A Hippie in the House of Mouse (Jim Henson at Disney, 1980)

[Denliner]

It could butterfly Zootopia - years later, somebody who remembers the original pitches an "animal buddy cops on a space station" movie.

Looking at the original production history for Zootopia, it does seem that it's possible that a Disney B5 could cause a random butterfly where it's just Zootopia but in a space station, perhaps as a tongue-in-cheek reference to both B5 and DS9. I'm ok if it remains in its OTL form though since there's not a lot of things that can currently change it from a logical standpoint.

And yet owning Hyperion means they'd own B5. Same reason OTL Disney can reference Star Wars and Pixar movies.

Yeah, if Disney is showing B5 on their network, they will definitely use the IP for something like in Tomorrowland or EPCOT.

 

[Mackon]

The Great Khan has already confirmed that Raimi will be directing TTL's Batman.

I brought Mel Gibson being cast as Batman as Martin Riggs was probably his most iconic role OTL so he'll have to land a big one some time. Why not the Dark Knight?

Maybe Mel Gibson could take the villain role, Joker/Two-Face/The Riddler across from Bruce Campbell's Batman

 

[Geekhis Khan]

Hey... did you know that Disney considered buying Doctor Who?

I'm less worried about the fandom and more worried that American producers won't properly understand why people love the Doctor. The 1996 TV film was a bit of a flop because that tried to Americanize a wholly British show. Same problem happened with the American version of Red Dwarf. It seems unlike sitcoms British and American sci fi don't mix well.

Dr. Who is coming up. I'm very curious how you all will react to what happens going forward.

Similar on fantasy, which is why I'm fairly sure that Henson / Disney will make a terrible mess of their adaption of Mort. I'm still mildly surprised Pratchett sold the rights given his OTL views. But then everyone makes mistakes, particularly if enough money is involved.

Pratchett attempted to market Mort in Hollywood iOTL, actually. Honestly, it's possibly the only Discworld book that could work as a movie since it's a relatively short and simple 3-act structure with only an alpha-plot. I don't see how you could approach, say, Reaper Man other than cutting everything but the Death plotline and losing all the layered meaning and symbolism. No way any Studio is touching the Snow Globe subplot! Maybe Equal Rites could work. It and Mort even meet the "High Concept" check-box. Just maybe Moving Pictures could work if you handed it to, say, ZAZ. It makes me wonder if Mort and Equal Rites were made with movies in mind, actually. Both short, straight-forward narratives with straight forward themes (love; equality).

As to how bad can a Hollywood adaption be, Pratchett related an anecdote of one studio telling him how much they "loved" Mort, but that they needed to "lose the Death angle." After that, he pretty much abandoned Discworld movies, insisting that any studio buy all of his books' rights, which was an obvious non-starter.

---

Since I'm interested in the development of Disneyland Valencia and I was inspired to do something creative, I made some fanmade logos of the place imitating OTL's Disneyland Paris in both the 1994 and the 2020 versions.

1994:
View attachment 626199
2020:
View attachment 626200
Enjoy!

I may steal those, thanks!

The Tucker movie seems doomed in most timelines, like the man’s cars I guess...

Hopefully Coppola‘s Godfather III will be a stellar hit for the director, even if he’d rather not be making it. At least the wine does well.

Does Tucker win Oscars despite not making its budget back? Sounds like Hollywood...

Looking forward to Willow @Geekhis Khan - hope Lucas has got plenty of help for scripts, effects and people he will listen too to make the movie truly awesome and the start of a new franchise.

Tucker is one of those things that just seems bound for Critics Love, Audiences Ignore, at least in the 1980s. It would probably play well today (or in the 40s-60s) as the "experimental musical", though. Ahead of its time, or way behind it...you decide! Tucker does win Oscars and GGs ITTL even as a bomb. Oscar at this point had fully transitioned into pretty much seeing success as a sign of mediocrity, because if the unwashed masses love it it can't be art, right?

