Yeah, even if Joe got the better of Elvis, there's still Elvis' inner circle (aka the Memphis Mafia) to contend with, and they'd literally beat sense into Joe, assuming Elvis didn't pull a Pete Townshend and whack Joe in the head with a guitar (that's what Townshend did to Abbie Hoffman, IIRC, when the latter crashed the Who's Woodstock appearance)...
Laughin' Place: Redefining Disney
- Thread starter HeX
- Start date
- Status
Into the Third Dimension...
Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, CA
July 11, 1979
John Lasseter couldn't believe it. Here he was, working at Disney as an animator. The company apparently had a strict quota of permanent animators they could take on, something like a percent of a percent. But he'd done it, and now Lasseter had his dream job.
He considered himself to be pretty talented, even amongst legends like Don Bluth and the Nine Old Men. Like all the other newbies, though, Lasseter had been put on the next big Disney blockbuster, The Secret of NIMH, an adaptation of the 1971 Newbery Award-winning children's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (word around the studio was that Roy had changed the name to avoid legal action on the part of an angry Wham-O, owners of the iconic Frisbee). It was a good story, one Walt had mindfully picked up when offered it seven years ago.
John Lasseter hadn't entered the game without his share of concerns, though. While he thought Disney animation (really, animation as a whole) had peaked with Beauty and the Beast and plateaued with The Snow Queen, he feared Don Bluth was getting... sloppy. While a phenomenal film, Mickey Mousecapade had been, in his mind, a step back from the future of animation, relying on a gimmicky, cartoony style too much. And NIMH was looking to be more of the same old Disney, on the level of something as old as The Jungle Book, for Pete's sake. And that movie was from 1967.
Lasseter wanted to innovate further, though ever since Walt had left the animation department in Don Bluth's capable hands there seemed to be less innovation nowadays. Maybe he could come up with or find something. But for now, he just returned to drawing more mice.
July 12, 1979
"What's that?"
"Just some things my boys down in the CGI department at LucasArts are working on."
Walt Disney held a tape in his hands, cryptically labeled 'shapes'. Shrugging, he slid it into the tape player and flicked on the TV. On-screen was a few shapes floating in the air. Nothing special, and clearly animated. But when the camera swung around...
"Oh... my... God. How the hell did you accomplish this?" asked a shocked Walt.
Three-dimensional shapes floated in the air. They weren't flat, or merely given the illusion of depth through clever shading techniques. They were one-hundred-percent bonafide 3D objects. Walt had never seen anything like it before in his entire career.
"I've got some real geniuses down there. These guys... Edwin Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith, Ralph Guggenheim... picked 'em up from NYIT," replied Lucas.
"NYIT?"
"New York Institute of Tech."
"Well, they could be from Mars for all I care. This is brilliant! Amazing! Tell them to keep up the good work, we could use their help sometime in the future... three-dimensional imagery, and on a computer, no less... this opens doors you've never ever heard of, George!"
Lucas laughed. "I'll be sure to tell them that."
"Can I, um, hold on to this tape?"
"Of course. That's just a copy anyways."
Walt Disney thanked George Lucas, then quickly escorted the director out of his office with a smile. As soon as the door shut, Walt's hand went for the telephone. "Roy, get your ass up here in three minutes. I've got something I need to show you."
"I know!" yelled an ecstatic Walt. "Isn't computer-generated 3D imaging so cool?"
"I mean, yeah, I can't really argue with that."
"And, sure, the technology is primitive and we can't really do anything with it but make some floating geometric shapes now, but just give this ten--no, five--years! Imagine what we could do with this! Our backgrounds, our characters could have real depth, none of that smoke-and-mirrors with shading and shit like that!"
Roy didn't think he'd seen his brother this excited since Disneyland opened.
"Now you try and tell me we can't buy LucasArts. I don't care about the cost--with our strings of successes, we're practically swimming in dough! You tell George Lucas to name his price, Roy, because we are buying out his company whether he likes it or not. This just sealed the deal."
Roy Disney sighed, but nodded. There was no turning his little brother away from this decision. "Walt... I'll see what I can do. But he won't come easy."
"Try and be nice. But if you have to... remind him we own the rights to Indiana Jones, the first Star Wars and almost all the other rights to those movies. Not to mention our big stake in the merchandise of those franchises..."
