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

[King of Danes]

Yep, I figured I'd surprise a few people. He's also MLB Commissioner if you've been following @jpj1421's sports posts.

Ahh yes, I do vaguely remember that hahah

 

[Migrant_Coconut]

Whatever happens, don't make him Disney's PR guy.

“Our rivals are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to undercut our employees and our creativity... and neither do we.”

 

[Ogrebear]

"So for most of 1998 I basically lived in New Zealand." - not the worst part of the world to live!

"I even got to play the supporting part of Fandral the Dashing" - good part to get. He is a great character.

"“Professor” Toru Tanaka as Hogun the Grim and Mark Addy as Volstagg the Valiant." - good casting.

"and a lot of our best footage in my mind got cut for time." - Directors Cut please!

"This got us more screen time in Thor 2 in 2001 and eventually got us our own TV series in the 2000s, The Warriors Three, all in the semi-campy, semi-serious tone of Lysia." - Awesome!

"This also meant getting to work alongside some of the big screen’s biggest actors," - good list of actors there, esp Loki.

"some genius in marketing realized that July 4th fell on a Sunday in 1999, and that July 4th Weekend was perfect for dropping Captain America." - well it kinda is.

"Doug Jones did what we’d now call Digital Acting" - was wondering if Ulik would be a 'Big Guy' in a suit or digital.

"Not my best advice, but I am an ordained minister, after all[2]. That fact alone seemed to help him." - and wise advise it was too.

"Sadly, we all ended up reuniting with a lot of the cast and crew of the DC films for Robert Downey Jr.’s funeral." - that one would be a sombre occasion. Wonder if a Henson went?

"Their aim was to use the Mother Boxes to terraform Earth into a more suitable home for them, with the intsy-wintsy little side-problem that this would wipe out most life on Earth" - given there are so many other planets, why pick on Earth? Silly idea, esp with Venus right there.

"Naturally some of that got recycled into the Galactus plot, but I get ahead of myself." - hummmm.

"By week seven I would have thrown Sam off the mountain for a handful of French fries!" - LOL

"The glue did not hold up in the cold mountain air. There’s a whole gag reel of my beards and mustaches falling off." - leaked onto the Alt!You Tube too I bet.

"Ida fell in love with New Zealand, and we even bought a home there. " - heck of an endorsement!

"Seriously, Brad can keep all of the stresses and strains of trying to maintain a career as an A-lister. " - recognition you like where you are Bruce?

Fun little chapter there @Geekhis Khan

 

[Ogrebear]

Diamonds are Forever.- yeah, this sounds like fun, and a deeper Bond movie than normal. ITTL me would watch.

"Hendricks also demonstrates that she has serious action chops, proving every bit the fighter as she kicks prodigious butt." - bet that would be fun to watch since Bond Woman often don't get the action.

"This is Bond Elevated to Art, while still retaining everything that makes Bond, well, Bond." - yeah sold.

Star Trek: Defiance- ITTL me would see this as its Trek. OTL me wants to see it to wipe Insurrection and Nemesis from his memory. Sounds like a great movie. I will make sure its covered in the Envoy piece in preparation.

Ender’s Game,- Might have seen this ITTL. I think the promotion would have to sell it as I am not familiar with the source material.

Transhuman- If ITTL me and I both like Cyberpunk stuff, then he will have been this one.

"Cheryl Henson’s costumes deserve special mention for their slick futurism that’s one part Hugo Boss and one part bondage gear." - reminds me of the costume review for Fifth Element I remember reading.

"it will be a minor success ($133 million against a $36 million budget)" - that really says something about Hollywood where making x3 your budget is not a success.

Dark City- Interesting, probably a cinema watch for me. Sutherland is quite decent.

Aimless Drifters,- Probably a watch on video for ITTL me.

"being hired by LA gangster Da’ Phat Man (Biggie Smalls) to take out a small-time rapper, played by Tupac Shakur, " - OTL irony?

The Secret History, - might have caught on video unless the trailer dragged ITTL me in.

The Headliner,- I like the Truman Show, I can see ITTL me liking this one esp with Williams as lead.

Tom Slick: Monster Hunter- if the trailer teases the monsters, and the effects ITTL me might go and see this expecting a creature feature. Probably be disappointed, but entertained anyway from this write up.

Poe- Interesting. Stallone doing a biopic with Burton? Depp sounds well cast here. Howard Shore will probably produce something really good here.

Buried Secrets- might end up seeing it due to peer pressure, but more likely a video watch to see what the fuss was about.

Major Tomboy- while not a movie ITTL me would watch, I'm sure he would have comments about Nerdom is for everyone.

Doom- Nope. Not a watch for me. Though I am sure there will be plenty of memes from it and the gazillion sequels/tie-in's and reboots.

Primary Colors- Maybe. I do occasionally like a good politcal movie. This is probably a video watch.

Horseplay- Curry and Cleese together? That's a cinema watch. Probably does better in the UK than US.

Wonderland- Not quite the Burton take then?

Interesting set of movies there @Geekhis Khan and guests.

 

[Ogrebear]

"Driven as much by a sense of righteousness as by simple greed, the Activist Investors were a breed who largely saw themselves as the heroes." - Hummmmm

"By the late 1990s the illusion of Shareholder Democracy had given way to an autocratic system of all-powerful chief executives with a submissive board that bowed to their desires."- except perhaps at Disney?

“Disney is ripe for new efficiencies,” Peltz told his board in the spring of 1998." - everything you say in this paragraph is wrong Peltz, though I might be bias here....

"A Polo Shirt still sells as a Polo regardless of whether it’s made in New York by skilled craftsmen or in an Asian sweatshop.” - and this is why noone like people like you.

"By his estimation a 10-20% reduction in expenses was hypothetically possible." - by gutting the company sure.

"so attacking him from the right made more strategic sense while also appealing directly to Peltz’s own fiscally conservative politics." - and likely provoke a response from the left.

"His contact Newt Gingrich told him that he knew just the guy." - well that won't be anyone nice I'm sure.

Mr Peltz is def not a 'nice' chap imho.

Interesting villain @Geekhis Khan and @El Pip

 

[Geekhis Khan]

Part 15: Creepy, Cool, and Kitschy
Excerpt from Dark Funhouse, the Art and Work of Tim Burton, an Illustrated Compendium

As the new millennium approached, the Skeleton Crew was the busiest that they’d ever been. Movies, TV shows, even videogames were being designed, produced, or supported in dozens of ways both small and large. Sometimes these were major productions, like Sleepy Hollow, and other times small Shorts, like the Vincent Price referencing Computer-animated Spider and Fly Short done in partnership with 3D that aired before Coraline. The Short’s clever reversal of the predator/prey relationship served as foreshadowing for the film itself.

(Image source LA Weekly via All My Friends are Animated on Pinterest)

“A lot of people in the late 1990s were terrified of the New Millennium. We were among them. Not because we thought that the computers would all crash or Armageddon begin, but because we knew that the ‘Goth Craze’ would end soon enough, and thus that the Skeleton Crew’s signature style would soon be Old Hat.” – Henry Selick

But the “Goth craze” that drove the popularity of Skeleton Crew Productions had peaked and was starting to decline fast. Perhaps all of that sense of impending obsolescence drove the nostalgic return to older franchises, be it Cheryl Henson’s Dark Crystal prequel series or Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. This last film had been in Production Hell for nearly a decade, having originally been envisioned in 1989 with Johnathan Gems drafting a gonzo screenplay featuring the Deetz Family moving to Hawaii in a hotel scheme that threatened to awaken angry gods, with Beetlejuice enlisted to intervene.

Synopsis of the original screenplay, if you’re curious

“It was an utterly bats*** screenplay,” Steve Chiodo recalled. “You had Beetlejuice turning a Joshua tree into a beautiful woman to seduce Lydia’s native Hawaiian would-be boyfriend and volcano sacrifices and even a surfing contest. We briefly had Joe Dante set to direct. Sammy Davis, Jr., was all set to reprise his role, and quite excited to given how Beetlejuice gave new life to his career. But everything fell through when he passed in 1990.”

Assuming that the gig was over, Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was shelved indefinitely; likely, it was assumed, permanently. But then a chance encounter between Burton and Davis’s daughter Tracey Davis in 1995 renewed the project when she confirmed to Burton that Davis would have wanted the project to proceed even without him. Eventually, Burton met the young and talented quadruple-threat actor/singer/dancer/puppeteer Wayne Brady, who naturally was able to do an excellent Sammy Davis impression.

“Tracey approved of casting Wayne after he demonstrated his impression [of her father],” Burton said. “And Wayne just turned to me and said, as Beetlejuice, ‘It’s showtime!’”

