"To Introduce our Guest Star, that's What I'm Here to Do..." The Hensonverse Fan Contribution Thread

A huge fan of OTL's X-Men and Spider-Man animated series, but these ones sound even better.

Aunt May's death from Amazing Spider-Man issue #400 in the finale season.

Okay, so does this actually stick? And if it doesn't, do they come up with a better explanation than "an actress who is just so method that she sticks to the script even when she's genuinely dying, put in place by the Green Goblin because ... he's a crazy, evil dude who would probably do something like that"?

[9] Unlike our timeline’s 90’s Animated Series, which tries to reference the issue (with Mary Jane rather than Gwen since Gwen hadn’t been introduced in the series), but then sort of cops out on actually straight up adapting it. Here they actually kill her off.
I think this should be footnote 11?
 
Out of curiosity would you guys see Cal Dodd voicing TOM for a toonami channel where the version of TOM is a elseworlds version of TOM
 
A huge fan of OTL's X-Men and Spider-Man animated series, but these ones sound even better.
I ironically think most people’s opinion might depend in the case of X-Men. I think if you were to ask most people from our timeline, they might like a lot of stuff from OTL X-Men more, while a person from ITTL watching OTL X-Men may prefer our OTL show, but miss or wish it had a lot of stuff that wasn’t in the OTL show but was in the ITTL show, like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (while they appear in the OTL, they have much more frequent appearances in the show ITTL), Kitty Pryde (who’s not in the OTL show and is basically replaced by Jubilee), or Emma Frost (who is a member of the Brotherhood and has a interesting, but different to OTL rivalry with Jean).

Ultimately, OTL X-Men has the advantage of being mostly consistent in terms of quality, while ITTL X-Men doesn’t, since the ITTL show suffers from a much weaker first and second season that’s pretty noticeable unless you skip the first season and first half of the second season of the ITTL show.

I think both timelines would definitely prefer the ITTL Spider-Man show though, even if people from OTL might wonder why Peter’s son Ben is older than Mayday and it not being the other way around in the final episode of the ITTL show.

Okay, so does this actually stick? And if it doesn't, do they come up with a better explanation than "an actress who is just so method that she sticks to the script even when she's genuinely dying, put in place by the Green Goblin because ... he's a crazy, evil dude who would probably do something like that"?
As of right now, no Aunt May will not be brought back, at least, not unless another guest writer wants to do so.

I think this should be footnote 11?
Opps. I think your right. Fixed.
 
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May have some ideas when we get into 2001 for Totally spies, or something for a take on the Baby-Sitter's Club Tv series. I have a lot of catching up to do for this universe, I know.
 
May have some ideas when we get into 2001 for Totally spies, or something for a take on the Baby-Sitter's Club Tv series. I have a lot of catching up to do for this universe, I know.

Turning Clover into less of a permanent butt monkey, no weird ass teleportation gag, more screen time for Mandy as a more or less permanent frenemy, and better writing?
 
Turning Clover into less of a permanent butt monkey, no weird ass teleportation gag, more screen time for Mandy as a more or less permanent frenemy, and better writing?
Great ideas. Thinking also, characters like Arnold, while still a bit minor, do get a bit more screen time.
 
A Rare Bit of Welsh Animation
Happy Birthday Siriol: Celebrating the Welsh Disney’s 30th!
Part One Of Three: Anime-chy In the UK!

Andrew Gregson, Animation Nation.com, 2013.


Throughout this week we will be discussing each decade of output that this little studio has presented to the UK, both from their own creations to the dubbing of various foreign pieces of animation. A special feature will be held on their biggest and most infamous distribution as to squeeze it in here would be doing everyone a disservice. And the way in which the little company that could has influenced one of the giant’s of anime cannot be underestimated! [1]

It begins, as with many a British story, with a child in need of comfort and a father willing to provide it. With young Richard, whom he was now stepfather too, suffering from a fear of the dark, advertising copywriter and television producer Mike Young came up with the idea of Superted to assure his new stepson that there was no need to fear the dark. Soon the stories were told to other children in the school and Young created books based upon the character. Even further than that, he and other friends went into partnership and created Siriol Productions. It means cheerful in Welsh, which suits the style of animation and story right to a tee. [2]

Superted’s success led to Mike Young and Siriol getting several contacts with studios around the world, each interested in dubbing the stories of the little bear and his secret magic word. With the slow but steady arrival of anime to shores in the West however, it was Mike who began making bids on other shows to be brought to Wales and to England. [3] He would then negotiate with American companies for the movies and episodes to be shown over there, even as filler getting a pretty penny from it all. And pretty much all of them have been dubbed here ever since, both in English and in Welsh. Siriol is credited as bringing a great deal of business to Wales, a country that might not have even been considered as an investment opportunity. There are no theme parks here, no great or grand rides to startle kids or adults, and it will be this year that the first stage shows will be put together for the entertainment of a whole new generation. And yet in it’s own strange and magical way, Siriol is the Disney of Wales. [4]

Here are just a few of the wonders, both home-grown and well-travelled, that Siriol has given to the English and Welsh speaking worlds.

