The Shuffled Disneyverse: An Alt Disney Timeline
- Thread starter PGSBHurricane
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I'm guessing probably the 1985 film, whatever that will be.
And for 1977b, either Brother Bear or Dinosaur. Maybe Beauty and the Beast but other than those, idk.
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Robin Hood (1977)
Robin Hood (1977)
The idea of a talking animal film based on folklore can date back to the 1930s with the proposed Reynard the Fox Tales film. Based on stories and poems dating back to Europe in the 11th century, it was planned to be about a misbehaving fox and his tricks. In 1941, another film about talking animals was proposed, this time about a rooster named Chanticleer who believes that his crowing makes the sun rise. An attempt to merge the two films into one was made in the 1940s but to no avail and again in the early 1960s. In 1968, Ken Anderson finally pitched a movie involving the traditional story of Robin Hood, recycling ideas from Reynard The Fox and Chanticleer by using talking bipedal animals as the main characters rather than humans. It certainly helped that Xerox animation was more appropriate for animal characters than humans. It was approved for pre-production, but production on Pocahontas and Tarzan would move ahead first as there was plenty to explore with Robin Hood. Production would begin in earnest in February 1974 while working on Raya and the Last Dragon. One thing consistently played with was the use of animal stereotypes, especially with a fox in the title role of Robin Hood.
Set in a fictional land based on the 19th century Old West, the film begins when the mayor of Nottingham, Richard Lyon is overthrown in a coup led by his stepbrother John Lachland and is shot to death off-screen. After taking over, John orders a tax raise on everyone in Nottingham to outrageously high levels. The local sheriff has no qualms about stripping residents of every last penny short of outright illegal means. In the nearby Sherwood Forest, brothers Robert Howell (locally known by his secret identity, Robin Hood) and “Little” John Howell stake a hideout where they hide all the treasures they steal from Lachlan and his lackeys. They smuggle those treasures back to the starving townsfolk. They also have a liaison in the form of a meek but principled Minister Tuck. Meanwhile, Lachland’s niece, Marian, has returned to town for the first time in years, and she yearns to see her childhood friend, Robin Hood, again. However, Marian has no idea what her uncle has done to the town she grew up in. Lachland is also conspiring to keep her and Robin Hood apart at any cost, including setting up numerous traps to catch Robin Hood after being humiliated too many times. Now, Howell must skillfully navigate these traps to avoid capture and return all the stolen riches to the people of Nottingham.
Robin Hood premiered near Washington DC at the AFI Silver Theatre on December 18, 1977, before its wide release three days later. Contemporary critics tore it apart, noting its horrifically ugly animation, a sizeable portion of it recycled from other Disney films in the past. Critics also criticized the story for being cliche, indecisive, and revolving around anthropomorphic animals. With that said, Pat Buttram, Andy Devine, Ken Curtis, and George Lindsey were universally praised for their voice performances. Audiences, however, were much more forgiving of Robin Hood. The audience consensus was that it was one of the most entertaining, enjoyable, lighthearted films in a while, even if it was objectively not that great. People were tired of serious films like Pocahontas, Hunchback, Tarzan, and Raya, so they appreciated a more slapstick-oriented film. It grossed $48 million at the box office on a $6 million budget. Upon its DVD release in the early 2000s, most critics agreed it was an overlooked film, even if not a masterpiece. It's now regarded as the most popular film from the Bronze Age but still has a sizeable hatedom.
A/N: For this title, I decided to move the setting to the Old West with a touch of Antebellum South, both of which were actually proposed ITTL. For several years, this is the most hated Disney film according to critics, and the fact that it still has a sizeable hatedom despite its general popularity among audiences, in addition to it not being a masterpiece objectively speaking, are traces of this. It's a weak but entertaining film and that's what sold it. So this will not be the most hated Disney film ITTL. We are now done with the 1970s as of this update so get ready for the 1980s soon.