(Image source Wattpad)

But the intervening years ended up requiring a near full rewrite of the “bats***” Johnathan Gems screenplay. “The original screenplay assumed that Lydia was still a teenager,” said Steve Chiodo. “But Winona was in her late 20s as that point. So we had Joss [Whedon] and Marti [Noxon] do a rewrite, though he turned down direction in favor of Spider-Man 3. In the end I had to direct since I was, as Tim put it, ‘The best of what’s left.’”

Ryder was at first uninterested in any Beetlejuice film not directed by Burton himself, but by the late 1990s her career had stalled, so she agreed to the film. In this new writeup she’s an independent adult who takes a job as personal assistant to the aggressive businessman Maxwell Shriek, played by Christopher Walken. Shriek is a hotelier who is building a new luxury resort at the foot of a sacred volcano in Hawaii and totally irritating the local spirits. Ultimately Beetlejuice, reduced to a pathetic, out of shape creature mopping the floors of the Bureau of Deceased Affairs (typically cleaning up after whatever perpetually bleeding or flaking corpse has just walked by)[1], is recruited by “the five Kahunas” to help disrupt this planned resort, ultimately bringing him back into contact with Lydia.

Walken as Maxwell Shriek (Image source Nathan Forester on Pinterest)

“Things got weird from there,” Chido recalls, “ultimately ending up with a surfing contest. It was very deliberately campy and we very much followed in the footsteps of both Beetlejuice and Hawaiian Vamps. We even recruited Jemaine [Clement] as Lydia’s young native love interest Kimo.”

Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was likely doomed to cult status from the beginning, and distributor Fantasia Films gave Chiodo a very limited budget. “Thankfully I’m used to near zero budgets,” he said. Even so, the film failed to make back its $22 million budget thanks to poor reviews, too long since the original film, the change in lead (though most praised Brady’s performance), the generally nonsensical plot, and the general feeling of “why?” that pervaded the original film’s fandom. Still, it lived on in cult status with a small but dedicated fandom who liked its juxtaposition between the gothic and the campy and the general wackiness of the story (Ebert, in a mixed review, noted that it “combines the creepy with the kitsch in interesting ways, as if Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room was possessed by Spielberg’s Poltergeist”).

But Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was just one of several projects at the time. Crew Mate Jude Barsi, though not yet 20 at the time, had entered into the world of production[2], producing or co-producing a few episodes of Nocturns and Soul Music. She now entered into feature production on a stop motion animation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. Barsi had met Gaiman on the set of Nocturns, where he’d written a few episodes, and he introduced her to his then in-progress Coraline novel, hoping to get her insights into the motivations of the title character.

This, a decade earlier, with a touch of the autobiographical for Barsi

“He’d been working on it for several years at that point,” said Barsi. “It had all started with a typo when he misspelled ‘Caroline’ and he thought that this had to be a person.[3] I immediately identified with Coraline, and told Neil so. I told him that I thought it was about Hollywood, and being a child star. I had plenty of ‘Other Mothers’ and ‘Other Fathers’ showering me with the attention that I wanted, some of which were good to me, but many of which were like the beldam and just wanted to possess me and feed off of me, you know? And since the other world is all fake and artificially perfect and all, it’s hard not to see Tinsel Town, right? Neil told me he hadn’t really thought of it that way, but he started to add that in, so, well, Coraline kind of also became me and the beldam sort of became Hollywood.”

Barsi approached Burton with the idea for a Coraline film, and found him receptive. Gaiman and Barsi worked together to both finalize the novella and write the screenplay. “Jude had some brilliant insights into Coraline’s state of mind and desires,” said Gaiman. “It gave her depth and let us develop her fears of lost identity and need for love and let us explore how a predatory force can exploit those desires for selfish purposes. Many of her Hollywood stories were adapted into the beldam’s words and actions, though we decided to not give Coraline an abusive household like Jude had, just a neglectful one.”

Henry Selick would ultimately direct the creepy, uncanny stop motion film, with Barsi herself voicing Coraline. They Might be Giants were brought in for the soundtrack, whose cheery tone was deliberately just slightly off, using Phrygian scale and the occasional tritone or other dissonance to accentuate the uncanniness. The film ultimately released in 1999 to high praise both for its visuals and its deep story and went on to financial success, ultimately topping $110 million[4]. It would become a classic of children’s dark fantasy.

(Image source Looper)

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten” – G.K. Chesterton

Neil Gaiman and fellow Skeleton Crew collaborator Terry Pratchett similarly worked with Burton on a production of their 1990 novel Good Omens, a comedy about the Antichrist getting accidentally switched at birth and raised as a normal child. It had been a long collaboration that had dated from the mid-1980s and was based in part on an idea by mutual friend and author Douglas Adams called “William the Antichrist”. It ultimately aired in 1996 with director Terry Gilliam.

But Gaiman in the meantime had another idea for the Skeleton Crew: a production based on Michael Moorcock’s classic dark fantasy series following Elric of Melniboné, a grim albino sorcerer-king who comes to possess – or more accurately be possessed by – a sentient rune sword known as Stormbringer. A servant of Chaos, Elric is haunted by the curse of a conscience, a Byronic figure whose mind constantly teeters between his dark duties and his vestigial compassion and quiet distaste for the excesses of his homeland. Gaiman would set up the deal to acquire the rights[5] and Michael Moorcock himself would be brought in to help consult and was given an executive producer credit, though largely stayed out of day-to-day production.

A lack of familiarity with the franchise outside of “fantasy geek” circles doomed hopes for a film series, but the TV Series Stormbringer launched on Fantasia TV in 1999 and became a small breakout hit with its dark vision and deconstructive elements. It was a series which relentlessly tore apart and exposed the baggage of the fantasy genre from subtly-coded racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and misogyny to antidemocratic or anti-technology sentiments. Loosely following the events of the story and book series, the writers began to slip in newer subplots or reframe older ones to address more recent issues and concerns, resulting in a modernized retelling of the Elric saga that irritated some hard-core fans, but won a wide fanbase.

“Blood and souls for Arioch!” (Image source stormbringer.fandom.com)

“It became a sort of anti-Tolkien series,” said Gaiman. “Fairly unavoidable given that Michael [Moorcock]’s stories were always intended as a direct challenge to the tropes that Tolkien and [C.S.] Lewis had engendered. Some fans were nonplused with some of the pragmatic modernizations, but Michael himself was unbothered by it all, being an unapologetic pragmatic anarchist. He often expressed to me how he wished that we’d gone farther [with the politics].”

Stormbringer ran for four seasons and held and continues to hold a strong cult following. Starring Doug Jones as the troubled Elric and Thurl Ravenscroft[6] as the voice of the titular sentient sword Stormbringer, the series stood out visually from the bright colors of most fantasy works at the time, with a dark and grey-based color pallet accentuated by crimsons and reds. With a dark vision inspired by the works of Giger, Froud, and Gilliam, themes of antiauthoritarianism, anarchism, inclusivity, and antiracism, and a musical score by Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor, the series stood out in a genre dominated at the time by Tolkien and Rowling and their imitators. Jones, meanwhile, would have some early reservations about the rather diabolic nature of the character and his literally demonic patron deity Arioch, given Jones’ strong Christian beliefs[7], but after a talk with Moorcock, he’d learn to appreciate the ultimately anti-diabolic nature of the characters and the plotlines. “Michael explained to me that Elric was, at his core, a good person born into the service of evil,” Jones told Christian Fantasy Quarterly. “He told me to think of my character as constantly pulled between his sinful birth and his quest for salvation, which as you can imagine was a theme that resonated with me as a Christian.”

Elric’s ultimate and disastrous failure to defy evil would be another challenge for Jones, who’d secretly hoped for a form of salvation for the troubled character, but even so, the tragic ending was a reflection of the ultimate tragedy of accepting evil in exchange for power, as represented through Stormbringer. “In the end,” Jones told Christian Fantasy, “[Elric] was undone by his own dependence on evil and his inability to let go of it, and while his sin brought him power and glory and earthly victory, it ultimately cost him everything, his life, his love, even his immortal soul. It's to me a very Christian narrative, though tragic. A cautionary tale.”

Rick Heinrichs, meanwhile, was reaching the natural conclusion of the beloved Nocturns. “We’d said by that point about everything that there was to say,” said Heinrichs. “So rather than limp along in a sad impression of our former glory, we went looking for the next thing. And that brought us to The Tourist.”

Original Giger concept art (Image source Wix)

The Clair Noto screenplay, brought to life by David Cronenberg and introducing Natasha Henstridge, had been a surprise sleeper hit in 1996 with its mix of dark and sexy and disturbing. For the Skeleton Crew, who’d managed the effects work, it was a natural. With Henstridge a rising star in films, Star Trek “Borg Queen” Jerry Ryan was brought in to play the lead Grace Riley in what was essentially a serialized original story unconnected to the film. The Tourist TV series aired post-watershed on Fantasia TV in the fall of 2000 and typically sported a T rating with an occasional R. It gained notoriety not just for its dark tone but for its willingness to push boundaries on sex, sexuality, gender, and violence, often addressing controversial topics like sex, rape, LGBTQ identity, corruption, and political and religious hypocrisy.