Superted
This is a story about an ordinary teddy bear, but when he was made they found something wrong with him, and threw him away like a piece of rubbish into an old dark storeroom. Then, from outer space, a spotty-man brought him to life with his cosmic dust. He took him to a magic cloud where Mother Nature gave him special powers! That bear became…Superted!

I’m sorry, but humor me, the spiel is burnt into my brain and has been since I was a child. [5]

Yes, in the style of many British shows of the 80’s the normal and the fantastical clashed together to form this wonderfully strange story. Superted (Derek Griffiths) is aided by said spotty-man who is named…er, Spotty (Jon Pertwee) in stopping dastardly doings and preventing any problems coming to the children of planet Earth and in some occasions beyond. Their enemies included Texas Pete (Victor Spinetti), Bulk (Roy Kinnear) and Skeleton (Melvyn Hayes) and if you’re wondering what the punchline to a joke about a teddy-bear, an alien, a cowboy, a fat man and a very camp skeleton is, then please write in because we have been waiting for that nigh on thirty years! You can thank this series for the studio’s growth over the years.

Over the years, Superted has returned in several forms. First came the ill-fated Americanization by Hanna Barbera entitled The Further Adventures of Superted that was redubbed in the UK in 1990. [6] Then, repaying the favour, the Japanese had their own turn with the bear in a movie entitled Superted and the King of Nightmares in 1993. [7] It’s fitting really that Superted should battle such a frightening foe given his creation to assuage Young’s son of his fear of darkness, though this one gave many 90’s kids the frights. Four years later, Young would produce a four season sequel in Wales entitled Superted’s Adventures in Time which has plenty of puns and action coupled with a good starting point for any budding historians. Most recently as of the time of writing is the first homegrown film Superted’s Grand Adventure which takes the bear out into the cosmos. However a new television series has been greenlit to appear for the 30th anniversary, with Derek Griffiths stepping down and passing the role onto the younger Alfred Enoch [8]. This is the third such recasting necessary, with Pertwee’s death in 1996 resulting in celebrity impersonator Jon Culshaw taking over and Spinetti’s just last year seeing veteran voice actor Rob Rackshaw step into the cowboy’s shoes. We’ve listened to the first few episodes, and the lad has smashed it!

Dogtanian and the Muskehounds [9]
If you’ve read the original Three Musketeers, then much of this story will be obvious to you. A young man—er, dog travels to Paris to become a member of the King’s Musketeers. He meets three such men, falls in love with a young woman who serves as maid to the Queen of France and has to deal with the machinations of the Cardinal of the fair city who desires a war with England. Just replace everyone with dogs, add an annoying rat as a side-kick, maybe lighten up a little bit of the darkness in the story and add the most aggravatingly catchy theme song known to man and you’ve got this show. A Japanese-Spanish co-production, the animation is charmingly simple and the voice acting manages to make the cliched lines work. Special praise goes to Siriol regular Sean Barrett pulling triple duty as the Muskehounds and giving each character a distinct voice in the process.

The Unico Films [10]
Aired as television films from 1986 onwards, the films The Fantastic Adventures of Unico and Unico in the Island of Magic occupy that special space inside the hearts of eighties kids as both nightmare creators and tearjerkers. Osama Tezuka’s creation is a lovable little unicorn cursed by the Gods and threatened with death. He is rescued by the West Wind who carries him from situation to situation for his own safety. However, every time he must leave a potential home, he has his memory wiped for his own safety. Belaying the cutesy potential is a great deal of creepiness involving the villains and the inevitable heartbreak that comes as the unicorn forgets the friends he has made, though they do not forget what he did for them. Karen Prell plays the role here [11], cast after making one of her many trips to London with the rest of the Muppeteers, and many of the regular actors also play alongside her especially David Collings’s performance as the terrifying Lord Kuruku in the second movie. [12] If you must watch these movies, do so with handkerchiefs ready.

Around the World with Wily Fogg [13]
Another adaptation of a Japanese-Italian production, once again with talking animals taking up the place of their human counterparts. Some things are expanded upon, actual villains are added as in all Around the World adaptations and there is another annoying rodent side-kick to add comedy. Again, another very catchy theme song for everyone to remember and you have a rather good series. DVD has ruined it somewhat, people will not understand the tension of having to wait a week or so to find out what happened at the end of the last cliff-hanger! Voice acting is good across the board, particularly Robert Powell as the renamed Wily Fogg, Derek Griffiths as Passepartout and Susan Sheridan as Princess Romy.

