Do the new restrictions apply to undead monstrosities or it a comprehensive system of restrictions on violence? This might mean an emphasis more on survival than the horror. Too bad Fatal Frame is about a decade in the future, because something similar to it might fit in well with the increased restrictions. Defeating ghosts via an otherwise non-violent method would work well in this period. Thankfully Sega comes around to either loosen or shatter these restrictions in the mid 90's.
 
Do the new restrictions apply to undead monstrosities or it a comprehensive system of restrictions on violence? This might mean an emphasis more on survival than the horror. Too bad Fatal Frame is about a decade in the future, because something similar to it might fit in well with the increased restrictions. Defeating ghosts via an otherwise non-violent method would work well in this period. Thankfully Sega comes around to either loosen or shatter these restrictions in the mid 90's.

It's fairly comprehensive. No blood at all, with more a focus on cartoony violence, like you'd get out of Mario and what have you. And any games in the US, are going to focus more on survival as opposed to horror certainly.
 
Chapter Twenty-Two
Part Twenty-Two: Changing With The Times:

“Vince McMahon, the unknowing saviour of British wrestling.”
- Quote from Big Bulldog, member of the Freakin' Awesome Network, 2013

In 1988, the WWF's contract with Channel Four was coming to a close with negotiations starting over the continuation of programming on the channel. These negotiations hit a huge road block in September 1988 when Tom Billington and Davey Boy Smith both left the WWF over a backstage incident with a fight breaking out between Billington and various other wrestlers. When Billington's complaints over the fight led to no action being taken (In large part due to Billington himself being seen as the cause of it), the two left the WWF and went to work in Japan. (1) This left the WWF at a disadvantage with their two biggest names in the UK no longer part of the company and Channel Four found the money asked for in regards to continued broadcast rights of WWF programming far too high. By December 1988, Channel Four was happy to let the contract lapse with the final episode of World Wrestling From New York being broadcast on the channel on the 14th January 1989.
- Extract from 'From The Ashes: The Rise of British Wrestling', 2012

“It really can't be said too much, the WWF losing their slot on Channel Four really helped us a lot. Once they went, they had a lot of viewers that were left with British wrestling, the sort that had adapted to changing tastes. Our own ratings shot up throughout 1989, even as our older stars weren't the drawing power that they once were. It's around this time that we really tried to get Tom and Davey both on board to come over to Joint Promotions, but Tom dragged his feet over it, wanting the best deal he could get. This led to the split with Davey, got really nasty with Davey just up and leaving Japan without giving Tom any notification at all. It was all downhill for Tom after that sadly. When Davey came over in late '89, things were really just beginning though.”
- Extract from an interview with Max Crabtree, 2004

The general makeover Joint Promotions went through in the late 1980's revolved around being seen as the foremost wrestling promotion in Britain. Coinciding with a partnership with All Star Promotions created to help combat the rise of WWF's popularity in the mid-1980's that turned to a full merger in 1988, the business would emphasise the British aspects of the industry at that time. Calling their headlining Championship the British Heavyweight Championship was only a minor step in trying to show themselves as the premier force in British wrestling. The aim to be the flag-bearer of British wrestling would lead to the cementing of partnerships with other wrestling promotions to increase the level of talent available to Joint Promotions. The two primary companies that made this partnership were All Japan Pro Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions. The latter would be the more influential as the talent exchange would include those behind the scenes in the form of booker, Jim Cornette.
- Extract from 'The Rise And Rise of Professional Wrestling, 1984-2000', 2001

“The Joint Promotions deal was a big deal for us at the time, it was after the WWF had lost their own deal with the TV over there and our own business had been consolidated. The gamble we took going against WrestleMania with our own Bunkhouse event in 1985. We thought, with the WWF doing their looks into Britain at the time, we'd be able to hit them hard, but Vince pulling our show from the cable companies was a major wake up call for us. We had to stop plans for further touring outside the south once we realised what we were up against and focused on simply being an alternative to the WWF, they were too big at the time to try and knock over with one shot. The chance to get a talent exchange going with Joint Promotions was a way to get our name known outside the US. Jim Cornette was part of the deal, with the structure they wanted being closer to one of our shows to capture the popular style of the time.”
- Extract from an interview with Jim Crockett, 2008 (2)

