The Shuffled Disneyverse: An Alt Disney Timeline

Foster: A Wish of Little Orphan Annie (1948)
Foster: A Wish of Little Orphan Annie (1948):

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Following the perceived failure of Wreck-It-Ralph 2, it was decided that Disney would no longer do package features. At this point, one such film was already in production and had to be retooled to fit the standards of a low-budget single-story feature. It was going to be an original package film about the daily lives of people in New York City. At the end of the war in late 1944 or early 1945, Walt Disney himself received the film rights to the Little Orphan Annie comic strips after hearing about and watching the film adaptations by RKO from 1932 and Paramount from 1938. It was originally meant to be a package film based on the various segments from the comic strips. But, with less than a year left in production, those package segments were condensed into a single plot. Among the child actors considered for the role of Annie, Luana Patten was one of the top choices. Disney had hoped that her reputation would help this film at the box office upon its release, as it would be one of the major tests for the viability of Disney’s animation studio in the coming years. He had also hoped to learn from the mistakes of RKO and Paramount and make it into an animated film for everyone to enjoy, even the toughest of critics.

Set in New York City in 1924 (the year the first Little Orphan Annie comic strip was published), the story opens at Hudson Street Orphanage where Annie has been routinely abused by a pair of evil matron sisters named Miss Asthma and Miss Treet since her parents left her on the orphanage doorstep as a baby. She keeps hope by believing that her wish of being adopted by a loving family will come true. After escaping the orphanage, Annie meets a dog named “Sandy” and temporarily works at a beanery before being caught by the sisters and sent back. Near Christmastime, the wealthy and eccentric Oliver Warbucks (who had taken note of Annie at her time at the beanery) writes to the orphanage that he would like to foster Annie in his mansion for the Christmas season. Mrs. Warbucks arrives to relieve Annie but soon reveals her true nature as a cold-hearted member of the nouveau rich upon arrival at the mansion. Fortunately, the staff takes a great liking to Annie and Sandy. Before Mr. Warbucks can return from his business trip, his wife devises a plan behind his back to stop her “social ruin” by scheming a plan to get rid of Annie for good once Christmas is past. Her plan is exposed, and Warbucks’ right-hand men named Asp and Punjab try to rescue Annie, but can they rescue her before Mrs. Warbucks can find them?

The film’s working title was Litte Orphan Annie but the writers changed it to Foster: A Wish of Little Orphan Annie just weeks before sending it to RKO Radio Pictures for distribution. The film was released in the United States in August 1948 without a formal premiere like Disney’s previous features. It was ultimately a mild box office success, earning $2.6 million in rentals. At the time, it received generally favorable reviews, with praise for Luana Patten’s voice acting, the animation, and the action-oriented sequences mostly in the second half of the film. Nowadays, while it’s generally considered by fans of the Little Orphan Annie franchise to be a decent adaptation, reception is generally more mixed among critics and audiences. Most find Annie herself endearing but at the same time take problem with the fact that most of the film’s villains are female while Asp and Punjab are criticized for their stereotypical portrayal of Asians. There has been some pushback against this, however, with fans noting that the antagonists here are some of Disney’s most realistic and well-written and citing Asp and Punjab as progressive for their time due to the importance of their roles and their ethnicities not being their sole character traits. Foster: A Wish of Little Orphan Annie has gone on to become a cult classic.

A/N: The working title that the WDAC 2023 film OTL had was Foster and since it hasn't been released yet, I decided to use the word Foster to think of a different plot for the film and the first thing to come to mind when thinking of that word that's iconic in American culture is the Annie franchise based on the Little Orphan Annie comics which date back to the 1920s OTL. I didn't realize it at the time but Foster was re-titled to Wish before the D23 Expo 2022 and since I already had everything already set I decided to incorporate more of the concept behind the word Wish here and include it in the title so it's the best of both worlds.
 
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@PGSBHurricane I can't recall a little orphan Annie movie by Disney, could you please give me a memory refresher
For 1948, the title that the randomizer landed on was Foster and since that one hasn’t been released yet, I decided to use Little Orphan Annie as the main plot and as a subtitle for Foster. Of course, IOTL there’s a 1999 version of the Annie musical (which is based on the 1977 Broadway version which in turn is based on the comic strips) produced for Disney that I grew up with and have on VHS so there’s that…
 
For 1948, the title that the randomizer landed on was Foster and since that one hasn’t been released yet, I decided to use Little Orphan Annie as the main plot and as a subtitle for Foster. Of course, IOTL there’s a 1999 version of the Annie musical (which is based on the 1977 Broadway version which in turn is based on the comic strips) produced for Disney that I grew up with and have on VHS so there’s that…
Thanks I thought might have been a loss or scrapped film
 
Actually, it turned out I had the time to complete the 1948 update today and I don't think any of you guys expected this one so enjoy.