Advances in computer effects allowed for some bizarre alien biology relatively “on the cheap”, with simple prosthetic effects and puppetry able to handle all but the most complex shots. The series shocked audiences and gained notoriety, but in the end only found a cult audience that managed to pull it through a season and a half. But nonetheless, the series inspired multiple imitators, or at least characters, and is recalled as one of those “unappreciated by the viewers, monumental for the creative artists” pieces that inspired so much to come.

(Image source Smashpages)

And finally, Caroline Thompson was working with comics creators Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett and Whoopass Studios on Tank Girl: The Animated Catastrophe for FX. With the titular Tank Girl voiced by Nika Futterman, Booga voiced by a then-unknown Simon Pegg, and President Hogan voiced by Phil Lamar, the series continued the manic, fast-cut, flashy nature of the original film. It occasionally experimented with alternate animation styles (though usually stuck to the Martin and Hewlett inspired look), typically for alternate viewpoints or “general wackiness purposes”. Taking advantage of the cult resurgence of the 1994 film, Tank Girl: The Animated Catastrophe played for several seasons. It also made a deliberate attempt to integrate unknown or lesser-known artists into its rocking, primarily NuPunk soundtrack, which ultimately made as much of an impact as Tank Girl’s trusty baseball bat.

And thus, the Skeleton Crew managed to carry on into the new millennium, still producing popular and innovative work. But the fast and frenetic pace was slowly catching up to them.

---

[1] A zombie shuffles by Beetlejuice, who has a mop in hand. Its bits are falling off onto the floor.
Beetlejuice: “Hey! I just mopped there!”

[2] Recall that she’d been a Production Assistant for Skeleton Crew, a seemingly menial gofer-like job that’s typically a training position for production.

[3] Gaiman started writing Coraline in 1990 in our timeline and in this one, but it kept getting put on hold. Since the specific series of events that led to Neverwhere have been butterflied, Gaiman has had more time working on Coraline, so it’s a little more advanced as a novella at his point. The Caroline/Coraline typo is pretty random, but a fairly likely one to make eventually.

[4] Slightly better than our timeline’s 2009 film adjusted for inflation since it’s still nestled in the middle of the Goth zeitgeist, not just past it, and is notably more profitable since it costs less without filming it in 3D, which roughly doubles materials costs since you have to “film it twice”. Note that there will be no “Wybie” in this version since that was a specific add to our timeline’s film. Instead, there will be two ghostly “lost boys” in the mirror world both named Carey (based on the Coreys) who have been used and broken by the beldam in a symbolic representation of the child actors that get “devoured” by Hollywood.

[5] I have no idea who had the rights to Elric in 1998, but Universal supposedly acquired them in 2003 in our timeline.

[6] While his voice will be kept at a very low octave and not sound anything like Tony the Tiger (think of his “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” voice), the very idea of the guy voicing Tony saying “give me souls! Blood and souls for Arioch!!” will be an endless source of amusement and Net-Wit for many geeks. “Blood and souls! They’re Grrrrreat!!”

[7] Jones had similar early issues with Hellboy in our timeline, until its themes of overcoming one’s supposed evil nature and combating evil won him over.

 

[Ogrebear]

"And what better way to spend that time by watching movies?" - indeed true!

"And what monster movie could be dodgier than 1998’s Creature from the Black Lagoon," - oh dear... this sounds messy.

"and a troubled production of nearly Apocalypse-Now-ish proportions." - sounds ripe for a documentary.

"Jackson and Zemeckis put together a story for the film," - I bet there is a fan campaign to get their script made.

Tom Cruise, Lena Headey, Charles Dance - good cast so far.

"Something along these lines" - that is a cool pic.

"Unfortunately, the studio kept on trying to meddle in the film, with Katzenberg attempting to make the Gill-man more of a straight monster" - someone did not 'get' it.

"Zemeckis, angered at their treatment of Jackson, departed shortly after he did." - good for them.

"Universal hired Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who’d recently made bank with Arachnophobia" - oh dear.

"I chose ‘Will Ruck,’ after my father’s name and my mother’s maiden name.” - nice work Peter. I like it became a Hollywood thing.

"and a film crew (who read like a who's who of 90s comedy names) were added to provide some comic relief" - how is Cruise sticking around with this rubbish going on?

"The Gill-man himself was fundamentally changed" - well that's most of my interest gone.

"Shooting in Brazil went little better. Just about everything that could go wrong, did go wrong." - it's Doomed! Doomed!

"Dick made it his mission, it seemed, to drive everyone else insane." - how did Emmerich not fire his ass?

"In the documentary chronicling the hellish production, Black Lagoon: The Doomed Journey"- ah they did make one.

"Danny John-Jules (who played dreadlocked soundman Johnny Ringo" - nice to see The Cat getting some more Hollywood work.

"After Headey’s revelation, several members of the crew, both male and female, came forward, alleging further claims of sexual misconduct from Dick." - what a wanker.

"and the studio’s refusal to let him fire Dick" - hope someone paid for that at the Studio.

"the gruesome death of Dick’s character at the Gill-man’s jaws (apparently, his character was supposed to survive the film)." - heh heh heh. Good.

"with critics praising the effects and some of the performances (particularly Headey and Dance)" - only highlighting the 'lost' movie here.

“How can you take a story so great and adapt it so badly? Watching it was like watching someone play Vivaldi with half a violin.” - ouch!

"if Katzenberg meddled with Godzilla 2 as he had with Black Lagoon, it would be the end of the studios’ partnership." - serious fallout there.

"grossing $90 million domestically and $120 million international, for a worldwide total of $210 million, against a $100 million budget," - sounds like a flop.

"I think a big problem was that the studio was insistent about keeping the Memorial Day release date," - does not help. But also blame shifting.

"That’s the flaw that killed the movie – a flaw which I take full responsibility for.” - at least Devlin admits the problem and takes the blame.

"In 2018, to promote the Gill-Man’s return in the film Black Lagoon" - says something that it took until then for anyone to touch the property.

"Jackson’s script was adapted as a four-part graphic novel by IDW Comics." - Hooray. ITTL me would likely have brought that.

"the Gill-Man, despite being less anthropomorphized than his original counterpart, is surprisingly expressive at times." - says something about the SFX team.

"As for Jackson, the whole debacle left him feeling awfully bitter at Universal, and it’s not hard to blame him for moving to Columbia," - Indeed not.

"However, the story had an unexpected happy epilogue." - well that is indeed a happy ending!

Wonder how many Razzies this movie won?

Monsterous work here @Geekhis Khan and @Nathanoraptor.

 

[TGW]

Even as someone who is very mixed on Michael Moorcock's work, I do love the idea of the TV series being made and despite all the inevitable jokes I like the idea of Thurl Ravenscroft getting a big role so late in his life, especially one as terrifying as Stormbringer can be.

 

[Ogrebear]

"Falwell made clear that the castle was the famous Walt Disney Castle, and that the forces of Satan, in particular one Jim Henson," - *sigh*

"Nelson Peltz sat in the audience and almost immediately began to question this alliance."- get out before the madness gets you...

"and the members of their flocks who would be more than happy to give over a share of their meager paychecks or Social Security checks" - the poor suckers.

"his “Dream” corrupted in the service of a Politically Correct agenda." - what the feck do the think 'the Dream' is about?

"Instead, Henson would be portrayed as the threat to Walt’s vision, both financially and socially."- so they want to go back to the 'old days' of 'what would Walt do?'

"and raising them on proper Biblical narratives." - so not all the 'begetting' then?

"Even if The Shepherds acquired all of the circulating shares, they’d be in the minority." - good, that is really unlikely.

"And then there was his potential coup-de-grace: the Disneys themselves." - I just don't think things are quite as fractious as Peltz thinks they are.

"And as the Rams incrementally improved thanks to new draft picks like Jerome Bettis and Dwayne Johnson, their valuation improved," - that can only help the case to hold the course inside Disney one would think.

"And therein lied the ultimate winning strategy: win over a Disney faction."- still not sure this is as a done deal as this group thinks.

"They’d need to move fast, and moving fast meant taking on serious short-term debt in an era without Junk Bonds to build fast capital." - sounds risky to me.

"Billions of dollars would be required to acquire a sufficient stake, and that meant hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in debt for some, even if they bought stocks on Margin." - very risky indeed.

"They would soon get their benefactor, and from the unlikeliest of places." - oh dear.

More financial shenanigans indeed @Geekhis Khan.

 

[Ogrebear]

"Freddie Mercury enters and stands at a podium. Cameras flash and click." - I bet he was wearing something Fabulous too.

"FM: Hello, honored journalists and tabloid jackals," - great start darling.

"he gave his blessings for me to speak here today and to say, on behalf of us both, “fuck off, this is none of your bloody business.” - Yup. I could see FM saying this.