July 11, 1979
John Lasseter couldn't believe it. Here he was, working at Disney as an animator. The company apparently had a strict quota of permanent animators they could take on, something like a percent of a percent. But he'd done it, and now Lasseter had his dream job.
He considered himself to be pretty talented, even amongst legends like Don Bluth and the Nine Old Men. Like all the other newbies, though, Lasseter had been put on the next big Disney blockbuster, The Secret of NIMH, an adaptation of the 1971 Newbery Award-winning children's book Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (word around the studio was that Roy had changed the name to avoid legal action on the part of an angry Wham-O, owners of the iconic Frisbee). It was a good story, one Walt had mindfully picked up when offered it seven years ago.
John Lasseter hadn't entered the game without his share of concerns, though. While he thought Disney animation (really, animation as a whole) had peaked with Beauty and the Beast and plateaued with The Snow Queen, he feared Don Bluth was getting... sloppy. While a phenomenal film, Mickey Mousecapade had been, in his mind, a step back from the future of animation, relying on a gimmicky, cartoony style too much. And NIMH was looking to be more of the same old Disney, on the level of something as old as The Jungle Book, for Pete's sake. And that movie was from 1967.
Lasseter wanted to innovate further, though ever since Walt had left the animation department in Don Bluth's capable hands there seemed to be less innovation nowadays. Maybe he could come up with or find something. But for now, he just returned to drawing more mice.
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Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
July 12, 1979
"What's that?"
"Just some things my boys down in the CGI department at LucasArts are working on."
Walt Disney held a tape in his hands, cryptically labeled 'shapes'. Shrugging, he slid it into the tape player and flicked on the TV. On-screen was a few shapes floating in the air. Nothing special, and clearly animated. But when the camera swung around...
"Oh... my... God. How the hell did you accomplish this?" asked a shocked Walt.
Three-dimensional shapes floated in the air. They weren't flat, or merely given the illusion of depth through clever shading techniques. They were one-hundred-percent bonafide 3D objects. Walt had never seen anything like it before in his entire career.
"I've got some real geniuses down there. These guys... Edwin Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith, Ralph Guggenheim... picked 'em up from NYIT," replied Lucas.
"NYIT?"
"New York Institute of Tech."
"Well, they could be from Mars for all I care. This is brilliant! Amazing! Tell them to keep up the good work, we could use their help sometime in the future... three-dimensional imagery, and on a computer, no less... this opens doors you've never ever heard of, George!"
Lucas laughed. "I'll be sure to tell them that."
"Can I, um, hold on to this tape?"
"Of course. That's just a copy anyways."
Walt Disney thanked George Lucas, then quickly escorted the director out of his office with a smile. As soon as the door shut, Walt's hand went for the telephone. "Roy, get your ass up here in three minutes. I've got something I need to show you."
--------------------------------
"Wow, that's just... wow," said Roy.
"I know!" yelled an ecstatic Walt. "Isn't computer-generated 3D imaging so cool?"
"I mean, yeah, I can't really argue with that."
"And, sure, the technology is primitive and we can't really do anything with it but make some floating geometric shapes now, but just give this ten--no, five--years! Imagine what we could do with this! Our backgrounds, our characters could have real depth, none of that smoke-and-mirrors with shading and shit like that!"
Roy didn't think he'd seen his brother this excited since Disneyland opened.
"Now you try and tell me we can't buy LucasArts. I don't care about the cost--with our strings of successes, we're practically swimming in dough! You tell George Lucas to name his price, Roy, because we are buying out his company whether he likes it or not. This just sealed the deal."
Roy Disney sighed, but nodded. There was no turning his little brother away from this decision. "Walt... I'll see what I can do. But he won't come easy."
"Try and be nice. But if you have to... remind him we own the rights to Indiana Jones, the first Star Wars and almost all the other rights to those movies. Not to mention our big stake in the merchandise of those franchises..."
Oh damn, looks like a big shake-up is coming soon. I can't see anyway for Lucasarts to stay independent given how much influence Disney has over some of their major hits. And with Disney breaching into the world of 3D with Lucasarts' help, the world of video games is going to experience a big change...
Note that LucasArts ITTL is the name for the whole company (OTL Lucasfilm). The name change is due to Lucas knowing from the start that he didn't want to only make movies.
LucasArts Games (OTL LucasArts) is still in its very infancy. This is 3D animation, not gaming.
Hope that clears things up.
Something tells me that Walt might have a few choice words to say if Pixar still exists ITTL. And by a few, I mean an entire speech's worth!
