Laughin' Place: Redefining Disney

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The launch of the Walt Disney Fun Club News in January of 1979 was huge for the Walt Disney Company. The first issue was handed out for free to guests who went to any one of the Disney Parks around the world, and inside its slim eight pages (counting the covers) outlined some of the upcoming and recent events and releases dealing with Disney.

The cover of the first issue is iconic, depicting Mickey Mouse dueling Peg-Leg Pete, swordfish to sword, in the city of El Dorado, echoing the same scene from 1978's Mickey Mousecapade. This perfectly encapsulated what the Walt Disney Fun Club News and later its successor, The Mickey Mouse Club Magazine, was striving to achieve: appealing to anyone and everyone who wanted to be a Disney fan. The Fun Club News ran for eleven bi-monthly issues, from 1979 to 1980. The newsletter was printed on cheap newsprint, with no color outside of the cover, and every issue followed the same format.

The first page has the full-color cover on the front, usually depicting a unique image for Disney's latest animated film, cartoon, live-action movie, theme park, or video game. On the reversal is a one-page black-and-white Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck comic. The first page was perforated at the edge, enticing many people who got a newsletter to tear off the front and put it up on a wall. This makes finding an issue of the Walt Disney Fun Club News with the front still attached increasingly rare in the modern day, and making it a very expensive purchase for a collector when they are found.

The next page was titled "Letters to Walt," and it featured none other than Walt Disney himself answering questions asked in letters sent to the studio and the Fun Club. Its back side and the front and back of the next page were dedicated to an overview of an attraction at a Disney Park, giving insight as to how it was thought up and built; among the attractions covered were Pirates of the Caribbean (Disneyland), the Western River Expedition (Magic Kingdom), Seabase Ryūjin (Disneytropolis), and Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon (EuroDisney). Usually accompanying the text were a few pictures of the ride in its modern state, concept art for the ride, and a single photo of what was there before it.

The next three pages were titled "What's Going On With _____?", and a name substituted for the blank. In every issue, the first page's was "Animators" and the second page's was "Imagineers", but the third one was subject to change, highlighting what was going on with LucasArts, in-house live-action movies, video games, and more.

The next page was a full-page ad, usually for some product with a Disney logo or Mickey Mouse ears slapped on it. After that was a four page blowout on the cover story. In-depth analysis and rundowns on the tiny details filled the pages, or in the case of a theme park attraction, a walkthrough of the ride and a retelling of its story.

The next-to-last page was titled "Rediscovering A Classic", and it gave readers a look back in time to classic Disney movies like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Pinocchio, as well as a place to watch them today in the later issues. However, this segment lasted only three issues of the Fan Club News, and was replaced by "Gaming Watch" for the issue dedicated to the release of Black Hole in the summer of 1979.

The final page, the inside of the blank back cover, was "Letters to Mickey", where letters that didn't make it to Walt's desk were answered by Mickey Mouse. It was put at the last page for a reason, and most readers simply skipped over the section, until the segment was revived with "Letters to Donald Duck", basically the same idea but with an enraged Donald answering the letters with plenty of anger in his words.

The Covers of the Walt Disney Fun Club News
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1979
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January/February: Mickey Mousecapade
March/April: Star Wars: The Animated Series
May/June: Raiders of the Lost Ark
July/August: Black Hole
September/October: Hercules: Hero of Legend
November/December: Cascade Peak

1980
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January/February: Star Wars: Trench Run
March/April: Walt Disney's Animated Classics
May/June: EuroDisney
July/August: Get A Horse!
September/October: The Secret of NIMH

By 1980, Walt Disney Fun Club News mastermind Howard Phillips and new co-worker Gail Tilden realized they wanted to do more with what he was given. The two got permission from Walt to make a monthly, full-length magazine as a successor to the newsletter, the foundations to what would become the second run of The Mickey Mouse Club Magazine, similar to its predecessor in name only.

 

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Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
February 2, 1979

Walt's desk was in chaos. Disney was doing so much, had so many projects in development, that it seemed impossible to keep up some days. Attractions, movies, cartoons, animation, TV and a whole new theme park overseas left Walt's desk piled high with memos, legal documents, photographs, concept art, number crunching, box office and admissions profits. It was no wonder Walt hadn't left the studio in three days straight, preferring the tiny adjoining bedroom rather than a long drive home and back every night and morning.

While a multitude of things weighed on his mind, first and foremost was getting the Disney Channel up and running. It was set to begin broadcasting in late March, and animation was working around the clock to get done on Star Wars and the rest of the shows that would be coming to the network. Walt had had to pull Walt Disney's Wonderful World from NBC, and he'd recorded the host segments for the new season, including the three-hour special that would air as the first broadcast, in between time spent on the set of Hood and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

"Walt, you wanted to see me?"

The animator looked up. "Oh, yeah. Tony. I totally forgot you were coming up here today."

Tony Baxter shrugged. "No big deal. What's up?"

"Well, I'm supposed to go to Rome in a couple days, but I just don't have the time for it. So someone's gotta go in my spot."

"Who are you sending?" asked Baxter, fiddling with a Mickey doll on one of Walt's filing cabinets.

"You, Tony. EuroDisney's got a lot of your style in it. You could say it's your baby, too."

"Me? Really? What... what do I have to do over there?"

"I've got a checklist for you somewhere, lists a whole bunch of criteria. Just fill it out and bring it back with you, and it'll be good," ordered Walt.

Baxter playfully saluted his boss. "Of course, sir! To Italy we go!"

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"Black Hole will probably be out by June or July, Walt. It's coming along just fine."
--Rolly Crump

"After twenty-five great years, I'm afraid our time here working with our partner, NBC, has ended. If you'd like to see more episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World, though, you can tune in to the Disney Channel at 5:00 pm Eastern Time on March 23. Be sure to catch the premier of Star Wars: The Animated Series during the show! You won't want to miss it."
--Walt Disney, from the final episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World to air on NBC, "NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of The Wonderful World of Disney" on September 13, 1978

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Letters to Walt
(Jan/Feb 1979)
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Question: Do you like Star Wars?
--From Billy H., St. Paul, MN

Answer: Yes I do, Billy! When I first met George Lucas, he showed me the story of what would become Star Wars. It was good then, but it's even better in the movie theater!

Question: Will Mickey get a sequel? I really liked the first one!
--From Kassie L., Kansas City, MO

Answer: Sadly, Mickey Mousecapade will not be getting a sequel. But, our next animated movie will be featuring mice as the main characters! And don't worry, you can always find Mickey in the cartoon before our next feature!

Question: When are you gonna make a video game console? All my friends have Atari but I wanna play something from you guys.
--From Alexa J., Toronto, Canada

Answer: Us here at Disney are hard at work on our next video game for the arcades. But we aren't currently looking to make a console at the moment.

Question: What's your favorite ride at Disney World?
--From William V., Miami, FL

Answer: Wow, William, that's a difficult choice! I love them all, but if I had to choose, I'd say I like the Western River Expedition best at Disney World. I've always loved cowboys and Indians and the great outdoors, so it's a perfect fit for me.

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(The idea for this segment was suggested by reader @RyuDrago!)​

Site of EuroDisney, Aprilia, Latina, Italy
February 16, 1979

Tony Baxter was back in Aprilia. For the first time, Walt was entrusting him with overseeing a major addition to the company's lineup. While he wasn't exactly the leader of the whole initiative, he was in charge of Discoveryland, the Ancient Forum, and Fantasyland, about half of the park in sheer size.

Plans were finalized on how the park's layout would be, and while the Imagineers back home were still toiling away on art and mock-ups for the interiors of attractions, the exteriors were completely finished. So construction was just starting up, to get a jump on things, and Walt had sent Baxter here to check out how things were doing.

Baxter's interpreter, a Rome native, hadn't followed him far into the construction site. Maybe he didn't like hard hats, or maybe he didn't want any spoilers on what the park would look like, but it was a bit annoying, considering Tony Baxter didn't speak a word of Italian and there were a hell of a lot of workers who spoke only just that.

"Work on the park behind schedule... guys here said a big thunderstorm delayed progress," mused Baxter, scribbling down notes on his clipboard.

He stopped in front of Snow White Castle, and glanced up at the massive, half-finished fortress. Unlike the United States and Japan, European audiences were used to seeing medieval castles. They didn't quite have that "wow" factor. So, the Imagineers had taken some liberties with its design and made it more fantastical. Scaffolding climbed the towering spires, metal platforms lined the graceful archways and a shower of welding sparks flew from the ramparts. It was a strange sight to behold, especially the back, which was entirely open and unfinished, a mere skeleton.

Just as Tony turned on his heel to leave, he heard a noise.

beep.

He stopped. It had come from under the archway and portcullis, along the guest walkway. Concerned, he moved in to investigate.

beepbeep.

Tony Baxter bushed past the plastic sheet that separated the path through the castle from the outside elements. The walls were covered with beautiful mosaics, depicting scenes from 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that put the Magic Kingdom's own Cinderella art to shame. It had been one of the first parts of the park finished, mostly for the morale boosting that building a Disney Park needed.

BEEPBEEP.

The noise was louder, faster. Worrying.

BEEPBEEPBEEP.

Baxter noticed a blinking red light at the foot of a pillar. He knelt down to investigate, and found what looked like a digital clock. On its screen was the time 31:57:09. And it was going down.

"Holy shit!" screamed the Imagineer. "That's a fucking BOMB!"

Tony Baxter turned and ran faster than any other time in his life.

 

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Site of EuroDisney, Aprilia, Latina, Italy
February 16, 1979

Tony Baxter paced outside the gates of what would be EuroDisney in a little over a year. It had been a long time since he'd found the bomb inside Snow White Castle, and in that time a bomb squad had defused it (the half hour timer was nearing the last few minutes when they finally fixed it) and were now sweeping the area for any others the terrorists might have left. But, as the hours drug on, the threat had considerably lessened.

Baxter slid a lire into the coin slot on a nearby payphone and dialed for the studio. The scene was progressing quickly here, and he didn't want Walt seeing his theme park on international television without hearing from him, first.

"Hey, Walt," greeted Baxter, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.

"Hey, Tony! How's Italy?" asked Walt.

"Oh man..." began Baxter. "Um... well, I don't know how to say this, exactly, but... someone tried to attack the park."

"...Huh?"

"As in, I found a bomb in Snow White Castle, and now the bomb squad is here and turning the construction site upside-down."

"Are you alright?" asked a frantic Walt. "Is everyone else alright?"

