Of Mice and Plumbers: A Nintendo-Disney Timeline

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    • MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    Somewhere in January 1980, Nintendo had plans for a Popeye arcade game. However, said plans fell through, leaving Nintendo with something else to do. Now, IOTL, Nintendo turned it into “Donkey Kong”, where it stars Mario/Jumpman, Lady/Pauline, and of course, Donkey Kong. However, this begs the question.

    What if Nintendo thought of something else?

    Well, here’s where the timeline branches off. In November 1980, Nintendo acquired the video game rights to Disney's beloved characters. Probably for dirt cheap, given the stuff Disney was going through at the time. And so, this is where it all begins!

    In August 1981, Mickey Mouse debuted in arcades, in which you play as Mickey Mouse trying to save Minnie Mouse from an incredibly rambunctious Pete, who will do everything it takes to stop you. (It's basically OTL's Donkey Kong, but with Mickey Mouse as Mario/Jumpman, Minnie Mouse as Lady, and Pete as Donkey Kong.)

    The success of Mickey Mouse is rather massive, as it became a worldwide success. This led to Nintendo to make more games based off of Disney properties. Nintendo, however, has plans for a certain brief figure from the time between Popeye and Mickey Mouse in the development cycle of the aforementioned Mickey Mouse game.
     
  • Index
    • Nintendo’s Disney Games (and Mario Bros.)
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    • MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    After the success of Mickey Mouse, both in the arcade and on the Game and Watch systems, production on games such as Donald Duck (OTL’s Donkey Kong Jr.), Chip & Dale (OTL’s Popeye), Dumbo (OTL’s Sky Skipper), a two-player Mickey and Donald game for the Atari 2600, a Sorcerer's Apprentice video game adaptation, various Tron video games, and of course, Mario Bros., starts somewhere around 1981 and 1982. Here are some of the notable Disney games by Nintendo.:

    Donald Duck is a game where you play as Donald Duck as he contends with a mustached Beagle Boy poacher while he rescues a runaway gorilla from being caged. It’s basically like OTL’s Donkey Kong Jr., except with Donald Duck as Donkey Kong Jr., a Beagle Boy as Mario/Jumpman, and Donkey Kong’s replaced with a random gorilla.

    Chip & Dale is a game where you play as both Chip & Dale (who are stacked on top of each other) to collect a certain number of items dropped by Mickey Mouse while avoiding Pluto the Dog, Donald Duck, and other dangers. It’s basically OTL’s Popeye, but with a Disney theme.

    Mickey & Donald is a game that’s like OTL’s Mario Bros. (Game & Watch), but instead of the titular Mario brothers, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck take their place. While it’s initially made for the Atari 2600 in mind, it gets later ports along the way.

    The Jungle Book is a game that is basically TTL’s version of Donkey Kong 3, featuring Mowgil as the player (TTL's version of Stanley the Bugman) and King Louie as the enemy (TTL's version of Donkey Kong). Baloo appears in this game who tells you which level you’re going next.

    And then there’s Mario Bros., and it’s the same game as it was in OTL. Here, in TTL, it’s a repurposing of that brief figure from the time between Popeye and Mickey Mouse in DK's development cycle, where two Italian brothers, Mario and Luigi, clean the sewer pipes free from enemies. This becomes Nintendo’s first original IP ITTL.

    All of the in-development titles have been released. Some of them have been more successful than others, especially due to the Crash of 1983 in North America.
    On a sidenote, with Donkey Kong being butterflied away into a Mickey Mouse game, the lawsuit from OTL never happened at all. What else will happen along the way?
     
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  • Index
    • What Else Happened in 1983 (and also in 1984)?
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    • MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    Nintendo released the Famicom in Japan in September 1983, with notable launch titles being Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Chip & Dale, and of course, Mario Bros. Also, outside of Japan, Ruby-Spears hour-long gaming anthology series, Saturday Supercade, premieres. However, due to both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. being butterflied away, the show now has Q*Bert as its most popular character, and the only one of them to make it past the first season. Not only that, but more “Pitfall!” episodes and an adaptation of Space Invaders would be made in order to meet the quota of five different games in 1-2 episodes.

    In November 1983, the Disney Channel introduces their newest original show, after the successes of Good Morning, Mickey!, Donald Duck Presents, Welcome to Pooh Corner, Mousercise, and EPCOT Magazine in the past few months, which is The New Adventures of Mickey Mouse, which revives the beloved mouse in adventures with Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pete, and more. This series would be set for a December 1984 premiere, right after the television debut of Mickey's Christmas Carol.