Huge Investments
Michael Eisner's Office, Universal City, CA
July 17, 1979
Universal had been catapulted into a spotlight it had never seen before. As the rival to Disney, they were now setting out to upscale their output in quality over quantity, something that had begun with Alien, which had released only that May and was already close to neck-and-neck with Raiders in ticket sales for the month. Woody Woodpecker was coming down the pipeline as well for the holiday season, and was sure to make waves in the animated scene. And since Disney wouldn't be releasing a major animated movie in '79, it was a shoe-in for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.
"It's absolutely insane what you've done with the studio in such a short time, Mike," congratulated Lew Wasserman. "You've taken it from struggling along with only one blockbuster to its name to a real powerhouse, one that's only going to get stronger and stronger each day."
"Thank you, sir. And we have many projects lined up to combat their upcoming ones... Hopefully, Legend of the Lone Ranger will be able to do some damage against the 1981 Star Wars sequel, maybe do something to revive the Old West genre in Hollywood. Who knows? Though, Lew, I would like to put out a newer, bigger idea..." said Michael Eisner.
"Hopefully nothing too out there?" chuckled Wasserman.
"Um, probably. I was thinking, since everything's going well, you know, financially... there's no easy way to put this. What are your thoughts on a Universal theme park?"
"A... what?"
"A theme park. Something of the likes of Disneyland. It obviously wouldn't be made very soon, but if things keep going our way..."
Wasserman scowled. "Don't jump the gun, Mister Eisner. You wouldn't want to rush something like that out the door. A theme park is a huge investment, and if it fails, we fail with it."
"Okay, yeah, you've made your point. But I think it's high time we start at least considering the possibility," insisted Eisner.
"Just focus on the movies for now. Keep on getting hits like Alien and then we'll talk about a park."
Michael Eisner nodded, and led Lew Wasserman out. Once his boss was gone, he let out a cry of joy and pumped his fists. Finally, things were going somewhere. Somewhere... interesting.
July 20, 1979
"Isn't nature wonderful?"
Walt spread his arms wide and took in the sights all around him. Flora from around the world was on display for all to see. Magentas, purples, cyans, and yellows all stood out in eye-popping color against green hedges, lily pads, and leaves. It was a natural wonderland filled to the brim with every plant imaginable.
"It is very pretty, Walt," agreed his wife, Lillian. "So... why are we here?"
"Just to relax, you know? I took a day off from filming Hood to spend a little time with you. I feel like I hardly even see you these days, with all the things I have at the studio and around the world."
Lillian laughed. "Oh, come on, I know you better than that. Why are we really here?"
"I'm sorry I missed our anniversary," murmured Walt.
"Again, you mean."
"I'm sorry I missed our anniversary again. My plate's full, I just--I've got a lot on my mind twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It's a miracle if I even come home from the studio some nights. So... it slipped my mind," he apologized.
"And that's why we're here?" asked his wife.
"Yeah," he said. "I thought it could be like a date or something. It's no joyride up and down Burbank like we used to be able to do, but it's something."
"The place is quite beautiful."
"Oh, and we're meeting the Queen, too."
"We're doing WHAT?"
Walt chuckled. "We're meeting her. Elizabeth the Second, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. Five PM sharp."
"You should have told me that sooner! Oh, now I have to figure out what to wear, what we should talk about..." she sighed.
Walt cradled a flower that had fallen from its stalk in his hands. "It really is gorgeous, isn't it? This whole place? Makes me wish I was still making nature documentaries..."
"I really liked Seal Island, for what it's worth," added Lillian.
"Maybe I should get back into that game. After we're finished with Hood. But... I could go all out. No more dinky little True-Life Adventure featurettes. A full-blown, full-length major motion picture... about nature."
"It's not the craziest thing you've done."
Walt turned to his wife. "Thanks, Lily. That's real nice of you," he said sarcastically.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. And Fantasia and Disneyland speak volumes in my defense."
"Whatever. But the nature documentary... oh man, now I won't be able to think straight tonight! Too many good ideas!"
"Well, try and quiet those talking heads, why don't you?" asked Lillian. "We've got a date with the Queen in a few hours! I've never been more excited!"
The two Disneys wandered off into the natural wonderland hand in hand, intent on seeing as much of it as they could before hoofing it back to Buckingham Palace.
