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

[Geekhis Khan]

Though by mounted, are they riding actual horses, weird puppets, or one of those pantomime costumes?

Wooden stick horse, rocking horse, prancing around banging coconuts together.

Mostly mounted on actual horse and donkey, and only there on occasion as an Easter Egg for those paying attention. But I'm sure some cast members will do the coconuts gag at some point, probably some Python fans.

I still think this will lead to Disney forming a Smithsonian Chanel based off their work together.

Okay, I admit that my mind is split on whether Disney should do an earlier Smithsonian Channel (instead of in 2006 with Showtime*), or do a National Geographic channel with NGS, unlike IOTL where 20th Century Fox did such (ITTL part ). Jim would definitely be behind what Nat Geo stands for, in both subject matter and what it stands for.

Either seems a possibility. I can see good arguments either way. Smithsonian could be facilitated through PBS contacts. As someone else noted NatGeo via NBC.

Lew Grade just facilitated the discussion; the partner is Pearson PLC, who (in 1990) own the Tussauds Group. And it's just a 30% stake.

Yes this. Pearson is now essentially a shareholder in DLV and PD. Disney maintains majority stake in both cases.

I know that Pearson has taken the brunt of the revenue, but I hope our friend LLG got a little bit of the cash for his role as the negotiator. BTW how has he been doing these past few years? Does he have a job again or is he still battling with bankruptcy?

He's been working deals on the West End. You will hear from him again.

Please @Geekhis Khan it's not entirely sure if we can even do Christmas Markets this year and now you come here and just casually rub salt into the wound! What have I done to you?

Es tut mir Leid, mein Freund. Sorry to reopen any wounds there.

I haven't experienced a German Christmas in decades, so I actually get it. They are actually a time of joy and goodwill. What a concept!!

Look on the bright side, you still won't have to have an American Christmas:

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

I mean you probably could build Disneyland Antarctica if you spent enough, but it will always struggle to attract visitors.

Recall that there was a "Disneyland Antarctica" reference in Card's Retirement Party Muppet performance.

That and "Project Y (Shh! Shh! Shh!)"

Assuming a better public opinion of AIDS and HIV Isaac Asimov's family may not hide his HIV status when he dies in 1992, especially if they reveal how it happened:

Yes, they openly say the cause per his wishes to help destigmatize it.

If we're saving Sam Kinison this is the year to do it:

Recall that he avoids the accident, but ODs in 1997.

Lets not forget Conor Clayton:

Well, random butterflies pretty much prevent that very random and tragic death. I guess that means no "Tears in Heaven".

But to rebel against his famous dad, Connor never picks up a guitar and instead becomes a Certified Public Accountant.

And I can't save everyone!

OK. 1993 is on the horizon, so here's hoping that Dino-Force 5 becomes as big a hit as MMPR.

IIRC someone or ones were writing up a guest post on the continuing adventures of BF5. I need to recheck my PMs.

Jim has, clearly, never been to Italy.

Turning 1980s FIAT Panda models into deadly weapons is basically the national sport over here.

LOL, what do you think inspired that line? I've done some crazy, death-defying shit in my life, but one of the scariest was the Gonzo-like stunt performance of Simply Crossing the Street in Downtown Cagliari.

You can't be serious -- I can see nighttime talk shows doing this -- but morning talk shows are a horse of a different color.

Morning Talk Shows are apparently a Crapsacarine Hellmouth of Machiavellian intrigue. Or so has been alleged.

See: "Matt Lauer".

Come on @Geekhis Khan I through this was supposed to be a realistic timeline!😂

All jokes aside the OTL score was 1-1.

Also, no Octopus? I guess that's off the DisneySea menu....

Well, he's not forcing other people to make his choices. And yes, he's self-aware of the little hypocrisy about pork. Doesn't even try to justify it.

Probably not a siesta during a work day (he's probably still a workaholic), but maybe he'll enjoy his breaks more or actually spend time resting after work hours.

Uhhhh, I'm pretty sure Geekhis mentioned that Disney accommodated for the siesta for their cast members at Valencia a while back.