I have to agree, I definitely didn't expect this! Very interesting, how is the 1928 setting depicted, is it accurate, exaggerated, or basically indistinguishable from the late 40s?

Also I've found it quite interesting that a lot of Disney's hits TTL have noticeably not been the fairytale adaptations he started with. I know that the premise of this series is reshuffling the Disney canon, so we can expect more fantasy later, but I could see this making non-fantasy-based animation more widespread, thus changing the sort of genres covered by animated movies.
 
I have to agree, I definitely didn't expect this! Very interesting, how is the 1928 setting depicted, is it accurate, exaggerated, or basically indistinguishable from the late 40s?

Also I've found it quite interesting that a lot of Disney's hits TTL have noticeably not been the fairytale adaptations he started with. I know that the premise of this series is reshuffling the Disney canon, so we can expect more fantasy later, but I could see this making non-fantasy-based animation more widespread, thus changing the sort of genres covered by animated movies.
The 1920s setting is basically a mix of the actual 1920s and the late 1940s so that can be relatable to people who grew up in either time period and enjoy it accordingly. It’s more accurate to the real life 1920s than 1940s though I had to pick one over the other. I haven’t thought of it before but non-fantasy-based animation could make a dent earlier. Granted, most of the non-fairy tale films ITTL so far have fantasy elements in them, but still you are on to something.
 
Well, I didn't expect this. Nor did I expect Blue Sky Studios films to be on the table for shuffling here.
Foster was the operating title for Wish when the randomization process happened so that explains it. I didn't know this was a Blue Sky film but just thought it would be another entry into the Disney Canon due in 2023.
 
Very good update! It definitely wasn't what I expected.

Two questions I have:
  1. Are the characters drawn like in the other Disney animated movies or are their designs closer to what they look like in the original Little Orphan Annie comic strip?
  2. Is the film a musical? And if so, do any of the songs from the Broadway musical like "It's the Hard-Knock Life" and "Tomorrow" appear?
Unrelated to the above but while Ralph's dream of becoming a movie star in Wreck-It Ralph 2 is accurate for the time period, his other dream of being an television star feels unaccurate as many people wouldn't have televisons at the time of the movie's release in 1947. Radio could work as a good substitute for it though.
 
Very good update! It definitely wasn't what I expected.

Two questions I have:
  1. Are the characters drawn like in the other Disney animated movies or are their designs closer to what they look like in the original Little Orphan Annie comic strip?
  2. Is the film a musical? And if so, do any of the songs from the Broadway musical like "It's the Hard-Knock Life" and "Tomorrow" appear?
Unrelated to the above but while Ralph's dream of becoming a movie star in Wreck-It Ralph 2 is accurate for the time period, his other dream of being an television star feels unaccurate as many people wouldn't have televisons at the time of the movie's release in 1947. Radio could work as a good substitute for it though.
1. The characters are drawn to appear faithful to the original comic strips while also being Disneyfied.
2. It's a musical but with far fewer numbers and certainly none from the Broadway musical since that didn't debut until 1977.

Also, TV was starting to become relevant in 1947 IOTL since Truman's State of the Union address and the World Series were both televised.
 
With the first 10 films done, and only Pixar being reshuffled, I will be giving away hints for the next five films:
1949: Style over substance
1950: Based on a folktale
1951: From a fairy tale that features a king or queen
1953: Will be inspired by mythology (not necessarily classical)
1955: Talking animals are the focal point
 
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With the first 10 films done, and only Pixar being reshuffled, I will be giving away hints for the next five films:
1949: Style over substance
1950: Based on a folktale
1951: Features a king or queen
1953: Will be inspired by mythology (not necessarily classical)
1955: Talking animals are the focal point
1949: ? (I'm assuming this one will be aesthetically pleasing) — ended up being Fantasia
1950: Mulan (1998) — ended up being Chicken Little
1951: The Little Mermaid (1989) — ended up being The Emperor's New Groove
1953: Aladdin (1992, assuming that "classical" mythology refers to Greco-Roman mythology) The Sword in the Stone (1963) — ended up being Bolt (2008), now based on Norse mythology
1955: Brother Bear (2003, as a Hail Mary pass; lots of Disney films focus around talking animals, most notably another film that will release 13 years after Brother Bear) — ended up being Zootopia, that film in question
 
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