Maybe Henson would encourage Disney to hire British talent both in front of and behind the camera to keep the franchise authentic to its roots. So it'd be more like a better version of pre-cancellation Doctor Who with more American characters but not an American Doctor or Master. It might be easier to make a reboot of the franchise. Go back to brass tacks for the new Disney-BBC collaboration.

And if the BBC decides to make Doctor Who properly again the Disney-produced version can always be retconned as an alternate universe.

Henson and Disney have already hired British talent ITTL at this point. They've worked with several of the Monty Python troupe and half of the original Creature Shop was British.

For a second there I though The Godfather Part 3 was going to be an unexpected butterfly, but alas, it still sees production.
This little teaser got me interested though:

Has there been a Hollywood movie or television series with an all-female senior production staff? It'd be a neat addition to the timeline if they manage to make the first.

I wanted to make Tucker a hit, I just didn't see how that happened in '87. G3 will come up.

 

[Ogrebear]

Dr. Who is coming up. I'm very curious how you all will react to what happens going forward.

I am very interested to see what you do with Doctor Who- is it even possible it does not go on hiatus?

Pratchett attempted to market Mort in Hollywood iOTL, actually. Honestly, it's possibly the only Discworld book that could work as a movie since it's a relatively short and simple 3-act structure with only an alpha-plot. I don't see how you could approach, say, Reaper Man other than cutting everything but the Death plotline and losing all the layered meaning and symbolism. No way any Studio is touching the Snow Globe subplot! Maybe Equal Rites could work. It and Mort even meet the "High Concept" check-box. Just maybe Moving Pictures could work if you handed it to, say, ZAZ. It makes me wonder if Mort and Equal Rites were made with movies in mind, actually. Both short, straight-forward narratives with straight forward themes (love; equality).

As to how bad can a Hollywood adaption be, Pratchett related an anecdote of one studio telling him how much they "loved" Mort, but that they needed to "lose the Death angle." After that, he pretty much abandoned Discworld movies, insisting that any studio buy all of his books' rights, which was an obvious non-starter.

I remember thinking that the Colour of Magic might not make a bad movie, but its a long time since I read it so maybe not? Perhaps Guards! Guards! later on?

Tucker is one of those things that just seems bound for Critics Love, Audiences Ignore, at least in the 1980s. It would probably play well today (or in the 40s-60s) as the "experimental musical", though. Ahead of its time, or way behind it...you decide! Tucker does win Oscars and GGs ITTL even as a bomb. Oscar at this point had fully transitioned into pretty much seeing success as a sign of mediocrity, because if the unwashed masses love it it can't be art, right?

I wanted to make Tucker a hit, I just didn't see how that happened in '87. G3 will come up.

Tucker as a drama and not a musical is likely to have picked up some gongs def. Its got that arty thing the Academy likes.

Henson and Disney have already hired British talent ITTL at this point. They've worked with several of the Monty Python troupe and half of the original Creature Shop was British.

Are many of the original British crew left now?

How is Muppet Show and the other Disney output going down in the UK?
Any butterflies for Lew Grade, ATV, or in the UK in general please?

If there are more successful superhero movies maybe someone will take a shot at something like Judge Dredd earlier? Esp in the 'violent, action' movie 80's?

More please @Geekhis Khan

 

[Denliner]

I am very interested to see what you do with Doctor Who- is it even possible it does not go on hiatus?

Nah, I think Doctor Who's cancellation is a fixed point in time (heh...get it?). Low audience retention and a BBC controller that didn't really care for Who (iirc) would make its death quite certain.

It's the question of who revives it and when, really.

That 90s Doctor Who movie also looms pretty large upon us, but I'd rather have it made by Henson/Disney than Universal if it's going to be inevitable, even if it's a flop like OTL. The movie being a flop would scare him off from doing a complete revival, allowing BBC and Russell T Davies to step in later on, while possibly possessing the distribution/licensing rights to ignite an early interest among American audiences with the franchise.