Sherlock Hound
This show started off as a co-production between Japan and Italy. Much as Dogtanian is, this is Sherlock Holmes but with canines albeit a heavily watered-down version. Hayao Miyazaki worked on early episodes and his influence is definitely felt throughout. However, when Mike Young won the rights to air these episodes, he started discussing ideas for further episodes with the two companies. In 1986 therefore, RAI, TMS and Siriol began production on the show again. All in all, four additional seasons were produced on-top of the original, which aired in 1985 over in the UK. [14]

With many one-off characters appearing in each episode, the main actors would take up a minimum of two roles beyond their central one every time. Sean Barrett’s suave Sherlock Hound sent the burgeoning furry fandom into a swoon [15], equally so given his kind-hearted portrayal in comparison to the books, while Willie Rushton’s Nigel Bruce-esque performance as Watson was incredibly lovable. Sarah Sutton of Doctor Who fame plays Miss Marie Hudson who was the breakout character of the show. She’s far younger than the character is in the books, and is generally sweet, kind and feminine. She also is a crack shot, can fly a plane far better than anyone else can and is a crack shot with a pistol, particularly in Miyazaki episodes. One condition of the UK produced seasons was more of Miss Hudson being a badass, and they delivered impressively! [16]

And then of course, there are the villains. Derek Griffiths portrays Professor Moriarty and devours the scenery in such magnificent fashion that he becomes near-impossible to forget. [17] To complete the cast were Jimmy Hibbert and Lee Cornes, the former would play the bumbling and perpetual second banana Inspector Lestrade and the latter would play both Smiley and Todd, Moriarty’s henchmen. In the new seasons, there would be a further addition to the main cast in the form of Irene Adler. Played by Lorelei King, the cocky American was prepared as a counterpoint to Miss Hudson with whom she became the best of friends. [18] Her somewhat androgynous appearance often belayed an aggressive interest in more feminine past-times in a similar fashion to the other female character. The situation as such in Baker Street was that most fans of the show refer to Series 2 through 5 as ‘Sherlock and Marie and John and Irene’ but in the show proper there was nothing to suggest more than very close friendship between all four of them. The strong relationship between the two women was often praised as was their increased involvement in the cases.

The post-UK seasons often tended to adapt more of the original stories albeit with comedic twists and often inserting Moriarty into the plot. But the formula worked and it only ended due to a belief that the show had run it’s course. The show ended with all four members of the team still in Baker Street as happy as ever, while Moriarty and his company were heading towards the Reichenbach Falls on a steamship containing a doomsday weapon. Given their near indestructability everyone is sure that he survived this somehow. And who knows? With rumours circulating of a film coming out soon, perhaps the cackling old wolf has not yet had his curtain call….

The Little Engine that Could [19]
Aired on ITV’s Christmas in 1991 and a favourite on VHS, this little retelling the classic story is frequently ranked as a childhood must. The voice acting, done in America in one of the rare cases of joint production with that country, is excellent as are the songs (Nothing Can Stop Us Now is still burnt into our staff’s heads) and the animation does a good job of being inviting but never too cloying.

Future Boy Conan
In retrospect, Alexander Key really should have been more careful about where he said Miyazaki’s radically altered version of his novel could air. [20] Originally entitled The Incredible Tide, the anime is a smash hit in Japan but not so much to the Key estate. The UK snatched it up around 1988 and recorded it not long afterwards. It’s a pity that Roy Kinnear looks down upon his performance here, for even despite his hurried return from Toledo his take on the character of Lepka, the leader of an organization determined to track down a kind-hearted scientist’s daughter and her two new friends, is really quite something. [21] While falling into obscurity, the recent buzz has given it new life and it will be re-airing for the first time since it’s original run this year.

Under Milk Wood [22]
No student from the early 90’s can forget this 1992 rendition of Dylan Thomas’s play. Using an audio recording done by Richard Burton in the 50’s, the studio weaves together the beautiful acting of the radio stars with the striking animation. In the process they create striking and evocative renditions of the words the poet intended. The play has never come alive in such fashion and this author doubts it will again. Still used today as a tool for English and Drama classes across the Union.

And all of this is without getting into Siriol’s acquisition of that most popular Japanese franchise, bringing it to the UK and giving it a whole new lease on life. But we go into more detail on that next time. A lot of this early work speaks to Mike Young’s own personal belief that ‘soft edge and quality animation can be more appealing to children than any amount of violence’ [23] especially prevalent during the eighties. No doubt it’s the focus upon warm characters and friendship that has made this studio’s early output such a well-remembered part of childhood and beyond! [24]

[1] Originally this was meant to dive into Lupin the 3rd but that will have to wait until next time. I had more on this subject and that subject than I had intended, and I did not want to do either a disservice.