July 17, 1979
Universal had been catapulted into a spotlight it had never seen before. As the rival to Disney, they were now setting out to upscale their output in quality over quantity, something that had begun with Alien, which had released only that May and was already close to neck-and-neck with Raiders in ticket sales for the month. Woody Woodpecker was coming down the pipeline as well for the holiday season, and was sure to make waves in the animated scene. And since Disney wouldn't be releasing a major animated movie in '79, it was a shoe-in for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.
"It's absolutely insane what you've done with the studio in such a short time, Mike," congratulated Lew Wasserman. "You've taken it from struggling along with only one blockbuster to its name to a real powerhouse, one that's only going to get stronger and stronger each day."
"Thank you, sir. And we have many projects lined up to combat their upcoming ones... Hopefully, Legend of the Lone Ranger will be able to do some damage against the 1981 Star Wars sequel, maybe do something to revive the Old West genre in Hollywood. Who knows? Though, Lew, I would like to put out a newer, bigger idea..." said Michael Eisner.
"Hopefully nothing too out there?" chuckled Wasserman.
"Um, probably. I was thinking, since everything's going well, you know, financially... there's no easy way to put this. What are your thoughts on a Universal theme park?"
"A... what?"
"A theme park. Something of the likes of Disneyland. It obviously wouldn't be made very soon, but if things keep going our way..."
Wasserman scowled. "Don't jump the gun, Mister Eisner. You wouldn't want to rush something like that out the door. A theme park is a huge investment, and if it fails, we fail with it."
"Okay, yeah, you've made your point. But I think it's high time we start at least considering the possibility," insisted Eisner.
"Just focus on the movies for now. Keep on getting hits like Alien and then we'll talk about a park."
Michael Eisner nodded, and led Lew Wasserman out. Once his boss was gone, he let out a cry of joy and pumped his fists. Finally, things were going somewhere. Somewhere... interesting.
--------------------------------
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, UK
July 20, 1979
"Isn't nature wonderful?"
Walt spread his arms wide and took in the sights all around him. Flora from around the world was on display for all to see. Magentas, purples, cyans, and yellows all stood out in eye-popping color against green hedges, lily pads, and leaves. It was a natural wonderland filled to the brim with every plant imaginable.
"It is very pretty, Walt," agreed his wife, Lillian. "So... why are we here?"
"Just to relax, you know? I took a day off from filming Hood to spend a little time with you. I feel like I hardly even see you these days, with all the things I have at the studio and around the world."
Lillian laughed. "Oh, come on, I know you better than that. Why are we really here?"
"I'm sorry I missed our anniversary," murmured Walt.
"Again, you mean."
"I'm sorry I missed our anniversary again. My plate's full, I just--I've got a lot on my mind twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It's a miracle if I even come home from the studio some nights. So... it slipped my mind," he apologized.
"And that's why we're here?" asked his wife.
"Yeah," he said. "I thought it could be like a date or something. It's no joyride up and down Burbank like we used to be able to do, but it's something."
"The place is quite beautiful."
"Oh, and we're meeting the Queen, too."
"We're doing WHAT?"
Walt chuckled. "We're meeting her. Elizabeth the Second, Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. Five PM sharp."
"You should have told me that sooner! Oh, now I have to figure out what to wear, what we should talk about..." she sighed.
Walt cradled a flower that had fallen from its stalk in his hands. "It really is gorgeous, isn't it? This whole place? Makes me wish I was still making nature documentaries..."
"I really liked Seal Island, for what it's worth," added Lillian.
"Maybe I should get back into that game. After we're finished with Hood. But... I could go all out. No more dinky little True-Life Adventure featurettes. A full-blown, full-length major motion picture... about nature."
"It's not the craziest thing you've done."
Walt turned to his wife. "Thanks, Lily. That's real nice of you," he said sarcastically.
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. And Fantasia and Disneyland speak volumes in my defense."
"Whatever. But the nature documentary... oh man, now I won't be able to think straight tonight! Too many good ideas!"
"Well, try and quiet those talking heads, why don't you?" asked Lillian. "We've got a date with the Queen in a few hours! I've never been more excited!"
The two Disneys wandered off into the natural wonderland hand in hand, intent on seeing as much of it as they could before hoofing it back to Buckingham Palace.
His idea does have merit, though since he's still very much a businessman instead of a creative force like Walt Disney (plus he has superiors to tell him what to do), he wants a lot of financial security and stability to have as a foundation to build a theme park on. Wouldn't want to bankrupt Universal over some broken theme park dreams.