Yes, they have Siesta Rooms for the staff in the Tunnels. Staff can siesta on a rotating basis. He's been known to take "power naps" or occasionally just fall asleep in his chair working on something.

 

[TheKennedyMachine.]

Wonder if they will open a Disneyland on every continent

Disneyland Kabul, maybe? Maybe even Disneyland Rio or Disneyland Cairo.

 

[wietze]

i wonder if there is another location where disney will be able to push out 6 flags completely (as payback for st louis), because that is likely what is going to happen.

 

[Pokemon Master]

i wonder if there is another location where disney will be able to push out 6 flags completely (as payback for st louis), because that is likely what is going to happen.

Is there a Disneytown in San Antonio? Fiesta Texas opened up there around this time OTL.

 

[El Pip]

i wonder if there is another location where disney will be able to push out 6 flags completely (as payback for st louis), because that is likely what is going to happen.

To look at it from Six Flags point of view, they had a successful park and suddenly Disney turns up and tries to steal away their visitors. Strip out the probably untrue diverting limos accusations (if nothing else you will piss off all the artists and get into messy legal fights, can't see Warner being that stupid) and Six Flags aren't doing anything wrong, neither legally nor morally, they are just competing rather than rolling over and letting Disney win.

So I think cooler heads should prevail. A couple of board members or old friends will remind Jim that other companies are allowed to compete with him, sometimes he will lose that contest and that's OK because no-one wins them all. They may also subtly mention the main issue - this was Disney trying to push into 6Fs market (maybe not deliberately, but the result was the same), so if anything it is 6F that should be upset and not him.

 

[ajm8888]

From the latest Defunctland on lines at Disney Parks.

Spoiler

https://deadlypen1.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F668504995218505728

https://kaedeichinose.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F668520353062125568

Also from an earlier Defunctland for laughs

Spoiler

https://2headedfilmfanatic.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F659279972516675584

 

[lukedalton]

I'd never - my father had one, and I would've gotten one too, if I were able to drive a car with manual transmission; I can't, due to weird medical reasons, so I had to get a Smart instead. It's a cool car still, I like small cars. Thank fuck Henson didn't try and plop a Disneyland somewhere in Italy though, even though we might be up there with Finland when it comes to fondness for classic Disney characters in Europe, and a Paperinik-themed ride would've been quite the sight, the chaos of it all would've been too much for even Henson to handle.

Yeah, my wife need to drive one for your same reason and frankly as a city car is very good especially if there is a lack of parking space. Speaking of Paperinik, it will be fun Jim reaction to the italian stable of disney characters and more importantly to the tradition of the Parodie.

To translate for everyone else, the italian local disney comic production in his 70 years old tradition had produced a lot of original characters that here and in many part of europe have become extremely linked to the name Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck among them Paperinik (in USA translated as the Duck Avenger) basically Donald Duck as a superhero like Batman and a scarily efficient and terrifying one and naturally John Davidson Rockerduck the eternal second richest duck of the world and nasty rival to Scrooge McDuck (sure it was created in america but there used very sparsely, here in Italy it's Scrooge number one enemy and characterizated by the fact that every time he lose he eat his hat...he lose so much that by now he had even preference on how that hat is cooked).
The Parodie are a tradition of the italian disney production, basically a retelling of myths and classic book and stories with disney characters recast as the protagonist, the first was the classic Dante's Inferno (Transformed in Topolino's Inferno) but we had also Moby Duck, Duckestein, the strange case of Doctor Mickey and Mr. Duck and many others.

 

[ajm8888]

The early 1990s sucked for Italy off top of my head two incidents come to mind.

Capaci bombing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Via D'Amelio bombing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

But to be fair despite it’s great infrastructure 1992 UK is not a spot I’d put a theme park either unless I want the IRA to set a bomb off near or in it.

Baltic Exchange bombing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Spoiler

Edit:

Spain’s main problem is Basque separatists, ETA especially.

ETA (separatist group) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Droman]

Course, no one ever was. They were just joking about Disney parks on all continents.