“To put this in perspective, what Madison Square Garden is to the WWF, the Royal Albert Hall is to Joint Promotions.”
- Quote from Adog, member of the Freakin' Awesome Network, 2013

JOINT PROMOTIONS PRESENTS
LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL
CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT EVENING
WITH STARS SUCH AS
'BRITISH BULLDOG' DAVEY BOY SMITH
'BIG DADDY' SHIRLEY CRABTREE
GIANT HAYSTACKS
KENDO NAGASAKI
AND OTHERS
SATURDAY 16/11/1989​
- Poster advertising the Championship Tournament Evening of Joint Promotions

“My first job going over to Joint Promotions was to help set up this whole new era they had planned with Davey Boy as the Champ. Now, going into this, I hadn't worked with Davey Boy much before but, away from Dynamite, he was a big a teddy bear as you could ever hope to meet. Still Hell of a prankster, but a good guy to work with. When he came over from Japan, he was as eager as any of us to get started and never really got an ego over being selected as the main man for the company, which is a damn rarity I can tell you. So with me acting as the go-between as JCP and JP, we looked to get this tournament going and I remember the first thing that Davey Boy gave me was watch out for the grannies.”

“... Now I am like, 'mother fucker, what're you on about watch out for the grannies'? Davey wouldn't go on about it, he just said just keep away from the old ladies in the audience. They'd gotten me on to be manager for Steve Williams as part of the first talent exchange we were doing at the time and he was getting a match at the Royal Albert Hall deal. Now there's an event which went better than I imagined. Don't get me wrong, the matches are fucking terrible but the crowd loved every moment of it and Davey got the right push at the right time and he was bigger than Moses in Jerusalem in Britain for about five years. But, that wasn't my focus for the night, it was the fact that this eighty year old woman shanked me in the Goddamn back in the first match of the night!”

“Steve was taking on Norman Smiley, first match of the night, and I wanted Smiley to tone down some of the comedy stuff so we could be serious. But Britain, being some kind of bizarro land, is the place where funny actually does make money and he became huge and I had egg on my face until I went back to the States some time later. Well, the match was taking place, I was out by ringside working up the crowd, turned my back to the ring for a second when I felt the white hot pain shoot through to my kidneys. I turned around and there was this lovely eighty-year old woman looking at me like I'd broke into her house at Christmas and shit on her grandkids! Smiley's in the ring, getting the shit knocked out of him but laughing his ass off as he sees me running around the ring, 'cos apparently little old ladies with fucking shivs are the first in fucking line to buy tickets to wrestling events in Britain! I had to jump up on the apron just to make sure one of the bitches didn't slit my fucking throat before the match was done! Even Steve was corpsing by the end of it and I ran like I had the taco shits to the back when that bell rang to end it all.”

“When I finally got to see Davey in the back, he gave me the most smug son-of-a-bitch grin and asked what I thought about the British crowds. I said to him 'Davey, either we put in some fucking barricades or I swear to God I am bringing out a fucking SWAT team to make it through another night! I got onto Max Crabtree and Pat Roach about it and, sure enough, we got barricades for all further shows and every last guy in the back thanked me for it. So that was my first lesson in Britain, nothing's more terrifying than an old day with knitting needles 'cos those crazy bitches will take down even the toughest guy on the roster and ain't a damn thing you can do about it!”
- Extract from an interview with Jim Cornette, 2013 (3)

Steve Willaims (With Jim Cornette) vs. Norman Smiley
British Bulldog vs. Kendo Nagasaki
Chris Adams vs. Giant Haystacks
Drew McDonald vs. Johnny Smith
Johnny Smith vs. Big Daddy
Steven Regal & David Taylor vs. Robbie Brookside & Tiger Mask
British Bulldog vs. Giant Haystacks
Drew McDonald vs. Big Daddy
An announcement by Brian Dixon regarding this event and the future of Joint Promotions
British Bulldog vs. Big Daddy​
- A run down of the card for Championship Tournament Evening

