When you Wish Upon a Frog (Book II of the Jim Henson at Disney saga)

[nick_crenshaw82]

Speaking of, we're badly due for a decent King Arthur or Robin Hood movie.

A Hippie in the House of Mouse (Jim Henson at Disney, 1980)

OK, unrelated to this entry but I feel like I need to get this out: so I've been binge-reading the Lee-Kirby Thor comics of the 60s, and I figured that if Disney wants to capitalize on Spider-Man's success, why not do a film based on The Mighty Thor? While I haven't worked out all the details...

www.alternatehistory.com

Does Jon Pertwee still do Lucas a favour and guest in “Young Indy”?

View attachment 705351

Why wouldn't he?

Tim has learned the biggest downside of working for a major studio: You can't just do what you want. Maybe he will consider parting with Disney in the future?

The problem is that he does technically work for Disney and is suppose to be working on Jurassic Park at the time, plus Universal is a major rival of Disney.

Wonder if this movie still gets made. If it is spun of into a TV series, Madeline Zima (pictured here with Hulk) will have a more meaty part then Grace Sheffield…
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Assuming it somehow did inspire a TV I doubt WWF/E would allow Hulk to star on it weekly.

Decent return at the box office. I wonder if this could triggers the 'Universal Monster Verse' off ITTL?

Only if they do crossovers in some form or another.

Only one missing is either the Wolfman or Jekyll & Hyde.

Or the Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, or the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

 

[Nerdman3000]

Excited for the ITTL 1990’s Universal Monster Renaissance, especially Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which hopefully will be much better ITTL. Them doing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein next especially fits since it allows them to technically also do The Bride of Frankenstein as well, since the OTL 1994 movie had Bride Elizabeth who was essentially the Bride of Frankenstein.

While part of me hopes Helena Bonham Carter will play Elizabeth/Bride Elizabeth like in OTL, if there has to be a alternative casting, I would like to provide a weird suggestion, but maybe cast Lena Heady as ITTL Elizabeth/The Bride of Frankenstein? In OTL, she was 21 in 1994, with her first roles being in 1993, with her biggest role in OTL being a starring role in 1994’s The Jungle Book. So she’d still be a relative unknown, but this would be an interesting alternative breakout role.

 

[Shiny_Agumon]

Or the Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, or the Creature from the Black Lagoon

Probably not Phantom since the Musical made the Universal version obsolete and making it too similar to Webbers version could end in a lawsuit. Btw, isn't that movie adaptation still in the pipeline?
It released in 2005 IOTL, but they were working around it since at least 1991.

Invisible Man might be too Scifi for Hart and Co, but maybe someone else remakes it as a steampunk inspired horror movie.

Mummy and Creature are still on the table tho.

 

[Daibhid C]

Excellent cast, and I like the inclusion of Timothy Spall, who would have been best known for Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at the time, and I guess is best known for Harry Potter these days, but for me will always be the guy who called the crew of Red Dwarf a bunch of twonks.

Are we actually going to get the "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein ... from the creator of Bram Stoker's Dracula" gag that OTL's Fred Saberhagen wanted?

And this is the second time I'm down a rabbit hole of "what is TTL Kim Newman writing?" Because in 1997, OTL's Newman is going to write a short story in his Anno Dracula universe called "Coppola's Dracula". It's got nothing really to do with the OTL film; it's set in 1976, with Coppola making a version of Dracula starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen, and is basically "Hearts of Darkness, but in Transylvania". But the basic inspiration was almost certainly that Coppola had actually made a version of Dracula. And that story is the foundation of subsequent short stories that eventually become the fixup novel Johnny Alucard in 2013. So without it, the Anno Dracula 20th century possibly looks very different. And I can't imagine what Newman's "Barry Sonnenfeld's Dracula" would look like.

 

[Sunflare2k5]

Mummy and Creature are still on the table tho.

Creature may be interesting; the Gill-man was acting in self defense, and the humans kept up the battle. Not sure how sympathetic to make the Gill-man, though.
At least give Millicent Patrick her proper credit for the Gill-man design. Bud Westmore downplayed her work and took sole credit for the design; it took fifty years IOTL to correct that!

 

[Pesterfield]

Funnily enough I heard that Corsets aren't that bad, more impractical than a bra, but women were thankful for the support.

What about the stories of breaking ribs or being unable to stand without one?

Did styles of how tight to wear them change?

 

[Migrant_Coconut]

What about the stories of breaking ribs or being unable to stand without one?

Did styles of how tight to wear them change?

The traditional tight-laced steel ribs were a problem - compressed ribcages, increased chances of tuberculosis and pneumonia, atrophy of the back and pectoral muscles. AFAIK most women switched to all-cotton by the 1900s.