"have never spoken publicly on it at all before this moment, because it’s none of anyone’s bloody business, to be frank." - damm right!

"I am indeed a queer man and always have been." - headline of the next day's papers...

"And while she may think that her latest hateful attacks carry weight because she is a newly-anointed Peer, as a lifelong Queen I frankly outrank the bitch and she can mind her bloody place."- perfect!

"FM: Well, the closet door was made from transparent glass to begin with, and I doubt that I have shocked or surprised anyone today." - no, but the papers will ham.

"For the sake of reporter from The Sun, that means “Shame on anyone who thinks evil of it.” - so much snark!

"As stated, I am a Queen. Becoming an MP would be a bit of a demotion, don’t you think?" - ROTFL

"For a brief moment Mercury is left actually speechless." - which seems to take a lot of work to do.

"Rest in peace, Howard, we love you and we miss you." - A sentiment shared by many I am sure.

Great chapter @Geekhis Khan and thank you Mrs Khan.

EDIT:

"Geraldo: Don't you worry about what message your coming out is sending to any pedophiles watching?
Freddie: No, because pedophilia should no more be mistaken for homosexuality than what you do should be mistaken for journalism. " - well I now need a new keyboard, this one has tea all over it....

 

[Bbone91]

Honestly forgot today was Tuesday and was genuinely surprised by the update.

 

[Denliner]

Judith Barsi with Coraline. That's a combination that I didn't really expect but I absolutely love it nevertheless. I can see a lot more people relating to ITTL Coraline's message and themes as it is tinged with the IRL experiences of Barsi, who received abuse firsthand and was forced to cope with the aftermath. Glad to see that reflected in its critical acclaim and higher box office numbers.

Stormbringer ran for four seasons and held and continues to hold a strong cult following. Starring Doug Jones as the troubled Elric and Thurl Ravenscroft[6] as the voice of the titular sentient sword Stormbringer, the series stood out visually from the bright colors of most fantasy works at the time, with a dark and grey-based color pallet accentuated by crimsons and reds.

Now, this is my jam. I've heard about Stormbringer before, but I'm glad that this series is becoming more popular because it definitely deserves attention (especially over Tolkien/Rowling imitators).

Taking advantage of the cult resurgence of the 1994 film, Tank Girl: The Animated Catastrophe played for several seasons. It also made a deliberate attempt to integrate unknown or lesser-known artists into its rocking, primarily NuPunk soundtrack, which ultimately made as much of an impact as Tank Girl’s trusty baseball bat.

Nice to see Tank Girl seeing some more success.

 

[Ogrebear]

"the opening night of My Tennessee Mountain Home, The Musical, released in tandem with the film, and which would prove a smash success with many Tony nominations and a couple of wins." - nice win for Dolly and Carl there.

"The Eisners felt subtly out of phase with the vibe of NYC after their years at the center of the increasingly cosmopolitan and yet uniquely New South Atlanta social scene," - guess being out of town will do that. Probably slide right back in if they were staying.

"to remove the Confederate Battle Flag portion in 2002, resulting in the current flag with the Georgia “Three Pillars” seal on a simple blue background," - wow nice work getting rid of that.

"The two divorced amicably after an undisclosed but reportedly extremely high payout to Fonda, but still the headlines continued, with stories heavy with rumor and innuendo but light in actual fact." - typical tabloid BS then.

"Columbia employees recalled it as a “dark time” where Turner was “even more argumentative and short tempered than normal.” - well that cannot have been fun for anyone.

"Griffith said of the film, which gained him an Emmy nomination." - sounds like a good movie.

"Del Toro’s perfectionism combined with Jackson’s almost obsessive intent to stay true to Tolkien’s vision were filling up the film reels." - and fans where drooling at every 'leak' and scrap of news?

"Eisner developed an acute case of anxiety as memories of The Postman came flooding back." - lets hope there is no Studio Interference to come. Plus Eisner should realise a lot of those costs can be saved with Lord of the Rings since they will not need to build all of it again... right?

"Eastwood’s No Return, a film about the Doolittle Raid, was proceeding well, on time and in budget." - interesting. Hope that gets a write up.

"a dispute was forming between director Roland Emmerich and producer Richard Zanuck" - Hummm... be wary of hacking off the author chaps.

"The Velveteen Rabbit would screen to disappointing numbers but Oscar gold in 1999" - a gong will always cause an uptick of course.

"Bluth’s next production, Ruler of the Roost,"- now that sounds like a fun movie.

"marketed as “Starsky and Hutch have a midlife crisis”. - The World Burns sounds like something ITV or Channel 4 in the UK would love.

"And then Turner took him and CBS head Brandon Tartikoff into his office with a big announcement. “I’m going to grab a piece of the Mouse.” - oh dear.....

"Both Eisner and Tartikoff warned him not to be too hasty." - wise words!

"5% would cost over $2.2 billion at current market rates, which was a workable debt load." - wow that's a lot of cash. Said 5% though might also block out Peltz and co.

"Besides, they both figured, if Turner overplayed his hand and the board sought to remove him," - ah, execs at play.

"Stock price: $99.53" - that be a lot each x 498.6m = shed loads!

Very interesting chapter there @Geekhis Khan - setting up the Kingmaker here?

 

[Daibhid C]

Part 15: Creepy, Cool, and Kitschy

It had been a long collaboration that had dated from the mid-1980s and was based in part on an idea by mutual friend and author Douglas Adams called “William the Antichrist”.

I've never heard that the original idea came from Adams before, rather than him just inspiring Gaiman to attempt a novel at all. And IOTL, at least, Pratchett and Adams met exactly once, and, to Terry's regret, didn't have a chance to speak properly.

“Things got weird from there,” Chido recalls, “ultimately ending up with a surfing contest.

Is there ... a shark involved?

Seriously, I'd probably watch this, but I'm not sure what I'd make of it.

I've never quite managed to get into Moorcock, but I like the ideas behind his stuff in theory, so I'd probably give Stormbringer a shot.

In general, it's good to see the Skeleton Crew is doing well.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

Part 15: Creepy, Cool, and Kitschy
Excerpt from Dark Funhouse, the Art and Work of Tim Burton, an Illustrated Compendium

As the new millennium approached, the Skeleton Crew was the busiest that they’d ever been. Movies, TV shows, even videogames were being designed, produced, or supported in dozens of ways both small and large. Sometimes these were major productions, like Sleepy Hollow, and other times small Shorts, like the Vincent Price referencing Computer-animated Spider and Fly Short done in partnership with 3D that aired before Coraline. The Short’s clever reversal of the predator/prey relationship served as foreshadowing for the film itself.

(Image source LA Weekly via All My Friends are Animated on Pinterest)

“A lot of people in the late 1990s were terrified of the New Millennium. We were among them. Not because we thought that the computers would all crash or Armageddon begin, but because we knew that the ‘Goth Craze’ would end soon enough, and thus that the Skeleton Crew’s signature style would soon be Old Hat.” – Henry Selick

But the “Goth craze” that drove the popularity of Skeleton Crew Productions had peaked and was starting to decline fast. Perhaps all of that sense of impending obsolescence drove the nostalgic return to older franchises, be it Cheryl Henson’s Dark Crystal prequel series or Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. This last film had been in Production Hell for nearly a decade, having originally been envisioned in 1989 with Johnathan Gems drafting a gonzo screenplay featuring the Deetz Family moving to Hawaii in a hotel scheme that threatened to awaken angry gods, with Beetlejuice enlisted to intervene.

Synopsis of the original screenplay, if you’re curious

“It was an utterly bats*** screenplay,” Steve Chiodo recalled. “You had Beetlejuice turning a Joshua tree into a beautiful woman to seduce Lydia’s native Hawaiian would-be boyfriend and volcano sacrifices and even a surfing contest. We briefly had Joe Dante set to direct. Sammy Davis, Jr., was all set to reprise his role, and quite excited to given how Beetlejuice gave new life to his career. But everything fell through when he passed in 1990.”

Assuming that the gig was over, Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was shelved indefinitely; likely, it was assumed, permanently. But then a chance encounter between Burton and Davis’s daughter Tracey Davis in 1995 renewed the project when she confirmed to Burton that Davis would have wanted the project to proceed even without him. Eventually, Burton met the young and talented quadruple-threat actor/singer/dancer/puppeteer Wayne Brady, who naturally was able to do an excellent Sammy Davis impression.

“Tracey approved of casting Wayne after he demonstrated his impression [of her father],” Burton said. “And Wayne just turned to me and said, as Beetlejuice, ‘It’s showtime!’”

(Image source Wattpad)

But the intervening years ended up requiring a near full rewrite of the “bats***” Johnathan Gems screenplay. “The original screenplay assumed that Lydia was still a teenager,” said Steve Chiodo. “But Winona was in her late 20s as that point. So we had Joss [Whedon] and Marti [Noxon] do a rewrite, though he turned down direction in favor of Spider-Man 3. In the end I had to direct since I was, as Tim put it, ‘The best of what’s left.’”