“The merger between All Star and Joint Promotions had to be done in the end. With the WWF eating into our business, it was either hang together or hang apart really. The British stars from both our companies came together and put out the biggest show we could. Its why we had Pat Roach on board as well, help us build up the event while also acting as a backstage person to help get the older lads into their roles as someone to put the newer talent at the forefront. That's what the tournament in '89 was about, to make Davey Boy be the biggest name around. When he beat Big Daddy right clean in the middle of the ring, that sealed the deal for us for the next six years. Despite everything that came afterwards, the tour of the US, selling out Wembley going against Hogan and all the rest, I think Davey Boy has always seen that night in the Albert Hall as his biggest moment of his career.”
- Extract from an interview with Brian Dixon, 2004

1: Based off a similar incident in OTL. Considering Billington's personality, something like this was probably inevitable.
2: Vince McMahon playing silly buggers and not letting cable companies host his pay-per-views and WCW's really kneecapped the latter in 1987 onwards. Here, WWF attention in the UK meant others think they had a shot, a thought that was taken out the back and shot, giving Jim Crockett a nasty wake up call that causes him to change business practises early enough to right the ship.
3: Apparently, wrestlers in British companies were terrified of falling out of the rings due to the ring Jim Cornette lays out here. Those old lovelies were terrifying.
 
Yeah, Billington was a jerk. Bret Hart recounted some of Billington's antics in his autobiography (including drugging other wrestlers when it was their turn to drive, blading them deep after he convinced them to let him blade them (make them bleed, basically), IIRC). Chris Benoit had him as a role model, and we all know how that ended.

Hopefully, Davey Boy Smith lives ITTL...
 
Yeah, Billington was a jerk. Bret Hart recounted some of Billington's antics in his autobiography.

Hopefully, Davey Boy Smith lives ITTL...

the last paragrah give hopes, remember Davey was another casualty of the fierce and infamous monday night war(he defected after montreal screwjob and dies after pain complication of one unsafe stunt in wcw) so he would live here if still in britain.

That last part, sell out against hogan in wembley...Summerslam here was bigger?(100K) And Davey become the world champion never was?
 
I agree with you.

As for Jimmy Swaggart, well, he has a certain skeleton that will tumble out of his closet (assuming that wasn't butterflied away)...

A few words: "...I have sinned against you, oh Lord."

(Ozzy Osbourne, incidentally, made a song out of it called Miracle Man. Ever heard it?)
 
DAv, I have never seen anyone nail Jim Cornette's speech pattern quite as effectively as that. As soon as I realized it was him, I started reading it over again, and I heard him say every word. Well played.
 
Absolutely excellent update DAv

My favourite wrestler is the top guy of British Wrestling and is hopefully still alive in the modern day of this thread.

The Jim Cornette thing was also a good read.
 
Yeah, Billington was a jerk. Bret Hart recounted some of Billington's antics in his autobiography (including drugging other wrestlers when it was their turn to drive, blading them deep after he convinced them to let him blade them (make them bleed, basically), IIRC). Chris Benoit had him as a role model, and we all know how that ended.

Hopefully, Davey Boy Smith lives ITTL...

Davey Boy has missed out on the car crash which contributed to his pain killer addiction OTL. Here, he's a lot healthier and away from the worst excesses of the American wrestling scene

the last paragrah give hopes, remember Davey was another casualty of the fierce and infamous monday night war(he defected after montreal screwjob and dies after pain complication of one unsafe stunt in wcw) so he would live here if still in britain.

That last part, sell out against hogan in wembley...Summerslam here was bigger?(100K) And Davey become the world champion never was?

All I'm going to say is, Davey Boy doesn't leave Joint Promotions as long as he's Champion. ;)

I agree with you.

As for Jimmy Swaggart, well, he has a certain skeleton that will tumble out of his closet (assuming that wasn't butterflied away)...

A few words: "...I have sinned against you, oh Lord."

(Ozzy Osbourne, incidentally, made a song out of it called Miracle Man. Ever heard it?)

Not heard of the song. But Jimmy Swaggart's day will come later on.