    In February 1984, Walt Disney Television Animation was publicly announced as a new division of Walt Disney Pictures. Their first cartoon would be the aforementioned The New Adventures of Mickey Mouse, and their following shows would air on Saturday Mornings in September 1985.
     
  • Index
    • Releasing the Famicom Outside of Japan
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    • MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    In September 1984, Michael Eisner, inheriting the Nintendo deal when he became the new head of Disney, talked with Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi to not only bring their video games to the USA with a brand-new console, but also to bring the acclaimed Hanafuda cards to the US as well. Unfortunately, discussions about the latter fell through, but the idea of a whole console was too good not to pass up on.

    And then October 1985 arrived. With Disney's marketing team on board, the Nintendo Entertainment System (a.k.a.: NES) launches worldwide with games like Gyromite, Stack-Up, Mickey Mouse, Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, Ice Climber, and by far the most popular game they had at launch, Super Mario Bros., which still becomes as iconic as it does IOTL, and even becomes a franchise that Disney makes bank on as well. For more information on Super Mario Bros., let’s take a look!
     
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    • Historylover7583

    Interesting thing to note these two companies working together is not unprecedented even and especially in this type Of scenario


    When Nintendo was lovely little trading card company. They had no true interest getting into the kids toy demographic.

    However, after seeing the success, The practical money machine created from licensing Disney cards

    "Hiroshi Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo, took a trip to the United States in 1959 and struck a deal with Walt Disney Productions that provided them access to several Disney properties to use on their playing cards. With this license, Nintendo produced their first ever television advertisement that focused on the Disney playing cards. The playing cards became so popular that they tripled Nintendo's profits, allowing them to become a part of the Kyoto and Osaka stock exchange."-Before Mario fandom wiki



    Genuinely, If you decide to make this a full timeline narratively speaking ( It's one thing to talk about the releases but you could Make this a far more interesting Narratively.

    ( I mean I'd say a get out your ideas first and then if you like add more narrative. Have fun with it!

    Ultimately you are the writer but these are suggestions I think would help you. Narratively
     
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    MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    Historylover7583 said:
    Interesting thing to note these two companies working together is not precedented even and especially in this type
    scenario


    When Nintendo was lovely little trading card company. They had no true interest getting into the kids toy demographic.

    However, after seeing the success, The practical money machine created from licensing Disney cards

    "Hiroshi Yamauchi, then president of Nintendo, took a trip to the United States in 1959 and struck a deal with Walt Disney Productions that provided them access to several Disney properties to use on their playing cards. With this license, Nintendo produced their first ever television advertisement that focused on the Disney playing cards. The playing cards became so popular that they tripled Nintendo's profits, allowing them to become a part of the Kyoto and Osaka stock exchange."-Before Mario fandom wiki



    Genuinely, If you decide to make this a full timeline narratively speaking ( It's one thing to talk about the releases but you could Make this a far more interesting Narratively.

    ( I mean I'd say a get out your ideas first and then if you like add more narrative. Have fun with it!

    Ultimately you are the writer but these are suggestions I think would help you. Narratively
    Click to expand...
    Very well then, I’ll keep that in mind.
     
    Otakuninja2006

    Otakuninja2006

    I'm here, and let me say this right now, after reading all of that, I'm totes ready to help out.

    Another suggestion is to keep Paramount and Sega together to compete, and maybe to compete with Disney, I think Paramount/Sega should make a deal with Marvel and the guys behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, leading Paramount to get movie and adaptation rights, maybe Paramount bringing back their animation department earlier and making more adaptations of Nintendo properties with Disney and Sega/Marvel adaptations with Paramount and maybe DiC to make things good, and maybe Paramount could buyout DiC instead of ABC, and DiC could make the Marvel cartoons ITTL.

    And I think a earlier anime boom is also in order as well.

    And I think that to keep up with Disney/Nintendo and Paramount/Marvel/Mirage/Sega, someone else should make a deal to make the TurboGrafx more successful in America, and perhaps let interesting stuff happen.
     
    MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    Otakuninja2006 said:
    I'm here, and let me say this right now, after reading all of that, I'm totes ready to help out.

    Another suggestion is to keep Paramount and Sega together to compete, and maybe to compete with Disney, I think Paramount/Sega should make a deal with Marvel and the guys behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, leading Paramount to get movie and adaptation rights, maybe Paramount bringing back their animation department earlier and making more adaptations of Nintendo properties with Disney and Sega/Marvel adaptations with Paramount and maybe DiC to make things good, and maybe Paramount could buyout DiC instead of ABC, and DiC could make the Marvel cartoons ITTL.