Ryder was at first uninterested in any Beetlejuice film not directed by Burton himself, but by the late 1990s her career had stalled, so she agreed to the film. In this new writeup she’s an independent adult who takes a job as personal assistant to the aggressive businessman Maxwell Shriek, played by Christopher Walken. Shriek is a hotelier who is building a new luxury resort at the foot of a sacred volcano in Hawaii and totally irritating the local spirits. Ultimately Beetlejuice, reduced to a pathetic, out of shape creature mopping the floors of the Bureau of Deceased Affairs (typically cleaning up after whatever perpetually bleeding or flaking corpse has just walked by)[1], is recruited by “the five Kahunas” to help disrupt this planned resort, ultimately bringing him back into contact with Lydia.

Walken as Maxwell Shriek (Image source Nathan Forester on Pinterest)

“Things got weird from there,” Chido recalls, “ultimately ending up with a surfing contest. It was very deliberately campy and we very much followed in the footsteps of both Beetlejuice and Hawaiian Vamps. We even recruited Jemaine [Clement] as Lydia’s young native love interest Kimo.”

Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was likely doomed to cult status from the beginning, and distributor Fantasia Films gave Chiodo a very limited budget. “Thankfully I’m used to near zero budgets,” he said. Even so, the film failed to make back its $22 million budget thanks to poor reviews, too long since the original film, the change in lead (though most praised Brady’s performance), the generally nonsensical plot, and the general feeling of “why?” that pervaded the original film’s fandom. Still, it lived on in cult status with a small but dedicated fandom who liked its juxtaposition between the gothic and the campy and the general wackiness of the story (Ebert, in a mixed review, noted that it “combines the creepy with the kitsch in interesting ways, as if Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room was possessed by Spielberg’s Poltergeist”).

But Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian was just one of several projects at the time. Crew Mate Jude Barsi, though not yet 20 at the time, had entered into the world of production[2], producing or co-producing a few episodes of Nocturns and Soul Music. She now entered into feature production on a stop motion animation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline. Barsi had met Gaiman on the set of Nocturns, where he’d written a few episodes, and he introduced her to his then in-progress Coraline novel, hoping to get her insights into the motivations of the title character.

This, a decade earlier, with a touch of the autobiographical for Barsi

“He’d been working on it for several years at that point,” said Barsi. “It had all started with a typo when he misspelled ‘Caroline’ and he thought that this had to be a person.[3] I immediately identified with Coraline, and told Neil so. I told him that I thought it was about Hollywood, and being a child star. I had plenty of ‘Other Mothers’ and ‘Other Fathers’ showering me with the attention that I wanted, some of which were good to me, but many of which were like the beldam and just wanted to possess me and feed off of me, you know? And since the other world is all fake and artificially perfect and all, it’s hard not to see Tinsel Town, right? Neil told me he hadn’t really thought of it that way, but he started to add that in, so, well, Coraline kind of also became me and the beldam sort of became Hollywood.”

Barsi approached Burton with the idea for a Coraline film, and found him receptive. Gaiman and Barsi worked together to both finalize the novella and write the screenplay. “Jude had some brilliant insights into Coraline’s state of mind and desires,” said Gaiman. “It gave her depth and let us develop her fears of lost identity and need for love and let us explore how a predatory force can exploit those desires for selfish purposes. Many of her Hollywood stories were adapted into the beldam’s words and actions, though we decided to not give Coraline an abusive household like Jude had, just a neglectful one.”

Henry Selick would ultimately direct the creepy, uncanny stop motion film, with Barsi herself voicing Coraline. They Might be Giants were brought in for the soundtrack, whose cheery tone was deliberately just slightly off, using Phrygian scale and the occasional tritone or other dissonance to accentuate the uncanniness. The film ultimately released in 1999 to high praise both for its visuals and its deep story and went on to financial success, ultimately topping $110 million[4]. It would become a classic of children’s dark fantasy.

(Image source Looper)

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten” – G.K. Chesterton

Neil Gaiman and fellow Skeleton Crew collaborator Terry Pratchett similarly worked with Burton on a production of their 1990 novel Good Omens, a comedy about the Antichrist getting accidentally switched at birth and raised as a normal child. It had been a long collaboration that had dated from the mid-1980s and was based in part on an idea by mutual friend and author Douglas Adams called “William the Antichrist”. It ultimately aired in 1996 with director Terry Gilliam.

But Gaiman in the meantime had another idea for the Skeleton Crew: a production based on Michael Moorcock’s classic dark fantasy series following Elric of Melniboné, a grim albino sorcerer-king who comes to possess – or more accurately be possessed by – a sentient rune sword known as Stormbringer. A servant of Chaos, Elric is haunted by the curse of a conscience, a Byronic figure whose mind constantly teeters between his dark duties and his vestigial compassion and quiet distaste for the excesses of his homeland. Gaiman would set up the deal to acquire the rights[5] and Michael Moorcock himself would be brought in to help consult and was given an executive producer credit, though largely stayed out of day-to-day production.

A lack of familiarity with the franchise outside of “fantasy geek” circles doomed hopes for a film series, but the TV Series Stormbringer launched on Fantasia TV in 1999 and became a small breakout hit with its dark vision and deconstructive elements. It was a series which relentlessly tore apart and exposed the baggage of the fantasy genre from subtly-coded racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and misogyny to antidemocratic or anti-technology sentiments. Loosely following the events of the story and book series, the writers began to slip in newer subplots or reframe older ones to address more recent issues and concerns, resulting in a modernized retelling of the Elric saga that irritated some hard-core fans, but won a wide fanbase.

View attachment 798549
“Blood and souls for Arioch!” (Image source stormbringer.fandom.com)

“It became a sort of anti-Tolkien series,” said Gaiman. “Fairly unavoidable given that Michael [Moorcock]’s stories were always intended as a direct challenge to the tropes that Tolkien and [C.S.] Lewis had engendered. Some fans were nonplused with some of the pragmatic modernizations, but Michael himself was unbothered by it all, being an unapologetic pragmatic anarchist. He often expressed to me how he wished that we’d gone farther [with the politics].”

Stormbringer ran for four seasons and held and continues to hold a strong cult following. Starring Doug Jones as the troubled Elric and Thurl Ravenscroft[6] as the voice of the titular sentient sword Stormbringer, the series stood out visually from the bright colors of most fantasy works at the time, with a dark and grey-based color pallet accentuated by crimsons and reds. With a dark vision inspired by the works of Giger, Froud, and Gilliam, themes of antiauthoritarianism, anarchism, inclusivity, and antiracism, and a musical score by Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor, the series stood out in a genre dominated at the time by Tolkien and Rowling and their imitators. Jones, meanwhile, would have some early reservations about the rather diabolic nature of the character and his literally demonic patron deity Arioch, given Jones’ strong Christian beliefs[7], but after a talk with Moorcock, he’d learn to appreciate the ultimately anti-diabolic nature of the characters and the plotlines. “Michael explained to me that Elric was, at his core, a good person born into the service of evil,” Jones told Christian Fantasy Quarterly. “He told me to think of my character as constantly pulled between his sinful birth and his quest for salvation, which as you can imagine was a theme that resonated with me as a Christian.”

Elric’s ultimate and disastrous failure to defy evil would be another challenge for Jones, who’d secretly hoped for a form of salvation for the troubled character, but even so, the tragic ending was a reflection of the ultimate tragedy of accepting evil in exchange for power, as represented through Stormbringer. “In the end,” Jones told Christian Fantasy, “[Elric] was undone by his own dependence on evil and his inability to let go of it, and while his sin brought him power and glory and earthly victory, it ultimately cost him everything, his life, his love, even his immortal soul. It's to me a very Christian narrative, though tragic. A cautionary tale.”

Rick Heinrichs, meanwhile, was reaching the natural conclusion of the beloved Nocturns. “We’d said by that point about everything that there was to say,” said Heinrichs. “So rather than limp along in a sad impression of our former glory, we went looking for the next thing. And that brought us to The Tourist.”

Original Giger concept art (Image source Wix)

The Clair Noto screenplay, brought to life by David Cronenberg and introducing Natasha Henstridge, had been a surprise sleeper hit in 1996 with its mix of dark and sexy and disturbing. For the Skeleton Crew, who’d managed the effects work, it was a natural. With Henstridge a rising star in films, Star Trek “Borg Queen” Jerry Ryan was brought in to play the lead Grace Riley in what was essentially a serialized original story unconnected to the film. The Tourist TV series aired post-watershed on Fantasia TV in the fall of 2000 and typically sported a T rating with an occasional R. It gained notoriety not just for its dark tone but for its willingness to push boundaries on sex, sexuality, gender, and violence, often addressing controversial topics like sex, rape, LGBTQ identity, corruption, and political and religious hypocrisy.