DAv, I have never seen anyone nail Jim Cornette's speech pattern quite as effectively as that. As soon as I realized it was him, I started reading it over again, and I heard him say every word. Well played.

Glad I managed to nail the effect, thank you for those words. In truth, I might have a few more Cornette interviews, simply because his style of speaking is so much fun to write for.

Absolutely excellent update DAv

My favourite wrestler is the top guy of British Wrestling and is hopefully still alive in the modern day of this thread.

The Jim Cornette thing was also a good read.

Thanks for those words. We'll see more of Davey Boy and Joint Promotions later on, he's my favourite wrestler too, was probably obvious at one point, but as I first said when doing this TL, this one's for fun.
 
Whether it would have or not though, I will say that Ghostbusters has a lot of great memories for everyone that worked on it and I know John would have loved to have seen how long its impact has lasted.
...so, I just noticed this...
 
Chapter Twenty-Three
Part Twenty-Three: Shattering Perceptions:

“When the time came for us to make a decision over Grave of The Fireflies, that was the turning point for Studio Eleven. We were running high on Nelvana's output with the Big Three, Castle in The Sky was a success and MGM had finally greenlit a project for our own. Then, Studio Ghibli started major production of Grave of The Fireflies and it led to an outright civil war in our own boardrooms. Could we distribute this movie? We never doubted the quality, but the content was something that we feared could make us, or break us. With MGM telling us that we had to make the choice ourselves, it eventually came down to a vote by the executives. Do we dub and try to distribute this movie? We had the vote, and it passed by the slimmest of margins. To this day I'm convinced that the vote could have gone either way and I'm glad that it didn't.”
- Extract from an interview with Clive Smith, 2004

After the smash success of Valley of The Wind and the further acclaim gained by Castle in The Sky, Studio Ghibli's fame in the West was gaining speed as a producer of fine animated movies. The partnership with Studio Eleven had been a success story for both with the first strain of the relationship coming with Grave of The Fireflies. While Studio Eleven and, by extension, Nelvana, had begun to pride themselves on being completely different from Disney in terms of quality and output, the content of Grave of The Fireflies gave them pause. The nature of the film, showing children failing to survive in the final days of World War II, was beyond what Studio Eleven had been expecting from Studio Ghibli's output. With the insistence on not cutting or changing any scenes, it appeared that neither side would make a move until a vote among Studio Eleven's board finally brought about the decision to dub the film. With it would come great controversy and a shattering of conceptions of animation as being only for children.
- Extract from Animation in The Age of Amalgam, 2004

“Well... this is different.”
- Quote from Robin Williams after reading the script for Grave of The Fireflies

Grave of The Fireflies is an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation. Since the earliest days, most animated films have been “cartoons” for children and families. Recent animated features such as Nausicca of The Valley of The Wind and Rock And Rule have touched on more serious themes, and classics like Bambi have had moments that moved some audience members to tears. But Bambi, and films like it, exist within safe confines; they inspire tears, but not grief. Grave of The Fireflies is a powerful dramatic film that happens to be animated, one that showcases just what the medium can actually do.”
- Extract from Roger Ebert's review of Grave of The Fireflies, September 1988 (1)

Decisions regarding the release of the dubbed version of Grave of The Fireflies led to a delayed nationwide release. The late September date was chosen to avoid children having wider access that they would have gained during the summer vacation and hopefully avoid further controversy. It was around August that the rumours began that Studio Eleven actually began to lobby the MPAA for the movie to be given a higher age rating than a typical children's movie. The final rating of a PG-13 was seen to be a balance between the lobbying for a higher age rating and the wish to gain as wide as an audience as possible. The effect on advertising and public perception was noticeable from the outset, with the rating itself perhaps garnering more interest in the movie than it would have gotten from being left alone for the MPAA to make their own decision.
- Extract from You Can See The Munchkin in The Trees: A History of Movie Urban Legends, 2000

“It's hard to state just how much Grave of The Fireflies changed things. When you saw the commercials, saw them highlighting the war parts of the movie and the loss that was in it, you knew something had changed. When it was released and became as big as it did, the idea that cartoons were something only for kids was pretty much killed off.”
- Quote from RangerofSpace, member of AlternateHistory.com, 2013