Good to see Walt and his wife are doing well in their personal lives. I was a bit worried when it was mentioned that Walt barely had time for family, but it's good to see things are still going well. Though man, a nature documentary? Walt's definitely a believer in that old saying about idle hands, it seems!
Walt barely had time for family even IOTL. Once his daughters were out of the house, he spent more and more nights sleeping in the back room/makeshift bedroom of his office, where he had a bed and everything. I imagine he's got more free time to spare now that he's not doing as much in animation, but other commitments are piling on in its place (like video games).
They're still toiling away on Heaven's Gate right now. So, not until 1980, when that movie releases, tanks, and takes the whole of Fox down with it.
Yes, but it wasn't until the Backlot Tour gained the King Kong Encounter addition in 1986 that it was truly considered a theme park. Really, up until the opening of Universal Studios Florida, all that Universal had in a "theme park" perspective was the Backlot Tour. Hardly something on the scale of Disneyland, and definitely not drawing people in from across the country to see it.
BONUS: Star Wars: The Animated Series Season 1 (Part 2)
Star Wars: The Animated Series
Season 1 (Part Two)
Episode 26: Growing PainsSeason 1 (Part Two)
The episode picks up immediately after the last one's cliffhanger ending. It turns out Leia had followed Luke the whole way to Tatooine, worried for his safety. Seeing the Emperor about to kill him, she slams her ship into the Emperor, seemingly killing him. Leia fights off the Stormtroopers as Luke recovers, but just as everything seems to be going well, the Emperor rises from the ashes of the ship and ignites his lightsaber. Luke duels him again, and wins this time, ripping off his foe's cloak to reveal... it wasn't actually the Emperor, but rather a female Force-attuned bounty hunter named Kaila Zen. She'd heard about the massive bounty on Skywalker's head, and hired a bunch of rogues to masquerade as Stormtroopers while she dressed up as the Emperor, and aimed to kill him. Alas, she did not, but Kaila also escaped Rebel custody by vanishing into Mos Eisley.
Episode 27: A Wookie's Ballad
Chewbacca and R2 are left to mind the Millenium Falcon while Han and Luke go out onto the planet to refuel. The episode is completely subtitled, as neither character can speak actual words, and the two accidentally break part of the ship when Chewie, mad at the droid, smashes a control console. They have to fix everything before Han gets back on board, and do so in a comical fashion.
Episode 28: Hitting the Big Time
Luke, Han, R2-D2, and C-3P0 land on Elos, a gambling planet run by a Hutt kingpin. After Han gets himself in trouble by cheating at a few games of sabacc and landing himself in jail. The others have to break him out before dawn, when Imperial authorities are landing on the planet to take care of this Rebel matter themselves...
Episode 29: Battleborn
Luke and Leia touch down on the Mars-like planet Geonosis, which is currently on the tipping point between alignment with the Rebels or the Empire. But upon their arrival, both are knocked unconscious! A while later, Princess Leia wakes up in a small chamber, where she is told she'll be doing diplomacy "the Geonosian way." In other words, she's being put in a gladiatorial tournament where she has to survive wave after wave of increasingly stronger and scarier monsters and elite warriors. If she lives, then so does Luke, and the Rebellion gains a valuable ally in a planet of soldiers. But if she dies, well, that's the end of that.
Episode 30: Splinter of the Mind's Eye
In a (rather loose) animated adaptation of the 1978 novel of the same name, Luke, Leia, and the droids crash land on the jungle planet of Mimban. There, they meet an old woman, who tells them the legend of the Kaiburr crystal, a Force-enhancing element said to be found in an abandoned temple beneath the planet's surface. Fascinated, the group investigates further, and discovers that the Empire is mining the planet in an attempt to find the Kaiburr crystal. Luke and Leia dress up in Imperial uniforms, and infiltrate the dig site. In a cliffhanger ending, Luke stumbles across the last person he expected to see again: Darth Vader.