Advances in computer effects allowed for some bizarre alien biology relatively “on the cheap”, with simple prosthetic effects and puppetry able to handle all but the most complex shots. The series shocked audiences and gained notoriety, but in the end only found a cult audience that managed to pull it through a season and a half. But nonetheless, the series inspired multiple imitators, or at least characters, and is recalled as one of those “unappreciated by the viewers, monumental for the creative artists” pieces that inspired so much to come.

(Image source Smashpages)

And finally, Caroline Thompson was working with comics creators Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett and Whoopass Studios on Tank Girl: The Animated Catastrophe for FX. With the titular Tank Girl voiced by Nika Futterman, Booga voiced by a then-unknown Simon Pegg, and President Hogan voiced by Phil Lamar, the series continued the manic, fast-cut, flashy nature of the original film. It occasionally experimented with alternate animation styles (though usually stuck to the Martin and Hewlett inspired look), typically for alternate viewpoints or “general wackiness purposes”. Taking advantage of the cult resurgence of the 1994 film, Tank Girl: The Animated Catastrophe played for several seasons. It also made a deliberate attempt to integrate unknown or lesser-known artists into its rocking, primarily NuPunk soundtrack, which ultimately made as much of an impact as Tank Girl’s trusty baseball bat.

And thus, the Skeleton Crew managed to carry on into the new millennium, still producing popular and innovative work. But the fast and frenetic pace was slowly catching up to them.

---

[1] A zombie shuffles by Beetlejuice, who has a mop in hand. Its bits are falling off onto the floor.
Beetlejuice: “Hey! I just mopped there!”

[2] Recall that she’d been a Production Assistant for Skeleton Crew, a seemingly menial gofer-like job that’s typically a training position for production.

[3] Gaiman started writing Coraline in 1990 in our timeline and in this one, but it kept getting put on hold. Since the specific series of events that led to Neverwhere have been butterflied, Gaiman has had more time working on Coraline, so it’s a little more advanced as a novella at his point. The Caroline/Coraline typo is pretty random, but a fairly likely one to make eventually.

[4] Slightly better than our timeline’s 2009 film adjusted for inflation since it’s still nestled in the middle of the Goth zeitgeist, not just past it, and is notably more profitable since it costs less without filming it in 3D, which roughly doubles materials costs since you have to “film it twice”. Note that there will be no “Wybie” in this version since that was a specific add to our timeline’s film. Instead, there will be two ghostly “lost boys” in the mirror world both named Carey (based on the Coreys) who have been used and broken by the beldam in a symbolic representation of the child actors that get “devoured” by Hollywood.

[5] I have no idea who had the rights to Elric in 1998, but Universal supposedly acquired them in 2003 in our timeline.

[6] While his voice will be kept at a very low octave and not sound anything like Tony the Tiger (think of his “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” voice), the very idea of the guy voicing Tony saying “give me souls! Blood and souls for Arioch!!” will be an endless source of amusement and Net-Wit for many geeks. “Blood and souls! They’re Grrrrreat!!”

[7] Jones had similar early issues with Hellboy in our timeline, until its themes of overcoming one’s supposed evil nature and combating evil won him over.

AWESOME!

Hopefully the goth subculture remains popular for years to come.

 

[Ogrebear]

"The Shepherds by this point had already launched their strike, quickly acquiring 3.2% of the shares by the end of June" - they did indeed move quick.

"and the board agreed to initiate stock buybacks through the company in a Poison Pill strategy." - it should drive the price up and up...

"Peltz’s contacts had worked their sinister magic on Sid Bass," - Bass should goto Henson and explain he needs help here.

"Turner took advantage of liquid funds following the recent successes in the studios, CBS, and parks, and snagged a 5% stake in Disney." - well that's what he wanted.

"There was no likelihood of any takeover here, perhaps just some change in board members, and any potential spoils were hardly worth the price of gaining a notable stake." - perhaps a good way to look at this.

"The Good Shepherd Group filed a Schedule 13D with the SEC claiming 6% of Outstanding shares" - hardly enough to do what they want yet.

"The big question for the Disney board became: what is the plan here?" - talk to Turner, see what he wants to sell to the Board?

"Stock price: $101.44" - and rising!

@Nice look at the moves going on here @Geekhis Khan

 

[Geekhis Khan]

Happy would-have-been 100th Birthday for Stan Lee!

Whatever happens, don't make him Disney's PR guy.

“Our rivals are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to undercut our employees and our creativity... and neither do we.”

I was thinking that he could be on the Strategery Committee.

Interesting villain @Geekhis Khan and @El Pip

FWIW I didn't intend him as a "villain" so much as a foil and antagonist with opposing goals. He's not wrong about Disney having some fiscal issues.

Even as someone who is very mixed on Michael Moorcock's work, I do love the idea of the TV series being made and despite all the inevitable jokes I like the idea of Thurl Ravenscroft getting a big role so late in his life, especially one as terrifying as Stormbringer can be.

Now, this is my jam. I've heard about Stormbringer before, but I'm glad that this series is becoming more popular because it definitely deserves attention (especially over Tolkien/Rowling imitators).

As soon as people started asking about Doug Jones and I looked at him without all the makeup I knew that I was looking at Elric. Jones would even get to have a famous role with his face visible (albeit made up as an albino). Why OTL never did Elric in the Goth Age is beyond me. Probably some weirdness with Rights.

Judith Barsi with Coraline. That's a combination that I didn't really expect but I absolutely love it nevertheless. I can see a lot more people relating to ITTL Coraline's message and themes as it is tinged with the IRL experiences of Barsi, who received abuse firsthand and was forced to cope with the aftermath. Glad to see that reflected in its critical acclaim and higher box office numbers.

Yes, I'm not sure if Gaiman ever saw a Hollywood Story in Coraline, but the second I realized that he might share it with TTL Barsi I knew it was meant to be.

Nice to see Tank Girl seeing some more success.

I'd alluded to this series in the Tank Girl film, so figured I'd drop more on it here.

I've never heard that the original idea came from Adams before, rather than him just inspiring Gaiman to attempt a novel at all. And IOTL, at least, Pratchett and Adams met exactly once, and, to Terry's regret, didn't have a chance to speak properly.

News to me too. Interestingly, I just saw Everything, Everywhere, and All at Once and determined that it's the best Douglas Adams story he never wrote.

Is there ... a shark involved?

Seriously, I'd probably watch this, but I'm not sure what I'd make of it.

Yep, pretty much. If you haven't watched the video on the original screenplay, Batshit doesn't even begin to describe it.

AWESOME!

Hopefully the goth subculture remains popular for years to come.

It's fading in popularity per OTL (styles inevitably change), though there will probably always be a Goth Aesthetic. Stay tuned for where SCP goes next.

 

[Otakuninja2006]

Happy would-have-been 100th Birthday for Stan Lee!


I was thinking that he could be on the Strategery Committee.


FWIW I didn't intend him as a "villain" so much as a foil and antagonist with opposing goals. He's not wrong about Disney having some fiscal issues.



As soon as people started asking about Doug Jones and I looked at him without all the makeup I knew that I was looking at Elric. Jones would even get to have a famous role with his face visible (albeit made up as an albino). Why OTL never did Elric in the Goth Age is beyond me. Probably some weirdness with Rights.

Yes, I'm not sure if Gaiman ever saw a Hollywood Story in Coraline, but the second I realized that he might share it with TTL Barsi I knew it was meant to be.


I'd alluded to this series in the Tank Girl film, so figured I'd drop more on it here.


News to me too. Interestingly, I just saw Everything, Everywhere, and All at Once and determined that it's the best Douglas Adams story he never wrote.


Yep, pretty much. If you haven't watched the video on the original screenplay, Batshit doesn't even begin to describe it.


It's fading in popularity per OTL (styles inevitably change), though there will probably always be a Goth Aesthetic. Stay tuned for where SCP goes next.

Ok, but how are SCP's attempts at dubbing anime, as well as anime doing in general because we haven't heard from it in a LOOOONNNGGGGGG time, and I know that CapsuMon must have premiered by now.

 

[Geekhis Khan]

“A Recipe for Chaos”

US Congressional Control Remains in Doubt as GOP, Dems, Reform divide House, Senate

Senate Evenly Split; Reform Holds the Balance

GOP Holds Two-Vote Plurality in House, but Lacks Majority

Reform and Slash-Reform “Stripebacks” to play Kingmakers

The Washington Post, November 7th, 1998

Control of the US Legislature remains in doubt as final results continue to trickle in from Tuesday’s closely watched Midterm Election [on the 3rd] following a chaotic election cycle filled with three-way races and “Stripeback” Reform/Democrat and Reform/GOP state alliances[1].

As of this morning, it appears that the GOP will gain six seats in the Senate while the Democrats will lose six and Reform will maintain four Senate seats. This results in a 48/48 tie between the two major parties with Vice President Gephardt as a potential tiebreaker, but with the four Reform Senators positioned to flip votes any way that they choose. The office of President Pro Tempore, which fills in for the duties of the VP when absent and is normally assumed by the majority party, remains in flux[2].

