Laughin' Place: Redefining Disney

[Nivek]

I assume you mean Return of the Jedi there, and not The Force Awakens. Anyways, it's blatantly obvious that George Lucas' artist side--the side that made American Graffiti, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Raiders of the Lost Ark--was put to one side when he realized how much cold, hard cash he could make on Star Wars. In early drafts of RotJ, the Ewoks were actually replaced by Wookies, and one of the major influences that changed them into Ewoks was Lucas' desire to merchandise more (hence forcing literal teddy bears into far too much of the movie's runtime). By the time the Prequels rolled around--movies that are utterly terrible--it's easy to see making money was the only thing on his mind. All three of those movies are terrible, and and since he hasn't worked on the new trilogy or spinoffs, what, may I ask, shows he's still using his talents?

Wonder who even thought ewoks would work as merchadising, those thing were ugly, the prequel are far better people give credit, are still beautiful and all those miniatures come from prequel (the OG was cash strapped use paitings) and still make sense..Anakin was not a good person, even if tried. Maybe i'm not that old but i've not SW in a pedestal so i liked the prequel but the sequel was so bad, seriously i almost walked out a theatre during TLJ prank call.

Still i hate that thing, Lucas earned his franchise and duds, plus is not like people like his ideas, remember howard the duck?

 

[HonestAbe1809]

Eisner... was not very smart in the first place. He did some weird stuff in an attempt to appeal to teens when he helmed Disney IOTL, like name Splash Mountain (originally called Zip-A-Dee River Run) after a Tom Hanks romcom named Splash. Him giving comic books the finger seems pretty much in line with stuff like that.

Honestly, I just pulled that number out of thin air. But yeah, we'll go with what you said.

Phantom Manor will be covered when EuroDisney opens. I'm thinking of doing multiple posts to cover the opening, so I can be more thorough, either divided up by land or in pairs of lands.

1. Not to mention creating the half-assed Hong Kong Disneyland before further undermining it with Shanghai.
2. That seems like a good approach to all the major Disney Parks, and any future Disney competitors, that'll be opening in the future.

 

[HeX]

Wonder who even thought ewoks would work as merchadising, those thing were ugly, the prequel are far better people give credit, are still beautiful and all those miniatures come from prequel (the OG was cash strapped use paitings) and still make sense..Anakin was not a good person, even if tried. Maybe i'm not that old but i've not SW in a pedestal so i liked the prequel but the sequel was so bad, seriously i almost walked out a theatre during TLJ prank call.

Still i hate that thing, Lucas earned his franchise and duds, plus is not like people like his ideas, remember howard the duck?

What? Just because something looks nice doesn't mean that it's good. The Prequels have better effects and choreography during fighting, but that's where its advantages stop. The Prequels have lifeless dialogue, terrible direction, horrible acting (and let me tell you, every single actor in those films has acted better in some other movie, even Hayden Christiensen) forced plots and relationships, Jar Jar Binks--they're just bad. I'm not gonna say you can't like them, but they are objectively bad movies from a filmmaking standpoint.

1. Not to mention creating the half-assed Hong Kong Disneyland before further undermining it with Shanghai.
2. That seems like a good approach to all the major Disney Parks, and any future Disney competitors, that'll be opening in the future.

Honestly, his biggest crime is totally mishandling Disneyland Paris, which was the catalyst for HK DL, California Adventure's flop, and a general mistreatment of the already-built Disney Parks.

Depends on how big the parks are--for instance, I don't think I'll do multiple posts for Oceania (though that can always change).

 

[Unknown]

Yeah, watch Hayden Christensen in Shattered Glass; he's good in that and shows Stephen Glass' desperation at his lies being uncovered and pulled back (though another good performance is from Peter Saarsgard as Chuck Lane, who realizes that he has to destroy Glass in order to save the New Republic--an unenviable job, IMO, but necessary, given the extent of Glass' fraud)...

 

[eldandythedoubter]

I assume you mean Return of the Jedi there, and not The Force Awakens. Anyways, it's blatantly obvious that George Lucas' artist side--the side that made American Graffiti, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Raiders of the Lost Ark--was put to one side when he realized how much cold, hard cash he could make on Star Wars. In early drafts of RotJ, the Ewoks were actually replaced by Wookies, and one of the major influences that changed them into Ewoks was Lucas' desire to merchandise more (hence forcing literal teddy bears into far too much of the movie's runtime). By the time the Prequels rolled around--movies that are utterly terrible--it's easy to see making money was the only thing on his mind. All three of those movies are terrible, and and since he hasn't worked on the new trilogy or spinoffs, what, may I ask, shows he's still using his talents?

Hiring better people to do his job for him, like with Seth Green for the Robot Chicken Special and Gennedy Tartovosky to do the clone wars mini series. Those are officially the last two good things George Lucas did for Star Wars, in my opinion.

