September 6, 1993 (A Collaborative Supplement to "American Magic")

In my pop culture TL, American Magic, Walt Disney lives to be 91 and continued to have an active role in the company bearing his name until the very end. Under his watch, the studio diversifies much sooner than IOTL and was in much better financial shape leading up to what was the company's Renaissance period IOTL.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1993
While most Americans on the east coast were firing up their barbecue grills for Labor Day, the west coast was waking up to devastating news.

Clip from NBC's TODAY
KATIE COURIC: Walt Disney, the man who turned a tiny cartoon studio into a multibillion dollar juggernaut has died at 11:38 PM Pacific Daylight Time Sunday night at the age of 91.

Clip from ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
JOHN TESH: The most famous movie mogul in Hollywood and one of America's best known pop culture icons died in his sleep late Sunday night at his Hollywood home with family and friends by his side.

Clip from CNN's SHOWBIZ TODAY
JIM MORET: Tributes will no doubt be pouring in from all over the entertainment business today and in the coming weeks. Millions around the world today are mourning the loss of Walt Disney, who died late Sunday night after nearly 70 years in Hollywood.

Clip from ESPN's SportsCenter
DAN PATRICK: Major League Baseball postponed today and tonight's slate of games out of respect for the passing of Walt Disney late last night. The Commissioner's office told ESPN that the games affected will be played either tomorrow as doubleheaders or made up later this month. In other sports, Pro Football International said it would allow the season premiere of ABC's Monday Night Football to go on as scheduled. The Miami Dolphins and New York Giants petitioned Commissioner Mitt Romney to call the game off citing the country's mournful mood over Disney's death, but Romney ultimately denied their requests. Coverage from the Meadowlands begins at 8:30 PM Eastern on ABC.

Clip from MTV News
KURT LODER: Tributes to Walt Disney have poured in from all over the music world and beyond throughout the afternoon. Later this week, MTV will devote a special edition of The Week in Rock to a retrospect of the songs and music from many of Disney's classic films.
BUMPER: MTV News, you hear it *record scratches* first!

Where were YOU on September 6, 1993?
 
My sister and I didn't really notice how subdued our parents were that morning (we had a Monday off from school, so we were playing on our Mega Drive before the rest of the family showed up -either Mega Twins or Bonanza Bros. I can't remember which-); so we didn't find out until we sat down to eat, everyone was talking about it.....
 
EPCOT Center's flag at half mast. September 8, 1993.
Flags-are-at-half-staff-at-Epcot.jpg
 
I was 5.

Played a few games on my Super NES in the early part of the day until food was ready. We barbecued some burgers, hot dogs and ribs.

Didn't hear about Walt's death until it was mentioned by Frank Gifford, Al Michaels and Dan Dierdorf in the broadcast booth at the start of the Monday Night game.
 
I would've been just 10 months old then so my memories are pretty much non existence. Though I would be told about it by my parents where they were when it happened.

In fact my sister would always tell me that she only started school when Walt died...ouch.
 
Would Walt's funeral be more like Jim Henson's ITTL? You know, singing and dancing and trying to smile in the face of tragedy?
 
Would Walt's funeral be more like Jim Henson's ITTL? You know, singing and dancing and trying to smile in the face of tragedy?

On British TV, Sky Sports would offer repeat reruns of the Dolphins/Giants game for TV viewers looking for a diversion from the news cycle. Other than that, along with one or two kids channels running regular schedules, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 suspended regular programmes in favour of tributes to Walt on the 6th, 7th and 8th of September.

On American TV, CBS, NBC, and UPN suspended regular programming out of respect for Walt. ABC, as I said, presented Monday Night Football as scheduled. USA Network pre empted WWF Monday Night Raw that week, and the next week, the WWF conducted a ten bell salute to Walt. CNN, Headline News and CNBC suspended regular coverage to loop a two hour retrospective of Walt. MTV and VH1 also suspended regular programming for the 6th and returned to normal three days later. From the sixth thru the ninth, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel carried on with regular shows with a tribute card at the top of each hour.

PBS let Sesame Street, Barney, Shining Time, Lamb Chop and Carmen Sandiego continue as normal, but gave Bob Ross the week off. Mr Rogers returned in October to explain Walt's death to kids. The McNeil Lehrer News Hour dedicated its entire episode for September 6th to a retrospective of Walt.

The Disney family tried to keep the actual funeral private, but a few pesky paparazzi managed to invite themselves. Those in attendance were there mostly to mourn.

The televised celebrations of his life and career, akin to the cheerful tone of Henson's OTL memorial service, took place closer to what would have been his ninety second birthday, simulcast on each of the four big networks at the time.
 
PBS let Sesame Street, Barney, Shining Time, Lamb Chop and Carmen Sandiego continue as normal, but gave Bob Ross the week off. Mr Rogers returned in October to explain Walt's death to kids.

That sounds like Mr Rodgers alright. I can even see him singing his own little rendition of ''When You Wish Upon a Star.''
 
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So, just wondering. Is this supplement going to be used for any other events? The John K Trial? The Feiss lawsuit? Promotional stuff and trailers for TTL movies and shows?
 
I'd be willing to wager that NBC and (The) Disney Channel, along with other Disney-owned networks, would spend up to 2 weeks showing any and all projects the man had a personal touch towards, as TTL gave him more pies to stick his thumbs into. Would that fit the sort of services given to his history or not?
 
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