A similar issue exists in the House of Representatives, where the GOP has gained a net of 11 seats at the expense of the Democrats, leading to a razor-thin 214 to 212 seat plurality[3], with the 8 Reform Representatives preventing any party from an outright majority. However, three of the Reform Representatives are allied with the GOP and likely to Caucus with them compared to four Reform-Democrats, giving the GOP a tiny advantage, while Socialist Vermont Representative Bernie Sanders is expected to mostly caucus with the Democrats, resulting in a virtual tie. As such, all eyes are on Nevada Representative Gary Wood, a non-aligned Reform Party member who has announced that he will not caucus with either party. GOP representative Dick Armey of Texas is expected to become Speaker of the House, though with a shaky coalition and no margin of error, leading many to wonder if he’ll be able to organize any workable caucus.

“It’s a recipe for chaos,” says Post Correspondent David S. Broder. “No one party can assume that they will be able to pass bills on their own. Reform will be in a privileged position and may be able to set the agenda on many issues, if they play their cards right.”

Negotiations between the three parties continue and many pundits have predicted that some sort of power sharing arrangement will be needed. “It’s like something out of a Parliamentary system,” said Broder. “Some sort of coalition government will be necessary just to pass anything, and issue-by-issue alliances will continue to disrupt any functioning coalition as the privileged Reform Party Representatives and Senators cross back and forth across the aisle.”

Strategists in both parties are at a loss on how to proceed, and Reform Party bigwigs, in particular founder Ross Perot, have been seen grinning from ear-to-ear. When asked what he thought of the election results, Perot simply laughed and walked off smiling. Broder says that… Cont’d on A2.



Senate

Democrats: 48 (-6)
Republicans: 48 (+6)
Reform: 4



President Pro Tempore: Rotating seat with Strom Thurmond (R), Richard Byrd (D) and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Ref)

Democratic Leader: Jim Sasser (D-TN)

Democratic Whip: Geraldine Ferraro (D-NY)

Republican Leader: Bob Dole (R-KS)

Republican Whip: Trent Lott (R-MS)

Reform Leader: Angus King (Ref-ME)



Senate Changes From Our Timeline:

Arkansas - State Senator Fay Boozman (R) defeats Former Rep Blanche Lincoln (D) - 50.8 - 43.2 - Republican Flip

Illinois - Comptroller Loleta Dodrickson (R) defeats Representative Glenn Poshard (D) and Don Torgeson (Ref) - 45.68 - 35.34 - 18.97 - Republican Flip

Kansas - Senator Bob Dole (R) defeats State Senator Pete Feleciano (D) and Alvin Bauman (Ref) - 52.9 - 13.64- 31.92 - Republican Hold

Nevada - Treasurer Bob Seale (R) defeats Senator Harry Reid (D) and None of these candidates - 39.72-30.24 - 27.53 - Republican Flip

New York - Senator Geraldine Ferraro (D w/Reform) defeats Secretary of State Alexander Treadwell (R) - 68.91-29.79 - Democratic Hold

North Carolina - Senator Lauch Faircloth (R) defeats Attorney John Edwards (D) and Activist Barbara Howe (Ref) - 46.79 - 42.65 - 10.65 - Republican Hold

South Carolina - Rep Bob Inglis (R) defeats Senator Fritz Hollings (D) - 47.15 - 43.23 - Republican Flip

Wisconsin - Rep Scott Klug (R) defeats Senator Russ Feingold (D) and Activist Robert Raymond (Ref) - 45.47 - 35.1 - 18.73 - Republican Flip



House

Republicans: 214 (+11)
Democrats: 212 (-11)
Reform: 8 [4 backed by Democrats, 3 backed by Republicans,1 Unaligned]
Socialist: 1



Speaker: Dick Armey (R-TX)

House Majority Leader: Tom Delay (R-TX)

House Majority Whip: John Boehner (R-OH)

House Minority Leader: David Bonior (D-MI)

House Minority Whip: Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

House Reform Leader: John Michael (Ref-ME)



House Changes from Our Timeline:

AL 2nd - Rep George Wallace JR (R) def Joe Fondren (D) - 71-23 - Rep Hold

AK - John Whitmore (Ref w/D) def Jim Dore (R) - 53.86 - 43.34 - Ref Hold

AZ 6th - Rep Steve Owens (D) def JD Hayworth (R) and Robert Anderson (Ref) - 43.85 - 29.66 - 26.49 - Dem Hold

AR 1st - Warren Dupwe (R) def Robert Barry (D) - 60.8-36.13 - Rep Hold

AR 2nd - Bud Cummins (R) def Vic Snyder (D) - 62.6 - 34.13 - Rep Hold

CA 1st - Representative Dan Hamburg (D-REF) elected with minimal opposition - D-Ref Hold

CA 3rd - Attorney Sandie Dunn (D) def. Real Estate Agent Doug Ose (R) and Ross Crain (Ref) - 41.32 - 37.8 -20.88 - Dem Hold

CA 4th - Rep Patricia Malberg (D) def State Rep Barbara Alby (R) and Patrick McHargue (Ref) - 40.72 - 38 - 21.28 - Dem Hold

CA 11th - Rep Patti Garamendi (D) def Councilor Sandy Smoley (R) - 42.62 - 36.8 - Dem Hold

CA 22nd - Rep Gary Hart (D) - 56.42, Tom Bordano (R) - 23.4, Richard Porter (Ref) - 18.88 - Dem Hold

CA 27th - Rep Doug Kahn (D) - 52.7, James Roagan (R) - 31.1 - Dem Hold

CA 36th - Janice Hahn (D) - 42.9, Steve Kuykendall (R) - 34.3, Robin Barrett (Ref) - 20.3 - Dem Hold

CA 38th -Rep Rick Zbur (D) - 50.62, Steve Horn (R) - 28.3

CA 43rd - Rep Mark Takano (D) - 44.12, Joe Khoury (R) - 31.1 - Dem Hold [Shout out for also being an openly gay member of Congress elected ITTL which I did not acknowledge with Rick Zbur]

CA 49th - Rep Lynn Schenk (D) - 55.1, Peter Navarro (R) - 24.2 - Dem Hold

CT 2nd - Rep David Bingham (Ref w/R) - 59, Martin Masters (d) - 41 - Ref Hold

ID 1st - Rep Marion Ellis (Ref w/D) - 60.48, Helen Chenoweth (R) - 39.52 - Ref Hold

IL 11th - Rep Clem Balanoff (D) - 44.67, Jerry Weller (R) - 38.56 - Dem Hold [Balanoff won in 1996, but I missed them on the list last go around]

IL 18th - Rep David Phelps (D) wins without much opposition - Dem Hold [Heavily pro-Democrat gerrymander ITTL that wasn’t mentioned in last update]

IL 20th - Jay Hoffman (D) - 42.17, John Shimkus (R) - 41.1 - Dem Hold

IN 9th - Jean Lesing (R) - 45.5, Baron Hill (D) - 41.8 - Rep Flip

KS 2nd - John Frieden (D) - 72.1 - Dem Hold

KS 3rd - Judy Hancock (D w/Ref) - 85.5 - Dem Hold

KS 4th - Seth Warren (Ref W/D) - 71.7, Nancy Harrington (R) - 25.1 - Ref Hold

KY 4th - Gex Williams (R) - 48.19, Ken Lucas (D) - 47.55 - Rep Hold

LA 7th - Rep Clyde Holloway (R) - 56, Chris John (D) - 44 - Dem Hold

ME 1st - Thomas Andrews (D) - 40.82, Ross Connelly (R) - 30.5, Eric Greiner (Ref) - 28.6 - Dem Hold

ME 2nd - John Michael (Ref W/D) - 79.5, Jonathan Reisman (R) - 20.5 - Ref Hold

MA 1st - Rep Patrick Larkin (R w/Ref) - 63.2, Stan Rosenberg (D) - 36.8 - Dem HOld

MI 7th - Rep John Conyers (D w/ REf) - 74.54, Nic Smith (R) - 23.15 - Dem Hold

MI 8th - Rep Rep Howard Wolpe (D)- 53.01, Susan Munsell (R) - 25.2, John Mangopoulos (Ref) - 19.9 - Dem Hold

MI 11th - Rep Bob Mitchell (D) - 58.78 , Marty Knollenberg (R) - 21.07, Dick Gach (Ref) - 20.2 - Dem Hold

MN 2nd - Rep Cal Ludeman (R) - 40.78, David Minge (D) - 35.8, Stan Bentz (Ref) - 23.2 - Rep Hold