"Yeah, we're all good here. I think the authorities are going to be wrapping it up soon. I just wanted to let you know what was going down before you switched on the evening news and found it out through them."

"Okay... alright. You better get out of there now, Tony. Whoever did this... probably doesn't like Americans very much."

"What makes you say that?" questioned Tony Baxter.

"Just a hunch. Try and catch the next flight to Burbank, or London. George and Steven aren't supposed to come back from reshoots at Elstree until the end of the week, so you could camp out with them. Just leave Italy."

"I'll try. Talk to you later."

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"This just in, the Italian left-wing terror organization the Brigate Rosse, most infamous for the kidnapping of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, has claimed responsibility for the attempted bombing of EuroDisney in Aprilia, Italy earlier today. Luckily, the bomb was discovered by a Disney employee before it could go off, and bring down the entirety of the unfinished Snow White Castle down with it. The group claiming to be responsible has stated that they 'are vehemently in opposition to the expansion of American imperialism into Italy from the gates of Rome'. President Pertini is yet to respond."
--Walter Cronkite, CBS Evening News, February 16, 1979

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"On 2 August 1980, at approximately 9:47 AM, Italian police officers discovered a time bomb hidden in the suitcase of far-right terrorist Valerio Fioravanti during a routine baggage check. These searches, put in place in the wake of the attempted bombing of EuroDisney in 1979, the first terror attack on a Disney theme park, finally showed their usefulness. During the scuffle Fioravanti and his accomplice, neo-fascist Francesca Mambro, were shot dead, they themselves wounding two police officers and two civilian bystanders at the station, and killing one officer. Had the hidden bomb gone off as intended, it's estimated as many as one hundred people may have died."
--"1980 Bologna Attempted Bombing", Wikipedia

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Buckingham Palace, London, UK
March 13, 1979

"Cut!" yelled Walt Disney, hopping out of his director's chair.

Hood's filming cycle had gone all kinds of screwey because of the EuroDisney debacle, and the film had been pushed back from spring 1980 to summer 1980. Today, they were filming the epic climax of the movie, the first scene they would be shooting of Hood on location. They'd booked Buckingham Palace (the exteriors, at least) almost a year in advance, and couldn't afford to miss this date lest they wait another year.

"That was fantastic, everyone. Take five. And Mike, can I talk to you for a moment?" asked Walt.

The cast and crew dispersed, turning off the rain machines and big fans, as the star of the movie, Canadian actor Michael J. Fox, jogged over. Fox was still a boy, not even eighteen yet, but the minute Walt saw him at casting a few months ago, he knew he was perfect for the role of Robin Hood, and had even amended the script to incorporate a younger, teenaged protagonist.

"It's my posture again, isn't it?" questioned Fox.

"No, no," reassured Walt. "Your posture was fine this time. But your delivery was a bit off. I can hear too much Canada in your British accent."

"Dammit," muttered the teen.

"Don't worry about it too much, son," said Walt, placing his hand on Fox's shoulder. "You're a hell of a lot better at acting than you were six months ago. Just a few more weeks, and all of Hollywood will want you."

"I know, I know."

"Relax, you'll be great, you've already got that spark inside you," replied the older man. "Okay people, time's up! Let's take it from the top!"

 

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On March 23, 1979, at 5:00 PM EST, the television landscape changed forever. The Disney Channel was the first successful attempt at overthrowing the TV triumvirate of ABC, CBS, and NBC, and opened the door for new channels like the Paramount Television Service to enter the market and led to the diversification of televised content.

The first broadcast on the Disney Channel was a two-and-a-half-hour special for The Wonderful World of Disney. It's opening mixed the classic Sherman Brothers theme to The Wonderful World of Color with songs from Disney movies and theme park attractions as the music was played over scenes of Disneyland, the EPCOT Center, and Disneytropolis.

Walt then came onscreen, and welcomed the viewers to the brand-new Disney Channel. During this introduction, he interacted with a variety of his animated characters, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Jimminy Cricket. Wasting no time, after some playful banter between Walt and his creations, the man himself introduced the first segment of the show: the premier episode of Star Wars: The Animated Series.

After the 25-minute long episode (two minutes longer than a standard episode of the show), the focus came back to Walt, now joined by a guest, George Lucas. The pair talked for a while about Star Wars, before dropping an unforseen bomb in the form of a new movie trailer for May's Raiders of the Lost Ark.

After that, a new segment began, highlighting the work Disney was doing in their theme parks. They hyped up EuroDisney extensively, though Cascade Peak at Disneytropolis and New Horizons coming to Disneyland (and the moving of the Carousel of Progress to the EPCOT Center) were also mentioned, for audiences unable to make it to Europe.

The scene shifted again, and Walt was back in his office, this time with Rolly Crump. Crump shouldered this segment well, and walked Walt and the audience through the basics of the emerging art of game design, using Breakdown as an example. They also teased a possible Star Wars video game for later on in the year, to follow the summer's surefire hit, Black Hole.

The final portion of the show brought Walt to the animation building at the studio. There, he and Don Bluth took a look at a variety of sketches and character designs for past movies and new shows that would premier on the network over the course of 1979. To close out this part, a rapid-fire montage teaser played, showing action-packed scenes from upcoming shows.

After the trailer, Walt returned to his office, and joked around with his characters for a little while longer, before bidding the audience farewell, and the promise that starting next week, The Wonderful World of Disney would return to its regular Sunday night timeslot, this time exclusively on the Disney Channel.

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In the first year of the network (March 1979 to March 1980), six original shows appeared on the Disney Channel, alongside the weekly anthology series The Wonderful World of Disney. In order of debut, these were: Star Wars: The Animated Series, Colorful, The Discovery Bay Chronicles, Hercules: Hero of Legend, It's a Small World, and Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood. They were all popular, but Star Wars and Discovery Bay became runaway hits and ran well into the 1980s (till 1987 and 1985, respectively).

The Original Six Shows
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Star Wars: The Animated Series (1979-1987)
This was the Disney Channel's longest-running show of all time, stretching across eight years and nine seasons as one of the longest-running animated TV shows of all time. There were many factors in its long lasting nature, including the extremely high-quality animation, the addictive and epic Queen-written and performed musical score, and the usage of the movies' actors in the voice acting for the entire run. But those were all drops in the bucket compared to the Star Wars fever that overtook the entire decade. A general episode would focus on one of the main trio of characters from the films: Luke, Han, or Leia. Luke would often attempt to hone his fledgling Force powers, Han and Chewbacca would run covert operations for the Rebel Alliance, and Leia would be accompanied by C-3P0 and R2-D2 on diplomatic missions to planets thinking of joining the Rebels (which almost always ended in a shootout, and showed off Leia's badassery much better than the movies ever did). Usually, Darth Vader, the Emperor, or Jabba the Hutt would be controlling whatever conflict the heroes faced in a given episode from the shadows, and would always be foiled in the end.

The show, while having more than enough standalone aspects, definitely relied upon the viewer having seen all of the original trilogy of Star Wars films. The first four seasons (1979-1982) all took place in between Episode IV and Episode V, the fifth (1983) took place between Episode V and Episode VI, and the final four (1984-1987) took place in the aftermath of Episode VI.

The show's finale--a made-for-TV two hour movie--has since embedded itself in Star Wars lore with its final scene. Luke, Han, and Leia stand at the large window of a spaceship, gazing out over the planet Tatooine, where it all started. In a meaningful gesture, the usually distant Han puts his arms around both of his friends. Leia asks, "What's next?" Han laughs. And Luke, as the shot pulls back, says, "I don't know. But whatever it is... we just need to remember, the Force will be with us."

Colorful (1979-1983)
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Colorful was Mary Blair's final contribution to the Disney legacy, as she passed away in 1978 due to a cerebral hemorrhage. The show (running for three-and-a-half seasons) put the spotlight on famous artists from throughout history, with the animation mimicking the art style of the artist. While this visual style was very unique and well-recieved, it was time consuming, and usually required Disney's top-tier animators to work on the drawings. That proved to be troublesome with the increasing demands of Disney's films of the 1980s, which eventually killed the show.

But during the show's run, it educated children and adults alike (there was no one demographic it targeted) in the works of great artists, from Da Vinci to Van Gogh and everyone in between. The episode "Starry Night" won many awards when it debuted in 1981, perfectly capturing its namesake's style. Colorful also inspired World of Color, an attraction that opened with the rest of the Imagination Pavilion at the EPCOT Center in 1982.

The Discovery Bay Chronicles (1979-1985)
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Born from the mind of Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter, The Discovery Bay Chronicles was a live-action show (the Disney Channel's first) following the legends of Jason Chandler, member of the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. The stories tied into the plot of 1974's The Island at the Top of the World, taking place in Discovery Bay, a steampunk metropolis hidden away on the far side of the San Francisco Bay, sometime in the late-1800s. Frequently, the show would cross over with other steampunk figures and stories, like Captain Nemo and the Nautilus or Captain Brieux and the Hyperion, but it also introduced new characters, such as his levelheaded cowgirl love interest straight out of Rainbow Ridge, Melanie Ravenswood.

The show's production value, compared to other live-action shows on the network, was off the charts, using elaborate miniatures to show airships soaring and submarines diving and movie-quality costume design and set dressing. The consequence of this was that episodes came out only once every month or so, in forty-five minute blocks. The Discovery Bay Chronicles also later inspired the very first cinematic universe, which would return to Discovery Bay with 1990's The Society of Explorers and Adventurers. The show was more popular with teens and young adults than anyone else, as it was a bit too mature for a parent to let their younger children watch.

Hercules: Hero of Legend (1979-1984)
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Hercules: Hero of Legend took the Greek hero, added a twist of modernity, and shook well, producing an engaging animated series the whole family could enjoy. Unlike the other two animated shows, Hercules was handed to Tokyo Movie Shinsha, a cheap-but-effective Japanese animation company that would grow close to the Walt Disney Company over the years, regularly taking on television projects for them.

This show was also more formulaic than the others. It centered around a Hercules fresh from being trained by Chiron and attempting to make a name for himself by completing impossible tasks. The only problem was, other heroes, more well-established than he, were attempting to do the same thing. Nearly every episode began with Hermes coming down from Olympus to deliver a letter to Herc. The letter would direct the hero to go take down the monster of the week. Occasionally, other Greek gods and heroes would show up, most often Atalanta or Jason, and either save Herc or be saved by Herc from a tight situation the monster had gotten them into. There was also a "B" plot, where Hercules would try (and fail) to ask out Megara, his love interest. Loose ends to all the plotlines were tied up on 1985, with the made-for-TV movie Hercules Faces Titanomachy.