[2] This is pretty much what happened in OTL! Incidentally, while I have you here, there are other shows produced by this company that I have neglected to mention for the simple reason that there is no great secret to tell of them. They existed probably in a similar form as they did in OTL.

[3] Here’s where the timeline branches off for our Welsh friend. With the animation world getting stirred up around about the time that Superted enters it’s highest point of popularity, he gets to interact with a lot more people than he would in OTL. He won’t do as he did in OTL and go to America to set up his own company but rather continue to build up this one into a small little powerhouse as opposed to letting it get amalgamated into a bigger company later on down the line.

[4] I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to toot the horn of my home country a little. We get literally nothing, just let us have this!

[5] As it is mine. And none of that is changed from OTL, our superheroes are bloody weird and we’re proud of it!

[6] An OTL creation! Just the weirdest damn thing in my opinion, it’s like if we just nabbed Snagglepuss or Huckleberry Hound and started dubbing them in Cockney Rhyming slang.

[7] Produced by Tezuka Productions, it’s a little similar to the Unico movies but with the Superted cast. Thanks to supervision by Young, it’s going to be pretty damn close to the original series in terms of characters so most children won’t clock that it’s a different studio making it until they’re much older.

[8] Enoch is me grabbing a random star out of my ass, I just think his voice would suit the character. It’s pretty close to Griffiths without being a replica. The man he replaced also admitted that he probably can’t play a teddy bear anymore in this really fun little interview he did recently. https://nation.cymru/culture/voice-of-superted-reveals-how-he-got-drunk-in-pub-before-recordings/

[9] There’s not that much to tell with regards to this, the theme song is based off the original Spanish one so there’ll be no need to change it far from the…obnoxiously catchy one it has in OTL. If you’re curious, be warned it’ll be in your head for a bit. A lot of these are cult classics in the UK in OTL already, but having an official dub instead of it being dubbed in America will make them slightly more popular. Also a lot of these actors did children’s TV over here and Sean Barrett can still be heard in stuff like Xenoblades, this is just my way of giving them a steady pay check here.

[10] Nothing much to say here except that they probably also make their way to the Disney channel as per our timeline? But they do get a bigger audience in the West than they did otherwise. Who knows? Perhaps Unico might even find a new home in the coming years, earlier than OTL….

[11] In OTL this is just a myth caused by confusion over casting. Barbara Goodson played Red Fraggle in the short lived animated Fraggle Rock series, and she plays Unico. She’s got the voice down pat too which adds to the chaos.

[12] So PSA, I’d actually really recommend you listen to Jan Rabson’s portrayal of Lord Kuruku because not only is it absolutely phenomenal for an eighties to early nineties dub of an anime but it’s…a really good performance in and of itself? I imagine if I had seen this movie when I was younger that I would have been damn near terrified. But David Collings is going to give a damn good try at beating it, using his Charn voice from the old children’s serial Through the Dragon’s Eye. And that’s…look, this is something that’ll only make sense if you were a child in the UK of the nineties but he’s seriously freaky in that role.

[13] With the exception of the recasting, there’s nothing really to talk about here either. There are sequels to both Dogtanian and Wily Fog, both of which are wildly inferior mostly do to forcing the characters into other works of fiction. It’s possible these will get rewritten thanks to Young’s involvement but I’ve yet to decide upon it.

[14] In a similar fashion to how the DVD that sits on my shelf has instrumental versions of the Japanese opening and closings compared to the funkier American song, a similar compromise will be made here for the theme. The show will air alongside the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes and provide the younger fans that Brett’s show accrued a more accessible alternative.

[15] Taken from the Thomas and Friends spin-off show TUGS, this is basically what Hound sounds like. Skip to 1:23 for the scene in question.

[16]: You can very clearly tell when Miyazaki is in the driving seat and when he is not. His weakest episode with her still has her practically breaking the villains with kindness, whereas the strongest episode without him at the helm has her as mere pilot.

[17] This sadly means we have to butterfly away the excellent Hamilton Camp’s acting as the Professor. Never to fear though, for Griffiths is an excellent over-actor. Specifically, his take owes a lot to his OTL role in the Muzzy series, meant to teach English as a second language, as the evil vizier Corvax. In a rather casual conversation, here he is chewing up the scenery.

[18] There was a character in the first season that I could have twisted into Irene Adler but going for originality works out better.

[19] Yes, somehow this ended up exactly the same, but a little more popular. Practically sums up my writing style, eh?

[20] Truth in television here! Key received an advance copy of the first few episodes and hated what had been done to his novel. He planned to kick up a major fuss if it was brought to North America and, until last year, it wasn’t. Note that he stated America however, and that gives Young a pretty big loophole to dart through. The Key estate will try and sue, but it’ll never progress very far.

