Amazing, to @Geekhis Khan , I hope we will get to the MGM-produced TV show oversaw by Bernie Brillstein, NewsRadio.
When you Wish Upon a Frog (Book II of the Jim Henson at Disney saga)
- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
- Start date
- Status
So then what is Alien in the Family, Bamboo Princess and Brave Little Toaster? This Canon is far too big for Disney’s production capacity. Seems implausible in ways
Actually, It's not implausible at all. TTL's Disney has enough animators and teams to pull this off and IOTL's Renasaunce they were churning out almost the same amount of projects.
Oh crap, both Alien in the Family and Bamboo Princess are also in the canon too, though The Brave Little Toaster is not likely to be included since it's a Disney 3D production (ITTL Pixar).
As for Disney's production capacity, is it really that implausible if Disney has the capital to expand like crazy ITTL (thanks to an earlier Renaissance)? Not to mention Disney has help from other studios like Studio Ghibli from time to time while alternate technological advancements like the CHERNOBOG/MINIBOG could speed up the production of animation faster than OTL.
When you Wish Upon a Frog (Book II of the Jim Henson at Disney saga)
Just caught up with this TL and what a ride it's been so far! I find it fascinating that Yugoslavia hasn't fallen so far TTL. That'll keep the number of participants lower in Eurovision and the European Championships at least. I am definitely watching this with interest :) Wonder how that...
www.alternatehistory.com
Wow, and thanks, all, for the kind words. Whenever I touch a major classic I'm playing with fire and I generally have nowhere to go but down. The disappointment in Indy 3 and Shrek were wholly expected and I'm kind of surprised to get this much love for Alt-TLK, but I'll take it. I guess when you're using one of the Great Epics of Human History it's mostly about not screwing it up. Glad that I didn't!
EDIT: for "Jami Jami", imagine "Hakuna Matata" from OTL, only it's got a reggae beat and Bobby McFerrin is singing his "acapella quintet of one" (background meerkats) in duet (sextet?) with Wayne Brady doing his best Louis Armstrong and occasional side vocal (background other animals). Plenty of side comments as well.
As to how they do it all, well, it's honestly less than Disney was producing iOTL overall at this point where Eisner wanted "a release every weekend". Having animation studios in both Anaheim and Orlando helps, and "Pixar" being a part of Disney, as does some limited outsourcing and partnerships (Amblimation). I have a post that goes into the process and how it works. Also, OTL DIsney Animation had a good deal of downtime between features. More on this in an upcoming post.
Well, he kept the Watchmen rights, so better there, at least. If someone wants to do a deep dive on Moore go for it.
If you like them as Baboons, wait until you see them as the Many Serpents of the Kenebeek, children of Djodi'kwado the Horned Serpent, the eyes and ears of the evil sorcerer Tadodaho, bringer of plagues.
Well, the OTL song is gone (sorry! The Butterflies hath spoken) but "Jami Jami" is the TTL equivalent and does have Hakuna Matata as a major part of it.
EDIT: for "Jami Jami", imagine "Hakuna Matata" from OTL, only it's got a reggae beat and Bobby McFerrin is singing his "acapella quintet of one" (background meerkats) in duet (sextet?) with Wayne Brady doing his best Louis Armstrong and occasional side vocal (background other animals). Plenty of side comments as well.
Stay tuned on (not yet) Sir Elton and Disney.
To be clear, it was a passing temptation that I quickly dismissed. That said, I throw in these "what wasn't" things so that whenever you catch yourselves rolling your eyes at some bad pun or reference (e.g. Houtha) you can take a moment to remember that it could have been worse.
Yep. I hide a lot of important hints and future things in passing lines. Sometimes you all catch them, sometimes not!
Yes, I'm not a monster, only it's Ladysmith Black Mambazo giving the iconic opening soundscape rather than a passing line by Lebo M.
Basically like a cross between that and the Simba talks to Cloud Mufasa scene in OTL.
White is essentially a character actor iTTL. He was in Cadets, and also played (if you recall) a, well, Cadet in Red Tails who almost gets lynched for briefly talking to a white woman.
I imagine that he's got a following and plenty of Draco in Leather Pants musings, particularly with Will Smith as the voice.
