Would be a funny encounter to imagine, but I'm going off into the realms of fantasy...
Anyway, I'm curious as what the animated pipeline will be like for the '80's for Disney as rivals start to pop up. Looking forward to seeing how the '80's shape up.
Like this, nice to see a quick short of Walt and Eisner in none bushiness scenarios, one of the best things about this TL in my opinion. Also BRING ON THE DINSY UNI COLD WARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Yeah, I thought better of that and decided that if UA was to avoid its OTL failings, it'd need the leadership of the guys who left to found Orion.
So Orion was basically retconned. Well atleast UA will do better here. Speaking of that, should films like Terminator, RoboCop, and some of Woody Allen's films got to UA instead of Orion? Unless of course atleast some of them are distributed by other companies like Universal.
Technically, things are only solidly 'canon' to this TL if I put it in a post. Anything I say OOC is subject to being reimagined and thought over again. So when I answer a question from one of you guys, take it with a grain of salt, because I might change that later in the actual TL.
A lot of Orion's stuff will go to UA, though naturally some things will go to other studios or be butterflied altogether.
What the Puck?
Namco Headquarters, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
January 12, 1980
"Galaxian's doing amazingly well, Mister Nakamura. Sales figures are saying it's about pulling even with Asteroids, and critics are just as kind--they think it's better than Space Invaders."
Walt Disney and Masaya Nakamura walked through the halls of Namco's headquarters, discussing the future of their video game partnership.
"Are you still content in Disney distributing your games overseas?" asked Walt.
Nakamura nodded. "Yes, we are. You've handled Galaxian quite nicely, given it a good spread in the latest Walt Disney Fun Club News, and from what I hear it's front and center at all the arcades in Disneytropolis."
"Not just there, but in Disneyland and Disney World, too. The Atari games are tucked away in the back, or not there at all."
Nakamura stopped suddenly, and opened a door. "This is our latest project. I have a lot of faith in its being the next Pong or Breakdown."
The room was dark. Granted, it was about midnight Tokyo time, so most of the workers in the building were gone. In one corner, the familiar glow of an arcade cabinet beckoned Walt forwards.
"A new game?" he asked.
"Yes. We're hoping for a May release in Japan, and maybe a June release in North America."
Walt took a glance at the name, and frowned. "Uh, that's not gonna fly in the US," he said, pointing at the logo. "Any teenager with a Sharpie could write an 'F' over that 'P' and make this game seem... not very family-friendly."
Nakamura looked himself, and blushed. "Oh, no! You're right! That's... that would be bad. I'll get the designers to come up with a different name for when it comes overseas, howabout?"
"That'd be great."
Walt pressed a button, and the game began. He guided the yellow disc around the blue maze, as the avatar happily munched down pellet after pellet. Four colorful ghosts chased after him, and almost always besting him. After a little trial-and-error, though, Walt managed to find the key to winning: the power pellets, big spheres that, when snagged, turned all the ghosts blue and made them edible.
"I'm loving this! Your guys really know their stuff!" exclaimed Walt with childlike glee as he nabbed a strawberry from the center of the map.
Nakamura laughed. "Toru Iwatani--he's the brain behind PUCKMAN--is very proud of his creation. He said he wanted to entice women to play more video games, so that's why this one is so colorful and bright, unlike Asteroids or Space Invaders. Plus, everyone likes to eat, so the little guy is relatable to just about anybody."
"PUCKMAN or whatever you call it is going to make more money in quarters than I make in a year."
"Really? The game we saw before, Rally-X, is the one the company is predicting to do the best this year," said Nakamura, surprised.
Walt dodged the wrong way and hit Blinky square in the nose, ending his game. "I'll tell you what--I'll bet you... thirty-five hundred yen that by this time next year, PUCKMAN will have made a quarter of a billion dollars in coins."
Nakamura shook his head. " I'm not usually a betting man, and this is one bet I hope to lose... but you're on, Walt."
The two men shook hands.
--excerpt from the 'Gaming Watch' segment of the November/December 1979 issue of The Walt Disney Fun Club News
January 12, 1980
"Galaxian's doing amazingly well, Mister Nakamura. Sales figures are saying it's about pulling even with Asteroids, and critics are just as kind--they think it's better than Space Invaders."
Walt Disney and Masaya Nakamura walked through the halls of Namco's headquarters, discussing the future of their video game partnership.
"Are you still content in Disney distributing your games overseas?" asked Walt.