[21] You know Roy Kinnear probably as Veruca Salt’s father in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. For most of his life he was one of the hardest working character actors, including in the 1970’s Musketeer films as the comedic relief. In 1988, he was brought back for a reunion movie which had to film parts in Spain. The Toledo mentioned here is the scene of a frightful miscommunication whereupon the cobblestones that the actors were meant to be riding their horses upon were washed thoroughly before shooting. Kinnear was not a natural rider and had one fifteen-minute lesson beforehand. The horse slipped, he fell off and broke his pelvis. He suffered a heart attack in the surgery and died. Richard Lester retired practically once the film was finished, one Paul McCartney concert film not withstanding. Here, Kinnear is called back before that fateful day thanks to a combined miscommunication and ironclad contract with the studio, and no such accident occurs. Lester does not retire either, which might be worth noting.

[22] Based off an OTL film done in 1992. I highly recommend watching it, by the by. It’s an excellent recording by itself, and the animation adds well to it. Some of it’s a little off because it focuses so much on realistic (ish) humans, but a lot of it is also turned to the piece’s advantage. It’s a weird play and one that might be a little Welsh for many people.

[23] Stated originally in this interview here! https://www.animatormag.com/1984/issue-10/issue-10-page-13/

[24] Obviously I will do my Lupin III update next but I will hold off once again until the 90’s and early 2000’s come to an end. Certainly would not want to step on anyone’s toes with content though given how I have written Siriol, a few things do come to mind….
 
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Y'Allywood Studios
Your Guide to Columbia Peach Grove Studios and Adventure Park
From Theme Park Monthly, June 1999
Guest post by @Plateosaurus and a special observer
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+
CMuVkcY5m99Q4eGRTaNZ9oVpXgonvpvbSyR7XkETMz1P9lYlxtabA7V5q5DYylxpk6Z33qlKp3izztDYiZAZuMVeU52Zkauxc--JgKHGho1eil6IPSN1VIAT5ciNNEHaZSV_6vjeEQmBRC40Xw
= the logo of Adventure Park

In the Deep South, you will find a place called Columbia Peach Grove Studios and Adventure Park, a 260-acre theme park and film studio located in Atlanta, Georgia or more accurately between Stone Mountain and the suburb of Rockbridge. While it took a while for Adventure Park to find its footing it has since become an staple of sorts for tourists and cinephiles in the Peach State and a vital component of the thriving Atlanta film industry known as “Y'allywood''[1]. The park serves as a testament to Columbia CEO Ted Turner and his ambition in trying to transform the company into a top-tier entertainment conglomerate on par with the likes of Warner Bros. and Disney, which we’ll get to later.

History
The very roots of Peach Grove can be traced back to Turner becoming the CEO of his father’s advertising company at the young age of 24 and later went on to buy several Southern radio stations in the 1960s and 70s before selling them to buy a struggling TV station known as Channel 17 WJRJ. Under Turner’s management, WJRJ was renamed WTCG and began airing popular programs such as Gilligan’s Island and Star Trek: The Original Series as well as NBA Atlanta Hawks and MLB Atlanta Braves games. By 1976, WTCG was thriving with 2 million subscribers and made Ted Turner a millionaire, he branded WTCG not as a mere television station but a “Super-Station” that aired all kinds of content from old movies to cartoons and sports games on cable TV, he also began to branch out into the world of American sports when he bought a stake in the Braves and later the Hawks the next year. In 1978, Turner purchased the rights to the WTBS call sign from MIT’s Technology Broadcast System for the meager price of $50,000 and used WTBS for the new nationwide super-station airing in almost every American household, WTBS was renamed TBS (short for Turner Broadcasting System) and Turner became a big name in American entertainment. Buoyed by the success of TBS, Turner launched the Cable News Network, otherwise known as CNN, at the dawn of the 80s. With a sterling reputation in entertainment, Ted set his eyes on buying his way into Hollywood and eventually got his wish when he purchased CBS in 1985 with the assistance of the Associated Communications Corporation (ACC). Later, Turner’s CBS and Turner Entertainment would merge with Columbia to form Columbia Entertainment, forming one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. With a film studio and two big networks, the sky was the limit when it came to expanding Columbia/CBS and when Warner Bros announced a major expansion of Six Flags Over Georgia with the addition of a Warner Brothers Movie World, Turner knew that it was the time to strike while the iron was hot and two weeks after Warner’s announcement he would unveil plans for a new theme park located near Stone Mountain that would serve as Columbia’s answer to the nascent Warner Brothers Movie World Georgia. Construction on what would become known as Columbia Peach Grove Studios and Adventure Park began in 1990 and lasted for two years before its grand opening to the public. As mentioned earlier, the park initially struggled because of a lack of good rides or IPs, but thanks to good attendance from studio tours and visitors from the nearby Warner Movie World Georgia, it was a financial success for Columbia and Turner. Peach Grove nowadays is quickly becoming an Atlanta landmark, heavily promoted by the state of Georgia as a theme park paradise.