 

[HonestAbe1809]

What? Just because something looks nice doesn't mean that it's good. The Prequels have better effects and choreography during fighting, but that's where its advantages stop. The Prequels have lifeless dialogue, terrible direction, horrible acting (and let me tell you, every single actor in those films has acted better in some other movie, even Hayden Christiensen) forced plots and relationships, Jar Jar Binks--they're just bad. I'm not gonna say you can't like them, but they are objectively bad movies from a filmmaking standpoint.

Tell me about it. They had the original General Zod and all they gave him was bureaucratic bullshit. And they managed the impossible and gave us a Samuel Jackson performance you could sleep through. Even in otherwise bad movies, you could say that Jackson was at least interesting.

There are moments to like. Like the deathsticks scene. Or how the "so uncivilized" colors Obi-Wan's "a weapon for a more civilized age" with experience. If there are still prequel movies Ewan McGregor should still be the young Obi-Wan. Quite frankly a lot of the cast could stay the same and the movies would be better if Lucas's artistic side took precedent over the businessman.

I've said this before, but Ewoks could work if they're Wookie children instead of being a separate race. It'd mean that Wookies were basically born badass and that's always an improvement.

Honestly, his biggest crime is totally mishandling Disneyland Paris, which was the catalyst for HK DL, California Adventure's flop, and a general mistreatment of the already-built Disney Parks.

Depends on how big the parks are--for instance, I don't think I'll do multiple posts for Oceania (though that can always change).

It didn't help that the snooty elitist French took umbrage at the so-called "cultural Chernobyl" and strikers used it as a stand-in for the embassy. Putting it in a place that'd actually appreciate the park's presence would be a big help to TTL EuroDisney's profitability. And without that Albatross around Disney's neck so many projects can be pursued.

What's the point of making a California-themed theme park in California? I'd honestly love to discuss Eisner's mismanagement more in a conversation.

Just the major parks that were on the map. Or the equivalent from the competition. There's no reason to make multiple posts for the equivalent to Hollywood Studios or California Adventure.

I'm not even a fan of the Tower of Terror and even I was annoyed that the creative theming was being replaced with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Eisner may have done quite a few mistakes but Bob Iger doesn't have a perfect record either.

 

[unclepatrick]

Just discovered this timeline. Love that you made one of my Favorite Movies "Island at the Top of the World" a better film.
What happens to Brad Bird in this Timeline. Does he get to do his adaption of Will Eisner's "The Spirit" in the 80's?
Does Howard Scott Warshaw get involved with Video Games in this timeline? Does he do Yar Revenge for Atari ? And the Big Question is ET? What happens to that Game.
Part of me would like to see him team up David Crane who did Pitfall in OTL, and do a Arcade version of Raiders of the Lost Ark/Pitfall that combines the best elements of those two games.
Will there be a Indiana Jones Animated Series? Would fit in with Disney Channel Mikey Mouse and Discovery Bay programs.
Does Disney still do Black Caldron animated movie?

 

[HeX]

It didn't help that the snooty elitist French took umbrage at the so-called "cultural Chernobyl" and strikers used it as a stand-in for the embassy. Putting it in a place that'd actually appreciate the park's presence would be a big help to TTL EuroDisney's profitability. And without that Albatross around Disney's neck so many projects can be pursued.

What's the point of making a California-themed theme park in California? I'd honestly love to discuss Eisner's mismanagement more in a conversation.

Just the major parks that were on the map. Or the equivalent from the competition. There's no reason to make multiple posts for the equivalent to Hollywood Studios or California Adventure.

I'm not even a fan of the Tower of Terror and even I was annoyed that the creative theming was being replaced with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Eisner may have done quite a few mistakes but Bob Iger doesn't have a perfect record either.

Yep, my thoughts exactly about Paris.

California Adventure was birthed from a meeting between Eisner and the Imagineers when they were brainstorming for a more economical park to replace the WESTCOT Center. Eisner was asking around what people might vacation in Cali for, and he had the revelation that people go to Cali to see *gasp* California. A true genius, I know.

I'd love to discuss this stuff further in a PM. Anyone else from the thread is invited to join too, if they want. Just ask.

TBH, Mission: Breakout is much better than the Tower of Terror. Plus, ToT is still based on another outside property (The Twilight Zone), so retheming it to Guardians is something I'm very pleased with (as well as the replacement of a bug's land with a Marvel land)...

Hoo, boy, Bob Iger sure isn't one of my favorite people, but I won't clog up the thread anymore with my ranting.

 

[HonestAbe1809]

Yep, my thoughts exactly about Paris.

California Adventure was birthed from a meeting between Eisner and the Imagineers when they were brainstorming for a more economical park to replace the WESTCOT Center. Eisner was asking around what people might vacation in Cali for, and he had the revelation that people go to Cali to see *gasp* California. A true genius, I know.