It's a Small World (1979-1983)
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It's a Small World may share its name with the beloved Disneyland attraction, but this one isn't about singing dolls. Each episode of this show (geared towards children) was shot on-location in a different nation and city, to teach the audience about the regional culture there. But each episode was unique in how it pulled that goal off. For instance, there may be an episode focusing entirely on Moroccan cuisine, or Argentinian football, or Japanese technology. One controversial episode looked into the lives of the Vietnamese boat people, those who left the country to escape Communism and the war. Despite relatively high ratings, Disney ended the show in 1983 after coming to the conclusion there were no other places to travel to, having almost visited every free nation on the globe.

Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood (1979-1983)
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The final new show of 1979, coming in the fall, was by far the worst of the Original Six. By no means bad, it just couldn't hold a candle to the others and was swathed in mediocrity. The show was aimed at small children, and featured Winnie the Pooh and his friends as puppets. Rather than using a traditional set, the entire background was bluescreen, which had a tendency to cast a blue light on the puppets during filming. To begin each episode, the narrator would welcome guests to the Hundred Acre Wood and relate to them an event that happened with Pooh or a pal, launching into a story.

Middle-of-the-road from the getgo, Welcome to the Hundred Acre Wood was cancelled in 1983 to make room for other, more popular ideas.

While new shows were continually added to the Disney Channel, reruns of classic films and cartoons made up a large portion of the network's broadcasting library until the late-1980s, when it shifted in favor of original content.

 

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The Fifty-First Academy Awards returned the ceremony to a sense of normalcy. There were no big upsets to speak of, certainly nothing as big as George Lucas' win of Best Director over Woody Allen the previous year. It was just a normal day at the Oscars.

Running in first place was The Deer Hunter with four trophies, and a variety of other films duking it out for the rest. Unsurprisingly, Mickey Mousecapade took home the award for Best Animated Feature, and its partner the Steamboat Willie remake made off with Best Animated Short Film. Steven Spielberg finally made his mark

Awards Won at the 51st Academy Awards
Best Picture: The Deer Hunter
Best Director: Steven Spielberg, Jaws 2
Best Actor: John Voight, Coming Home
Best Actress: Jane Fonda, Coming Home
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter
Best Supporting Actress: Maggie Smith, California Suite
Best Original Screenplay: Coming Home, Nancy Dowd
Best Screenplay Adapted from Other Material: Midnight Express, Oliver Stone and Billy Hayes/William Hoffer
Best Animated Feature: Mickey Mousecapade, Don Bluth
Best Animated Short Film: Steamboat Willie, Walt Disney and Don Bluth
Best Documentary Feature: Raoni, Jean-Pierre Dutilleux and Luiz Carlos Saldanha
Best Documentary Short Subject: The Flight of the Gossamer Condor, Jaqueline Phillips Shedd and Ben Shedd
Best Live Action Short Film: Teenage Father, Taylor Hackford
Best Original Score: Superman, John Williams
Best Adaptation Score: The Buddy Holly Story, Joe Renzetti
Best Original Song: "Heroes of El Dorado," Mickey Mousecapade, Robert Sherman and Richard Sherman
Best Sound: The Deer Hunter, Richard Portman, William McCaughey, Aaron Rochin and Darin Knight
Best Foreign Language Film: Get Out Your Handkerchiefs, France
Best Costume Design: The Wiz, Tony Walton
Best Art Direction: Heaven Can Wait, Paul Sylbert, Edwin O'Donovan and George Gaines
Best Cinematography: Days of Heaven, Néstor Almendros
Best Film Editing: The Deer Hunter, Peter Zinner

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Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, CA
April 11, 1979

Marc Davis set down his pencil and took a sip of his coffee. He'd been at his desk day and night since designing for EuroDisney had begun, and even as it was being built in Italy, reimagining was being done of the concept art put out by his fellow Imagineers.

Tony Baxter had been put in charge of designing most of this park, and Davis couldn't help but think it was shaping up nicely. But he also felt gyped. Passed over. He'd been at Disney since the 1930s, he was one of the animation department's remaining Nine Old Men, and had designed nearly every character in Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion, and the Western River Expedition. And while he'd done more since then, been put to work on Phantom Manor at EuroDisney and Cascade Peak at Disneytropolis, he hungered for something more. Something bigger.

Two drawings sat on his desk. One of them showed a lighthouse, weathering a thunderstorm atop a rocky cliff, overlooking the churning seas below. The other depicted two sixteenth-century men wielding swords, a pirate and a Spaniard. Marc Davis looked between the two momentarily, before slipping the lighthouse drawing into a folder.

"Now's not the time for that. But... they said they wanted pirates? Well, I'll give them pirates."

 

[HeX]

Atari World Headquarters, Sunnyvale, CA
April 21, 1979

When Michael Eisner stepped into the room, everyone fell silent. The populace of Atari was still unsure of what to think of their lord and master, who, with the help of outsider Raymond Kassar, had ejected the company's founder and greatest creative mind. But then again, Atari was now facing the greatest growth in profit it had seen since Pong, and compared to the stormy seas of Bushnell's last few years, it was nice to have some stability. It certainly helped that, thanks to an aggressive ad campaign over the holiday season, Kassar had saved the 2600 from oblivion.

The big man himself was visiting to check out the progress on some of the games coming out of the pipeline, namely two. He waltzed down the halls like he owned the place (which he technically did) and entered the first door on the left.

Inside, a trio of young men sat crowded around one desk. They were Ed Logg, Lyle Rains, and Dominic Walsh, and the future of Atari dominance in the arcades rested on their shoulders.

"Whatta we got, boys? I don't have all day, just gimme something brief," said Eisner.

Startled, the three programmers scrambled around. "Mister Eisner! We-we thought you weren't coming until tomorrow!"

"I decided to make my visit a little earlier. Now, show me the goods."

The trio hastily prepared something for their boss, displaying the cutting-edge vector graphics being used in their game, Asteroids. Despite the fact that it was in black-and-white, Eisner seemed impressed.

"Excellent. It'll be a great follow-up to Space Invaders. Keep up the good work."

Eisner turned on his heel and ventured further into the building, checking in on many projects in varying states of completion, until he found what he was looking for.

Warren Robinett was sat at his desk, balancing a keyboard on his lap and typing frantically away, lines of code appearing on the tiny screen of his HP 1611A microprocessor computer.

"Talk to me, Robinett. How's Adventure going?"

Of all the other devs Michael Eisner had seen that day, this guy was practically unphased by his presence. A few keyboard clicks later, and he pulled up a (surprisingly) working prototype. "Planned ahead for this," he smirked, plugging a joystick into his monitor.

Eisner smiled and gladly took the stick. For a little while, he fiddled around with the controls, moving his avatar, a little yellow square, around on the screen. "Not really much to it, is there?"

"Why don't you try going to the edge of the screen?"

Eisner obliged, and as soon as the little yellow guy hit the edge, it shifted over, in a choppy, laggy motion. But after just a short while of moving around on the new screen, the game flickered, and shuddered to a stop.

"Dammit... it keeps doing that," muttered Robinett.

"That was amazing!" exclaimed the CEO. "I've only ever seen games play on one screen before."

"Yeah, it's the first of its kind. I had to come up with some clever workarounds to make everything go right. Clearly I haven't done enough, though."

"Well, keep up the good work. But this... this is a Disney-killer for sure. They're all bragging about how big Black Hole will be, but this... this is the game of the year."

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(Note: A big thanks to reader @Kalvan! He provided the vast majority of this segment, I just cleaned up and added to the dialogue a bit.)​

Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, CA
April 29, 1979

"So," said Walt. "What exactly am I looking at here?"

Rolly Crump shifted his weight from one side to the other. "Well, after playing Space Invaders long enough to fly from here to China and back again, I realized that the age of discrete logic in arcade video games is over, and if we want to make better games, we need better hardware."

"You mean, all of these wires and motherboards and chips are for..."

"Black Hole, yes."

The system consisted of three PCBs connected by Centronics ribbon cables. Walt didn't have a clue as to what anything did, but he was always interested in learning more.

"I realize I have the power to override Roy's veto, but you gotta explain to me what's going on here so I know if that's a good idea or not. Maybe then I won't have to override it in the first place. So, why two... what are those, 6502s and then the one 6508?"

"Two words, Walt: money, and power. The MOS Technology 6502 executes one instruction every clock cycle. Compare it to all of its easily available competition, where instructions execute anywhere from every fourth to every twelfth. It's available for $25 for the basic 6502 version, only five bucks more for the 6508, which we're using for the main CPU. Not only that, but we can get both of 'em for half those amounts in surprisingly small bulk purchases, andless shipping and handling, of course. The alternatives, even the Zilog Z80, all ran a lot higher. It's pretty much the best deal we could've gotten."

Walt nodded, arms crossed. "The fact that it's cheap yet powerful should get Roy on board. And I'm already sold. But keep on going."

"The main motherboard features that 6508 which we clocked to 2.38 megahertz, which is about as high as we can get without adding a cooling fan and taking up more space. Sixteen kilobytes of main system RAM keep the program data in place while it's processing, and a 6520 Peripheral Interface Adapter handle player input, four eleven pin controller jacks to connect to the input hardware below the monitor in front of the board, two or four coin sensor jacks mounted in back of the board, and and the two ribbon cable ports to connect to the other boards."

"It seems that book I gave you did a world of good for ya, Rolly," laughed Walt. "I see this weird tape drive... thing. What's that for?"

"That's an Exetron Stringy-Floppy--"

"A what?" asked the older man, sure he'd heard wrong.

"--an Exetron Stringy-Floppy. It holds the program so that it can be loaded in RAM. We chose it because it's faster than a floppy drive, and much cheaper than it or paying a fab for ROM Masks. We crunched the numbers. Twice. More bang for our buck, really."

Walt gestured widely at anothet circuit board. "What's all this?"

"Well, that's is the Video Board. That 6502 over there controls the game's video output."

"...Why didn't you just go for an off-the-shelf video chip?"

"I tested the Intel 8275 and the Motorola 6845, and neither did too well. So, I got creative, took that 6502 and clocked it at 1.34 megahertz. But since I used Ralph Baer's direct pixel addressing method, Magnavox would come a knockin' for some royalties if we actually did that for a game people are putting quarters into. So, uh, Tony and I grabbed your secretary's Apple II--"

"So that's where it went! She went ballistic, threatened a couple people with a ballpoint pen--"

"Yeah, um, did she hurt anyone or--nevermind. But we took the Apple II apart, reverse-engineered it, and came to a conclusion: Steve Wozniak is a genius."