---

If there are more successful superhero movies maybe someone will take a shot at something like Judge Dredd earlier? Esp in the 'violent, action' movie 80's?

Doesn't Disney own Marvel right now? In any case, if we're talking about a violent, dark, superhero movie, then The Punisher could fit into that category.

 

[Ogrebear]

Nah, I think Doctor Who's cancellation is a fixed point in time (heh...get it?). Low audience retention and a BBC controller that didn't really care for Who (iirc) would make its death quite certain.

It's the question of who revives it and when, really.

That 90s Doctor Who movie also looms pretty large upon us, but I'd rather have it made by Henson/Disney than Universal if it's going to be inevitable, even if it's a flop like OTL. The movie being a flop would scare him off from doing a complete revival, allowing BBC and Russell T Davies to step in later on, while possibly possessing the distribution/licensing rights to ignite an early interest among American audiences with the franchise.

---

Doesn't Disney own Marvel right now? In any case, if we're talking about a violent, dark, superhero movie, then The Punisher could fit into that category.

I don’t agree on Doctor Who, there where a lot of moving parts, and the right offer at the right time or a change in BBC management - anything could have happened to the Queen’s favourite show.

As for Punisher he might be seen as too much of a negative force, he is a serial killer after all, while Dredd is The Law, and police satire might be ‘in’ after Robocop.

 

[marathag]

while Dredd is The Law, and police satire might be ‘in’ after Robocop.

_Beyond Thunderdome_ was from '85.
Sell Dredd 'Cursed Earth' arc showing post apocalypse USA between the Mega-City One and Two. Bonus points if they can work in the Burger Wars.

 

[Machiavelli Jr]

Pratchett attempted to market Mort in Hollywood iOTL, actually. Honestly, it's possibly the only Discworld book that could work as a movie since it's a relatively short and simple 3-act structure with only an alpha-plot. I don't see how you could approach, say, Reaper Man other than cutting everything but the Death plotline and losing all the layered meaning and symbolism. No way any Studio is touching the Snow Globe subplot! Maybe Equal Rites could work. It and Mort even meet the "High Concept" check-box. Just maybe Moving Pictures could work if you handed it to, say, ZAZ. It makes me wonder if Mort and Equal Rites were made with movies in mind, actually. Both short, straight-forward narratives with straight forward themes (love; equality).

As to how bad can a Hollywood adaption be, Pratchett related an anecdote of one studio telling him how much they "loved" Mort, but that they needed to "lose the Death angle." After that, he pretty much abandoned Discworld movies, insisting that any studio buy all of his books' rights, which was an obvious non-starter.

Mort is definitely the most plausible Discworld movie. I think you could just about do Wyrd Sisters as a 'more adult' Disney animated movie if anyone was willing to actually do that, and if it was a success you might manage to carry on for some of the subsequent Witches books. Guards, Guards is filmable as is Men At Arms as a sequel, but I doubt it would be a success in the late '80s or '90s. But those are three separate projects with wildly different atmospheres, trying to make them 'a universe' isn't going to work at all.

I am trying to wrap my head around Moving Pictures: The Movie and mostly failing; I think it would come out as Wild Wild West and that's not something to be encouraged.

 

[Geekhis Khan]

I am very interested to see what you do with Doctor Who- is it even possible it does not go on hiatus?

I remember thinking that the Colour of Magic might not make a bad movie, but its a long time since I read it so maybe not? Perhaps Guards! Guards! later on?

Tucker as a drama and not a musical is likely to have picked up some gongs def. Its got that arty thing the Academy likes.

Are many of the original British crew left now?

How is Muppet Show and the other Disney output going down in the UK?
Any butterflies for Lew Grade, ATV, or in the UK in general please?

If there are more successful superhero movies maybe someone will take a shot at something like Judge Dredd earlier? Esp in the 'violent, action' movie 80's?

More please @Geekhis Khan

Nah, I think Doctor Who's cancellation is a fixed point in time (heh...get it?). Low audience retention and a BBC controller that didn't really care for Who (iirc) would make its death quite certain.

