I have a confession to make; I kind of felt like, despite the intent on the timeline to not spoil Jim’s survival, there was a much earlier post - an interview from the late 1990s - that might have unwittingly stated that he was still kicking at that point; I don’t remember who was interviewing which person, but they said something along the lines of “we’re lucky to have Jim”, or some other line which thanks to present tense made me kind of certain he’s at least alive for a few years longer than IOTL. I didn’t say anything so as to avoid spoiling the suspense (and the possibility I had misread things), but to be honest for me it wasn’t a case of “will Jim survive 1990?” but rather, “HOW will Jim survive 1990?” Though it didn’t spoil anything regardless, there was so much to ponder on and enjoy.
Yeah, seeing how Jim survived his close brush with death was very impactful, both in terms of his own personal development and the story overall. Geekhis could've decided to ignore Jim's affliction since his death was a pretty huge fluke that could've been butterflied convincingly, but I definitely think that the timeline was better because of this event.
I did try to make things ambiguous, but it can be hard to avoid telling grammar when one can just as easily go the wrong direction and imply the other side. Even then, what was most critical to me was demonstrating that dark, fatalistic side of Jim that became so foreboding in hindsight in our world. I'm glad it came across as intended, as I didn't want it to look like I was exploiting tragedy for drama here.
Denliner said:
It's why I generally think that if TLM and BATB were adapted later for the Disney canon, they wouldn't leave the same impact that they would have OTL. They might be decent or even good as Disney movies, but it's just not the same without Ashman's contributions. I guess in that case films like Mort and Aladdin would be of greater prominence ITTL for the Disney Renaissance.
ITTL people thinking of timelines where Michael Eisner became CEO of the Disney company? I can see that, especially if they write the same outcome of Jim leaving the company due to the conflict between him and Eisner. Still, I don't think the majority of people ITTL are gonna agree that Eisner was a great choice for the company, mainly because Jim is so much better for Walt Disney Entertainment as CCO thanks to his personality, core values, and willingness to make bold choices in expanding the company and the Disney magic.
But yeah, there's always got be some wankers and debbie downers that will hate Jim's guts because of how much he has changed the Disney company as a whole. Aside from the early progressivism and inclusivity, they might even criticize the WDSS because they're dealing with content that is not "old Disney" (family friendly content for kids), even though it's separated with the label and a R-rated rating in mind.
They do say the grass is greener, eh? Some folks ITTL may have conceived something similar to OTL and think it’s better than having Jim “ruin” what Disney was, but just like actually experiencing TTL for ourselves (as opposed to reading about it), they might have more perspective and appreciate the good things they do get… Except the wankers who genuinely hold to their shallow foolishness and in turn persecute anyone not fitting their narrow ideal of the perfect world.
I would love to see a serious DBWI of this idea.
Intriguing idea. I'll try to remember it for later.
BTW, the mention of James Cameron has me wondering: will there be a third Alien film, and how will they avoid butchering the cast that Cameron’s Aliens made us love (ie: the reason nothing in the canon besides those two movies is actually canon, F*** you fight me).
Will come up soon.
By the way, I have two questions for you, dear Khan:
1. What does the TARDIS interior look like here?
2. Are the Evil Dead sequels butterflied away?
1. Still largely the "silver and glass with lights" look of Classic Who, but with some subtle neon accents and random triangles since it is the late '80s/early '90s and some things are required by International Law.
2. Stay tuned.
Some interesting choices! Love to see things like Seinfeld still show up, but with a little twist.
This one was a fun consideration for me. On one hand there were enough entertainment butterflies flying around at this point that I was tempted to have Jerry S. get a job in LA and write something completely different, perhaps four shallow people in LA. On the other hand Jerry seemed like just enough of a NYC snob to chose a struggling existence in upper Manhattan rather than go anywhere else, and since Seinfeld was inherently autobiographical to a point (though greatly exaggerated) it seemed likely that he'd be inspired by the inherent absurdity of the NYC single life. But the biggest established butterfly here was that Mel Brooks discovered Michael Richards already, so having Larry David fill in for Kramer (who was based on a guy that he and Jerry knew who frankly comes across a lot more like a Larry David character) was a natural. In TTL Kramer will be a lot more like his character from
Curb Your Enthusiasm, and as such be very much ahead of its time.
One of the Disney properties (or rather field of properties) I'm interested in is whether/how the Disney Afternoon will materialize. Both the main block, (things like: (Darkwing Duck, TaleSpin, DuckTales, and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers) and ever so slightly more serious fare like Gargoyles (a personal favorite). It really epitomizes the Disney 90s for me, so seeing how things change (or remain the same) will be a blast!
Well, for one, DuckTales and Goof Troop have merged together into a connected hour-long show called Duck, Duck, Goof!
But other than that notoriety, I'm also intrigued.
In this TL we have, at this point in the Disney TV Animated Canon there's
Duck Duck Goof as TFoA noted and
The Rescuers, based on the classic feature animation with a soupcon of
Rescue Rangers to it, and also
Mickey in the City. More shows coming soon.
Hopefully, it takes after Ducktales in the theme song department. Goof Troop was great, but its theme was nowhere near the level of iconic that Ducktails' was. At any rate, there needs to be a replacement for Gof Troop.
The theme would be written by Mark Mueller who wrote the Duck Tales theme, so there you go.
Speaking of Marvel:
Constantin Film acquired the film rights for the Fantastic Four in 1986. I presume they didn't ITTL, eh
@Geekhis Khan ?
I also hope, as random as this may be, 1997's
Steel, if even made, will actually be good. Heck, maybe they do replace Shaq with Wesley Snipes, let alone any actual actor, and if the former, who knows how Blade could be impacted?
Marvel never sold the
Fantastic Four rights. TBD on
Steel.
J Jonah as a demanding, icy, knowledgeable tyrant businesswoman similar in tone to Miranda Priestly as was shown in 'The devil wears prada' would be a very different spin (and gender) on the character we know and would change the character of any Spiderman movie. What's the point of changing history if you're not gonna spice things up though?
That would definitely be different!