 

[nick_crenshaw82]

Excellent cast, and I like the inclusion of Timothy Spall, who would have been best known for Auf Wiedersehen, Pet at the time, and I guess is best known for Harry Potter these days, but for me will always be the guy who called the crew of Red Dwarf a bunch of twonks.

I think ITTL he would make the perfect Mad Hatter in a movie or TV show:

Not sure how sympathetic to make the Gill-man, though.

Maybe if they do something similar to The Shape of Water.

 

[GrahamB]

What about the stories of breaking ribs or being unable to stand without one?

Did styles of how tight to wear them change?

If you can find historical sources on those that aren't satirical or openly anti-corset I'd love to see them.

By happenstance I've managed to stumble across some very good period costuming YouTube channels and they cover stuff like this. Corsets (and the earlier Stays) were designed for comfort, intended to be worn all day. Think a bra for your whole torso. The extreme tightlacing and 'can barely breath' corsets people still think of were restricted to ladies of the very highest of upper classes, namely folks who never exerted themselves anyway. For anyone else, the desirable ratios were usually created by padding the bits that weren't curvy enough. I'm afraid Ms. Ryder has fallen for the 'corsets as symbolic of the Patriarchy' claim and not 'functional undergarment' as was worn.

It's the Victorian equivalent of those damnable "Roman" wristbands that EVERY damn movie insists on despite their never appearing in Roman sources.

 

[Nerdman3000]

Invisible Man might be too Scifi for Hart and Co, but maybe someone else remakes it as a steampunk inspired horror movie.

Mummy and Creature are still on the table tho

For Invisible Man, it depends if they base it on the original H.G. Wells novel and set it in the novel’s Victorian era setting. You can definitely make a gothic horror film out of it.

As for the Mummy, I am curious what Universal will do in regards to that, and whether it will be a action-adventure film like OTL, or more of a horror film. Either way, I think the Mummy is probably the most likely to join Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Bride Elizabeth, and most likely the Wolfman (I’d be shocked if Universal decided not to do a Wolfman movie if Frankenstein and Dracula are successful) and Jekyll and Hyde in this this 90’s Universal Monster Renaissance.

 

[Plateosaurus]

Wonder if this movie still gets made. If it is spun of into a TV series, Madeline Zima (pictured here with Hulk) will have a more meaty part then Grace Sheffield…

Why? Probably just gonna be one of those Film sitcoms that is a total forgotten bomb lasting a season.

Creature may be interesting; the Gill-man was acting in self defense, and the humans kept up the battle. Not sure how sympathetic to make the Gill-man, though.
At least give Millicent Patrick her proper credit for the Gill-man design. Bud Westmore downplayed her work and took sole credit for the design; it took fifty years IOTL to correct that!

Maybe if they do something similar to The Shape of Water.

....Let's just say I imagine by the time Creature comes out ITTL it will be Duelling Works with the Anaconda movie.

Meanwhile, for the Mummy, IOTL there were many pre-production versions before Sommers'

• First in 1980's came one by George A. Romero and another by Abbie Bernstein, where scientists inadvertently bring a mummy to life that wants to use an ancient device to destroy all life on earth.
• Then Clive Barker and Mick Garris did this dark, sexual and weird film about an art museum that rebuilds an entire Egyptian tomb in Beverly Hills.
• Alan Ormsby wrote a script (and John Sayles rewrote) to be directed by Joe Dante that was more or less a modern update of the 1932 film, with Joe Dante to direct and Daniel Day Lewis as the mummy.
• Then Romero came back, but what got featured was considered too dark and violent, and George had a contract with MGM, so he left too
• Mick Garris then had an art deco period film.
• Then came the Kevin Jarres script which became the final film.

I personally like the Barker and the Romero versions, especially the second one for George. Just read the idea from Wikipedia.[5]

"...that revolved around female archaeologist Helen Grover and her discovery of the tomb of Imhotep, an Egyptian general who lived in the time of Ramesses II.[5] Unfolding in a nameless American city in modern times, events are set into motion when Imhotep inadvertently awakens as a result of his body having been exposed to rays from an MRI scan in a high-tech forensic archaeology lab. Helen finds herself drawn into a tentative relationship with Imhotep while also experiencing clairvoyant flashbacks to a previous life in the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt as a priestess of Isis. Summoning mystical powers through incantation, Imhotep later resurrects the mummy of Karis, a loyal slave. Karis embarks on a vengeful rampage against the grave robbers of his tomb."

Sounds amazing.

 

[nick_crenshaw82]

....Let's just say I imagine by the time Creature comes out ITTL it will be Duelling Works with the Anaconda movie.

That's an idea, replace the anaconda in Anaconda with the Gill-Man.

