AHC: Disney goes Bankrupt

samcster94

Banned
With a POD after Walt's death, how can Disney go bankrupt. It is well know that before The Little Mermaid was released, Disney made many forgettable movies and their main revenue came from rereleasing movies made when Walt was alive and their theme parks. Bonus points if it involves either Don Bluth's studio overtaking them or The Little Mermaid bombing. Double bonus points if it happens in the early 2000's with a later POD.
 
Not very likely. And it becomes almost impossible if the POD involves The Little Mermaid. The Walt Disney Cmpany had diverse holdings in media and entertainment by then. They also didn't exactly sink all their money into certain films as though they were last ditch efforts, so one bomb wouldn't bust them, and I imagine Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast would do fine when they came out Over the next few years. And let us keep in mind that for Beauty and the Beast, Walt wanted to do something with it when he was alive. The studio just couldn't find a way to do it justice and shelved it. Unless we have the POD having the Little Mermaid's quality completely tank... I just can't see it. Yes yes, I know this is an alternate history challenge. Looking over hostile takeovers over the company or spinning off their holdings might fit the needs for this. Remember that time Japanese investors bought the Empire State Building? A very big deal back then. Think it was during the Reagan administration? Well, if things get too bad and by some miracle no American company tries to buy them out, then I feel some Japanese businesses would. Though reputation will be a big deal for all of this and how much investors would shovel out.
 
I think what you need is to have Black Cauldron bomb even harder than OTL, then have The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver And Company do the same. With a string of failures like that, the animation studio is probably sold off, possibly to Bluth. Without the animation studio, Disney the company may still be around, they still have the live-action films and theme parks after all, but they're an empty shell of what they were.
 
I think the time Disney could possibly go bankrupt is around 1980-1981, before The Fox and the Hound gets released.

None of their films around that time were successful, their anthology TV show was fading away, and VHS's were too expensive at the time to be big sellers. Add some major money mishandling and Disney could easily die.
 

samcster94

Banned
Would A Thief And The Cobbler be released?
Probably, if Hanna Barbera, Don Bluth, Filmation or any other major studio had a hold of it, they'd easily release it. The Disney Aladdin with the Robin Williams genie would never exist of course.
 
Walt died Dec. 15, 1966.

Now, the early '70s can be viewed as a period when studios concentrated on serious movies for grown-ups, such as The Godfather trilogy. So, the Disney company clumsily tries to do this and makes a mess of it.

And leaves the company in weakened state to be finished off later.
 
As a kid I remember seeing The Million Dollar Duck (1971), a live-action Disney film with actors such as Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan. And towards the end, there were scenes of college kids running from government agents.

Per the style of '70s anti-heroes, maybe Disney goes further in this direction and has several duds in a row.
 
Have construction costs for EPCOT go way over budget and maybe have a couple of good tragedies at WDW (I don't know Space Mountain blows up or something like), through in a CAT 5 trashing the place too.
 
Walt died Dec. 15, 1966.

Now, the early '70s can be viewed as a period when studios concentrated on serious movies for grown-ups, such as The Godfather trilogy. So, the Disney company clumsily tries to do this and makes a mess of it.

And leaves the company in weakened state to be finished off later.
A grittier Apple Dumpling Gang and Pete's Dragon deals with schizophrenia? This would be fascinating!
 
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samcster94

Banned
A more grittier Apple Dumpling Gang and Pete's Dragon deals with schizophrenia? This would be fascinating!
Some other studio made a short cartoon called the Dogfather where Marlon Brando was parodied as a dog. Why not a Hansel and Gretel that has all of Black Cauldron's flaws? Albeit, it'd have to be made after 1977 as that film apparently used all of Luke Skywalker's weak points to make a character.
 
You could have the whole Reedy Creek Improvement District project go off the rails from the start. In reality Walt bought the land in small tracts very secretly and very cheap. Have word get out early on what he is up to, setting off wildcat speculation in Central Florida causing land prices to go through sky high. Walt pulls out, Disney World never happens, they have a spurt of bad movies, and Disneyland can't expand to due the growth and sprawl around it.
 
You could have the whole Reedy Creek Improvement District project go off the rails from the start. In reality Walt bought the land in small tracts very secretly and very cheap. Have word get out early on what he is up to, setting off wildcat speculation in Central Florida causing land prices to go through sky high. Walt pulls out, Disney World never happens, they have a spurt of bad movies, and Disneyland can't expand to due the growth and sprawl around it.
Ahhh, fun items. Apparently when someone recognized him and asked if he was Walt Disney he denied it saying, "If I ever find that fucker I'm punching him in the nose." Though in old timey words. Turns out cursing is a great way to convince people you aren't that famous guy who is a national idol for purity and making the child in all of us happy.
 
Disney was in a poor state before Michael Eisner took over and figured out ways to reinvent how they approached cash flow with lots of average quality, profitable, films in the late 80s and early 90s. They were in the clear after that, and subsequently took off again in the 90s by going to animated big box office hits like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.

But in the early 80s, things were kind of dire. Perhaps they stupidly decide to try for international expansion in that period and it creates such a mess on the balance sheet that they go under.
 
A grittier Apple Dumpling Gang and Pete's Dragon deals with schizophrenia? This would be fascinating!
Maybe they try the common and frequent thing of trying to make Apple Dumpling Gang both humorous and hard action. And parents think, this isn't 'Disney.'
 
Maybe they try the common and frequent thing of trying to make Apple Dumpling Gang both humorous and hard action. And parents think, this isn't 'Disney.'
No, it's proto-Marvel and in the 70s going on the 80s...
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samcster94

Banned
You could have the whole Reedy Creek Improvement District project go off the rails from the start. In reality Walt bought the land in small tracts very secretly and very cheap. Have word get out early on what he is up to, setting off wildcat speculation in Central Florida causing land prices to go through sky high. Walt pulls out, Disney World never happens, they have a spurt of bad movies, and Disneyland can't expand to due the growth and sprawl around it.
Why not have Disneyworld or something like it built in St Louis or somewhere in the Midwest in a city that is in economic decline instead of the South?
 
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