"I fail to see how that helped."

Rolly grinned. "We took his mathematical formula of scanline shifts on 74 series gate logic and AMD 2900 series bit-slices, and turned it ninety degrees to map vertical rather than horizontal scanlines. This means that, theoretically, so long as video RAM and processor speed is not an issue, it can scale without limits. Because the Woz probably wouldn't appreciate us borrowing his color generation method, though, we're using a typical color television, minus the tuner hardware. We've managed to get 32 total colors to work with using the NTSC color wheel, and a resolution of 320x208 pixels."

"That... mostly went over my head, but I'll take it that's pretty good. So what this last board?"

"This is the audio board. That last 6502 is connected to a second source 6522 Versatile Interface Adapter which in turn is connected to two General Instruments AY-3-8900 audio chips, with an audio buffer of 16K of Dynamic RAM, since the refresh cycles wouldn't completely overlap between the two chips."

"That means..." Walt counted on his fingers. "Six channels total?"

"Better than that. It means we can get some digital audio if we play our cards right. The best part is that we've managed this for roughly half the price of an Apple II, or one fourth the price of an Exidy Sorcerer or Trash 80."

"Yeah, I think Roy'll approve, but I'll have to run it by him just in case."

"One last thing, because of the voltage and signal differences, if we want to ship to Europe, Africa, or Australia, we'll need a local partner."

"Good to know."

 

[HeX]

What's Going on With LucasArts?
(March/April 1979)
​

Ever since 1977's cultural phenomenon that was Star Wars, everyone has been dying to know what project they're working on next. And while rumors and even a few trailers have been put out into the world, it's right here, right now that the door is being blown open on Raiders of the Lost Ark!

The film is set in the 1930s. Hitler is in power with the Nazi Party in Germany, and has sent for his footmen to scour the four corners of the globe for any ancient artifact that might help him in his quest for global domination. The Nazis believe that they have discovered the location of perhaps the greatest Christian relic of them all: the Ark of the Covenant, holding within it the stone tablets God himself carved the Ten Commandments into and unspeakable power.

In their way is archaeologist and adventurer Doctor "Indiana" Jones, known for his good intentions and somewhat wonky moral compass. Armed with his sharp wit, trademark fedora, and trusty bullwhip, Indiana will face down the greatest enemy the world has ever seen.

Co-directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are extremely excited for the new movie (coming to theaters May 20), with Lucas citing it as "[his] favorite movie [he's] made yet." It's sure to be a hit, and will enter the halls of the action-adventure genre clad in the laurels of victory. So, be sure to catch Raiders of the Lost Ark some time this summer!

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​

"Now that we're wrapping up Raiders, any ideas on a sequel for it? After Star Wars gets one, of course. I was thinking something to do with the Lost Library of Alexandria."
--George Lucas to Steven Spielberg

"I'm flattered that you took some of my suggestions, George."
--Walt Disney to George Lucas, after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time

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Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
May 4, 1979

Walt Disney was back again. Between shooting Hood, working on Black Hole, EuroDisney, and a million new ideas for expansions and new attractions in his existing parks, running an ad campaign for Raiders, and seeing his family from time to time, it was a miracle he was even behind his desk again at all. Had he still been working on his animated movies too... Walt would've never left the studio. Leaving that behind had been the right decision, no matter how much he might miss the medium.

Walt went through the motions. Concept art. Blueprints. Sales figures. Box office returns. Memos. Timetables. After a few hours of that, he was utterly exhausted.

"Walt, you've got a call," announced his secretary.

The man sighed. "Alright, yeah."

"It's a Japanese man, too."

Walt sat forward, and paused for a moment, before picking up the reciever. It was probably just someone from the Oriental Land Company. He'd gotten a few calls from them, worried about increasing yakuza presence in the area near Disneytropolis. Organized crime in Japan was rising as quickly as their economy, but it hadn't done much to harm his park. Yet. "Walt Disney speaking," he said in Japanese.

"Oh, hello! This is Masaya Nakamura, CEO of the Nakamura Manufacturing Company. I must say, your Japanese is very good!"

"Thank you," replied Walt. "I pride myself on that. ...What, may I ask, are you calling about, Mister Nakamura?"

"We were wondering if you would like to come down to Tokyo and check out one of our first video games. Our designers say it's going to be quite the Space Invaders killer. We wanted a partner to distribute it outside of Japan, and since Atari's been working with Taito, we figured that it might be best to go for the American company's biggest rival."

"And you chose us?" asked Walt.

"We did. Now, we completely understand if you'd like to pass on this. Black Hole looks very fun, and you'd probably make a lot of money off of it. However..."

"Yes?"

"If you turn us down, we have two other companies interested in distribution, Midway and Atari. I'd prefer you, but..."

"I get the picture," conceded Walt. "I might be able to make it... how does two weeks after tomorrow sound? I'm booked solid before then."

"That will be fine."

"Thanks, I'll see you there."

"Yes, and I'm certain you will be most impressed with Galaxian."

 

[HeX]

Universal Studios Lot, Universal City, CA
May 16, 1979

Michael Eisner sank into a cushioned seat, and flipped through the script to Woody Woodpecker in his hand. It was good, certainly, just not quite on the level of Mickey Mousecapade. But it was an acceptable start to rebuilding Universal's animated division, one that would hopefully lead to a long, lustrous line of successes in the cartoon field.

Woody Woodpecker wasn't coming until November, though. That was a long way away. And even though Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy, and the other animators were doing some good work, it wasn't standing up to Don Bluth's Disney masterpieces, relying a little too much on cheap laughs. So, in the meantime, he'd have to focus on Alien, which was coming in... what, eleven days? Even though it was a horror movie, it was being billed as Universal's attempt to show up Star Wars. Hopefully that would get more people, even kids, in the theaters, even though it was being rated R by the MPAA.

"My son definitely won't be seeing it..." he muttered, remembering the first screening Universal execs had seen. Grown men had literally ran out of the theater in disgust and fear when that alien baby ripped out of someone's stomach. But hey, he couldn't be held responsible for parental decisions on the part of the audience. And what's a few complaint letters next to all those box office returns?

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​

Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
May 18, 1979

Stan Lee sat fidgeting in the chair outside of Walt Disney's office. It had no back support, and felt about a million years old, ready to splinter under his weight and collapse to the floor. His briefcase, bursting with papers, lay by his side. Finally, after what felt like hours, the door opened.

"...and thanks, George. Raiders is gonna do gangbusters at the box office, I wouldn't worry about Alien."

George Lucas exited the room, casting a glance at Stan Lee. "Oh... didn't expect to see you here."

"Well... I can't say I did either."

"How are the Star Wars comics going? They in good hands? I haven't had very much time recently to keep up with them, what with Raiders and all," said the director.

"Yeah, they're going strong. Basically saved Marvel from an untimely end."

"So what are you doing here?"

"George, keep on moving. I've gotta meet with Stan now, you two can talk later. My flight back to Japan is in a few hours and won't wait for chitchat!" exclaimed Walt, sticking his head out the doorway. After Lucas reluctantly left, the older man turned to his guest. "Stan! Come in, come in!"

Two legends in their own right, neither sat down when they entered, preferring to stand. "You were quite cryptic in why you wanted to meet me, Stan," said Walt, leaning against the wall.

Stan Lee nodded. "I wanted to see if you were interested in Marvel, first. And judging by your desk..." Stan pointed to the pile of Marvel comic books nearby. "You've done your research."

"Yep. One of my younger animators overheard me talking about you coming in, and he graciously let me borrow his whole comic book collection. Most of that's Spider-Man and the X-Men and the Avengers, but there are a few issues Superman and the Flash, too."

"Anyways," said Stan. "Marvel is owned by the company Cadence Industries, who also owns DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, this one animation group here in Burbank. You should be familiar with them, I think they did the lightsaber effects for Star Wars."

"Yes, I do remember George talking about them," replied Walt.

"Well, we're currently thinking of creating some animated television shows based on our comic book characters, and the animation will be done through them. We just need a network to put them on. And I figured I should start asking around sooner rather than later, so, here I am."

The movie mogul furrowed his brow. "So, what you're saying is, something like Spider-Man and the Hulk on the Disney Channel?"

"Exactly that. I really admire you, Walt. You're so in control of your company and yourself that you can do whatever you want, whatever idea comes to mind. Me, I have to work through a mess of companies, negotiations, and assholes in suits yelling about 'Money! Money! Money!'"

Walt chuckled. "Oh, I didn't get here very easily. Not easily at all. Don't worry, your time will come."

Stan Lee grinned mischievously. "Hopefully. Anyways, what do you think of Marvel on the Disney Channel?"

"I think it's a marvelous idea, Stan. We could always use some more content, and the stuff of your caliber never disappoints. Hey, um, listen, I have to catch a plane to Tokyo, I'm sorry to cut this short but I need to go."

"I understand. Before you leave, though, can I have your word that if you do want to work with, you'll call as soon as possible?" pestered Stan.

"Of course!" said Walt. "This just may be the start of a great alliance. Like one of your team-up comics."

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​

Namco Headquarters, Minato, Tokyo, Japan
May 19, 1979

Walt Disney cracked his knuckles as the opening prompt, "We are the Galaxians/Mission: Destroy Aliens", flashed on the screen of the arcade cabinet. Galaxian, while not totally finished, had been assembled into a very early-stage (but working) prototype by the wizards here at Namco.

Unlike Atari/Taito's Space Invaders, Galaxian was in full-color. It moved more quickly, and the lack of any form of barrier separating the aliens from the ship increased the difficulty and made players fleet with their finger movements. There were no sound affects, nor music, at this point, just the base game.

"Ohhoho!" exclaimed Walt, as an alien made a kamikaze dive for his ship. In a stunning show of great reaction time for his age, the older man deftly avoided the beast and returned to blasting away at his foes.

After a few short minutes, Walt was drained of all his lives and broke out into laughter at the sight of the "GAME OVER" screen. "Mister Disney?" asked Masaya Nakamura, who had taken the time out of his day to come and give the American a tour. "Is something wrong? Why are you laughing?"

Tears brimming in his eyes, Walt turned with a big, childlike grin plastered onto his face towards the Japanese businessman. "I keep on saying this every time I play a new game, but I mean this seriously when I say it: this game, Galaxian? It's the best one ever made."

"So... do we have a deal?" questioned Nakamura. "Are you willing to ditribute this game for us in the United States?"

"Nakamura-san, I'll distribute your entire video game library in the United States. Of course we'll bring over Galaxian! And if you can keep this level of quality up, we'll bring over any other game you want us to after that!"

