An alternate history of animated films

What Dr. Seuss story should Warner Brothers make a film of first?


  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .
I think next update will cover both 1962 AND 1963. The latter year will give us Chuck Jones's The Jungle Book, which will adapt Mowgli's Brothers, Kaa's Hunting, and Tiger! Tiger!.

Here is the voice cast I'm picturing:

Mowgli: Kurt Russell or Paul O'Keefe
Baloo: J. Pat O'Malley or Sebastian Cabot (I'm aware of the irony)
Bagheera: Don Rickles or Jonathan Winters
Shere Khan: Vincent Price
Tabaqui: Paul Frees
Father Wolf: Marvin Miller
Mother Wolf: June Foray
Akela: Hans Conried
Kaa: Orson Welles
Chil: Dallas McKennon
Bander-Log: Mel Blanc, June Foray, Daws Butler, and Paul Frees
Messua: June Foray
Messua's husband: Jim Backus
Buldeo: Junius Matthews
Grey Brother: Mickey Rooney
 
1962-1963
1962
MGM releases The Fellowship of the Ring. The film has less influence from Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera due to them being busy working on their television shows, but is still a big hit and gets good reviews. MGM officially announces plans to film the entire Lord of the Rings franchise.

1963
Warner Brothers releases Chuck Jones' The Jungle Book. This film is a big enough success that WB decides to announce an adaptation of the sequel, The Second Jungle Book, for 1966.

Disney announces an animated film adaptation of P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins for 1964, and for the same year, Fleischer announces an animated adaptation of Theodore Pratt's 1942 novel Mr. Limpet, titled The Incredible Mr. Limpet for 1964.

----

Sorry about the short update. I couldn't think of a lot to say for these two years.
 
1962
MGM releases The Fellowship of the Ring. The film has less influence from Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera due to them being busy working on their television shows, but is still a big hit and gets good reviews. MGM officially announces plans to film the entire Lord of the Rings franchise.

Does this speed plans to bring out the books in paperback? Will cash-strapped Ace Books light on another public-domain work and put out a quick edition? What does Tolkien himself think of all this?

In other news, I don't think Batman has a very good presence in this. Comics Code means no Catwoman (because when she wasn't making passes at him, he let her get away after recovering what she'd stolen) and a comic Joker (instead of a "I only kill people when it's funny" type).
 
John Carter...I want this film to be more zany
Not an expert, but from what I've read, Carter is about as uncomical a character as you can get.

Animation does lend itself to the Tharks, thoats, & such, tho. It also makes depicting Burroughs' four-handed Thark fighting style practical, which could be interesting.

And for the record, it's Warner Bros.; the abbreviation is the correct form.

Do I understand "Uncle Remus" meant to replace "Song of the South"? It looks like it's still going to generate backlash (=OTL) from using minstrel-based songs & Negro stereotypes.

In ref the Superman film, does he get the powers from the serials, including flight, heat vision, & so forth, or stick to the original comics-level ones?

In ref Batman, presuming this is aimed mainly at kids, does he take the Golden Age approach to villains (throwing them off buildings:eek: )? (I have to think the film censors won't allow that...) And does he have Robin aboard yet? (That would seem to be better for attracting a kid audience.)

I'm opposed to origin stories, frankly, as unnecessary: you've got established audiences for both characters, numbering in the millions of kids (for Supes) & hundreds of thousands (for Bats).

One character that would be kid- & animation-friendly would be Captain Marvel--if you can get past the DC-Fawcett lawsuit issues...
 
Last edited:
Getting into the 1960s, anime started being exported to other countries, especially the USA. Around this time in OTL, we'd get Speed Racer, Gigantor, Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion.

Is that happening too ITTL? Is this animated film boom in the USA affecting Japan in any way?

What's more is that the 1960s anime wave set the ground work for the 1980s anime invasion that started in 1979 with Star Blazers and continued with tons of syndicated & cable shows like Voltron, Robotech, Saber Rider, Maple Town, the Mysterious Cities of Gold, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics and more. I don't know if this TL will go into the 1980s and 1990s but will this 1980s wave of anime on American television happen?
 
Getting into the 1960s, anime started being exported to other countries, especially the USA. Around this time in OTL, we'd get Speed Racer, Gigantor, Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion.

