WI: Chris Farley Doesn't Die in 1997?

One of the most beloved, yet controversial SNL castmembers of all time, Chris Farley was seemingly nothing more then the typical "fatass who falls down" John Belushi type of comedian. At the time of his death in late 1997, he was a fan-favorite with teenage boys and young adults alike. He had some potentially interesting projects in store such as the lead role in the animated film Shrek, as well as the titular character in the biopic of Fatty Arbuckle.

However, the reason why I'm asking about his career if he lived is because if you take several factors into consideration, Farley's death had a MASSIVE effect on the business and how several key projects turned out/affected the industry. Let me give you a few examples and you can figure it out with that:

* After Farley died in 1997, DreamWorks completely re-wrote and re-casted Shrek. Before his death, the well-known pop-culture references galore/Disney mocking rump was more of a straightforward story about an ogre who wanted to be nice to others, rather then scare them. The finished film was a massive success, making the most money of any animated film in 2001, as well as winning an Oscar and arguably changing the way animated films were made for quite some time. After Shrek's surprise success, practically EVERY animated film featured big-name actors and pop-culture references a-plenty, not to mention CGI became far more popular. If Farley survived and the more straightforward story ended up being the finished product, could you picture that altering anything?

* Many "clumsy fatass" comedian's careers started after or around Farley's death, such as Kevin James and Jack Black. If Kevin James' sitcom King of Queens ended up not being much of a success, perhaps due to Farley's survival, how do you feel that could alter television as we know it?
 
Apparently, after Belushi's death, they tried casting him as Ignatius Reilly in a "Confederacy of Dunces", but Farley's death prevented it.
 
I don't know. An intellectual slob sounds like a role he could pull off. Sure, Belushi's deadpan would've been more suited for the role, but both would've done it better than Will Farrell.

I guess the problem with Farley was, to me, he was self-admittedly one note at what he could play. He always played some extension of himself in all of his roles and I'm not sure he could have played a relatively high-brow character.
 
I guess the problem with Farley was, to me, he was self-admittedly one note at what he could play. He always played some extension of himself in all of his roles and I'm not sure he could have played a relatively high-brow character.
Fair enough. Either Belushi or John Candy probably would've done the role better, but I was suggesting a possible movie role he could've played.
 
If the Fatty Arbuckle film becomes a success i can see him trying more dramatic roles, possibly even losing weight to ditch the goofy image. If that didnt work out i can seriously see him going for a career in cartoon voice acting (i can see him possibly doing a surprisingly decent joker in any possible animated batman projects).
 
If the Fatty Arbuckle film becomes a success i can see him trying more dramatic roles, possibly even losing weight to ditch the goofy image. If that didnt work out i can seriously see him going for a career in cartoon voice acting (i can see him possibly doing a surprisingly decent joker in any possible animated batman projects).

Speaking of voice acting, how do you feel his Shrek might have been received, had it been released in say, May 1999?
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
If Chris Farley had not died in 1997, the world would have surely entered an golden age of unimaginable peace and prosperity that would have lasted for a thousand years.
 
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