It's the question of who revives it and when, really.

That 90s Doctor Who movie also looms pretty large upon us, but I'd rather have it made by Henson/Disney than Universal if it's going to be inevitable, even if it's a flop like OTL. The movie being a flop would scare him off from doing a complete revival, allowing BBC and Russell T Davies to step in later on, while possibly possessing the distribution/licensing rights to ignite an early interest among American audiences with the franchise.

---

Doesn't Disney own Marvel right now? In any case, if we're talking about a violent, dark, superhero movie, then The Punisher could fit into that category.

I don’t agree on Doctor Who, there where a lot of moving parts, and the right offer at the right time or a change in BBC management - anything could have happened to the Queen’s favourite show.

As for Punisher he might be seen as too much of a negative force, he is a serial killer after all, while Dredd is The Law, and police satire might be ‘in’ after Robocop.

_Beyond Thunderdome_ was from '85.
Sell Dredd 'Cursed Earth' arc showing post apocalypse USA between the Mega-City One and Two. Bonus points if they can work in the Burger Wars.

Dr. Who is coming up... *counts sections* ...next Thursday. There is at least *one* way to avoid cancellation that I can see, but you probably won't like it. I thought that the "Queen's favorite show" was an urban myth?

Colour of Magic I think would work best as a four-part miniseries since it's basically four Novelettes in a single cover. Perhaps add in The Light Fantastic and make it a 6-parter. Sky 1's attempt wasn't bad, though they truncated it a lot and dropped quite of bit of the Early Installment Weirdness like Rincewind ending up on that airplane, IIRC. Too weird even for the Brits? As an engineer part of me is sad that Sir Terry dropped the original Rincewind shtick that he was a natural-born engineer/scientist but stuck in a magic-based world, sort of an ironic take on the "magical thinking fantasy nerd in an industrial society" trope.

Disney lost a goo portion of the British component just due to an unwillingness to move to LA. Still a few around likely. I haven't formally put together what Disney shows are playing in the UK and on what stations when because I know next to nothing about UK TV. It's safe to say someone in the UK is playing the Muppet Show since they were a big hit in the UK. Also Waggle Rock is deliberately International by design. If anyone wants to put together a UK Disney/Henson history PM me, because I'm immenently unqualified and too busy/lazy to do the research.

Judge Dredd or The Punisher could work as a movie under the right circumstances with the right actors and a willingness to actually ask complicated questions about Justice vs. Vengeance and not just make it an empty Gun Wank. You'd have to make a serious risk determination on T vs R rated and cost vs. audience expectations. Whether Disney will go that direction any time soon on the latter, though...

Mort is definitely the most plausible Discworld movie. I think you could just about do Wyrd Sisters as a 'more adult' Disney animated movie if anyone was willing to actually do that, and if it was a success you might manage to carry on for some of the subsequent Witches books. Guards, Guards is filmable as is Men At Arms as a sequel, but I doubt it would be a success in the late '80s or '90s. But those are three separate projects with wildly different atmospheres, trying to make them 'a universe' isn't going to work at all.

I am trying to wrap my head around Moving Pictures: The Movie and mostly failing; I think it would come out as Wild Wild West and that's not something to be encouraged.

Yea, Wyrd Sisters could work as a Fantasia Films type production and Guards Guards once the Dragon effects are sufficient. You might just get away with making Moving Pictures as a Zucker-Abrams-Zucker type farce or Brooks satire given all the overt and visual parody elements from Classic films. Maybe. If handled right.

 

[GrahamB]

Everyone's getting hype for Doctor Who news and I'm just sitting here, thinking of another British classic suitable for adaptation or reincarnation on Disney Channel's lineup.

Spoiler: Hint: Not The Wombles

 

[theg*ddam*hoi2fan]

Everyone's getting hype for Doctor Who news and I'm just sitting here, thinking of another British classic suitable for adaptation or reincarnation on Disney Channel's lineup.