Nakamura nodded. "Yes, we are. You've handled Galaxian quite nicely, given it a good spread in the latest Walt Disney Fun Club News, and from what I hear it's front and center at all the arcades in Disneytropolis."
"Not just there, but in Disneyland and Disney World, too. The Atari games are tucked away in the back, or not there at all."
Nakamura stopped suddenly, and opened a door. "This is our latest project. I have a lot of faith in its being the next Pong or Breakdown."
The room was dark. Granted, it was about midnight Tokyo time, so most of the workers in the building were gone. In one corner, the familiar glow of an arcade cabinet beckoned Walt forwards.
"A new game?" he asked.
"Yes. We're hoping for a May release in Japan, and maybe a June release in North America."
Walt took a glance at the name, and frowned. "Uh, that's not gonna fly in the US," he said, pointing at the logo. "Any teenager with a Sharpie could write an 'F' over that 'P' and make this game seem... not very family-friendly."
Nakamura looked himself, and blushed. "Oh, no! You're right! That's... that would be bad. I'll get the designers to come up with a different name for when it comes overseas, howabout?"
"That'd be great."
Walt pressed a button, and the game began. He guided the yellow disc around the blue maze, as the avatar happily munched down pellet after pellet. Four colorful ghosts chased after him, and almost always besting him. After a little trial-and-error, though, Walt managed to find the key to winning: the power pellets, big spheres that, when snagged, turned all the ghosts blue and made them edible.
"I'm loving this! Your guys really know their stuff!" exclaimed Walt with childlike glee as he nabbed a strawberry from the center of the map.
Nakamura laughed. "Toru Iwatani--he's the brain behind PUCKMAN--is very proud of his creation. He said he wanted to entice women to play more video games, so that's why this one is so colorful and bright, unlike Asteroids or Space Invaders. Plus, everyone likes to eat, so the little guy is relatable to just about anybody."
"PUCKMAN or whatever you call it is going to make more money in quarters than I make in a year."
"Really? The game we saw before, Rally-X, is the one the company is predicting to do the best this year," said Nakamura, surprised.
Walt dodged the wrong way and hit Blinky square in the nose, ending his game. "I'll tell you what--I'll bet you... thirty-five hundred yen that by this time next year, PUCKMAN will have made a quarter of a billion dollars in coins."
Nakamura shook his head. " I'm not usually a betting man, and this is one bet I hope to lose... but you're on, Walt."
The two men shook hands.
--------------------------------
"While Galaxian was the hottest game this issue, it should be noted that Walt Disney Imagineering and LucasArts are hard at work on the very first video game to be based upon the highest-grossing movie of all time, Star Wars! The game is to be titled 'Star Wars: Trench Run', and is set during the Death Star battle that ended the 1977 film with a bang. That's all we can share for now, though, but keep on the lookout for more Star Wars and gaming coming your way from Walt Disney Studios!"
--excerpt from the 'Gaming Watch' segment of the November/December 1979 issue of The Walt Disney Fun Club News
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Hey Hex, is there any possibility of this variation of Back To The Future: The Ride being made?
Theme Park History said:
Depends on what happens to Back to the Future in the first place. Speaking as a theme park enthusiast, that idea sounds really cool. But speaking as the architect of this timeline, a ride like that being made in roughly the same era as the actual movie is unlikely at best. It's just too technologically advanced, and I'd say for the time, the ride we got IOTL when Universal Studios Florida opened was about as advanced as things could get. Though, honestly, I would have preferred the ride to be fully enclosed like Star Tours, considering the immersion is broken very easily in the actual ride (well, the Simpsons ride these days) if guests so much as look to the left or right... because they can see a million other ride vehicles sitting right there.
Anyways, TL;DR: that variation is unlikely if the ride still gets built around the time it was IOTL (assuming the ride is made at all), though it's not off the table for a future redesign.
I mean, you'll just have to wait and see what becomes of Back to the Future. The rights to the idea were held by Columbia for a much longer time while the film was in development than Universal held them, and plus the script was only picked up by Universal because its president, Frank Price, liked the idea--and since Michael Eisner will at least be around for the duration of the 80s, it's unlikely Back to the Future will go to Universal ITTL. Keep in mind, though, that the people behind it also offered the idea to literally every major film studio--including Disney, Paramount, Warner, etc.--so it's a hard guess as to who will get it.
At least, on you guys' part it is. I've already got it all planned out.
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