MS 4th - Delbert Hosemann (R) - 49.6, Ronnie Shows (D) - 46.4, Rep Hold

MT - Rep Steve Kelly (Ref w/ D) - 56.3, Rick Hill (R) - 42 - Ref Hold

NJ 12th - Rep David Del Vecchio (D w/ Ref) - 65.3, Michael Pappas (R) - 33.6 - Dem Hold

NV 1st - Rep Gary Wood (Ref) - 33.97, John Ensign (R) - 32.65, Shelley Berkley (D) - 31.58 - Ref Hold

PA 13th - Rep John Fox (R) - 44, Joe Hoeffel (D) - 40.4 - Rep Hold

PA 15th - Rep Jim Yeager (R) - 62, Roy Afflerbach (D) - 23.4 - Rep Hold

Pa 20th - Rep Bill Townsend (R) - 57, Barry Stout (D w/Ref) - 43 - Rep Hold

TX 9th - Rep Jack Brooks (D) - Uncontested - Dem Hold

TX 14th - Rep Lefty Morris (D w/ Ref) - 65.5, Ron Paul (R) - 34.5 - Dem Hold

UT 2nd - Rep Merrill Cook (Ref w/R) - 68.7, Lily Garcia (D) - 27.4 - Ref Hold

WA 1st - Rep Rick White (R) - 36.5, Jay Inslee (D) - 35.3, Bruce Craswell (Ref) - 28.1 - Rep Hold

WI 2nd - Josephine Musser (R) - 44.6, Tammy Baldwin (D) - 37 - Rep Hold

WY - Rep Pete Maxfield (D) - 57.62, Barbara Cubin (R) - 38.9 - DemRef Hold



“Year of the Woman Governor” as Tenth Women Governor Elected
The Washington Post, November 7th, 1998

One fifth of all US Governors will be female for the first time ever following this year’s election as four women were elected as State Governors. California Lt. Governor Kathleen Brown (D) defeated Rep. Sonny Bono (R) and Activist Gloria La Riva (Ref) to become Governor of the nation’s most populous state. In Colorado, Lt. Governor Gail Schoettler (D) defeated Attorney Joe Rogers (R) and Activist Sandra Johnson (Ref). Connecticut Governor Eunice Groark (Reform allied with GOP) defeated State Rep. Joe Courtney (D) to be reelected in that state. Florida Secretary of State Sandra “Sandy” Mortham (R) defeated Lt. Governor Tom Gustafson (D allied with Ref) to claim the seat in the Sunshine State. Elsewhere, Governor Jane Hull (R) of Arizona, Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) of New Hampshire, Governor Ellen Saurberry (R) of Maryland, Governor Ann Richards (D) of Texas, and Governor Kathy Karpan (D-Ref) of Wyoming all held on to their seats.

“The people have spoken,” said Brown, “and they said ‘Yes, ma’am!’”

The election marks a running trend that began with Dianne Feinstein’s election to California Governor in 1990 and was soon followed by 1992’s record-breaking election of six women as Governors when Kathy Karpan and Dorothy Bradley… Cont’d on A4.



Governor Elections

Governors Circa January 1999

Republicans: 23 (+1)
Democrats: 20 (-2)
Reform: 7 (+1)


Governor Changes from Our Timeline:

Alaska - Governor Jack Cogill (Ref) def. State Rep Fran Ulmer (D) and Former State Rep Ray Metcalfe (Mod R) and Former State Rep John Lindauer (R) - 49.66 -29.14 - 12.6 - 8.6- Ref Hold

California - Lt. Governor Kathleen Brown (D) def Rep Sonny Bono (R) and Activist Gloria La Riva (Ref) - 51.44 - 26.63 -18.99 - Dem Hold

Colorado - Lt. Governor Gail Schoettler (D) def Attorney Joe Rogers (R) and Activist Sandra Johnson (Ref) - 37.53 - 34.53 -27.07 - Dem Hold

Connecticut - Governor Eunice Groark (Ref with Rep) def State Rep Joe Courtney (D) - 76.41 - 23.59 - Ref Hold

Florida - Secretary of State Sandra Mortham (R) def Lt. Governor Tom Gustafson (D with Ref) - 52.35 - 47.65 - Rep Flip

Georgia - Governor Paul Heard (R) def State Rep Roy Barnes (D) -51.13 - 40.36 - Rep Hold

Idaho - State Senator Dick Kempthorne (R) def Governor Ronald Rankin (Ref w/ D) - 57.22-42.78 - Rep Flip

Illinois - Governor George Ryan (R) def State Treasurer Pat Quinn (D) and Lawrence Redmond (Ref) - 46.36 - 35.36 - 18.28 - Rep Hold

Iowa - State Senator Tom Vilsack (D W/ Ref) def Lt. Gov Joy Cornig (R) - 51.26 - 48.13 - Dem Flip

Maine - Governor Jonathan Carter (Ref) def Former State Rep Jonathan Longley (R) - 82.54 - 15.15 - Ref Hold

Michigan - Governor Spencer Abraham (R) def Mayor Larry Owen (D w/ Ref) - 54.02 - 45.96 - Rep Hold

Minnesota - Attorney Dean Barkley (Ref) def Mayor Norm Coleman (R) and AG Skip Humphrey (D) - 37.51 - 31.68 - 28.81 - Ref Flip



FBI, ATF, Local Law Enforcement Raid SoL, Affiliated WNMOs

Actions over numerous states and localities

Several killed in sporadic violence

SoL Facility in Arizona still under siege

Chicago Tribune, November 14th, 1998

The FBI, ATF, and numerous federal, local and state law enforcement agencies conducted a series of raids, arrests, and other legal enforcement actions against known and suspected Sword of Liberty and allied and related Militant White Nationalist Organizations. Acting on information attained from various sources and dubbed “Operation Clean Sweep”, the multi-state operation went after numerous groups and individuals associated with SoL and other MWNOs in a coordinated series of raids, capturing over three dozen suspects and bringing in others for questioning. Most of these raids went off without serious violence, with casualties minimal. However, violent resistance with cells in Texas, Montana, and Arizona resulted in several deaths, with a ranch in rural Maricopa County Arizona still besieged by Federal forces[4].

“This action is intended to reduce or eliminate the risk to American civilians posed by militant white nationalist organizations,” said FBI spokesman… Cont’d on A2.

---

[1] Campaign-Hat-tip (as always) to @jpj1421 for the Election assist!

[2] Will ultimately be filled by a rotating billet between Strom Thurmond (R), Richard Byrd (D) and Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Ref).

[3] I swear we derived these results prior to the 2022 US Election results. Any similarity to current events really is just a coincidence!

[4] “Operation Clean Sweep” will not completely end the threat of MWNOs and the violence, particularly the ultimately deadly siege in Arizona, which will lead to continuing online anger on the far right, ultimately feeding occasional acts of violence, usually individual. However, the raids will disrupt the national organization and disrupt numerous planned attacks, leading to a general reduction in domestic terrorist threats. Information attained from sources including Yuri and “Maverick” will prove critical to the actions and see the fall of “Condor”. An allied group of US Army Ammunitions personnel with MWNO ties will be arrested by Military Police and be convicted in Courts Martial and sent to Leavenworth Military Prison.

 

[TGW]

While I have loved our trips into the world of business clashings and I adore the write-ups of the films we've had, I do really love these election results.

And holy shit, what a chaotic result! A veritable car crash of chaotic confusion! Seems like we're getting some of the southern realignment early. Disappointed to see that Fay "God's little protective shield" managed to get in but it is what it is. Definitely makes sense with the national mood at the time that Dodrickson wins, same with Bob Seale in Nevada especially given how close that election was in OTL. Interesting to see Dole stick around longer than in OTL, wonder how that's going to affect things. Happy to see Ferrano stick around but disappointed to lose Feingold, even if Klug is better than expected. Keeping Faircloth is an interesting choice, makes sense all in all but that takes out another relevant figure in the political landscape. And of course, Fitz Hollings losing is the biggest shock of them all. Once again, Inglis is not the worst the state can do but even so.

Now to the House. Definitely interesting to see that there is considerably less turnover than might be expected. A sign of the times or just a result of the realignment not being quite there yet? Clem Balanoff's an interesting figure to get involved with the House. Jean Lesing getting in is interesting and makes sense. Kansas is clearly one of the states benefitting from Reform interjecting a bit of competition into the state. You appear to have mislabelled the race between Clyde C Hollaway and Chris John as a Dem hold when Hollaway is recorded as the victor. Delbert Hosemann getting in early is fun, as is Jack Brooks holding on despite it all. Sad that we have to lose Tammy Baldwin and Jay Inslee though, that sucks.

I'm still oddly happy thar Jack Coghill held onto the Alaska governorship. Brown, Scholetter and Groark winning is pretty fun, though I'm not sure about Mortham, wonder how she'll govern. Dick Kempthorne winning feels like we've been put back on track somewhat, as does Vilsack. And Dean Barkley! Well, seems like Reform's really giving some people a bit more of a boost!

And it's good to see some of the SoL personnel get taken down.