As TFOA mentioned, Kimba was syndicated on The Disney Channel, so it's already a familiar title, which is part of the motivation for the collab-turned-inspiration credit iTTL.
Since it's dubbed by Japanese actors, and the Japanese already have a love for anthropomorphic lions (Kimba) it's much like OTL seen as a good film and nice "shout out" to Japanese culture.
That would be a good name for a band, The Rasta Meerkats. They play anything but Reggae.
North will come up.
Stay tuned!
Well, iTTL the idea of a "Canon" is a little looser and less dogmatic than OTL since there are all of these collaborations and WED-Sig and the like and no Straight to Home Video Sequels to be specifically excluded. But yes, Toaster's canonicity is suspect, as is Maus, Cats and arguably Shrek, though Princess Argyle does make the Disney Princess line.
As to how they do it all, well, it's honestly less than Disney was producing iOTL overall at this point where Eisner wanted "a release every weekend". Having animation studios in both Anaheim and Orlando helps, and "Pixar" being a part of Disney, as does some limited outsourcing and partnerships (Amblimation). I have a post that goes into the process and how it works. Also, OTL DIsney Animation had a good deal of downtime between features. More on this in an upcoming post.
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And if he still leaves DC, it's probably on more amicable terms.
Oh really? Thank God!
I don't know how DC Comics will evolve in this Timeline but the less chances they have to run popular franchises into the ground through overexposure the better, I don't need Dr. Manhattan's blue wiener to be dragged all over the DC Universe for a cheap buck.
Can't wait, maybe it's going to be a simple soundtrack or maybe he gets his own animated musical like with Cats?
Like an earlier Rocketman, but animated and sadly without Taron Egerton.
I'm glad he could get out of the Cadet Typecast, maybe next time he can play an Ensign or a Lieutenant Junior Grade!
Honestly it could be a great movie if the right people are involved. The OTL film suffers from having both boring direction and a way to adult oriented script (see the infamous Fertility of Hawaii scene) that doesn't fit the more fantastical story.
Like it has a story right out of a Ronald Dahl book, but is shot and directed like a drama movie.
Can't wait to see that!
This sounds truly epic.
Oops. I guess if even Henson's Disney always got this stuff right, it wouldn't be realistic. At least they're trying.
I mean, any epic is going to have heroes and villains, and one people's heroes can be another people's villains; look at Iran's reaction to 300 for example, or at the reaction of most foreign anime connoisseurs to the likes of GATE...
I think the big reason was that no-one had any preconceived expectations - or, if they were, they had high expectations. For instance, I think a lot of people were expecting a Shrek that was just a gigantic Disney piss-take - by Disney themselves - like The Emperor's New Groove.
I was personally expecting something roughly similar to the OTL film, with a slightly more nuanced take on the hyenas and maybe a few more characters... not this grandiose, mystical epic. With Rasta Meerkats.
(If I had to suggest one change, I'd have kept Shenzi as a female - because it was a nice "shown-their-work" touch in the OTL film to have the leader of the hyenas be female - but that's just me).
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We'll @Geekhis Khan , Bernie Brillstein is really amazing, but I wish all the shows BGE produced OTL (The Jeff Foxworthy Show, The Naked Truth, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me!, C-16, Alright Already) would be in MGM's hands.
I think the more "tamed" Shrek is one of the more disappointing aspects of this TL. Like, I understand /why/ it's the way it is... but, man, I won't lie when I say that TTL's Shrek is really mediocre? Especially in terms of story and characters.
The King Once More
Chapter 18: Chairman of the Board (Cont’d)
Excerpt from Jim Henson: Storyteller, an authorized biography by Jay O’Brian
If 1993 had been a constant success for Jim as Acting Chairman, then 1994 had been tumultuous, but an eventual triumph. The year had started with a literal earthquake[1], a large one centered up near Santa Clarita that had damaged highways and caused a lot of local damage, though the quake had only cost Jim some plates and knickknacks shaken from the shelves down where he still lived in Laguna. The summer and fall had then brought a figurative quake to match the literal one. As the year went on, he’d faced renewed questions about his creative leadership after the underperformances of The Brave Little Toaster and Treasure Planet, not to mention the slight underperformance of The Incredible Hulk after much anticipation. He was struggling to sell the board on the LA Rams deal that his friend Ron Miller was pushing as CEO. And as a byproduct of that proposed deal, Ron and Roy were starting to look askance at each other again.