Okay, I admit that my mind is split on whether Disney should do an earlier Smithsonian Channel (instead of in 2006 with Showtime*), or do a National Geographic channel with NGS, unlike IOTL where 20th Century Fox did such (ITTL part ). Jim would definitely be behind what Nat Geo stands for, in both subject matter and what it stands for.

* Which is in part produced with Showtime, part of National Amusements purchase, who in turn are under Viacom.

Disneynature exists and Walt had an interest in nature programs with True-Life Adventures, so I suppose Henson Disney could always launch a Disney Nature Channel?

 

[Unknown]

And a Disneytown in Saudi Arabia--that'll attract attention from a certain terrorist named OBL, methinks...

 

[Plateosaurus]

Disneynature exists and Walt had an interest in nature programs with True-Life Adventures, so I suppose Henson Disney could always launch a Disney Nature Channel?

Aaand I forgot realise I should have written ITTL part of Triad. I edited that in just now

 

[Igeo654]

With the cash flow that Henson has been making lately, he probably has enough to try and pull off Walt's original plans for Epcot. The Whole ''City of Tomorrow'' thing. May need updating for the Y2K era and accounting for Jim's environmental views.

 

[lukedalton]

The early 1990s sucked for Italy off typo of my head two incidents come to mind.

Capaci bombing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Via D'Amelio bombing - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Honestly in general the 90's were not a very problematic period for Italy...as it come from the years of lead.
Sure the brutal murder of Borsellino and Falcone were akin to JKF murder in them of social and cultural reasonance and really scarred an entire generation (even today i can't really describe the sense of dread, astonishiment and hopeless of that moment), united to the terrorist campaign by the mafia so that the government come to terms with them (and even today if this really happened...well there are very different version) destroyed any leftover of romanticism in the image of the mafia.
And that two attack happened during the period my city (Bologna) was in the grasp of the so called Banda della Uno Bianca a group of very violent robbers that terrorized Marche and Emilia-Romagna for 7 years, killing more than 20 person (including 3 carabinieri killed during a firefight) and wounded more than 100...and in the end the criminal group was composed by policemen

 

[Unknown]

Honestly in general the 90's were not a very problematic period for Italy...as it come from the years of lead.
Sure the brutal murder of Borsellino and Falcone were akin to JKF murder in them of social and cultural reasonance and really scarred an entire generation (even today i can't really describe the sense of dread, astonishiment and hopeless of that moment), united to the terrorist campaign by the mafia so that the government come to terms with them (and even today if this really happened...well there are very different version) destroyed any leftover of romanticism in the image of the mafia.
And that two attack happened during the period my city (Bologna) was in the grasp of the so called Banda della Uno Bianca a group of very violent robbers that terrorized Marche and Emilia-Romagna for 7 years, killing more than 20 person (including 3 carabinieri killed during a firefight) and wounded more than 100...and in the end the criminal group was composed by policemen

There was also the shooting of Nicholas Green in southern Italy in 1994, which was also tied to the Mafia (that really didn't help their image after the aforementioned bombings)--interestingly, the two Mafia members charged were acquitted by the trial court, but would up being convicted by the appellate court and got life without parole and 20 years, respectively...

 

[ajm8888]

Honestly in general the 90's were not a very problematic period for Italy...as it come from the years of lead.
Sure the brutal murder of Borsellino and Falcone were akin to JKF murder in them of social and cultural reasonance and really scarred an entire generation (even today i can't really describe the sense of dread, astonishiment and hopeless of that moment), united to the terrorist campaign by the mafia so that the government come to terms with them (and even today if this really happened...well there are very different version) destroyed any leftover of romanticism in the image of the mafia.
And that two attack happened during the period my city (Bologna) was in the grasp of the so called Banda della Uno Bianca a group of very violent robbers that terrorized Marche and Emilia-Romagna for 7 years, killing more than 20 person (including 3 carabinieri killed during a firefight) and wounded more than 100...and in the end the criminal group was composed by policemen

And I will not deny the fact that it was not as bad as it had been.

But the Italians do have an infrastructure problem and I will agree there. I mean they’re still digging that one metro line they started 50 years ago, not the fault of the metro that there is so much buried Roman and Italian History.

Also Italy is very mountainous,

 

[TheKennedyMachine.]