Is that happening too ITTL? Is this animated film boom in the USA affecting Japan in any way?

What's more is that the 1960s anime wave set the ground work for the 1980s anime invasion that started in 1979 with Star Blazers and continued with tons of syndicated & cable shows like Voltron, Robotech, Saber Rider, Maple Town, the Mysterious Cities of Gold, Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics and more. I don't know if this TL will go into the 1980s and 1990s but will this 1980s wave of anime on American television happen?
How about have Lupin III be one of the first successful anime to be aired in America?
 
What is up with the insistence on zany & wacky?

Especially with Don Quixote, of all things?
While Don Quixote has some wacky elements, It is about a man who loses his grip on reality and end up having to face reality again.
He spend a lot of time in jail. It not a happy go lucky story.
 
Okay, for those wondering what's up with the zany and wacky films...that's what Warner Brothers does best with their shorts, so I feel like that would apply to their films too. (I'm not going to use the abbreviation, BTW.)

Disney made plenty of zany adaptations IOTL. King Arthur, The Jungle Book, and Robin Hood aren't exactly zany stories, and yet look at The Sword in the Stone and the respective Disney adaptations of TJB and RH. Hell, one of Disney's films from OTL started out as a serious drama before evolving into a zany comedy mid-production. (Kingdom of the Sun > The Emperor's New Groove)

As for the question about anime, (spoiler alert) Osamu Tezuka is going to team up with Walt on a project later in the sixties.
 
MGM releases Charlotte's Web... Bill Hanna, Joseph Barbera
I have to wonder why Hanna-Barbera is suddenly not the low-rent animation studio of OTL. I don't say Yogi or the Flintstones were bad characters, but the animation was not what I'd call top-drawer.
that's what Warner Brothers does best with their shorts
Except, these aren't shorts, are they? They're features. And they're not created whole cloth, like Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies (or whatever), they're based on serious works.
(I'm not going to use the abbreviation, BTW.)
Why? You prefer being wrong?
Disney made plenty of zany adaptations IOTL.
Which doesn't mean they all have to be... Nor does it mean Disney was necessarily right.
 
Last edited:
I have to wonder why Hanna-Barbera is suddenly not the low-rent animation studio of OTL. I don't say Yogi or the Flintstones were bad characters, but the animation was not what I'd call top-drawer.

Bill and Joe never left MGM ITTL.

Why? You prefer being wrong?

That's just the spelling I'm used to typing.

Which doesn't mean they all have to be... Nor does it mean Disney was necessarily right.

Hey, I'm just doing what I think makes sense.

Are you this pedantic in every thread? Because I'm too far in to redo the early stuff.
 
Last edited:
Anyway, next up is Mary Poppins. This film will be fully-animated (since the animation age ghetto isn't as strong ITTL; hopefully P.L. Travers will hate it less), and the casting will be different.

Here were the actresses considered for the titular character:
Bette Davis
Angela Lansbury

Here were the actors considered for Bert:
Fred Astaire
Jim Dale
Danny Kaye
Cary Grant
Richard Burton
Alec Guinness
Richard Harris
Rex Harrison
Ron Moody
Laurence Olivier
Peter O'Toole
Peter Sellers

Here were the actors considered for Mr. Banks:
Richard Harris (again)
James Mason
George Sanders
Donald Sutherland
Terry-Thomas

Which of the above choices do you like most?
 
Anyway, next up is Mary Poppins. This film will be fully-animated (since the animation age ghetto isn't as strong ITTL; hopefully P.L. Travers will hate it less), and the casting will be different.

Here were the actresses considered for the titular character:
Bette Davis
Angela Lansbury

Here were the actors considered for Bert:
Fred Astaire
Jim Dale
Danny Kaye
Cary Grant
Richard Burton
Alec Guinness
Richard Harris
Rex Harrison
Ron Moody
Laurence Olivier
Peter O'Toole
Peter Sellers

Here were the actors considered for Mr. Banks:
Richard Harris (again)
James Mason
George Sanders
Donald Sutherland
Terry-Thomas

Which of the above choices do you like most?
Peter Sellers for Bert
 
Before I get to the next part, I just want to know: was The Incredible Mr. Limpet a big hit (critically or financially) IOTL? I can't find a lot of info on Wikipedia.
 
Top