But as the numbers for The Lion King just kept going up and up, any feelings on the board that Jim had lost his creative spark were long gone, even as Jim deflected credit to Roy Disney and Glen Keane and Tom Wilhite and Bernie Brillstein and the many producers and creative artists under them. Even the disappointments of Brave Little Toaster and Treasure Planet that had vexed the board that summer were soon forgotten as The Lion King surpassed $400 million, then $500 million, ultimately reaching an incredible $914 million, a record not just for animated films, but for any film ever! Roy and Jim’s once-maligned belief in the potential of feature animation was not just validated, it was looking like a stroke of the genius.
Excited by the success, Jim greenlit full production on the next tentpole feature animation to follow 1995’s Hiawatha: an animated alternate take on the classic story of Perseus and Medusa simply called Medusa, set for the Holiday 1996 season[2]. The feature would be a deconstructive, third-wave feminist take on the original story told largely from Medusa’s perspective. It would also be a love story. Roy was hesitant, suggesting that the other considerations for a “Greek” story, such as The Odyssey or Hercules, be chosen, but Jim knew in his heart that Medusa was the story to tell. And with The Lion King pushing close to $1 billion, Roy quickly relented.
1993-1994 had also been record-breaking years at the resorts as the recession faded into a new bull market and the new resorts opened to the public. Disneyland Valencia was finally reaching the expected attendance numbers. Hollywoodland had exceeded expectations, ironically working in synergy with the competing parks in Orlando and Atlanta on a growing “studio tour circuit”. The Disneytowns were, save for the ever-struggling St. Louis, performing well. And Port Disney Phase II had performed well, pulling the Port Disney facility well into the black from a yearly revenues-vs.-costs standpoint (though it would take time to fully recoup the billions of dollars in construction costs, of course). Already talks were continuing with Dick Nunis and his acting successor at Resorts & Recreation Judson Green on the “next” phase of expansion, with Sydney, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Hamilton, Ontario all in various phases of development.
And yet despite the successes and the soaring stock price and market cap, dissent continued on the board, specifically opposition by the Roy side of the Disney family for Ron Miller’s plans to grab a 35% stake in the struggling LA Rams NFL franchise. Stanley Gold, Roy E. Disney’s financial manager, served as the principal mouthpiece for what were believed to be Roy’s opinions, though Ron and his wife Diane, who never trusted Stanley, suspected that Stanley was “putting ideas” into his head. According to Stanley, the Rams were a step too far down a strategic sidebar. The Anaheim Avengers were a new franchise. The Anaheim Angels, also under investment consideration and likely to get approved, were a successful team, and one with an existing connection to Walt Disney himself. But the Rams, arguably the worst team in the NFL, were, Stanley maintained, something else entirely. Stanley saw the entire thing as Ron letting his nostalgia for his old team (Ron had played with the Rams in the 1950s) blind him to what Stanley saw as the team’s fan-hated owner, Georgia Frontiere, taking advantage of him. “It’s a bad deal,” he said, succinctly.
Jim found himself increasingly occupied with trying to play peacemaker between the Disney factions, with a growing fear he shared with Stan Kinsey that the entire mess would reopen festering wounds between the two sides. “It’s like trying to get your kids to agree on a movie,” he told Stan.
Things came to a head in March of 1995 when Miller, in one of his last acts as CEO before retirement, announced the proposed deal with Frontiere to the board: Disney would support construction of a new stadium in Anaheim (projected costs in the $250-$300 million range) and would find another stadium for the Rams to play in while it was under construction, and an agreement to use Disney’s marketing team to drum up attendance. In return Disney would get a 35% share of the team, the rights to use the name and trademarks of the Rams in merchandise, the right of first refusal on the acquisition of additional shares, and a seat on the board of directors for the LA Rams. Miller argued that with the Raiders’ recent return to Oakland that they’d have a local monopoly. He further pointed out the surprising success of the Avengers and noted how profitable Avengers merchandise had been.
“This is a golden opportunity to not just rebuild the team from the ground up and return them to their original glory,” he argued, “but a chance to make Anaheim the premier sports venue in Southern California, with Disney at the center of the action.”
