Laughin' Place: Redefining Disney
- Thread starter HeX
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Just waiting for more, @HeX...
Having families take kids to see Alien?!? Come on, watching the chestburster scene alone, I knew it wasn't for kids; a lot of them are going to have nightmares about that scene for years (hell, it might inspire a few people into a horror movie career)...
Having families take kids to see Alien?!? Come on, watching the chestburster scene alone, I knew it wasn't for kids; a lot of them are going to have nightmares about that scene for years (hell, it might inspire a few people into a horror movie career)...
More will come later today.
I mean, Universal's ad campaign was very misleading. I assume most kids probably left the theater in tears after the chestburster scene, but by then the damage had been done, and Universal had gotten its money.
Meeting of the Minds
Tezuka Productions Co., Takadanobaba, Tokyo, Japan
May 19, 1979
The building was rather modest, really, for being the home of the biggest names in Japanese animation. But Walt Disney was undeterred. After all, he had started out his company in his uncle's shed. He wasn't one to be talking.
Walt hadn't told anyone about his upcoming meeting. Not Don Bluth, not George Lucas, not even his wife. He wasn't trying to be secretive, but he did think that it would be better to come home with a good surprise than to let the whole studio down.
The animator had met Osamu Tezuka at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, and had talked to him about working together on a science-fiction project that just never materialized. But he'd made a name for himself over here in the meantime. Apparently, Tezuka was considered the "Walt Disney of Japan", having done wonders for the country's animation and manga industries with Astro Boy much the same way Walt had done it with Mickey Mouse.
Walt stepped into the lobby, and moved over to the front desk. The lady behind it was worried, considering she didn't speak a lick of English and the most important person she'd ever spoken to was just some executive at Nippon TV. But business was business, and she swallowed her fears. "Hello, Mister Disney," she tried in Japanese, thinking it to be futile.
"Hello," smiled Walt, replying in Japanese himself.
"Oh! You... you speak... Interesting. I didn't know you knew Japanese."
"Well, you learn something new every day. Is Tezuka-san in? I have a meeting with him scheduled for noon."
"Um, yes, he is! I can take you to him, if you'll just follow me..."
The nice lady led Walt down a maze of hallways. Occasionally, he would catch a glance of animators hard at work at their desks, sketching and inking and coloring. While there were a few outliers, most of the images included a cute little kid, a boy with his joints well defined and a spike of black hair. The two went up the stairs and Walt soon found himself on the private floor of Osamu Tezuka.
"Thank you, m'lady," said Walt jokingly as he tipped his cap.
The woman blushed, bowed low, and then scurried off.
Two sharp raps on the door, and Walt soon found it unlocked and open. "Mister Disney!" exclaimed a very excited Tezuka, who also bowed and then reached out his hand. "It is the highest of honors for me to have met my idol once more."
Walt smiled, and shook his colleague's hand. "It's a pleasure. And please, call me Walt. Mister Disney is my father."
"Of course, of course. Um, you didn't say much over the phone, but I've been watching the Disney Channel and can see that you are still in need of more television shows. So... I think I know why you're here."
"I wasn't aware you could get TDS way out here--wait, no, we just had a broadcasting station put up by Disneytropolis," mused Walt.
Tezuka bustled over to his rack of filing cabinets and opened up a drawer. "Yes, I must say, your most recent projects have only gotten better than your older ones. I may have seen Bambi eighty times--and I'm quite literal when I say eighty times--but I'm hoping to watch Mickey Mousecapade ten times more than that. Ah, here's the file."
Tezuka lugged his massive folder over to his desk, and set it down with a "thunk." Out spilled dozens of images and blocks of text written in Japanese. Walt grabbed the page on the top of the stack and took a thorough look at it. Above the kanji and the pictures were two words written in big, bold English text: Astro Boy.
Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
June 3, 1979
"It's gonna be huge. I've taken more time than I'd care to admit, working on this. Day in and day out, for hours on end. Disney World needs Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt. Especially since Disneyland just got Western River Run not too long ago."
Marc Davis was presenting his big plan for Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom. It was going to be bigger than anything before it, and with twenty years of hindsight on their side, Imagineering could ensure it would be better in every way than the Anaheim original.
"I'm not doubting you, Marc. But it's still going to unfortunately have to wait until after EuroDisney opens. All of our talents--well, except for yours--are focused on Aprilia and Cascade Peak right now. It's just something I can't do anything about. But, go ahead. I'm interested, but convince me why I should be."
Marc nodded, and displayed to his boss various new designs and ideas that would redefine how Pirates of the Caribbean was viewed. Its layout was almost entirely distinct from the one at Disneyland, filled with entirely different twists and turns and new setpieces. He displayed many pieces of concept art, all of them popping with that Marc Davis flair and entrenched in character. Walt's favorite by far was of two swordsmen, a Spaniard and a pirate, dueling. But there were other drawings that stuck out too, like that of the seaweed-colored pirate ship Vesuvius engaged in an all-out death battle with the Spanish galleon Santa Rosa, or the terrifying visage of Davy Jones himself. By the end of it all, Walt was convinced Marc had outdone his last attempts at a pirate ride.
"Marc, it's amazing. You keep working on it, once we're finished up with EuroDisney we'll launch straight into Pirates."
"Oh, and I did have one other proposal..." said Davis.
Walt crossed his arms. "And what might that be?"
"You know how Tony is basically the head of the EuroDisney creative process underneath you?"
"Yes, I do... it seemed only fair, since we used so many of his ideas for Discoveryland and Fantasyland and Adventureland and--well, you get the picture."
"Well... come with me. Back at my station I've got some plans I didn't bring up here... plans bigger than a new land, if you catch my drift."
May 19, 1979
The building was rather modest, really, for being the home of the biggest names in Japanese animation. But Walt Disney was undeterred. After all, he had started out his company in his uncle's shed. He wasn't one to be talking.
Walt hadn't told anyone about his upcoming meeting. Not Don Bluth, not George Lucas, not even his wife. He wasn't trying to be secretive, but he did think that it would be better to come home with a good surprise than to let the whole studio down.
The animator had met Osamu Tezuka at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, and had talked to him about working together on a science-fiction project that just never materialized. But he'd made a name for himself over here in the meantime. Apparently, Tezuka was considered the "Walt Disney of Japan", having done wonders for the country's animation and manga industries with Astro Boy much the same way Walt had done it with Mickey Mouse.
Walt stepped into the lobby, and moved over to the front desk. The lady behind it was worried, considering she didn't speak a lick of English and the most important person she'd ever spoken to was just some executive at Nippon TV. But business was business, and she swallowed her fears. "Hello, Mister Disney," she tried in Japanese, thinking it to be futile.
"Hello," smiled Walt, replying in Japanese himself.
"Oh! You... you speak... Interesting. I didn't know you knew Japanese."
"Well, you learn something new every day. Is Tezuka-san in? I have a meeting with him scheduled for noon."
"Um, yes, he is! I can take you to him, if you'll just follow me..."
The nice lady led Walt down a maze of hallways. Occasionally, he would catch a glance of animators hard at work at their desks, sketching and inking and coloring. While there were a few outliers, most of the images included a cute little kid, a boy with his joints well defined and a spike of black hair. The two went up the stairs and Walt soon found himself on the private floor of Osamu Tezuka.
"Thank you, m'lady," said Walt jokingly as he tipped his cap.
The woman blushed, bowed low, and then scurried off.
Two sharp raps on the door, and Walt soon found it unlocked and open. "Mister Disney!" exclaimed a very excited Tezuka, who also bowed and then reached out his hand. "It is the highest of honors for me to have met my idol once more."
Walt smiled, and shook his colleague's hand. "It's a pleasure. And please, call me Walt. Mister Disney is my father."