OBL

"Good thing Bin Laden is dead! Wakka-Wakka!" - Fozzie, 2001.

 

[lukedalton]

And I will not deny the fact that it was not as bad as it had been.

But the Italians do have an infrastructure problem and I will agree there. I mean they’re still digging that one metro line they started 50 years ago, not the fault of the metro that there is so much buried Roman and Italian History.

Also Italy is very mountainous,

IRC the zone that had the greatest probability of being chosen was between Bologna and Rimini so between the central hub of the entire italian railway system and one the greatest tourist local of the penisula...the problem for that is apparently there were not great room for expansion

 

[ajm8888]

IRC the zone that had the greatest probability of being chosen was between Bologna and Rimini so between the central hub of the entire italian railway system and one the greatest tourist local of the penisula...the problem for that is apparently there were not great room for expansion

And I am not aware of Italian eminent domain laws. Japan just tears things down and builds a new. Italy, I have less of an idea.

 

[Denliner]

Well, he's not forcing other people to make his choices. And yes, he's self-aware of the little hypocrisy about pork. Doesn't even try to justify it.

Okay that's fair. That probably means sushi would also be on the menu at DisneySea, but I'm thinking that stuff like shark fin or bird's nest soup are still banned for their cruel practices.

As for pork, hahahaha. You know, Jim Henson has gotta have some guilty pleasures, and bacon is definitely one of them. Although, maybe he could be persuaded off of that if he ever tried vegan bacon as a guilt-free substitute.

Yes, they have Siesta Rooms for the staff in the Tunnels. Staff can siesta on a rotating basis. He's been known to take "power naps" or occasionally just fall asleep in his chair working on something.

Given his weird quirks while sitting, I'm guessing he would be like on a reclining beach chair while he's napping, lol.

Speaking of Paperinik, it will be fun Jim reaction to the italian stable of disney characters and more importantly to the tradition of the Parodie.

I'm curious as to whether Paperinik could sprout an idea for a TV show about it on The Disney Channel, perhaps as a comedic parody of Batman TAS.

With the cash flow that Henson has been making lately, he probably has enough to try and pull off Walt's original plans for Epcot. The Whole ''City of Tomorrow'' thing. May need updating for the Y2K era and accounting for Jim's environmental views.

NO. HARD NO. This kind of project is simply not going to work, even during the 90s. You're asking Disney to spend billions and billions of dollars into a city (surrounded by an ever encroaching development already) that might not even work for the current era, given how companies have changed since the 60s.

I don't even think Henson is even going to try and suggest this because of the creepy and seemingly authoritarian nature of the original EPCOT (a city where you're monitored and exhibited as a tourist attraction), and I think Roy E. Disney will also think in the same way (aside from it being far too expensive to even construct).

The original EPCOT was strictly a Walt idea (there has been TLs where it has been implemented to some degree like Progressburgh in American Magic IIRC but that's only because Walt was alive at the time), and I'd rather have it die with him.

Is there a Disneytown in San Antonio? Fiesta Texas opened up there around this time OTL.

A Disneytown exists in San Antonio (as part of the 2nd phase of DTs opened along with Denver).

Disneyland Kabul, maybe? Maybe even Disneyland Rio or Disneyland Cairo.

Disneyland Rio is a likely location, but that has already been discussed earlier.

Cairo is an interesting location as an alternative to Dubai, but I'm thinking the latter is more realistic given its strategic position and the wealth of its potential investors.

Funnily enough, I've been toying with the idea of an Egypt Pavilion at EPCOT after being exposed to the many festivals/parades that they've done recently on Ancient Egypt such as the Golden Parade (on top of their already rich Hellenistic/Islamic culture). It's definitely up there on my wishlist along with a South Korea, Switzerland, Russia, and Brazil Pavilion for the World Showcase.

 

[Droman]

Disneynature exists and Walt had an interest in nature programs with True-Life Adventures, so I suppose Henson Disney could always launch a Disney Nature Channel?

Just realized that Discovery partnered with BBC in 1996 to launch Animal Planet. Maybe Disney does that deal with BBC instead?