The ensuing debates raged on through April, with Frank Wells calling his old friend Stanley to advocate for supporting the deal. But soon Frank was off to Nepal to climb Everest and Stanley, serving as Roy Disney’s advocate on the board (much to the chagrin of the Millers), continued to advocate against the deal.
Sports wasn’t the only area where Roy expressed his displeasure. Earlier that year, with films that featured princesses all doing spectacularly at the box office (Aladdin, The Bamboo Princess, and The Little Mermaid) and those that didn’t underperforming (The Brave Little Toaster and Treasure Planet) – and with respective high or low merchandise sales to match – Stan Kinsey and Consumer Products VP Bo Boyd came to Jim with a proposal: more “Princess films”. Princesses from all over the world. Knowing Jim well, Kinsey pitched it to Jim as “a chance for little girls the world over, regardless of their origins, to see themselves as a Princess.”
Roy was more reticent, feeling that it was a “prescribed” strategy and inherently lacking in creativity, a view that many of the animators shared. But Jim, his ears no doubt still ringing with the complaints of directors and shareholders over the embarrassing performance of The Brave Little Toaster in particular, which he’d hyped to them as “the future of animation”, agreed to greenlight some of the films and see how they went, figuring that they could balance them against the riskier “passion projects” favored by the creative artists, once again going back to the “one for the money, one for the art” approach that he’d used to get The Dark Crystal greenlit nearly 15 years prior. Boyd was particularly interested in a “Chinese Princess”, given the growing market in the People’s Republic with the so-called Lotus Opening policy, but markets for a Latin American princess and even an African or African American princess seemed promising.
It increasingly seemed to Jim that a balance had to be maintained, between the needs of the shareholders and the needs of the artists, and between the financial goals of the board and his own lofty goals for world peace and understanding. Thus, expanding the “princess line” appealed to both his love for supporting diversity and representation and the fiscal possibilities of the line itself. He’d been subtly impressed with how different little girls were identifying with different princesses for different reasons. A girly-girl could play with Cinderella or Kaiguya Hime while a tomboy played with Eilonwy or Abbi, the material girl could play with Jasmine, and the non-conformist could play with Argyle. The promise of the Princesses to bring different people from different backgrounds and with different personalities together appealed to him on a visceral level.
“Jim, don’t make Disney Princesses into a ‘product’,” Roy warned.
“We’re not,” Jim retorted with a smile. “We’re simply inviting more little girls to play at the party.”
The Board of Directors for the Walt Disney Entertainment Company, January 1995:
Ronald “Ron” Miller, CEO
James M. “Jim” Henson, Acting Chairman and CCO
Richard “Dick” Nunis, Acting President
Stanley Kinsey, COO
Roy E. Disney, Vice Chairman, Acting Chairman, President, Walt Disney Studios
Al Gottesman (President, Henson Arts Holdings)
Dianne Disney Miller (Partner, Retlaw Enterprises)
Peter Dailey (former US ambassador to Ireland and Roy Disney’s brother-in-law)
Charles Cobb (CEO of Arvida Corp.; representing the interests of Bass Brothers)
Alfred Attilio “Al” Checchi (representing Marriott International)
Advisory Board Members (non-voting, ad-hoc attendance):
E. Cardon “Card” Walker, Chairman Emeritus
Sid Bass (CEO of Bass Brothers Enterprises)
Steven Spielberg (Partner, Amblin Entertainment)
John Sculley (CEO & President of Apple Computer, Inc.)
George Lucas (CEO of Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
J. Willard “Bill” Marriott, Jr. (CEO of Marriott International)
Ray Watson, Chairman Emeritus (former head of the Irvine Company)
Caroline Ahmanson (head and founder of Caroline Leonetti Ltd.)