Lands and Rides to Know
Peach Grove is divided into seven different lands or “zones” each themed after the history of Georgia and America respectively or IPs owned by Columbia. As with any good amusement park, it has rides and lands worth checking out if you intend to visit the park someday.
  • Americana Avenue - Patterned after Disney’s Main Street USA, Americana Avenue is an idyllic representation of a 1950s Georgia small town complete with a railroad service known as Crossroads U.S.A. which takes visitors to different sections of the park, diners playing classic tunes with beautiful waitresses serving delicious dishes, stores that sell vintage or vintage-style goods, a movie theatre playing various Columbia flicks and CBS shows, a museum dedicated to Georgian and American history, an exhibit on the life of Ted Turner and 50s-themed bumper car ride Traffic Jammers. It’s also the first area of Peach Grove you’ll visit when you arrive there and has existed since the park opened its doors to the public. Simply put, going to Americana Avenue is a must for aficionados of 50s Americana and history buffs[2].
  • Action Land - Like Americana Avenue, this area has existed since the early days of the park and was built for enthusiasts of science fiction and action-adventure works hence its name Action Land. The most famous attraction of Action Land is Ride with the Rocketeer, a partial indoor ride based on the 1991 film of the same name, with Bill Paxton reprising his role as the titular character. Aside from Ride with the Rocketeer, you’ve got 007: The James Bond Experience, a recently opened Jumanji-themed attraction built as a tie-in to the 1995 Tom Hanks film from Amblin Entertainment[3], Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and a racetrack for families. In fact, most of Action Land's attractions tend to be dark rides with SFX, fully-written plots and CGI but if that's not your taste don't worry you can still get some grub at the biker-themed The Joint with a special gift provided for visitors, go to Retro Arcade to play 80s inspired games based on Columbia’s action franchises or check out the adjacent Stone Mountain Battlefield which has reenactments of famous historical battles be it the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, the World Wars or any conflict in general.
  • Hanna-Barbera’s Cartoon City - Cartoon City is a favorite amongst families and Hanna-Barbera fans with its exciting rides and iconic characters making it the most attended area by Columbia Peach Grove visitors. Ostensibly themed after the eponymous channel of the same name, the area has attractions and restaurants themed after Hanna-Barbera characters Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo and Yogi Bear. The penultimate attraction for visitors in Cartoon City is an exhibit centered around the history of Hanna-Barbera modeled off a similar exhibit in Disneyland Valencia complete with a narrated history of the studio and original cel animation stills. Cartoon City can also be compared to the Looney Tunes Land of Warner Movie World parks as both zones are dedicated to beloved characters from American cartoons.

    In short, there’s a lot to enjoy in Cartoon City with your kids and any relatives visiting Peach Grove who just so happen to love Hanna-Barbera.
  • Boot Hill - The Old West-themed area of Peach Grove with the familiar hues of the orange-tinted, dusty Southwest contains the titular mining settlement modeled after the boomtowns of the mid to late 19th century and John Ford films of the 1920s-60s. The zone derives its name from numerous Western cemeteries and there is one that can be visited by guests, even take a few photos if they’re in the mood to do so. Many consider Boot Hill to be the Peach Grove equivalent to Disney’s Frontierland because of the similar themes in the same vein as Americana Avenue and Main Street USA. Aside from the comparisons, the main attractions and shops of Boot Hill are the mountain mine train rollercoaster Gold Rusher (not too dissimilar to Thunder Mountain), the flume ride Silver Streak, a Wild West stunt show, Boot Hill Ranch (where you can ride actual horses and pet animals), the Old West Gift Shop (with actual gold among the souvenirs), restaurants serving Texas (including Tex-Mex) cuisine and an exhibit explaining the fictional history of Boot Hill. Additionally, Boot Hill has costumed characters from Unforgiven and Dances with Wolves, though in the latter’s case it took until The Postman for the film’s star Kevin Costner to allow characters to appear in Peach Grove.

    Compared to the other areas, Boot Hill is a fun but not exactly remarkable area of Peach Grove but you can visit the place if you want to.
  • Old South - Perhaps the most beautiful or contentious area of Peach Grove depending on who you ask, Old South, as its name suggests, is a representation of the antebellum and Civil War-era South as reflected in the area’s architecture being drawn from both periods of Georgia’s history as well as the Colonial and Revolutionary eras. The main and primary attraction of the Old South is the wooden rollercoaster Ol’ Geezer followed by a steel coaster based off the hit TV series Dukes of Hazzard, the General Lee Rally, and the boat ride Billy Joe's Steamboat Service. Aside from the rides, Old South has a replica of a Southern slave plantation, a storytelling theatre in which people would share stories before and after the Civil War in Georgia, an antique shop, and a restaurant serving Southern cuisine complete with a band using traditional instruments.