Grave of The Fireflies:
Released: 23rd September, 1988
Budget: 32.7 Million US Dollars
Box Office: 82.3 Million US Dollars
- Run down of Grave of The Fireflies information and performance in western markets (2)

“The sheer success of Grave of The Fireflies really outmatched out expectations. I think there was still some of that anti-war sentiment left over from Vietnam which helped boost numbers, although we ran into some controversy from parents who hadn't paid much attention to the advertising campaign. Grave of The Fireflies did a lot to help shatter conceptions about what animation could do. In the aftermath of the success, we were really looking for new projects for our own in-house projects. We were even in negotiations over some of Terry Pratchett's Warhammer books before the Jimmy Swaggart really started to up the pressure on us after the video game controversy and his campaign against Totoro. Our efforts were hampered by that although what Grave of The Fireflies had helped break, My Neighbour Totoro helped build into something new.”
- Extract from an interview with Clive Smith, 2001

“Moving away from the tragedy of Grave of The Fireflies, Studio Eleven's latest distribution of a Japanese film, My Neighbour Totoro, blends the mundane with the fantastic into a film that will catch the imagination of people of all ages. The tale of Satsuki and Mei encountering the titular Totoro and gaining insight into his powers is counter-balanced by worries and fears that anyone can relate to. The two young girls are portrayed realistically and are endearing with a wonderful soundtrack and animation once again standing out. Studio Ghibli's movies can mesh the supernatural with the natural in ways that few others can achieve and produce viewing everyone can enjoy.”
- Extract from a review of the My Neighbour Totoro from the Boston Globe, March 1989

“And we have further proof that our Christian culture is under attack! A movie, a movie with the most vile images is now being marketed towards our children! A father molesting his daughters is presented clearly! These same girls go onto summon a Demon! A Demon! As we draw close to Easter, look not to this vile Satanic piece of filth! Write to your Congressman! To your Senators! Ban this movie and protect your children! Protect all our children!”
- Extract from a sermon by Jimmy Swaggart, March 1989

“The attempted boycott by Jimmy Swaggart on our films, starting with Totoro with his attempt to get theatres to drop it. Thankfully, the studio was behind us on this, I just think they didn't want anyone to try and censor what kind of movies they could release. Their faith was rewarded by Totoro's success despite the boycott, it being especially popular overseas in Europe. MGM really supported us during this period, although we had to self-censor a little. Negotiations over the potential Warhammer movie ended right there and then, the content being too controversial to carry on with. We still had some home grown projects, one that was released later that year. Despite the controversy, 1989 was a really good time for us with My Neighbour Totoro helping rebuild animation as something the entire family could enjoy without being kiddy, the Oscar nomination and the success of Don's first movie with us.”
- Extract from an interview with Michael Hirsh, 1997

“The rise of anime in the 1980's was rather fitful, if only because of how the majority first came into anime. Other anime had come before of course, but none had been on the back of major studio backing. Nausicca of The Valley of The Wind, along with the run of Studio Ghibli movies in the late 80's got people associating anime with high quality films that was brought up even more with the Oscar nomination for Grave of The Fireflies. So, when western companies looked for anime to mass distribute, a few of them got rather nasty shocks. MGM was, of course, the big winner to start with. Studio Ghibli was the jewel in their crown and they also negotiated for the rights to distribute the Lupin III TV specials and movies, although they aimed for a smaller cost with the home video market being their target for them. A strategy that really paid dividends, literally.”

“The biggest problem for studios was that if they wanted a good series or movie, they'd have to pay for the flops from the same studios so that they'd make some money off them. Warner Brothers, Fox and other studios erred on the choice which allowed a new studio to take centre stage. Enter Streamline Pictures and their ability to get a slot on HBO with the idea of broadcasting mature animation to a wider audience. So, 1989 brought us the dub of Mobile Suit Gundam, for better and for worse. The impact would be felt though, with Cartoon Network also having their Elder Hour at their launch. Mobile Suit Gundam was the first animated series on a major network that was given a more adult feel in tone. It added to the idea that anime was more for adults than western animation and added to the erosion of the attitude that cartoons were just for kids.”