Philip Hawley (Carter Hawley Hale)
Samuel Williamson (senior partner, Hufstedler, Miller, Carson, & Beardsley)
Stan Lee (Chairman of Marvel Entertainment)
The Disney Executive Committee:
Frank Wells, CEO
James M. “Jim” Henson, Chairman and CCO
Richard “Dick” Nunis, President
Thomas “Tom” Wilhite, President, MGM Studios
John Hench, President, Walt Disney Imagineering Workshop
Roy E. Disney, President, Walt Disney Studios
Stocks at a Glance: Walt Disney Entertainment (DIS)
January 12th, 1995
Stock price: $87.94
Major Shareholders: Henson family (20.7%), Roy E. Disney (13.4%), Disney-Miller family (13.2%), Sid Bass (9.6%), Bill Marriott (6.3%), Amblin Entertainment (1.3%), Apple Comp. (0.7%), Lucasfilm Ltd. (0.5%), Suspected “Knights Errant” (5.3%), Other (29%)
Outstanding shares: 451.2 million
3-Year Financial Data, Walt Disney Entertainment (DIS)
* Includes Park Expansions and Disney Cruise Lines
Pictures Released by Walt Disney Studios, 1993-1994
[1] Hat tip to @Plateosaurus for reminding me about the Northridge earthquake of 1994.
[2] Future guest post by @Plateosaurus, @Sunflare2k5, @Nathanoraptor, @Caellach Tiger Eye, @HonestAbe1809, @Migrant_Coconut, and @nick_crenshaw82. Get Stoned this Holiday Season! Ok, maybe it needs a different hook.
Excerpt from Jim Henson: Storyteller, an authorized biography by Jay O’Brian
If 1993 had been a constant success for Jim as Acting Chairman, then 1994 had been tumultuous, but an eventual triumph. The year had started with a literal earthquake[1], a large one centered up near Santa Clarita that had damaged highways and caused a lot of local damage, though the quake had only cost Jim some plates and knickknacks shaken from the shelves down where he still lived in Laguna. The summer and fall had then brought a figurative quake to match the literal one. As the year went on, he’d faced renewed questions about his creative leadership after the underperformances of The Brave Little Toaster and Treasure Planet, not to mention the slight underperformance of The Incredible Hulk after much anticipation. He was struggling to sell the board on the LA Rams deal that his friend Ron Miller was pushing as CEO. And as a byproduct of that proposed deal, Ron and Roy were starting to look askance at each other again.
But as the numbers for The Lion King just kept going up and up, any feelings on the board that Jim had lost his creative spark were long gone, even as Jim deflected credit to Roy Disney and Glen Keane and Tom Wilhite and Bernie Brillstein and the many producers and creative artists under them. Even the disappointments of Brave Little Toaster and Treasure Planet that had vexed the board that summer were soon forgotten as The Lion King surpassed $400 million, then $500 million, ultimately reaching an incredible $914 million, a record not just for animated films, but for any film ever! Roy and Jim’s once-maligned belief in the potential of feature animation was not just validated, it was looking like a stroke of the genius.
Excited by the success, Jim greenlit full production on the next tentpole feature animation to follow 1995’s Hiawatha: an animated alternate take on the classic story of Perseus and Medusa simply called Medusa, set for the Holiday 1996 season[2]. The feature would be a deconstructive, third-wave feminist take on the original story told largely from Medusa’s perspective. It would also be a love story. Roy was hesitant, suggesting that the other considerations for a “Greek” story, such as The Odyssey or Hercules, be chosen, but Jim knew in his heart that Medusa was the story to tell. And with The Lion King pushing close to $1 billion, Roy quickly relented.
1993-1994 had also been record-breaking years at the resorts as the recession faded into a new bull market and the new resorts opened to the public. Disneyland Valencia was finally reaching the expected attendance numbers. Hollywoodland had exceeded expectations, ironically working in synergy with the competing parks in Orlando and Atlanta on a growing “studio tour circuit”. The Disneytowns were, save for the ever-struggling St. Louis, performing well. And Port Disney Phase II had performed well, pulling the Port Disney facility well into the black from a yearly revenues-vs.-costs standpoint (though it would take time to fully recoup the billions of dollars in construction costs, of course). Already talks were continuing with Dick Nunis and his acting successor at Resorts & Recreation Judson Green on the “next” phase of expansion, with Sydney, Hong Kong, Berlin, and Hamilton, Ontario all in various phases of development.