    And I think a earlier anime boom is also in order as well.

    And I think that to keep up with Disney/Nintendo and Paramount/Marvel/Mirage/Sega, someone else should make a deal to make the TurboGrafx more successful in America, and perhaps let interesting stuff happen.
    Click to expand...
    Sounds cool and all, and also, I’ll post something about SMB1 and a certain sequel to it if you’re interested.
     
    Super Mario Bros. (and the Sequel Problem)
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    • MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    Otakuninja2006 said:
    Ok!

    I'll work on a post about a Nintendo animated anthology series.
    Click to expand...
    Very well then, and also, here’s what I got.
    Released on September 13, 1985 in Japan, and also released in October 1985 outside of Japan, Super Mario Bros. is released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In this game, Players control Mario, or his brother Luigi in the multiplayer mode, as they traverse the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool from King Koopa (later named Bowser). They traverse side-scrolling stages while avoiding hazards such as enemies and pits with the aid of power-ups such as the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman.

    And of course, it’s the same game as it was in OTL, and it’s still a success too. However, when it’s time for a sequel, things get really complicated. Wanna take a look? Just be my guest.

    As you can see, in TTL, Nintendo’s original idea for Super Mario Bros. 2, which was going to be released for the Famicom Disk System, was going to be similar to the original Super Mario Bros., but with different levels and it's a lot harder (with elements like longer levels, random winds events which mess with the player, and poison mushrooms). When Michael Eisner looked at Nintendo’s prototype for Super Mario Bros. 2, he feared that a game like that would really mess up the popularity of the Super Mario IP. Eisner even stated that the game won’t test well with test audiences, even in Japan.

    Nintendo, now realizing what Michael Eisner said, decided to scrap their plans for Super Mario Bros. 2 and worked on some new ones, but this time, with Disney’s input. However, those aforementioned plans for Super Mario Bros. 2 do end up in the Famicom Disk System port of the original Super Mario Bros., which is known as “Super Mario Bros. Plus”, albeit as a hard mode for that game.

    Meanwhile, in December 1985, after the success of Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Walt Disney Television Animation began plans for a Nintendo-focused anthology series on ABC for next year's Saturday Morning schedule. More on that next threadmark.
     
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    • Otakuninja2006

    Otakuninja2006

    MegaToon1234 said:
    Very well then, and also, here’s what I got.
    Released on September 13, 1985 in Japan, and also released in October 1985 outside of Japan, Super Mario Bros. is released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. In this game, Players control Mario, or his brother Luigi in the multiplayer mode, as they traverse the Mushroom Kingdom to rescue Princess Toadstool from King Koopa (later named Bowser). They traverse side-scrolling stages while avoiding hazards such as enemies and pits with the aid of power-ups such as the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, and Starman.

    And of course, it’s the same game as it was in OTL, and it’s still a success too. However, when it’s time for a sequel, things get really complicated. Wanna take a look? Just be my guest.

    As you can see, in TTL, Nintendo’s original idea for Super Mario Bros. 2, which was going to be released for the Famicom Disk System, was going to be similar to the original Super Mario Bros., but with different levels and it's a lot harder (with elements like longer levels, random winds events which mess with the player, and poison mushrooms). When Michael Eisner looked at Nintendo’s prototype for Super Mario Bros. 2, he feared that a game like that would really mess up the popularity of the Super Mario IP. Eisner even stated that the game won’t test well with test audiences, even in Japan.

    Nintendo, now realizing what Michael Eisner said, decided to scrap their plans for Super Mario Bros. 2 and worked on some new ones, but this time, with Disney’s input. However, those aforementioned plans for Super Mario Bros. 2 do end up in the Famicom Disk System port of the original Super Mario Bros., which is known as “Super Mario Bros. Plus”, albeit as a hard mode for that game.

    Meanwhile, in December 1985, after the success of Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Walt Disney Television Animation began plans for a Nintendo-focused anthology series on ABC for next year's Saturday Morning schedule. More on that next threadmark.
    Click to expand...
    Nice.

    And I wouldn't blame Eisner for saying that.

    And in terms of the Nintendo anthology, I actually have this that we can take inspiration from:
    docs.google.com

    Alterthink #4: Sony and Nintendo

    docs.google.com docs.google.com

    And we could even use this as a basis:
    docs.google.com

    Nintendo Power Hour Lineup(My Version)

    docs.google.com docs.google.com

    And I also think that we should have Fox Kids launch in 1987 rather than 1990.