 

[HeX]

"It's true, it's true, the opening scene of Raiders was based on Carl Barks' excellent Uncle Scrooge comics. I basically ripped off the boulder scene from his 'The Seven Cities of Cibola' story. But I like to think I've paid back what I took from him, by working on the new Uncle Scrooge TV show coming to the Disney Channel."
--Steven Spielberg, from the January/February 1985 issue of The Mickey Mouse Club Magazine

"Indiana Jones... now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time..."
--Marion Ravenswood

"Working on two movies was not easy. I struggle to imagine how Raiders could have turned out good if Steven hadn't been there to work with me. I mean, I was working on Empire during the film's production, and he was working on Close Encounters. So between us, we had one whole brain focusing on directing Raiders."
--George Lucas, from an August 1998 interview with Rolling Stone Magazine

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Raiders of the Lost Ark kicked of the Indiana Jones saga in 1979. Co-directed by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, co-written by George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, and Philip Kaufman, its music by John Williams, and starring Harrison Ford, the movie was an instant classic, utterly decimating all other competition at the box office sans Universal's Alien, which managed to do decently alongside it. The film was released on May 20, 1979, and it has been frequently cited as Walt Disney's favorite live-action movie of all time, serving some inspiration for later movies like the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.

The movie opens up with the castle logo of Walt Disney Productions fading into a mountain similarly shaped to it, before panning down to follow Indy, his face hidden behind a map, and his caravan through the tropical jungles of Peru. One by one, his followers desert the party or, in one case, attempt to betray him. Indy quickly stops the attempt on his life with a crack of his whip, sending the traitor into the forests and leaving him alone with just his navigator, Satipo. The pair soon find what Indy has been looking for: an ancient booby-trapped temple with a golden idol deep inside. They deftly navigate the maze-like structure, and show off Indiana Jones' fearlessness and genius. But it's not enough, and when he takes the idol, it sets off a chain reaction that causes the temple to begin to collapse around them. Satipo betrays Indy here, leaving him to die and making off with the idol himself. But he instead is impaled on spikes, and Indiana Jones survives a harrowing experience as he sprints off, idol back firmly in hand.

In perhaps the most iconic scene in all film, Indy runs down a long hallway as a massive stone boulder follows, threatening to flatten him. At just the last second he dives out of the temple, narrowly avoiding the boulder, somersaults... and rolls right to the feet of his greatest enemy and arch-rival, René Belloq. Surrounded by hostile natives pointing poison blowdarts at his neck, Indy is forced to give up the idol. But in a moment of confusion, he manages to run off and, after a high-speed chase through the jungle, makes it to his plane and flies off. Indy's friend Jack pilots the plane, and on the ride home the intrepid adventurer shares his cockpit with the only thing he fears: a snake.

The movie then jumps to presumably weeks later, with Indy having assumed his role as professor of archaeology at Marshall College in Bedford, Connecticut. After ending a class, he's called to speak with two agents from Army Intelligence. They tell him that the Nazis are looking for Indy's old mentor, Abner Ravenswood, who is an expert on Ancient Egypt and known to possess the headpiece to the artifact known as the Staff of Ra. From this, Indy deduces that the Nazis are on the hunt for the biblical Ark of the Covenant, believing that if they acquire the relic, their armies will be truly unstoppable. The government tells him to find Ravenswood and the headpiece, which Indy excitedly agrees to, always one for adventure. He flies out to Ravenswood's last known home: Dhaka, a part of the British Raj.

The movie then cuts to a young woman in a ramshackle tavern, sitting at a poker table surrounded by men much more threatening than her, including a British officer. She's clearly winning, even though the other players are cheating. Just as she wins, the cheering crowd quiets down and the shadow of a man in a fedora appears on the wall behind them. After some witty banter, the young woman--revealed to be Marion Ravenswood, Abner's daughter--deals Indiana in, and they have a smart-ass conversation during the game. It's high stakes, and everyone else folds but Marion and Indy. He's confident he's won, and shows his straight triumphantly. But Marion just smiles, and drops her hand on the table: a royal flush. Satisfied with her winnings, Marion closes up shop for the night, but Indy refuses to leave until she talks more about the headpiece, which she'd bet during poker to match him (and then won back). But she refuses, and the conversation morphs into an argument over bitter feelings from a romance of years gone by.

Eventually, Jones leaves after Marion refuses and rebuffs his efforts to get the headpiece. But soon after, Nazi thugs led by their creepy commander Arnold Toht enter the bar, and demand the artifact themselves. Luckily, Indy returns and he and Marion fight off the bad guys as the tavern goes up in flames. At one point, Marion looses the headpiece, and it falls into the fire. Toht grabs it, but severely burns his hand, emblazoning one side of the headpiece's images on it. Indy and Marion manage to escape with the headpiece, and she decides to go along with him at the promise of money she's owed by Indy.

The duo then travel to Giza, Egypt to meet up with Sallah, Indy's close friend and digger. He tells them that Jones' rival, Belloq, has aligned himself with the Nazis and is digging for the Well of Souls using coordinates and instructions from a replica of the headpiece cast from the side burned onto Toht's hand.

The next morning, Indy and Marion go on a trip through the city and run into some native thugs aligned to the Nazis. The archaeologist hides his partner, and he attempts to shake them off by hopping on a horse and riding off towards the pyramids, past the Sphinx. They follow on motorcycles instead, and while Indy manages to kill a few of the grunts, he's pressed to the foot of the Great Pyramid by their leader, a masterful swordsman. The pair duel, whip to sword, backing up the steps of the pyramid and climbing higher and higher. In one swift movement, he cracks his whip, loops it around his assailant's sword, yanks it out of his hand, and smacks the attacker across the face, sending him flying down the pyramid and snapping his neck. Interspliced with this fight scene was another one, following Marion as she attempts to outrun the Nazi baddies who are looking for her. She takes to the rooftops, and leaps perilous gaps in a blood-pumping sequence of parkour. At the end of it, she slips into a plain wicker basket, which Indy manages to see as he practically flies into town on a stolen motorbike. But the Nazis pick up the basket (with Marion inside) and make off into a crowded marketplace filled with dozens of other similar baskets.

Indiana Jones loses track of them until he sees seemingly the same basket being loaded onto a German truck. He gives chase on foot, but is in anguish when he sees the truck crash and its gas tank explode, killing everyone riding.

He feeds his sorrow in a bar, where he runs into Belloq. After the two exchange some venomous words, Indy is threatened by his foe at gunpoint. At the last second though, Sallah's young children show up and escort him out, saving his life, because no one wants to shoot a child. Indy reconvenes with Sallah back at his home, and the two realize that the headpiece (which Marion had entrusted to Sallah) has two sides. The Nazis are going off of incorrect measurements where they're digging, and the good guys know the true location of the Well of Souls. The next day, Indiana and Sallah infiltrate the Nazi dig site and find the true location of the Ark of the Covenant with the completed Staff of Ra. Later, Jones stumbles across a very much alive Marion inside of a tent, bound and gagged, though he refuses to let her out out of fear that the Nazis will be alerted.

Jones and a group of diggers then go to the site of the Ark and begin digging all through the night, stumbling across the entrance to its chambers. Meanwhile, Belloq attempts to seduce Marion, who is having none of it, in his tent. Back with Indy, he and Sallah travel down into the snake-infested depths and return with the gilded Ark of the Covenant. Sallah returns topside first, but the rope goes up with him. Then the Nazis, including Belloq, show up above, Marion tied up next to them. She is thrown in with Indy, and the Nazis seal them in with all the snakes, left to rot. Through some quick thinking, they manage to escape and make their way to the nearby airfield, where Marion heard the Nazis were flying the Ark out of Egypt and back to Berlin. Indy fights a bald, muscle-bound Hulk of a man hand-to-hand on the airstrip, only defeating him by tricking him into getting shredded by the plane's propeller. A nearby oil tanker had begun to leak its flammable fuel, however, and it accidentally catches ablaze, making the whole airfield and plane explode.

The now-paranoid Nazis panic and decide to instead put the Ark on a truck bound for Cairo. Indy manages to catch them during a high-speed car chase, however, and takes the artifact up to Alexandria with Marion, making arrangements to ship it to London on the ship Bantu Wind. During their trip through the desert at night, Marion confesses her feelings to Indy, who reciprocates. Yet, just as they're about to kiss... Sallah shows up outside, having caught a boat down the Nile and beating them to the city, ruining the moment.

Upon entering the docks of the ancient town, Nazi agents stop the group and discover it's Indiana Jones and his crew. They put up a valiant effort, but the bad guys take Marion, and the Ark, on a U-boat. Jones manages to escape them, but sneaks aboard the ship anyways in the guise of a German sailor. The sub lands on an island in the Aegean Sea, the location where Belloq plans to test out the power of the Ark before showing it to Hitler. On the trek up to the site they plan to test it, Indy reveals himself and threatens to blow up the Ark with a bazooka. But Belloq calls his bluff, unwilling to believe that his former friend would destroy such a precious historical artifact and his love in the process, and Indy reluctantly is forced to follow as their prisoner.

The Nazis then take both Jones and Marion to an area where they can see the Ark's opening, and tie them to a post. Belloq, who is dressed in a traditional Israelite kohen gadol, performs a ceremonial opening of the Ark alongside Nazi officials (including Toht)... only to discover the golden box is filled with sand. Spirits then emerge from the Ark, and reveal themselves as Angels of Death, destroying the electronic equipment around the place. A pillar of flame shoots high into the sky, and tendrils of electricity arc out, slaughtering the Nazis who dare look upon the power of God. Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenswood only survive due to them shutting their eyes. The pillar of flame then ascends into the sky and disappears, and the lid of the Ark falls back atop the relic, shutting it. Finding their ropes burned off, the couple rejoice and hug.

Back in Washington, DC, Indy is informed that the government has decided the Ark of the Covenant is too dangerous to be put in a museum. Rather, it will be studied and examined by top men someplace safe. The film then cuts to the Ark being stored amongst other similar crates in a warehouse in Area 51.

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Actors

Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford
Marion Ravenswood: Debra Winger
René Belloq: Paul Freeman
Sallah: John Rhys-Davies
Major Arnold Toht: Michael Sheard
Doctor Marcus Brody: Denholm Elliott​

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​

Raiders of the Lost Ark, despite all of its differences from OTL, is still considered an absolutely amazing film, and busted the box office for the entire summer. Sadly, it did not come very close to the runaway sensations of the co-director's previous works (Jaws and Star Wars) in terms of box office returns, though it obviously did well. Its only true competition was Universal's Alien, debuting just five days after Raiders and holding its own against the Disney/LucasArts juggernaut.