And yet despite the successes and the soaring stock price and market cap, dissent continued on the board, specifically opposition by the Roy side of the Disney family for Ron Miller’s plans to grab a 35% stake in the struggling LA Rams NFL franchise. Stanley Gold, Roy E. Disney’s financial manager, served as the principal mouthpiece for what were believed to be Roy’s opinions, though Ron and his wife Diane, who never trusted Stanley, suspected that Stanley was “putting ideas” into his head. According to Stanley, the Rams were a step too far down a strategic sidebar. The Anaheim Avengers were a new franchise. The Anaheim Angels, also under investment consideration and likely to get approved, were a successful team, and one with an existing connection to Walt Disney himself. But the Rams, arguably the worst team in the NFL, were, Stanley maintained, something else entirely. Stanley saw the entire thing as Ron letting his nostalgia for his old team (Ron had played with the Rams in the 1950s) blind him to what Stanley saw as the team’s fan-hated owner, Georgia Frontiere, taking advantage of him. “It’s a bad deal,” he said, succinctly.
Jim found himself increasingly occupied with trying to play peacemaker between the Disney factions, with a growing fear he shared with Stan Kinsey that the entire mess would reopen festering wounds between the two sides. “It’s like trying to get your kids to agree on a movie,” he told Stan.
Things came to a head in March of 1995 when Miller, in one of his last acts as CEO before retirement, announced the proposed deal with Frontiere to the board: Disney would support construction of a new stadium in Anaheim (projected costs in the $250-$300 million range) and would find another stadium for the Rams to play in while it was under construction, and an agreement to use Disney’s marketing team to drum up attendance. In return Disney would get a 35% share of the team, the rights to use the name and trademarks of the Rams in merchandise, the right of first refusal on the acquisition of additional shares, and a seat on the board of directors for the LA Rams. Miller argued that with the Raiders’ recent return to Oakland that they’d have a local monopoly. He further pointed out the surprising success of the Avengers and noted how profitable Avengers merchandise had been.
“This is a golden opportunity to not just rebuild the team from the ground up and return them to their original glory,” he argued, “but a chance to make Anaheim the premier sports venue in Southern California, with Disney at the center of the action.”
The ensuing debates raged on through April, with Frank Wells calling his old friend Stanley to advocate for supporting the deal. But soon Frank was off to Nepal to climb Everest and Stanley, serving as Roy Disney’s advocate on the board (much to the chagrin of the Millers), continued to advocate against the deal.
Sports wasn’t the only area where Roy expressed his displeasure. Earlier that year, with films that featured princesses all doing spectacularly at the box office (Aladdin, The Bamboo Princess, and The Little Mermaid) and those that didn’t underperforming (The Brave Little Toaster and Treasure Planet) – and with respective high or low merchandise sales to match – Stan Kinsey and Consumer Products VP Bo Boyd came to Jim with a proposal: more “Princess films”. Princesses from all over the world. Knowing Jim well, Kinsey pitched it to Jim as “a chance for little girls the world over, regardless of their origins, to see themselves as a Princess.”
Roy was more reticent, feeling that it was a “prescribed” strategy and inherently lacking in creativity, a view that many of the animators shared. But Jim, his ears no doubt still ringing with the complaints of directors and shareholders over the embarrassing performance of The Brave Little Toaster in particular, which he’d hyped to them as “the future of animation”, agreed to greenlight some of the films and see how they went, figuring that they could balance them against the riskier “passion projects” favored by the creative artists, once again going back to the “one for the money, one for the art” approach that he’d used to get The Dark Crystal greenlit nearly 15 years prior. Boyd was particularly interested in a “Chinese Princess”, given the growing market in the People’s Republic with the so-called Lotus Opening policy, but markets for a Latin American princess and even an African or African American princess seemed promising.
It increasingly seemed to Jim that a balance had to be maintained, between the needs of the shareholders and the needs of the artists, and between the financial goals of the board and his own lofty goals for world peace and understanding. Thus, expanding the “princess line” appealed to both his love for supporting diversity and representation and the fiscal possibilities of the line itself. He’d been subtly impressed with how different little girls were identifying with different princesses for different reasons. A girly-girl could play with Cinderella or Kaiguya Hime while a tomboy played with Eilonwy or Abbi, the material girl could play with Jasmine, and the non-conformist could play with Argyle. The promise of the Princesses to bring different people from different backgrounds and with different personalities together appealed to him on a visceral level.
“Jim, don’t make Disney Princesses into a ‘product’,” Roy warned.
“We’re not,” Jim retorted with a smile. “We’re simply inviting more little girls to play at the party.”