    And I'll be back with a anime-related post as well!
     
    MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    TheBeanieBaron

    Interesting timeline! Watched.

    Several thoughts I have:
    1. Why would Baloo be the villain of The Jungle Book arcade game when he's one of Mowgil's friends? I'll personally have him be the DK stand-in and King Louie serve as the villain.
    2. With Disney producing an animated series based on Nintendo characters, Warner Bros. could make their own series using their Atari properties.
     
    MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    TheBeanieBaron said:
    Interesting timeline! Watched.

    Several thoughts I have:
    1. Why would Baloo be the villain of The Jungle Book arcade game when he's one of Mowgil's friends? I'll personally have him be the DK stand-in and King Louie serve as the villain.
    2. With Disney producing an animated series based on Nintendo characters, Warner Bros. could make their own series using their Atari properties.
    Click to expand...
    1. Oh yeah, about that, I’ll figure something out with that.
    2. I’ll think about it.
     
    The Nintendo Power Hour
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    • MegaToon1234

    MegaToon1234

    In September 1986, The Nintendo Power Hour premiered on ABC at 9:00 A.M., between The Flintstone Kids and The Real Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, this means that The Wuzzles would move its only season to Sunday Mornings on The Disney Channel. This anthology series starts each episode with The Super Mario Bros., and then has three random games adapted afterwards, like Duck Hunt, Gyromite, Wild Gunman, Excitebike, Ice Climber, and Punch-Out, which was likely how a lot of kids were introduced to Little Mac back then.

    First off, we take a look at The Super Mario Bros., and what it’s all about. As you can see, this part of the anthology is about the Mario brothers, Mario and Luigi, going on adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom as well as in the place they grew up in known as “New Jump City”, which is based off of New York City. Accompanied with the Mario brothers are three enemies originally from the Mario Bros. game (namely a Sidestepper named “Crabby”, a Fighter Fly named “Winger”, and a Freezie named “Ivan”), who have been found by the Mario brothers back when they’re plumbing in the sewers, and these three are on good terms with the Mario brothers. Also joining along the Mario brothers are a Mushroom Retainer named “Toad”, Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, and two enemies from the Super Mario Bros. game that are allies with the Mario brothers (a Lakitu named “Louie” and a Cheep Cheep named “Aqua”).

    The antagonists of the show really do have variety (depending on the season with a specific game as their basis), but the antagonists in Season 1 are Bowser, the king of the Koopas, and his cronies that consist of a Hammer Bro., a Goomba, a Koopa Troopa, and a Koopa Paratroopa. Their reason for attacking the Mushroom Kingdom? It’s because everyone in the Koopa Kingdom is rather envious of the Mushroom Kingdom’s popularity. It should be noted that Bowser’s plan of the day is usually to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom in various unusual ways that go badly at some point, but he can sometimes try to kidnap Princess Toadstool, but she’s no eternal damsel in this adaptation, as she learns how to defend herself and can take down a number of members of the Koopa Troop, which makes Bowser too afraid to kidnap her. There’s also an overarching villain that was in charge of the Koopa Troop (including Bowser), and it’s some draconic warlock named “Infernus Rex”, who happens to be bigger than Bowser, and is the one taking control of the Koopa Troop. There’s even some moments where Bowser ain’t that much of a bad guy at all. If that ain’t potential for a possible Bowser spin-off series, then I don’t know what is.

    There are other characters that are made for The Super Mario Bros., such as the elderly king of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach’s foppish yet foolish ex-fiancé who happens to be a prince of another kingdom, and the aforementioned Infernus Rex. That’s all I can come up with.

    And then there’s the other games adapted into this show. Here are three examples of that.: Duck Hunt focuses on a hunter and his pet dog trying to hunt some ducks, Gyromite focuses on Professors Hector and Vector, along with R.O.B., going on scientific adventures and working on machinery, and Punch-Out is about Little Mac going against a random boxing-opponent-of-the-week. When later seasons come along, the following games that get adapted into the show include (but not limited to) The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and F-Zero. Plus, this show lasted for five years, and once its five years of airing time is up, there’s a new version of The Nintendo Power Hour that aired somewhere in The Disney Afternoon. More on that later.
     
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    • DucNguyen0131

    Nice start! But as Rare Ltd. came to a good start by the Stamper brothers in the late 1980s, thanks to its business relations with Disney and Nintendo, they'll convert some earlier titles (like OTL's Slalom and R.C. Pro-Am) to Disney tie-ins.
     
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