    On a contentious note, you can buy Confederate flags and souvenirs in the Old South which has stirred a minor debate over whether it should be kept as is for historical reasons or removed since some see Confederate iconography as symbols of hate and want the Old South section to be rebranded to New South to reflect a new vision of Georgia and not the past. Controversy aside, what do think of the Old South? There are some parts we like, even if we don’t necessarily love other things about it.
  • Peach Grove Studios - The crown jewel of the entire park and the one half of its name, Peach Grove Studios is, much like Universal Studios Hollywood, where a good chunk of Columbia’s movies and TV shows are filmed specifically at its sound stages and sets. Besides its purpose as one big set, visitors can go on the Peach Grove Backlot Tour to see recreated sets of popular Columbia films over the years from Lawrence of Arabia, Taxi Driver, Unforgiven, Forrest Gump, and Gettysburg. If you’re a fan of Columbia or movies in general, you will enjoy riding the Backlot Tour.
  • Neptune Bay - And finally, we get to the first land to open after launch day. Neptune Bay is themed as a seaside town that mixes both Georgia's and Caribbean ports to create a picturesque, tropical setting. Visitors can brave the wrath of the giant sea monster Poseidon and her babies in the motion simulator attraction Gorgons: Monster Encounter[5], or join pirates in Black John Roberts’ Treasure Hunt. Furthermore, Neptune Bay is located not too far from the Columbia Peach Grove Wet Adventure Water Park which is no surprise since both places have heavy overlap in their nautical themes. Additionally, the zone has plenty of seafood restaurants and nautical gift shops for curious visitors to chow down or buy a nice little souvenir. Visitors of Peach Grove Wet Adventure Park will also enjoy Neptune Bay though with way less splishing and splashing.
Columbia Peach Grove Wet Adventure Water Park
The newest section of the park Columbia Peach Grove Wet Adventure Water Park is exactly what its name suggests, a water park where you can get wet and have a fun time. The park was announced in 1995 along with Neptune Bay and other projects as part of an ambitious effort by Columbia to expand Peach Grove's offerings to newcomers and broke ground in 1996 with construction lasting for three years.

You may be asking us what we think of Peach Grove Wet Adventure Water Park, especially when comparing it to Six Flags Over Georgia and Warner Movie World Georgia's Hurricane Harbor? Aside from the fact that the park has the usual slides and other amenities of your typical water park, we can't say whether it's worth your time or not since we haven't tried it out yet but if you're curious enough, go for it.

Special Events
Every theme park has its big events for special occasions and Peach Grove is no different with its events held annually since 1993. This is a list of Special Events held at the park if you wish to visit the place on these days.
  • New Year’s Peach (January 1st): A celebration in which a recreation of the New Year’s Ball is dropped in Peach Grove by midnight. The park’s opening hours are much longer than normal running times.
  • Peach Grove Grad Bash (Spring to Summer): For high school graduates from the Atlanta area, you’re in for a real treat when you get to experience the wonders of Peach Grove from American Crossroads to song and dance at Cartoon City and the Old South.
  • Fourth of July Peach Grove Special (July 4th): A truly patriotic celebration of America’s independence complete with a marching band in red, white and blue. You can buy plenty of Americana on this day, especially on Americana Avenue.
  • Peach Grove TERRORific Halloween Special (September 18th-October 31st): Visitors beware, the Peach Grove you’re stepping in is not quite the one you remember. The park is haunted by ghouls, vampires, werewolves, zombies, mundane psychos and other horror monsters roaming the park waiting to scare the bejeezus out of you. And if that’s not enough for you, wait until you get to the Scarezones and Haunted Houses, found in every zone at Peach Grove and done in the vein of Universal’s Fright Nights (except Cartoon City which is much sillier than the others)[4].
  • A Very Peach Grove Christmas (November 17th-January 2nd): A truly joyous and merry celebration where families can hang out with Santa Claus and his good ol’ Workshop at Peach Grove with every zone and the Wet Adventure Park covered in (artificial) snow and Christmas decorations and classic holiday tunes blaring from the loudspeakers.

Places To Stay At
You can bet that Peach Grove will have the appropriate hotels and motels for out-of-state tourists visiting the park. The hotels are operated by Columbia and cost hundreds of dollars to stay in and they’re worth the price since these hotels are rated four to five stars by consumers in terms of overall quality and service, with the biggest being the Gilded Age-themed Xanadu Resort. For those that wish to be closer to the park and spend a few days there, hotels and motels are a must.