* * *
The Board of Directors for the Walt Disney Entertainment Company, January 1995:
Ronald “Ron” Miller, CEO
James M. “Jim” Henson, Acting Chairman and CCO
Richard “Dick” Nunis, Acting President
Stanley Kinsey, COO
Roy E. Disney, Vice Chairman, Acting Chairman, President, Walt Disney Studios
Al Gottesman (President, Henson Arts Holdings)
Dianne Disney Miller (Partner, Retlaw Enterprises)
Peter Dailey (former US ambassador to Ireland and Roy Disney’s brother-in-law)
Charles Cobb (CEO of Arvida Corp.; representing the interests of Bass Brothers)
Alfred Attilio “Al” Checchi (representing Marriott International)
Advisory Board Members (non-voting, ad-hoc attendance):
E. Cardon “Card” Walker, Chairman Emeritus
Sid Bass (CEO of Bass Brothers Enterprises)
Steven Spielberg (Partner, Amblin Entertainment)
John Sculley (CEO & President of Apple Computer, Inc.)
George Lucas (CEO of Lucasfilm, Ltd.)
J. Willard “Bill” Marriott, Jr. (CEO of Marriott International)
Ray Watson, Chairman Emeritus (former head of the Irvine Company)
Caroline Ahmanson (head and founder of Caroline Leonetti Ltd.)
Philip Hawley (Carter Hawley Hale)
Samuel Williamson (senior partner, Hufstedler, Miller, Carson, & Beardsley)
Stan Lee (Chairman of Marvel Entertainment)
The Disney Executive Committee:
Frank Wells, CEO
James M. “Jim” Henson, Chairman and CCO
Richard “Dick” Nunis, President
Thomas “Tom” Wilhite, President, MGM Studios
John Hench, President, Walt Disney Imagineering Workshop
Roy E. Disney, President, Walt Disney Studios
* * *
Stocks at a Glance: Walt Disney Entertainment (DIS)
January 12th, 1995
Stock price: $87.94
Major Shareholders: Henson family (20.7%), Roy E. Disney (13.4%), Disney-Miller family (13.2%), Sid Bass (9.6%), Bill Marriott (6.3%), Amblin Entertainment (1.3%), Apple Comp. (0.7%), Lucasfilm Ltd. (0.5%), Suspected “Knights Errant” (5.3%), Other (29%)
Outstanding shares: 451.2 million
3-Year Financial Data, Walt Disney Entertainment (DIS)
Year | Revenues | Expenses* | Net Income |
1992 | $8,208 M | $6,015 M | $2,193 M |
1993 | $10,313 M | $7,542 M | $2,771 M |
1994 | $12,583 M | $8,781 M | $3,802 M |
* * *
Pictures Released by Walt Disney Studios, 1993-1994
| Release date | Title | Studio label | Co-production with |
| January 15, 1993 | Alive | MGM | Kennedy/Marshall Productions, Pacific Partners |
| January 22, 1993 | Snow White [Re-Release] | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| February 3, 1993 | Extreme Aspen | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| February 12, 1993 | Homeward: An Incredible Journey | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| March 11, 1993 | War Stories | WED Signature | Lucasfilm, LTD., Silver Screen Partners |
| March 26, 1993 | James and the Giant Peach | Fantasia Films | Skeleton Crew Productions, Pacific Partners |
| April 9, 1993 | Black Cat Bone: The Return of Huckleberry Finn | Walt Disney Pictures | Great oaks Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
| April 23, 1993 | Swing Youth | MGM | Pacific Partners |
| May 7, 1993 | The Muppets do Shakespeare | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| May 28, 1993 | Super Mario Brothers | Fantasia Films | Nintendo Productions, Pacific Partners |
| June 4, 1993 | A Red Death | Hyperon Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| June 11, 1993 | Jurassic Park | MGM | Amblin Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
| June 29, 1993 | Wayne’s World 2 | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| July 9, 1993 | An Alien in the Family [w/ Short Surfin’!] | Walt Disney Pictures | Skeleton Crew Productions, Pacific Partners |
| July 23, 1993 | Four Weddings and a Funeral | Hyperion Pictures | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Channel Four Films, Pacific Partners |
| August 6, 1993 | Spider-Man 2 | MGM | Marvel Productions, Pacific Partners |
| August 20, 1993 | Where the Wild Things Are [Re-Release] | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| August 27, 1993 | The Lawnmower Man | Fantasia Films | As You Wish Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
| September 9, 1993 | The Joy Luck Club | MGM | Pacific Partners |
| September 24, 1993 | A Very Good Year | Hyperion Pictures | As You Wish Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