Episode 31: Duel of Fate
The episode pick up right where the last left off, with Luke finding Vader. The Jedi-in-training quickly ducks behind cover, and though Vader pauses momentarily as he passes his hiding spot, sensing a disturbance in the Force, he continues on. Luke reunites with Leia and the droids, and it turns out that C-3P0 has deciphered the language used in the temple, directing them to the secret entrance of the Kaiburr crystal's chamber. Once inside, the group tries to make off with the crystal, only to find Vader blocking their path. He swiftly Force pushes Luke across the room hard, knocking the boy unconscious. In defiance, Leia picks up his lightsaber and fights Vader herself. She loses, but not easily, and buys Luke enough time to get back on his feet and duel Vader himself. He manages to cut off the Sith's arm, causing Vader to flee, and then uses the mystic powers of the Kaiburr crystal to heal Leia's wounds. Afterwards, they discover that if the artifact leaves Mimban, it will lose its Force-enhancing powers. So they allow the old woman they met to watch over it, should they need it again or find a way to get it to leave the planet.
Episode 32: A Stormtrooper's Tale
This is the story of a Stormtrooper, a loyal servant of the Empire, and her day-to-day routine. It is rather comical (a nice contrast to the previous two-parter's darker arc), and ends with her getting shot and killed by Luke Skywalker while he swings across the gap left by the missing bridge in the Death Star from the first movie... while not looking. It's basically a commentary on how poorly the troopers can aim and act (and explained by their vision-obscuring helmets).
Episode 33: Droids
C-3P0 and R2-D2 are accidentally left behind on a rough-and-tumble planet nicknamed "the Edge." While there, the two are swept up into an illegal speeder bike race and R2 enters himself and 3P0 as a piloting team. Much to everyone's surprise, they win, and make off with a lot of prize money upon the Rebels' return to pick them up.
Episode 34: Greenhouse
Han and Chewbacca run out of fuel while evading some TIE fighters and Imperial ships and make a landing on the abandoned planetoid named the Greenhouse. It's entirely manmade, and holds within it dozens of artificial biospheres and climates with plants from around the galaxy. The duo must battle Imperial forces while traveling deeper and deeper into the structure, intent on getting to the fuel reserves at the Greenhouse's core and using it to fill up the tanks on the Falcon and make their escape.
Episode 35: Burying the Hatchet
This episode follows none of the main characters, instead focusing on a Rebel soldier and a Stormtrooper who are separated from their units while fighting on a barren moon by massive monsters. To both survive, they must put aside their differences and work together, along the way learning that both sides are more similar than it may seem.
Episode 36: Flexing the Force's Muscles
Ben Kenobi appears before Luke and gives him another training regimen to hone his Force abilities.
Episode 37: Hit It, Chewie!
Han and Chewbacca land on the mining planet Quil-lin, where Wookie slaves are used and abused. Both of them are immediately captured, and Chewie is put to work in the mines while Han is detained and questioned. Chewbacca starts a revolution in the mineshafts, however, and manages to lead the Wookie slaves to overcome their former masters (freeing Han in the process).
Episode 38: Return of Kaila
Kaila, the Force sensitive bounty hunter, returns, this time facing off against Leia alone. The princess proves her badassery by defeating Kaila hand-to-hand with no weapons, but the hunter once again slips through the Rebellion's fingers to freedom.
Episode 39: Take Me Back
Luke discovers an uncharted planet that makes his Force sensing abilities go off like crazy. Upon this planet he discovers another ancient Jedi temple, where he is flung back in time to the ancient days of the Old Republic and when this temple, one of many around the galaxy, was teaching young Jedi the ways of the Force. Due to his display of emotion and suspicious nature, however, the Jedi there believe him to be a Sith and attack him. He must find a way back to the present using an artifact that is nearly identical to the Kaiburr crystal--named the Shard of Xelburr--and can warp the power of the Force, all while not getting killed in the process.
Episode 40: Power Overwhelming
Luke, Han, and Leia are all three taken in by the Empire after the Rebel HQ falls to the Empire (luckily, they're the only ones captured, having stayed behind to make sure everyone else got off the planet). Darth Vader spends this time to attempt to draw Luke over to the Dark Side by plunging the boy into nightmares about the Jedi Order and the Rebel Alliance, while making the Sith and the Empire increasingly more enticing. At the end of it all, though, Luke manages to resist, and helps his friends escape the Star Destroyer.
Episode 41: Ready, Aim...
Han and Chewbacca are out on a mission for the Rebels when they are suddenly surrounded by an entire fleet of Star Destroyers and Imperial ships who'd just jumped out of lightspeed. The whole episode is a high-octane battle between the Millenium Falcon and the Empire's fleet, as Han and Chewie take down every single enemy ship through careful planning and a lot of luck.