I'd love to discuss this stuff further in a PM. Anyone else from the thread is invited to join too, if they want. Just ask.

TBH, Mission: Breakout is much better than the Tower of Terror. Plus, ToT is still based on another outside property (The Twilight Zone), so retheming it to Guardians is something I'm very pleased with (as well as the replacement of a bug's land with a Marvel land)...

Hoo, boy, Bob Iger sure isn't one of my favorite people, but I won't clog up the thread anymore with my ranting.

Short-sighted "Imagineering" at its finest.

I'm open to starting that discussion whenever you want.

The original Hollywood Tower facade still fitted into the surrounding land thematically better than the sci-fi prison. Your reasoning behind why you think that would also be interesting fodder for discussion.

You know, there was a haunted attraction planned based on Stephen King's books. That could certainly be interesting.

Just because he doesn't make the same mistakes as Eisner doesn't make him any less flawed than his predecessor.

 

[unclepatrick]

You mention that there a Japanese exhibit in EPCOT with a Bullet Train Ride

Did Godzilla show up on the Bullet train ride as was originally planed ?

 

[HeX]

You mention that there a Japanese exhibit in EPCOT with a Bullet Train Ride

Did Godzilla show up on the Bullet train ride as was originally planed ?

Sadly, no, for two reasons. The first and foremost one is that the EPCOT Center is a place of realism, and a thirty-story dinosaur with laser breath isn't exactly realistic. Secondly, Godzilla's had a very close association with Universal's King Kong over the years, to the point that people might think he's actually a Universal character. So putting him in EPCOT would almost be like putting Woody Woodpecker in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[HonestAbe1809]

Disney's America, while an Eisner brainchild, has promise. Though elements of a park about American history could work better in places other than America. Maybe one of the five theme parks not yet built could incorporate some of those ideas. What do you think @HeX?

 

[HeX]

Disney's America, while an Eisner brainchild, has promise. Though elements of a park about American history could work better in places other than America. Maybe one of the five theme parks not yet built could incorporate some of those ideas. What do you think @HeX?

My only problem with that is that historically-themed parts of Disney Parks tend to be empty, and don't really draw crowds. My family and everyone I've ever talked to thinks Epcot is rather boring, and no one--not even myself--really wants to sit through the Hall of Presidents at WDW. So a whole park about American history isn't going to really bring in a lot of paying guests, even if it's in Japan, or Italy, or Australia.

TL;DR: While a good idea, Disney's America and places like it won't bring in crowds, and therefore won't be very financially viable given the heavy theming that would need to go into it.

 

[HonestAbe1809]

My only problem with that is that historically-themed parts of Disney Parks tend to be empty, and don't really draw crowds. My family and everyone I've ever talked to thinks Epcot is rather boring, and no one--not even myself--really wants to sit through the Hall of Presidents at WDW. So a whole park about American history isn't going to really bring in a lot of paying guests, even if it's in Japan, or Italy, or Australia.

TL;DR: While a good idea, Disney's America and places like it won't bring in crowds, and therefore won't be very financially viable given the heavy theming that would need to go into it.

That's why I included the "elements of". And there should be some attempt to make historically-themed areas or attractions more interesting. Another thing we can discuss in that conversation.

 

[alpal2214]

Now, for a non theme park question:

Will the MAU be like OTL's MCU, where there is one overarching plot line (Like Infinity Saga)?

 

[tornadobusdriver]

I'm loving this timeline so far. MAU could be very cool. The idea of a connected cartoon universe this early is really neat and I'm instead to see what knock on effects it has on both marvel and dc.

 

[connorCD]

Now, for a non theme park question:

Will the MAU be like OTL's MCU, where there is one overarching plot line (Like Infinity Saga)?

I'm thinking it would more or less be a "Beta MCU" if you could call it that. I believe a true MCU may emerge in the future, though the question of when that will happen I can't determine.

 

[HeX]

Now, for a non theme park question:

Will the MAU be like OTL's MCU, where there is one overarching plot line (Like Infinity Saga)?

Not really. The MAU will be handled most similarly to how Marvel/DC handle comic books, with some big-time crossover events but no real overarching story.

I'm thinking it would more or less be a "Beta MCU" if you could call it that. I believe a true MCU may emerge in the future, though the question of when that will happen I can't determine.

Yes, calling it a 'Beta MCU' is pretty accurate. And yes, a true MCU/DCEU is coming in a few decades.

 

[tornadobusdriver]

Seeing Godzilla come up earlier. Could we see a new King Kong vs Godzilla movie pop up under Universal?

 

[GTStinger]

The Dark Phoenix storyline or an earlier incarnation of Secret Wars could both be strong starters for an early 80's MCU.