 

[Workable Goblin]

It's the Victorian equivalent of those damnable "Roman" wristbands that EVERY damn movie insists on despite their never appearing in Roman sources.

…Roman wristband?

 

[GrahamB]

…Roman wristband?

Run a quick Google image search on "Roman Wrist Cuff" or suchlike and behold the mountain of costuming nonsense that pervades the popular image of Roman "Fashion".
Then watch this delightful rant from someone who can explain it better than I can:

 

[Denliner]

Great post about Dracula. It's a bit different from OTL, but I reckon it will be just as iconic and successful as the original thanks to the work of the Skeleton Crew. I absolutely love the casting here as well.

Hopefully you can redeem Frankenstein because it was a bit of a disaster OTL, if I recall.

---

Speaking of corsets, here's a good video explaining why corsets weren't as harmful as people might think and why they went away from mainstream fashion.

 

[Migrant_Coconut]

Fun fact: they had to mandate togas inside the Senate building because nobody wanted to wear the stupid things.

 

[WhovianHolmesianChap]

I'm hoping that at least De Niro gets to stay as the creature.

 

[Geekhis Khan]

Thanks again, all. Yes, more Universal Monster fun on the way. They will surely have some monstrous productions going forward. Also more Skeleton Crew fun.

I must admit, the corset sidebar was an amusing surprise.

Speaking of surprises, I do have a post for tomorrow on Christmas Day. Well, Christmas Day for me and the rest in Europe and the Americas, at least. For those of you in Asia and Australia and NZ and Oceana Merry Christmas already. For my Japanese readers enjoy a bucket of KFC for me).

However, there might not be a post Tuesday due to my holiday travel plans.

Did Richard Donner ever get the chance to direct a Disney movie IOTL or will it happen ITTL

Stand by, forgot about that request!

Good update...

BTW, assuming the series Party of Five is still made in TTL, there is one thing that might be different about it from OTL. According to this: https://www.cracked.com/image-pictofact-6432-15-behind-the-scenes-facts-about-party-of-five the creators of the Party of Five tv series originally wanted the lead to be a female sibling, not Charlie. Fox executives shot the idea down because, in their words, no one would have accepted that. Maybe, in TTL, that happens and, if so, I do have one idea for who could play the oldest female sibling: Rebecca Schaeffer (she was born in 1967)--assuming, of course, she isn't busy with her film career...

Here's another surprising choice: Mariska Hartigay (she was born in 1964--Matthew Fox, who played Charlie, was born in 1966 in OTL). Plus, there's a real-life subtext: Hartigay's mother was Jayne Mansfield, and Mariska (along with two of her brothers) survived the crash in 1967 that killed her mother...

I hadn't planned on covering Party of Five (just off my radar) but if you wanted to send me a paragraph for a "top ten" type article in a PM go for it. Hartigay showed up in Law & Order ITTL.

Hmm, maybe without this, butterflies mean Francis will be able to make and direct this instead:

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Interesting...will look into it.

Speaking of, we're badly due for a decent King Arthur or Robin Hood movie.

As Platy noted Prince of Thieves did appear in an altered form, but stay tuned on King Arthur.

Does Jon Pertwee still do Lucas a favour and guest in “Young Indy”?

View attachment 705351

Yes, I'm not a monster.

 

[Shiny_Agumon]

However, there might not be a post Tuesday due to my holiday travel plans.

That's ok, we'll wait.

As Platy noted Prince of Thieves did appear in an altered form, but stay tuned on King Arthur.

Can't wait to hear about that.

Yes, I'm not a monster.

Speaking of Doctor Who, are you brave enough to open that can of worms again Geekhis?

 

[Migrant_Coconut]

Meanwhile, for the Mummy, IOTL there were many pre-production versions before Sommers'

• First in 1980's came one by George A. Romero and another by Abbie Bernstein, where scientists inadvertently bring a mummy to life that wants to use an ancient device to destroy all life on earth.
• Then Clive Barker and Mick Garris did this dark, sexual and weird film about an art museum that rebuilds an entire Egyptian tomb in Beverly Hills.
• Alan Ormsby wrote a script (and John Sayles rewrote) to be directed by Joe Dante that was more or less a modern update of the 1932 film, with Joe Dante to direct and Daniel Day Lewis as the mummy.
• Then Romero came back, but what got featured was considered too dark and violent, and George had a contract with MGM, so he left too
• Mick Garris then had an art deco period film.
• Then came the Kevin Jarres script which became the final film.

I personally like the Barker and the Romero versions, especially the second one for George. Just read the idea from Wikipedia.[5]

Given the de-bro-ification of Hollywood at the moment, perhaps it's not even a male Mummy. Pretty sure the costume department is itching to try a Hatshepsut or Cleopatra-like character.