Episode 42: Deep Thought
This episode pays tribute to the excellent novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." In it, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and C-3P0 land on XR-382, a planet which is entirely populated by droids and run by a massive supercomputer named ADaMs. The computer barrages the princess with riddles and questions, which she must find suitable answers to. When faced with his final question, "What is the meaning of life?" she answers sufficiently with "Whatever we make of it," though the computer tells her the actual answer was "42." Nevertheless, the computer still decides to back the Empire, as logic states it is the most likely to win in the war, unless many events not likely to occur go in the favor of the Rebels.
Episode 43: Not Fett For Service
Boba Fett is out with his buddies at a bar, where he tells them the tale of how he got thrown out of the Imperial Army AND the Imperial Navy when he was younger.
Episode 44: Knowledge is Power
Luke, Han, and Leia all spend time together on the planet Va Nessyl, home to one of the largest libraries in the galaxy. While there, the trio argue which is more important: brains or brawn. Han prefers the latter, while Leia is firmly in the "brains" camp, and Luke can't make a choice either way. When Stormtroopers come marching into the library looking for the Rebels, Han and Leia both attempt to solve the problem their way... and both fail miserably. It's only when Luke uses a mixture of smarts and power that he can defeat the enemy and save his friends.
Episode 45: The Siege of Tatooine
Tatooine is the last planet in the sector to be aligned to the Empire, so the Rebels construct a plan to take it and establish a true foothold in the region. Han and Chewie fly the Falcon in the aerial part of the fight, taking down TIE fighters left and right, while Luke leads the charge on the desert planet's surface, knowing the terrain well. Here, he faces Darth Vader toe-to-toe in a lightsaber duel. The Sith Lord has gained a new mechanical arm since then, and manages to take down droves of Rebels just by using the Force before delving into his battle with Luke. By the skin of their teeth, the Alliance takes Tatooine and Vader reluctantly retreats, threatening Luke that next time "he'd do a lot more damage." It is later revealed the Empire regained Tatooine sometime during the events of The Empire Strikes Back.
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"The Animated Series managed to show off a side of Leia we hadn't seen in A New Hope. Just because she carried the title of 'princess' didn't mean that she had to be rescued all the time. In fact, she was doing most of the saving! That 'aura of a badass' carried over pretty well into the second film of the Original Trilogy. When it came time to make the third film, I threw out more than a few scripts handed to me by Brackett and Kasdan that couldn't get it right, including the now infamous 'Leia in a bikini' draft, which just recently made its way onto the Internet. She was really one of the strongest, most independent female characters in film during the time when there weren't many of those at all. 'Course, none of the Original Trilogy really pass the Bechdel test, but I guess you can't win 'em all!"
--George Lucas, from a 2018 interview with Entertainment Magazine for an article named "Women in Film: Princesses, Pirates, and Everything in Between"
"We were able to have a lot more freedom with the Animated Series during the early days, before Empire, when George didn't really have a tight hold on Star Wars canon like he does now. It was still new, and those first few seasons are riddled with pop culture references (I absolutely loved the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy back in the day) and other things the guys on Wookiepedia would throw a fit over if it showed up in the Star Wars shows on TV nowadays."
--Don Bluth, from a June 2005 interview with the Disney fansite AniMagic.com
These all sound like really fun episodes, the Siege of Tatooine especially! Seeing Vader in fine form is always incredible, and having him take down tons of rebels using just the Force really shows off just how powerful he really is. Also, it's really interesting to see the lore of the Jedi and Sith being built up here, and I'm curious to see where it goes. I also noticed that Don Bluth mentioned 'Star Wars shows on TV', so apparently there were multiple shows after the original. That's pretty interesting too!
With regards to Michael Jackson (leaving out the abuse allegations--if he did them, he deserves to be in the lowest corner of Hell, IMO) he never had a normal childhood, being a star at the age of 11, and he's told stories about recording for Motown and looking out and seeing kids play and feeling so sad (because he wanted a normal childhood)--and having Joe Jackson (as abusive as he was) for a dad did not help (Joe Jackson is right up there with Tywin Lannister from ASOIAF in terms of horrible dads); this explains a lot of his strange behavior (like sleeping with young boys; he was also a fan of Peter Pan--why else would he name his ranch Neverland, and remember that Jackson was a fan of Peter Pan). Having Elvis as a father figure will certainly be a stabilizing influence on Michael ITTL...
Anyway, waiting for more, @HeX...
Anyway, waiting for more, @HeX...
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