One of the more notable changes to the film is the lack of the iconic scene where Indy just shoots the swordsman instead of actually fighting him. IOTL, a fancy fight had been choreographed that just wasn't used because the place they were filming at was just miserable. Here, that was not the case, and by using Disney's clout they were able to actually shoot on the real Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, not a set.

Speaking of Disney, the Indiana Jones franchise is wholly owned by the Walt Disney Company, unlike Star Wars, which George Lucas owns the sequel rights to (but not the 1977 original movie). This drew the two companies closer, and made a full-on buyout of LucasArts by Disney likely in the near future, especially since its value would only keep going up. It was all a matter of if George Lucas would play ball, or not...

 

[HeX]

Star Wars: The Animated Series
Season 1 (Part One)
​

Episode 1: Saviors of the Galaxy

The very first episode of the show follows Luke, Han, and Leia on a mission to infiltrate an Imperial Star Destroyer. It bears many similarities to the middle segment of the first film, where the gang explores the Death Star interior in secret. At the end, Luke duels Darth Vader for the first time, but fails hard, and is saved by his friends as they escape on a stolen TIE fighter Han pilots.

Episode 2: Space Race

Han Solo has gotten himself into a bit of a pickle with some space pirates, and they demand their payments that he hasn't repaid by high noon the following day. Han has to raise the funds by winning a race from Corellia to Cato, and evade Imperial fighters on the way.

Episode 3: Negotiations

Princess Leia is going to the planet Zekel to convince its reptilian inhabitants to join the fight against the Empire. But on her visit there, she uncovers a plot led by Imperialist sympathizers to assassinate the Rebel-favoring king, which she, C-3P0, and R2-D2 must stop at all costs.

Episode 4: Training Regimen

Luke Skywalker is visited by the ghost of Ben Kenobi and is given a checklist of things to accomplish to learn the ways of the Force. Accompanied by R2-D2, Luke attempts to complete them all to hilarious results.

Episode 5: Ace in the Hole

Han Solo is searching for a new planet that the Rebels can build a base on. He and Chewbacca as a result visit the hostile jungle planet of Nar'Doshesh, where they discover everything is out to kill them and must make it through the night and back to the Millenium Falcon.

Episode 6: A Princess' Duty

Princess Leia is joined by Wedge Antilles on a diplomatic mission to Xenoquilla, another planet on the tipping point between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Wedge attempts to teach her how to fly an X-Wing, which she isn't very good at. But while on the planet, the Empire launches an attack on the planet and she is forced to take to the skies in a ship and aid in the planet's defense herself.

Episode 7: The Final Frontier

Luke is sent to the Outer Rim by Ben's Force ghost, to train extensively. He discovers a strange civilization out there seemingly worshipping the Force, and upon further inspection deduces that this was the planet the Jedi first began eons ago.

Episode 8: Rebel With a Cause

Han Solo has been tracked down by a bounty hunter named Boba Fett, hired by Jabba the Hutt. He must evade the Mandalorian and escape to Rebel-controlled space, lest he have his head hung in Jabba's trophy room.

Episode 9: Flashpoint

Princess Leia believes she has found her seemingly dead mother's hidden location, on the planet Sirius. But is it really her, or just the Empire's ploy to kidnap her? Spoiler: it's a trap!

Episode 10: The Battle of Widow's Peak

Luke, Han, and Leia are all at the new Rebel headquarters on Sin Revalia when it comes under attack by the Empire and Vader himself. The whole cast must beat back the Imperial forces, and find a new place to hide out.

Episode 11: Treasure Planet

Luke and Han discover a map to a place they were told stories of as children: Treasure Planet. Echoing the tale of Robert Louis Stevenson, they head out to the planet to find untold riches to fund the Alliance, though the Empire shows up as well to stop them, having been trailing them the whole journey.

Episode 12: Darth Vader's Birthday

This is by far the strangest episode of Star Wars: The Animated Series ever made. It follows Stormtroopers and Imperial officers attempting to set up a birthday party for Darth Vader, and the image of Vader wearing a party hat, seated at a table in front of a birthday cake and surrounded by Stormtroopers in party hats as well has become a meme in recent years, as has Vader's quote from the episode: "I find your lack of presents... disturbing," said when an officer shows up without a gift.

Episode 13: Big Space Country

Luke is out for a spin in his X-Wing and spends some time being a tourist on many planets in the galaxy with R2. Not much happens, but it's a nice way to come down from the insane high of the last episode.

Episode 14: Out of This World

Han tells a story to Luke and Wedge about when he was younger, and how he got into his mess with Jabba in the first place. It all started when he was a kid fresh from deserting the Imperial Navy, and he made a few bad deals and promises he couldn't keep that led to him narrowly evading the Rancor in Jabba's dungeons and stealing a starship to fly out of Tatooine.

Episode 15: Royally Flushed

Princess Leia is kidnapped by a band of Tusken raiders on Tatooine, and C-3P0 and R2-D2 must find a way to save her. Leia is no damsel in distress though, and as the robots bumble around and fail at saving her, she manages to fight off her guards and escape herself.

Episode 16: Lost in Space

Luke, Han, Leia, and the robots are returning to the Rebel base from a mission when the Millenium Falcon mysteriously shuts down, leaving them adrift in space. This is Season One's "bottle episode", putting all the characters in one location and forcing them to talk to and learn about each other. At the end, it turns out that R2 had accidentally short-circuited the ship when he was trying to fix the air conditioning for Han.

Episode 17: It Takes Two to Tango

C-3P0 and R2-D2 are captured by Imperial agents, who attempt to interrogate them and take their memory cards. The two droids had begun to argue and fight before this, and seem to no longer want to be friends. Through some accidents caused by 3P0 and some smart plays on the part of R2, they manage to escape, much to Darth Vader's chagrin, and after 3P0 saves his buddy, they become best pals once again.

Epsiode 18: Force Training 101

Luke again sees Ben Kenobi's ghost, who is displeased with his progress as a Jedi and instructs him to do more. This episode is heavily inspired by Rocky, and Luke trains hard (even eating a smoothie of eggs for breakfast) to some pumping rock music by Queen. At the end of the episode, more Stormtroopers show up alongside Grand Moff Tarkin and capture Han and Leia. To save them, Luke must use his newfound powers--the Force push--for the first time successfully.

Episode 19: Rogues' Gallery

Han Solo once again finds himself trapped in a corner between a rock and the Empire. To get out of another hairy situation, he must work together with a bunch of fellow outlaws who all hate him and each other to get off the planet before the Imperial agents can find them.

Episode 20: Star Tours

Han and Leia are undercover on the Star Tours spaceline. At the last moment, a bunch of Stormtroopers board the flight and after takeoff start questioning passengers. To survive the flight they have to pass off as a married couple, creating some funny moments and romantic tension. This episode served as the inspiration for an attraction of the same name that came to the Disney Parks in the 1990s.

Episode 21: Winging It

On a mission for the Rebels Luke is forced to fly a Y-Wing fighter, which he has no experience in doing. To get his license to fly the machine he has to go through a flying test administrated by Wedge Antilles, complete with parallel parking... IN SPACE!

Episode 22: Checkmate

Princess Leia touches down on a planet that is very strange, monochrome in color and using strange terminologies to describe its inhabitants like "pawn", "bishop", and "rook". She is told that to win the support of the king, she must beat the opposing Imperial forces in a hand-to-hand death battle known as "Chess". C-3P0 turns out to be very good at the game and practically wins the whole match by himself.

Episode 23: Homesick

Luke recounts the time that he first met Ben Kenobi. The old man had saved him and his friends from certain death by slaughtering a womp rat that was about to kill them back on Tatooine. But back then, they'd been rude and immature and called him a "crazy old man", something Luke still regrets to this day.

Episode 24: Solo

After getting into a fight with Leia, Han attempts to leave the Rebel Alliance and strike out on his own, as even Chewie wants to stay behind. Han faces down many, many challenges that are hard, if not impossible to overcome alone, and realizes that he needs his friends as much as they need him.

Episode 25: So You Wanna Be a Jedi...

As the Season 1 Midseason Finale, Luke receives word that his father is actually alive from an outside source. Han and Leia warn him that it's a trap, but he refuses to listen and goes back to Tatooine on his own. There, he finds the Emperor (who lied to him) waiting at Luke's old home, and the two duel, though Luke is easily beaten. It ends in a cliffhanger with the Emperor having Luke held in a Force choke, commanding his Stormtroopers to fire.

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​

"The first season of Star Wars: The Animated Series was without a doubt very disjointed compared to the rest of the show's run. We were still finding our footing, what worked and what didn't, trying to strike the right balance between goofiness and realism. We failed pretty hard on that front many times I will admit, which you can see today by the 'I am not amused' Darth Vader's Birthday memes that are everywhere online. But I'm just happy the Animated Series has had the same staying power as the Original Trilogy."
--Don Bluth, from a June 2005 interview with the Disney fansite AniMagic.com

 

[HeX]

Universal Pictures, throughout the 1980s, managed to pull itself together and join in Disney's race to become the best media outlet in the world under the reign of Michael Eisner. They tried many times to do so, through Jaws 2, a surefire success of a sequel to the second-highest grossing movie of the time, and Halloween, considered one of the best horror films ever made. But in 1979, they finally managed to pull a rabbit out of their hat with Ridley Scott's Alien.

Alien was the only summer blockbuster that stood up to Raiders of the Lost Ark (which released only five days before it). Universal ran an aggressive ad campaign to propel it to new heights, at every turn insisting it was better than Star Wars. It was extremely successful, and it's estimated that due to the ads it more than doubled the revenue brought in, at over $150 million (though still much smaller than Raiders' $490 million). Unlike previous horror flicks and mostly due to the heavily censored advertising on television, parents brought their children to go see the movie, joining countless young people and teenagers in theaters. What these families saw, however, was not what they had been promised. It was the stuff of nightmares, aliens popping out of people's guts, the Xenomorph's horrific design, and frequent sexual imagery. Unsurprisingly, it received an "R" rating in the United States, though in the United Kingdom, through Universal's incessant pestering, it received just an "AA" rating--allowed for those fourteen and older. Universal as well tried to get the MPAA to rate it PG (to no avail). That, as well as complaints about excessive violence in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Hood, led to the adoption of the PG-13 rating in 1982. But in the immediate wake of Alien, Universal was spared no shortage of complaints at the hands of angry mothers.