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Someone should make a western version of Robin hood (The tale, not the disney movie) today! Down with Mayor Lachland!
Well, Disney almost made it IOTL so there's that. I also wonder if there are any modernized adaptations of it ITTL and IOTL.
It wasn’t a flop. It was a box office success IOTL and an even bigger one here.
I was refering to the critical reception, even though general audiences do like the film, I probably should've phrased that better.
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At the time it was the most critically thrashed but modern critics like it more. So it was vindicated by history, which I cannot say about a certain film in the 1980s coming up
The Black Cauldron perhaps? Maybe Peter Pan given previous hints?
Maybe, we’ll see. I’m planning out the write-up for the 1981 film as I type this.
Perhaps so, and I'll also look if any Old West versions of the story have been made IOTL too.
For the Rennaisance, at least one of the films will remain in its OTL slot.
Aladdin (1981)
The 1980s would be the period where Disney had the most to prove. The decade would begin with the production of Aladdin, based on an Arab folktale from the collection of stories named A Thousand and One Nights. This would not be the first attempt at making an animated version of the Aladdin story, though, as Universal Studios attempted to develop an animated film based on the story with Abbot and Castello in the 1940s before World War II ended those plans. There were rumors about a Disney version of Aladdin as far back as 1967, but none of it came to fruition until the spring of 1977 during the production of Robin Hood. Wolfgang Reitherman claimed that he previously heard about the proposed Abbot and Costello film, and decided it would make for a good film adaptation. Production was signified by power struggles between directors Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens and coproducer Ron Miller. This represented a larger conflict between the old guard and the young up-and-coming animators. Fights broke out twice. There was so much conflict over artistic control and animation practices that Don Bluth left during animation and did not see the finished product.
Located in a fictional fusion of ancient China and the ancient Middle East, Aladdin centers around a poor young man named Aladdin who has no job and lives off the very little money his single mother earns. His father died when he was young. On the other side of the same coin, Princess Kamila lives a life of luxury, is unhappy due to her duties allowing little time for companionship, and is legally forced to marry by her 18th birthday to become the future queen, which she reluctantly obliges. One day, Kamila sneaks out of the palace and is about to be robbed on the streets when Aladdin saves her. She asks for his name, not knowing who he is and wanting to thank him, but he runs away before she can hear it. Later that day, an evil sorcerer, who is revealed to be the kingdom’s Royal Vizier named Jafar, gives Aladdin a magic ring and sends him into the Cave of Wonders to retrieve an oil lamp, only to seal Aladdin when he finds it. He rubs the ring to attempt to get out, but all it does is make it so that the boy can see where he is. In a last-ditch effort, he rubs the lamp, and a genie appears who can grant almost any wish. Aladdin uses this to become vastly wealthy and attempt to woo Princess Kamila, but he must also thwart Jafar and his son from usurping the throne and taking over the kingdom.
Aladdin was originally slated for its theatrical release in Christmas 1980, but the departure of several animators pushed its wide release back to July 1981. It was a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing animated film at the time. Critics gave it mixed reviews at the time, praising its moral lessons and voice acting but criticizing the story as old-school and bringing very little that was new to the table and had a more upbeat tone than there should have been. Nowadays, the critical reception has a more positive tilt but is not quite universally beloved, with newfound praise for the animation itself given the quality of its predecessors and the likeability of the characters. It premiered in 1982 on home video, becoming one of the first in Disney’s lineup to premiere on the VHS format, and premiered on DVD in 2000. Aladdin became the most popular film from the Bronze Age, and it looked like Disney was turning the corner, but nothing could prepare Disney for the disaster that would soon come.
A/N: I was struggling for a while to come up with a suitable treatment for this title so I made it a fusion of OTL's Disney's Aladdin film and the original story.
Hints for 1989-91:
1989 - Was released in OTL's Disney Rennaisance
1990 - Was a package film IOTL
1991 - Was a box office success IOTL
1990 - Was a package film IOTL
1991 - Was a box office success IOTL