“These years were interesting, as an anime fan, to say the least. A lot of smaller companies started at this time, to help snap up the anime they could to make the most of the medium's popularity. Some of the dubbing was poor, not going to lie, but seeing an explosion of anime at this time was huge, even if it did add into the whole moral panic at the time.”
- Quote from OreGriz, member of Alternate History.com, 2011

STUDIO ELEVEN PRESENTS
STEPHEN SONDHEIM'S
INTO THE WOODS
DIRECTED BY DON BLUTH​
- Poster advertising Studio Eleven's adaptation of Into The Woods, November 1989

1: A modified version of a review of the same movie by Roger Ebert IOTL
2: I could only find one source online regarding the budget of Grave of Fireflies, which said it was 3.27 million dollars. I looked into The Little Mermaid's Budget and decided to fudge the numbers and make a wild guess. If anyone's able to correct me, that'd be nice.
 
Last edited:
So, an earlier introduction of anime into the US. So, Akira is not really that special in this TL. It probably still exist. It just isn't as well known.
 
So, an earlier introduction of anime into the US. So, Akira is not really that special in this TL. It probably still exist. It just isn't as well known.

Akira still exists, but it's rather gotten lost in the shuffle for Western distribution at the moment. As mentioned, major companies are shipping around for anime to dub, but are a bit wary about buying stuff that they can't make money on. In return, the prices of some stuff has gone up to distribute since anime companies feel as if they can get more than OTL.
 
I'm hoping that a certain pigtailed martial artist still gets his/her introduction to the West. I'm guessing that the the idea that anime is more mature than Western animation leaves the show intact.
 
I'm hoping that a certain pigtailed martial artist still gets his/her introduction to the West. I'm guessing that the the idea that anime is more mature than Western animation leaves the show intact.

I was tempted to make Ranma an important part of the first wave of anime in the late 80's, but his show was far too late to fit into the slot I wanted.
 
Patlabor would fit the timeframe, even if it's obscure OTL. There's even a token American character! It's fairly mature as far as anime go, and I don't remember the first movie being terribly exploitive. The somewhat (light) Christian symbolism might torpedo it given the ongoing moral panic. I only saw a bit of the TV series, but it's lighter-hearted than the movies, which got grim at points.

The second movie in 1993 could be presented as the "only" Patlabor movie once it comes out if 1 is problematic, and it works pretty well as a standalone techno-thriller. It leans on Japanese politics regarding Article 9 a bit, but its "UN peacekeeper anxiety" would fit 1990s America well. The imagery of bombings would be retrospectively eerie, if terrorism comes into play later on ITTL. Patlabor 2 would stand out from most 90s Hollywood fare because the terrorism isn't presented in an action-y way. It's very foreboding and played for tension, both before and after the attacks.
 
Hopefully that means that Ranma will be introduced to the West sometime in the future.

It's very likely.

What about Slayers? That was released about around this time period.

Well, the anime of that didn't come on until a fair bit later. Provided there's interest enough from companies and fans, it could get a dub on a network like HBO, if it's the one I'm thinking of.

Patlabor would fit the timeframe, even if it's obscure OTL. There's even a token American character! It's fairly mature as far as anime go, and I don't remember the first movie being terribly exploitive. The somewhat (light) Christian symbolism might torpedo it given the ongoing moral panic. I only saw a bit of the TV series, but it's lighter-hearted than the movies, which got grim at points.

The second movie in 1993 could be presented as the "only" Patlabor movie once it comes out if 1 is problematic, and it works pretty well as a standalone techno-thriller. It leans on Japanese politics regarding Article 9 a bit, but its "UN peacekeeper anxiety" would fit 1990s America well. The imagery of bombings would be retrospectively eerie, if terrorism comes into play later on ITTL. Patlabor 2 would stand out from most 90s Hollywood fare because the terrorism isn't presented in an action-y way. It's very foreboding and played for tension, both before and after the attacks.

Some very good potential choices there for further anime to come in. There will certainly be interest from other studios and networks looking to ape Studio Eleven's success. These could come through easy enough.
 
Top