Universal didn't mind, though. They'd finally gotten their hands on a hit, and decided to run with it, putting a sequel into production almost as soon as the first hit theaters on May 25, to come sometime after a rumored Jaws threequel.

--"A Brief History of Alien," cinemagic.com, posted April 2, 2008

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​

Elstree Studios, London, UK
May 29, 1979

Walt was fuming. He slammed the door to his temporary office and sat down in his seat for a moment. Then he grabbed his phone and dialed a number he knew well.

"George Lucas speaking."

"George, whatever you've got cooking in that Death Star-shaped oven better be fucking fantastic."

"Huh?" asked Lucas. "I assume this is Walt. Why are you so pissed?"

"I just saw Alien with a couple of the guys I've been working with on Hood..."

"That bad, huh?"

"No. No, the exact opposite. It was amazing, it was a horror movie... in space. I don't think I'd ever seen that done before. So I'd recommend maybe making Empire a little darker than you've already got it--"

Lucas sighed. "Walt, Empire is plenty dark already. Han Solo gets frozen in carbonite, for God's sake!"

"Yeah, but... how about you change the setting a little bit?" asked Walt.

"...How so?"

"Most of the movie takes place in that Cloud City place, right? All bright and shiny?"

"Yeah."

"What about... maybe turn Bespin into, like, a water planet or something? And then during the big finale, have it thunderstorming. Really sets a tone, you know?"

"I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises! It is my story after all."

 

[HeX]

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.

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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."

 

[HeX]

Walt Disney Imagineering, Burbank, CA
June 7, 1979

After a near-death experience, Tony Baxter had decided to take a little while off and go on vacation. Vacation to where? His basement. Baxter had spent a few weeks watching television, occasionally writing down a few ideas but more often than not paying zero attention to anything. It was on his fifth viewing of Star Wars (the Disney Channel broadcast it very often), though, that the light bulb went off in his head and he was struck with inspiration.

Now, as development on Black Hole was winding down, Tony Baxter found himself suggesting his big idea to three people all at once.

"Atari's working on a new project, and they've been bragging to the press about how it's going to be using newfangled vector graphics instead of the standard raster style, which Black Hole is using," he explained to his audience of Walt, George Lucas, and Rolly Crump. "I propose we do the same with our next game."

"What is our next game, Tony?" asked Crump.

"Since we can do more with vector graphics than we can with raster graphics--what with them being less complicated to render and taking up a bit less space and all that jazz--I'm proposing a first-person Star Wars game."

Lucas nodded. "So that's why I'm here."

"Yes. I didn't think it would be right to make something Star Wars without its creator's consent," said Baxter.

"Well, you have my consent. Not much I could do about it if you didn't, though, since you all own the video game rights to the franchise."

"Tell us more, Tony," commanded Walt.

"Okay, so, obviously, the game is going to require some clever planning and workarounds to make it as big as I want it, but I've got faith in Rolly. It's a first-person view from the cockpit of a Rebel X-Wing, and it simulates the trench run sequence from the film," Baxter described.

"Oh, that's interesting! You know, I've been looking to expand my horizons as an entertainer, and my Graphics department I'm working on might just have to have a games division now..." said Lucas.

"I was inspired by the scene with the Death Star plans. Anyways, the players will control Luke Skywalker on his flight down the Death Star trenches. Occasional TIE fighters will show up and can be destroyed with blaster fire, but turrets on the Death Star and Darth Vader's TIE Advanced--which will show up about halfway to the exhaust vent--are invincible."

Rolly nodded. "And I take it the goal of the game is to launch a proton torpedo down the exhaust chute?"

"You're correct. The player gets three or four lives to do so, and when they win the game repeats, but makes things harder. Rinse and repeat."

"It's an excellent idea, Tony. You and Rolly can get started on that soon, just try to balance your time wisely between this and EuroDisney," congratulated Walt.

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New York City, NY
June 16, 1979

Wham.

Michael Jackson hit the ground hard, and slammed into his arm funny. It hurt like hell, and he cried out in pain. His dance moves, which were complicated and involved a lot of spinning and moving backwards, were complicated. Unfortunately he'd taken one spin too many and slipped, tripped, and fell. And now, his arm felt... sprained? Broken? Just his luck. But hey, it was better than if he hadn't stuck out his arm and landed full-force on his nose. Now that would have been bad.

"Stop the routine!" commanded the director.

"Goddammit Michael!" roared his father from the corner of the recording studio. "You can't keep on screwing up like this! You're costing this family good money for every mistake!"

Michael struggled to his feet, in anguish, knowing what was coming.

"Follow me outside," said his father.

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​

Elvis Presley walked down the hallways of the recording studio, peanut butter and banana sandwich in hand. He was taking a break from his latest recording session, which he was doing up in New York while Priscilla saw some play on Broadway with her girlfriends. His new album White Hot Hunger was coming along swimmingly, he thought, certainly befitting of his return to fame in the world of music. No other soloist could truly match him, considering his concerts drew in not only today's young folk, but also their parents who'd seen him in his heyday.

"Ow! Shit, that hurt!"

Elvis stopped. He knew that voice. Yes, he knew that voice! He'd heard it countless times before, on the records his wife played over and over again ad nauseum. Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5, Elvis' only true competition in the solo field.

The King turned the corner and found Michael against the wall, his burly father ready to launch another blow.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Yeah, wise guy?" sneered Michael's father, turning. "What are you gonna do about..."

He noticed it was none other than Elvis Presley who was speaking. He didn't look very threatening with a sandwich in his hand and slicked-back hair, but the King's (mostly) athletic form and aura of iconicity made Joe Jackson shrink back in fear. Elvis probably couldn't beat him in a fight, but people had a hell of a lot if trust in the guy. And if he let it slip to the press that Michael Jackson was being hit by his father... Joe might not be in the picture for a long, long while.

Joe Jackson turned back to his son. "Don't you ever mess up like that again, you hear me boy?"

Michael nodded, thankful that his father was leaving.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Elvis.

Michael nodded.

"Here, come with me. Let's get you cleaned up."

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​

"Perhaps the greatest musical collaboration in history is upon us. Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, and rising star Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5, announced on Sunday that they would be collaborating on two albums to come next year. This seems to be in line with recent photos capturing Presley and Jackson together in New York, New Orleans, and Memphis, and lends credence to the rumors that Presley has taken Jackson under his wing as a 'father figure' of sorts."
--From the August 1979 issue of Rolling Stone

 

[HeX]

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.

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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."

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​

"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..."

 

[HeX]

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.

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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.

 

[HeX]

Star Wars: The Animated Series
Season 1 (Part Two)
​

Episode 26: Growing Pains

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

 

[HeX]

Black Hole, the Walt Disney Company's fourth video game, released on July 31, 1979 as their own answer to Atari/Taito's Space Invaders. While still a space-themed shoot 'em up, Black Hole innovated by not only being a side-scroller, but also by having new terrain and sprites enter from one side of the screen and scroll all the way across, creating the illusion of a continuous adventure, no walls holding the player back from going anywhere they pleased (as long as it was on the screen).

The object of the game is to defeat as many enemy aliens (named "the Coven") as possible, while also protecting other intrepid astronauts from these creatures. To do so, players are armed with a standard blaster that fires from the ship's front and a bomb that drops in a slight arc toward the planet's surface below, to knock out any grounded aliens. If the little green men manage to kill just one astronaut (who take two hits each), then a UFO comes down from above and begins a sort of "boss fight". Win, and an extra life is given out. But if the player loses, it's back to the start with no power-ups and the loss of a life. After the player bests a certain amount of aliens, the next level starts up, with different terrain, enemy placement, and a faster pace (making it harder). The game loops like that until all lives are lost.

Black Hole is indeed a Space Invaders killer. It supplants one cultural phenomenon with another, and for about a year all that America could talk about was the game's ace pilot, Jak Strachan, and his out-of-this-world universe. An animated TV series was rumored, and his single-page comic on the inside cover of July/August's Fun Club News that Disney quickly went to Marvel, who they had entrusted the Star Wars comic book license with, with the goal of making a new comic series. It was a massive success, and issues flew off the shelves.

Strangely, Universal and Atari seemed to be unphased by Disney's runaway hit. Perhaps it was just because they were, at this point, used to being outperformed by the House of Mouse. But avid watchers of the burgeoning video game industry saw things differently, and knew that Atari was putting all of its eggs in an Asteroids-shaped basket.

And hopefully, that ploy would work.

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"The aliens were attacking! But I wasn't worried. I wove in and out of spacecraft and asteroids alike, my phazer beams slicing through their green forms like a knife through butter."
--Jak Strachan, from Issue #1 of Marvel Comics' Black Hole

"Black Hole began in 1979 in the arcades. It's absolutely insane that we're already celebrating its fortieth anniversary with another installment in one of gaming's most beloved franchises. Happy birthday, Jak Strachan!"
--"Black Hole Turns Forty", Kotaku.com, July 31, 2019

 

[HeX]

The Dakota Building, 1 West 72nd Street, NYC
August 2, 1979

Paul McCartney and John Lennon sat passed out on the couch in the latter's living room. They'd had an all-night jam session the previous evening, and were now enjoying some much-needed rest.

BRRRRIIIINNGGG! BRRRRIIIINNGGG!

John sat up, startled, and fumbled for the telephone. "Hullo? John--yawn--John Lennon here."

"John! Is that really you, old boy?"

"Whozzis?" slurred John.

"It's Sid Bernstein! The man who broke you four into the American market?"

"Oh, that's right," said John. "You're, um, you were trying to get the band back together for charity concerts a couple of years back, right?"

"Indeed I was. Still am, as a matter of fact," announced Bernstein.

"Sorry man, not interested."

John hung up, and tried to go back to sleep, when Paul stirred and attempted to sit up. "Who was it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Sid Bernstein."

"What did he want?"

John shrugged. "Something about a charity concert. Dunno, I'm only half awake."

BRRRRIIIINNGGG! BRRRRIIIINNGGG!

"That's probably Sid again," muttered John. "Be a pal and talk to him, will ya?"

Paul rolled his eyes, but nevertheless lumbered over to the phone and picked it up. "John Lennon's residence, Paul McCartney speaking."

"Paul, you're over there too? That just makes this even easier!" exclaimed Bernstein on the other end. "I'm calling to see if you all have any interest in performing for a few live charity concerts for the benefit of the Vietnamese boat people. I've been hearing rumors about the Beatles getting back together for months now, so I figured this would be the perfect time to ask. I even put out a full-page ad in the New York Times yesterday."