| October 8, 1993 | Malice Aforethought | Hyperion Pictures | As You Wish Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
| October 29, 1993 | Addams Family Values | Fantasia Films | Skeleton Crew Productions, Pacific Partners |
| November 10, 1993 | Relentless | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| November 24, 1993 | The Little Mermaid [w/ Short Waggles Ahoy!] | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| December 10, 1993 | Three Times Stupid | Hyperion Pictures | Krevoy/Stabler/Wessler Productions, Pacific Partners |
| December 24, 1993 | Geronimo | MGM | Pacific Partners |
| January 7, 1994 | Lassie meets White Fang | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| January 21, 1994 | It’s Pat | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| February 4, 1994 | Cinderella [Re-release] | Walt Disney Pictures | |
| February 25, 1994 | Blue Chips | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| March 4, 1994 | Stop! Or my Mom will Shoot! | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| March 11, 1994 | The Hudsucker Proxy | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| March 25, 1994 | Mighty Ducks 2 | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| April 15, 1994 | Cats | WED Signature | Pacific Partners |
| April 29, 1994 | The Tempest | Fantasia Films | Lucasfilm, LTD., Pacific Partners |
| May 6, 1994 | Kid Ninjas Strike Back! | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| May 20, 1994 | Crooklyn | MGM | 40 Acres and a Mule Productions, Pacific Partners |
| June 3, 1994 | Angels in the Outfield | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| June 15, 1994 | The Incredible Hulk | MGM | Marvel Productions, Pacific Partners |
| July 8, 1994 | The Brave Little Toaster [w/ Short Luxo and Son] | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| July 15, 1994 | Army Intelligence | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| July 22, 1994 | The War of the Worlds [w/ Short Mars Attacks!] | MGM | Pacific Partners |
| August 5, 1994 | City Slickers 2: The Legend of Curly’s Gold | Hyperion Pictures | As You Wish Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
| August 19, 1994 | The Dreaming Place | Fantasia Films | Propaganda Films, Skeleton Crew Productions, Pacific Partners |
| August 26, 1994 | Treasure Planet [w/ Short Muppets of the Caribbean] | Walt Disney Pictures | Studio Ghibli, Pacific Partners |
| September 2, 1994 | The Ref | Hyperion Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| September 16, 1994 | My Neighbor Totoro [Re-Release] | Buena Vista Distribution | Studio Ghibli |
| September 30, 1994 | Fawlty Travels | Hyperion Pictures | HandMade Films, BBC Film, Pacific Partners |
| October 28, 1994 | Matinee | Fantasia Films | Skeleton Crew Productions, Pacific Partners |
| November 11, 1994 | Squanto | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| November 23, 1994 | The Lion King [w/ Short Anansi and his Sons] | Walt Disney Pictures | Pacific Partners |
| December 16, 1994 | Richie Rich | Walt Disney Pictures | 1492 Productions, Marvel Productions, Pacific Partners |
| December 23, 1994 | The Shawshank Redemption | MGM | As You Wish Entertainment, Pacific Partners |
[1] Hat tip to @Plateosaurus for reminding me about the Northridge earthquake of 1994.
[2] Future guest post by @Plateosaurus, @Sunflare2k5, @Nathanoraptor, @Caellach Tiger Eye, @HonestAbe1809, @Migrant_Coconut, and @nick_crenshaw82. Get Stoned this Holiday Season! Ok, maybe it needs a different hook.
Personally, I liked TTL's Shrek, but I was never particularly invested in OTL's Shrek, so maybe that's not surprising. I've been disappointed by the performance of Treasure Planet and Brave Little Toaster, which I both liked IOTL, but that's maybe not entirely surprising (I'm not holding out any hopes for Atlantis, even if it gets made). I can't say one way or the other about Indy, since I don't remember that post and am not a big Indy fan either IOTL or ITTL--I mean, he's fine, don't get me wrong, but it's not a franchise I have any great feelings for one way or the other.
Will Medusa be a part of the Princess Line? She should. And if they want a South American Princess, this should be of interest to them.
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