"Of course, of course. Um, you didn't say much over the phone, but I've been watching the Disney Channel and can see that you are still in need of more television shows. So... I think I know why you're here."
"I wasn't aware you could get TDS way out here--wait, no, we just had a broadcasting station put up by Disneytropolis," mused Walt.
Tezuka bustled over to his rack of filing cabinets and opened up a drawer. "Yes, I must say, your most recent projects have only gotten better than your older ones. I may have seen Bambi eighty times--and I'm quite literal when I say eighty times--but I'm hoping to watch Mickey Mousecapade ten times more than that. Ah, here's the file."
Tezuka lugged his massive folder over to his desk, and set it down with a "thunk." Out spilled dozens of images and blocks of text written in Japanese. Walt grabbed the page on the top of the stack and took a thorough look at it. Above the kanji and the pictures were two words written in big, bold English text: Astro Boy.
--------------------------------
Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
June 3, 1979
"It's gonna be huge. I've taken more time than I'd care to admit, working on this. Day in and day out, for hours on end. Disney World needs Pirates of the Caribbean, Walt. Especially since Disneyland just got Western River Run not too long ago."
Marc Davis was presenting his big plan for Pirates of the Caribbean at the Magic Kingdom. It was going to be bigger than anything before it, and with twenty years of hindsight on their side, Imagineering could ensure it would be better in every way than the Anaheim original.
"I'm not doubting you, Marc. But it's still going to unfortunately have to wait until after EuroDisney opens. All of our talents--well, except for yours--are focused on Aprilia and Cascade Peak right now. It's just something I can't do anything about. But, go ahead. I'm interested, but convince me why I should be."
Marc nodded, and displayed to his boss various new designs and ideas that would redefine how Pirates of the Caribbean was viewed. Its layout was almost entirely distinct from the one at Disneyland, filled with entirely different twists and turns and new setpieces. He displayed many pieces of concept art, all of them popping with that Marc Davis flair and entrenched in character. Walt's favorite by far was of two swordsmen, a Spaniard and a pirate, dueling. But there were other drawings that stuck out too, like that of the seaweed-colored pirate ship Vesuvius engaged in an all-out death battle with the Spanish galleon Santa Rosa, or the terrifying visage of Davy Jones himself. By the end of it all, Walt was convinced Marc had outdone his last attempts at a pirate ride.
"Marc, it's amazing. You keep working on it, once we're finished up with EuroDisney we'll launch straight into Pirates."
"Oh, and I did have one other proposal..." said Davis.
Walt crossed his arms. "And what might that be?"
"You know how Tony is basically the head of the EuroDisney creative process underneath you?"
"Yes, I do... it seemed only fair, since we used so many of his ideas for Discoveryland and Fantasyland and Adventureland and--well, you get the picture."
"Well... come with me. Back at my station I've got some plans I didn't bring up here... plans bigger than a new land, if you catch my drift."
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Those are bonus posts. I'll make them when I get bored of doing the regular TL, have too much time on my hands, or if I ever take a hiatus. So, I do plan on making more, just probably not for a little while.
That one might be the first mainline anime coast to coast in USA...that will be very big itself.
It's all the original film's voice actors, bound by contract for the show's entire run.
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The writers of the show throw him a bone and by the final seasons Han Solo barely appears at all. But Ford will also grow fonder of the character due to such a prolonged (1979-1987) exposure to him.Oh god, poor Harrison Ford. This must be killing him inside...
nbcman
Donor
Ford will also grow fonder of Han due (hopefully) receiving more expansive pay from the more successful movies and the animated series. Hopefully more than the grand a week / $10k total that he made for Star Wars - as compared to Mark Hamill's salary of about $650k and a minuscule portion of the profits.
That too. He's likely to renegotiate his contract before ESB, due to Raiders doing so well and Ford becoming a very high-profile actor after starring in two back-to-back blockbusters.
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