How to Get to Peach Grove
For visitors from the Metro Atlanta Area that want to get to the Columbia Peach Grove Studios and Adventure Park, an hour-long drive will do especially if you live in one of the suburbs close to Stone Mountain or Rockbridge. Anyone from other corners of the United States or overseas will have to take a plane flight to get to Atlanta and book a stay at a non-Columbia run hotel before you can start planning your trip to the park and having the time of your life.
Summary
With what has been said about Peach Grove, is it a park worth your time? Short answer: Yes. With its unique and diverse settings topped with a Southern charm, Columbia Peach Grove Studios and Adventure Park along with Six Flags Over Georgia and Warner Brothers Movie World Georgia are a great addition to your Atlanta vacation.


[1] Since Columbia and Warner have big theme parks in the Atlanta area, some of their future movies and TV shows will be filmed in those places.
[2] Turner wants to promote patriotic, inspiring entertainment so a place based on the Georgia he grew up with would naturally be the first place for visitors in Peach Grove.
[3] That one line references the Jumanji theme park tie-in mentioned by Columbia executive Dawn Steel in a previous post but to reveal anything else about the film (other than the different cast in TTL) would be a spoiler.
[4] In OTL, Fright Nights was the event at Universal Studios Florida that eventually became known as Halloween Horror Nights. ITTL, Universal’s Halloween events will keep that name thanks to ten years worth of butterflies.
[5] And just what is Gorgons? Stay tuned for more.
 
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I love it! Great stuff and absolutely on the mark (unless @Denliner has any suggestions).

Two minor requests:

From Theme Park Monthly, June 2012
Can you make this from the mid-to-late 1990s? Because there is a REALLY BIG FUCKING THING coming to the park in the early 2000s that would definitely get mentioned here in a 2012 article. Also having the CSA stuff still flying without ironic comment or protests and boycotts in 2012 would be pushing things a bit, but in the late 1990s is totally realistic (a future post can address these changes).

Just edit the above article, don't double-post.

Willy’s Steamboat Service.
LOL, I'm pretty sure that they'd get a nasty letter from Disney for the name. You can mention it being originally called "Willy's" only to have to change the name to something else.

1652537757815.jpeg
 
I love it! Great stuff and absolutely on the mark (unless @Denliner has any suggestions).

Two minor requests:


Can you make this from the mid-to-late 1990s? Because there is a REALLY BIG FUCKING THING coming to the park in the early 2000s that would definitely get mentioned here in a 2012 article. Also having the CSA stuff still flying without ironic comment or protests and boycotts in 2012 would be pushing things a bit, but in the late 1990s is totally realistic (a future post can address these changes).

Just edit the above article, don't double-post.


LOL, I'm pretty sure that they'd get a nasty letter from Disney for the name. You can mention it being originally called "Willy's" only to have to change the name to something else.

View attachment 741580
Fixed all them.
 
Places To Stay At
You can bet that Peach Grove will have the appropriate hotels and motels for out-of-state tourists visiting the park. The hotels are operated by Columbia and cost hundreds of dollars to stay in and they’re worth the price since these hotels are rated four to five stars by consumers in terms of overall quality and service. For those that wish to be closer to the park and spend a few days there, hotels and motels are a must.
No themed Resort Hotels?

Missed opportunity Mr. Turner
 
I'm thinking of doing something about Tim Burton/Skeleton crew acquiring the film rights for scary stories to tell in the dark. It seems like something Burton would be into and maybe they can do right by it unlike OTL's disaster does that sound good? he could even make it in memorial of Alvin Schwartz who passed in 1992.
Sorry, but that was already taken twicefold by today's post on When You Wish Upon A Frog. Not only did Tim Burton do a Goosebumps series, but Saban and ABC did a series based on Scary Stories.
 
Confederate flags? Better roll out an Underground Railroad attraction before Old South gets torn down altogether.
Only after receiving significant pressure from the NAACP, which hasn't happened. Yet.

I think Ted Turner would've done a Gone With the Wind attraction had Disney not bought up the theme park rights to old MGM films. Kinda ironic that Jim Henson has control over that film instead of Ted Turner. Imagine the excitement and outcry of such an attraction if it were to be released if Ted still kept all of MGM.
 
Fuck that was my only idea ok um how about this. CHARLIE DAY CHILD ACTOR. Or really just young actor he was already about 17 at this point ITTL
 
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16 December 1994
The kind folks over at Skellington productions have acquired the rights to the novel toots and the upside down house and have announced that a film is in development with Miramax slated to be the film’s distribution company Henry Sellick set to direct the animation style set to be stop motion and a release date of 15 September 1998
 
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