Paul's eyes glanced at the rumpled newspaper from the day before. Sure enough, after rifling through it some he found the advertisement. "Seems interesting, Sid. But those are just rumors you've been hearing. We're not ready to get back in the game just yet, I don't think--"

"Now now, hold up just a minute there! I'm not asking for much, just three measly concerts--London, New York, Tokyo--of you four reprising your greatest hits. Think of all the money you'll raise for the people of Vietnam! They need all the help they can get."

Paul put his hand over the reciever. "Hey John, you think it's time for the Beatles to get back together?"

John opened his eyes blearily. "Yeah, yeah. I've just been waiting for you to say the word, since George and Ringo... those two said they're good with it."

Paul nodded. "Alright... well, if it's just a reprise, then I think we can do it."

"Excellent!" shouted an exuberant Bernstein. "Amazing! Mark your calendars for October 12, 19, and 26!"

The two bid farewell, and hung up. Paul turned to his friend on the couch. "We should call the others, right?"

John nodded. "Yeah, probably. That new song isn't going to write itself."

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"Not to be outdone by the King and Prince of Rock, however, are the legendary British band the Beatles, who just recently announced that all four of the original members would be reuniting for three charity concerts in October, benefiting the Vietnamese boat people, those unfortunate souls who fled the nation during and after the war between communist north and totalitarian south. With Queen doing so well worldwide and the Beatles coming back, it seems like a second British Invasion may be upon us. Assuming, that is, that Elvis and Michael Jackson can't repel them with smooth moves and some good old fashioned Southern rock and roll."
--From the August 1979 issue of Rolling Stone

 

[HeX]

Walt Disney's Office, Burbank, CA
August 9, 1979

Walt Disney reclined in his comfy leather office chair, a stick of gum in his mouth. His brain was going rapid-fire with ideas (as always), creating new concepts and killing them as fast as they were made. The creative output of Walt Disney could have been used to fill five Disney Worlds, the amount of movie ideas able to stretch on film around the world twice over. But none of them were good enough to him. He couldn't just settle for an 'okay' idea. They had--had--to be great.

Enlightenment struck. What had he been talking about with the Queen when they'd met?

"Most people don't know, but I'm actually a big fan of Doctor Who, the television series," she had said. "It's very interesting, I'd recommend it to you to watch. The BBC, I believe, was starting to look for a partner to make an animated adaptation of the show. There's no American studio I'd like to see parter up with them than yours..."

Walt had gone back and watched just about every episode he could get his hands on. And he loved them. The idea of the Doctor, a madman in a spaceship who can go anywhere, anywhen, with anything, and can look like anyone, opened the door to a whole slew of possibilities. And Walt was growing fonder of merry old England, too, as filming went on for Hood in the UK.

Suddenly, the door bonked open, and George Lucas--Roy Disney in tow--walked in.

"I've done a lot of thinking, Walt," he said. "And I do mean a lot. I've spent the whole of last month thinking, ever since Roy came down and talked the idea of Disney buying LucasArts up."

All thoughts of the Doctor and the TARDIS left Walt's mind in an instant. "And...?"

"And I'll agree to the deal. But I want a few amendments to it, though."

Overjoyed on the inside, Walt wisely held in his feelings and leaned forward, eager as ever. "And what might those be? I'm all ears."

"First, I want confirmation that I'll get final say on all of my projects."

"Done. Just because we're merging doesn't mean that we'll be taking you over. Though, still expect me to swing by every now and then to see how things are going."

Roy frowned. "Are you sure, Walt? You're agreeing pretty quick--"

"Shut up, Roy. I've thought about this for weeks."

"Second, while I'm open to moving our facilities down to this studio in Burbank, I'd like to exercise some of the autonomy you promised and have our new building put up across Riverside Drive, detached from the rest of this place.

Walt nodded. "Might be a bit of a pain, but not too much to ask. Keep going."

"LucasArts Games should be independent from Walt Disney Imagineering... which you already said in the documents but I'm just confirming things."

"Okay, that's good too. Anything else?" asked Walt.

"Honestly, I think that's the biggest issues out of the way. I'd like ILM to see some autonomy too, but that's not really required," replied Lucas.

"This sale will turn you into a very rich man, George, more than any of your movies will ever make you. But I urge you to not let the money blind your creative vision. If things start to go that way... we'll have a big problem," said Walt.

Lucas nodded.

"But, hey, maybe with all this money you'll finally be able to build that big ranch you've been talking about."

"Yeah, maybe. I'm ready to sign off on this, Walt. I don't know if this is my best decision... but I don't think I'll regret it, either."

The two men shook hands.

"Obviously, the merger will take a few months to go through, and we've got to get actual papers and plans drawn up. But, in any case, George, it's great to have you on board," congratulated Walt.

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"When Disney bought out LucasArts, I was hesitant at first. Hopefully, everything would go off without a hitch. And it did, it really did. We proved that with The Empire Strikes Back and Indiana Jones and the Library of Souls, not to mention their later sequels. LucasArts Games really took off when Disney Studios Interactive started making video games for home consoles, since both went hand-in-hand and the former achieved a belovedness I'm not sure it could have garnered without the latter. Plus, all the money I got was a nice incentive."
--George Lucas, from the article "A Match Made in Heaven: Celebrating Thirty Years of LucasArts Under Disney," The Mickey Mouse Club Magazine, November 2009

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After George left, Walt motioned for his brother to stay behind.

"What is it?" the elder Disney asked.

Walt grinned. "I want to start up a 3D animation department."

"So I've heard."

"Yes, you have heard. But now... now we have the means to do so. All the guys at LucasArts who are getting into computer-generated imagery are now under our roof. Only trouble is... they're mostly tech guys. Geniuses, but not as creatively gifted as some of our boys," lamented Walt.

"What do you want me to do about that?"

"Not what I want you to do, what I want us to do. We are going to go around the studio, see if we can drum up some interest and get a project in the works. Try to adapt a children's book or make a short, I don't know."

Roy shrugged. "Sounds like a lot of money going into one untested idea there, Walt."

"You said the same thing about color cartoons. The same thing about Snow White. The same thing about Fantasia--which, granted, you were right about. The same thing you said about Disneyland and Disney World. And all of those have greatly outshone our expectations. This is the next step in animation, Roy, and we need to be at its forefront."

 

[HeX]

Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, CA
August 12, 1979

All the Imagineers lounged around in the studio's cafeteria, intently watching Walt and Roy up at the front of the room, beside a whiteboard on wheels. Sketched on the board in red marker was a crude diagram of the EPCOT Center's Progressland, divided in half and each side labeled 'Nature' and 'Tech' respectively.

"Alright," began Walt, spinning to face his audience, "the EPCOT Center is past its fourth birthday and we haven't given it any upgrades since opening day. I know you're all busy on your EuroDisney projects, but I figure we should try and get a jump on things. Just throw me some preliminary ideas for Progressland expansions, I'm sure you've all been talking about something like that, and I'll lay out which nations are willing to work with us to fill out the World Showcase."

An excited buzz from the crowd picked up as a million conversations began, spouting out ideas left and right.

"One at a time, please..." directed Walt. The room quieted down considerably, and a few hands raised skyward. "Oh, who to choose first... Tony and Steve, way in the back! Go for it!"

The two got out of their seats and bounded up to the front, grinning like jack o' lanterns. Steve Kirk motioned for Tony Baxter to help him flip the whiteboard over to its blank side, and then both grabbed markers of their own.

"We were thinking about the Nature side of Progressland, and how the Health pavilion only really focuses on the body's health, not the mind," began Kirk.

"So we first got to talking about putting in a mental health addition for Health, with maybe a cute cartoon character there to talk about depression and anxiety in as family-friendly terms as possible," said Baxter.

"We quickly realized that had no place at a Disney theme park," threw in Kirk. "So we scrapped the idea, and came back to it later with a whole new perspective."

Steve Kirk uncapped his purple dry erase marker and began drawing something on the board, while Tony kept on talking. "We thought, 'What is Disney all about?' A lot of adjectives came to mind, but the best one was imagination. We are Imagineers, after all. And everything just fell into place after that. This ride--which has far outgrown the Health pavilion--will be a journey through imagination, a place showing the wonderment, creativity and potential that lies untapped within the human mind."

"And this guy will be the mascot," said Kirk, gesturing to a cute and mischievous purple dragon, snorting smoke rings and smiling ear to ear. "His name is Figment, like a 'figment of your imagination'."

The room erupted in applause, cheering for an amazing idea. Walt called up more and more Imagineers, who all shared their concepts for pavilions concerning energy, the weather, entertainment, and even photography. But the one Walt really enjoyed was a take on the brand-new world of computers.

"So, it would 'send' guests into a digital world? Where they could see all the innerworkings of a virtual reality?" asked Walt.

"Something to that effect, yes. I haven't quite figured out all the intricacies to the attraction yet," apologized X Atencio, "but I'm working on it."

Walt clapped him on the back, and grinned. "Looks like your branching out here, huh, X? Usually you're just a music guy. Good to see you spread your wings."

X nodded. "I'm flattered. I was also wondering if you wanted me to work on the remix of the Pirates theme for Marc and Claude's new version for Florida?"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course. If you have time, that is. You're a busy man already, with EuroDisney and now this. But, if you feel comfortable, go for it."

X smirked and returned to his seat, and Walt stood back before everyone once more. "I suppose you're all dying to hear about what countries are lined up to be in our World Showcase, huh?"

"YEAH!" roared everyone excitedly.

"Our two most demanding candidates are a slew of African nations looking to come in as one land, under the banner of 'Equatorial Africa', as well as India. However, many other countries from around the globe have also expressed interest, and I'm currently fielding phone calls from the UK, West Germany, France, Spain, Morocco, South Africa, Argentina, Jamaica, China, Indonesia, and Israel."

The fact that such a staggering number of countries wanted into the EPCOT Center surprised no one in the room. Over the past few years, with Disney extending its tentacles around the world, everyone who didn't hate the House of Mouse's guts wanted to cozy up, world governments included. Many of the non-European nations saw it as a great opportunity to export their cultural heritage to the United States and the West, and some sought to more legitimize themselves on the world stage. Israel, most notably, had offered to sponsor and pay for the entirety of their pavilion, an enticing deal and one likely to further crush the spirit of their Palestinian neighbors. For most countries, though, asking their citizens for taxes to build a theme park was not an option, and had to settle for merely sponsoring the place, though they still put forth great effort in helping WDI design potential lands based on their nation.

"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today, people," said Walt, glancing at the clock. One in the morning. Man oh man, Lilly was not going to be happy with him.