Hint: Not The Wombles
View attachment 626736

Or, even better...

 

[wietze]

Everyone's getting hype for Doctor Who news and I'm just sitting here, thinking of another British classic suitable for adaptation or reincarnation on Disney Channel's lineup.

Spoiler: Hint: Not The Wombles

View attachment 626736

and its members are mostly americans

 

[nick_crenshaw82]

I want to know if ATV is/was part of ITV?

 

[theg*ddam*hoi2fan]

Oh, and the version of the outtro with the lyrics:

...actually, when you think about it, it's quite the source of nightmare fuel. Captain Scarlet never dies, but he still feels pain...

 

[Igeo654]

Everyone's getting hype for Doctor Who news and I'm just sitting here, thinking of another British classic suitable for adaptation or reincarnation on Disney Channel's lineup.

Spoiler: Hint: Not The Wombles

View attachment 626736

A Thunderbirds movie would be a much better gateway into sci-fi for Tim Burton than POTA. It would probably have to be an Origin movie though. Live-action? Maybe as long as it still uses models and such, maybe combine that with Tim's signature stop motion techniques. I'm sure Gerry Anderson would find him fascinating.

 

[Denliner]

Everyone's getting hype for Doctor Who news and I'm just sitting here, thinking of another British classic suitable for adaptation or reincarnation on Disney Channel's lineup.

All of these Supermarionation proposals are actually pretty hype, to be honest. This is exactly what Henson and the Creatureworks would be interested in and try to adapt if there ever was a chance for the Disney Channel.

As for Doctor Who, I'm still on the camp that Disney and the BBC should let the series go dormant like in OTL, since I might not like what would happen if the series was saved from its cancellation, that 90s movie nonwithstanding. The revival is just simply too good to avert ITTL.

Judge Dredd or The Punisher could work as a movie under the right circumstances with the right actors and a willingness to actually ask complicated questions about Justice vs. Vengeance and not just make it an empty Gun Wank. You'd have to make a serious risk determination on T vs R rated and cost vs. audience expectations. Whether Disney will go that direction any time soon on the latter, though...

I think it's going to depend on the reception of Sam Raimi's Batman whether Disney would be interested in pulling out a Marvel property like The Punisher, which is one of the darker characters in their lineup.

 

[GrahamB]

It would probably have to be an Origin movie though

I wouldn't dare make such a thing! I would assume Disney Channel might start airing the original Thunderbirds episodes, uncut (ya hear me, FOX?!) to gauge audience reaction. If the response is good, then I would give the green light to a new animated reincarnation with the same episode structure but in a half-hour run time.
Only after the series has been proven successful would I even consider a movie, and only then if it was billed as 'International Rescue's greatest rescue yet!'

 

[Igeo654]

I wouldn't dare make such a thing! I would assume Disney Channel might start airing the original Thunderbirds episodes, uncut (ya hear me, FOX?!) to gauge audience reaction. If the response is good, then I would give the green light to a new animated reincarnation with the same episode structure but in a half-hour run time.
Only after the series has been proven successful would I even consider a movie, and only then if it was billed as 'International Rescue's greatest rescue yet!'

Gerry Anderson's own canon origin for the team is a real thing. It's actually quite fascinating.

If Tim was to direct, I think he would go the Batman route for it. Condense the origin to a few scenes and have the story take place early international Rescue's career, probably could add some eldritch monster effects too, what with him embracing the more occult side of the Hood. One things for sure, the thunderbirds would end up looking less Retro Sii fi and more Stylized and alien under his creative control.

 

[Plateosaurus]

probably could add some eldritch monster effects too, what with him embracing the more occult side of the Hood.

Hmm... perhaps like an actual thunderbird? Just putting it out there

 

[GrahamB]

Tim Burton to direct? Eldritch Supernatural elements? I'm starting to regret bringing up the subject in the first place...

Maybe Disney should pick up The Wombles to complement Thomas the Tank Engine after all.