I've been playing a bunch of MMO's lately and let me tell y'all, I understand why they were so popular for a while. The questing formula they have is like crack for ADHD brains.
Your Personal Pop Culture Utopia timeline
- Thread starter xie323
- Start date
Western Animation - Phantom TL - Part 1
Warner Bros./Cartoon Network/Adult Swim
Warner Bros./Cartoon Network/Adult Swim
- What's New, Scooby-Doo? lasts a bit longer, ending in 2008. This butterflies Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Gets A Clue!.
- Lobo: The Animated Series gets made as a show on The WB's primetime lineup and becomes a moderate success. It becomes more popular from reruns on Adult Swim tho, and the show moves there for it's last season.
- Teen Titans lasts for one more season that's 26 episodes as opposed to 13 episodes, focusing on Starfire and being a crossover with the Legion of Superheroes and the Omega Men. This results in the Legion of Superheroes series itself being butterflied in place of a new proper Superman series.
- Xiaolin Showdown lasts another season.
- The Batman only lasts from 2004 until 2006, ending a little earlier.
- Justice League Unlimited ends in 2005, but is followed by Justice League of America, an 26-episode series and Justice League International, an 13-episode series that wraps up the whole Justice League animated franchise.
- Gorilla Girl, Go Go Moba Boy, Plastic Man and Edgar and the Voyagers all become shows on Kids' WB.
- Duck Dodgers gets another season, lasting until 2006.
- Loonatics Unleashed is HEAVILY retooled after the outcry from the animation community, ultimately premiering in 2006 as an vastly different show.
- Reboots and revivals based on Wacky Races, The Wizard of Oz, ThunderCats and several more legacy IP are made, whether for theatrical release, or broadcast across Kids' WB and/or Cartoon Network.
- Speaking of which, the ThunderCats revival premieres in March of 2007 as opposed to June of 2011. The show also lasts longer with the second season taking upon the original plans for the season before the show was canned. The show is a CN/WB anime co-production.
- Batman: Gotham Knight and Batman: The Brave and the Bold both premieres in Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 on Cartoon Network and Kids' WB respectively. Gotham Knight is a edgier take on the hero as he investigates and tries to see what went wrong with Gotham. Brave and the Bold is pretty much the same as OTL's show.
- Gotham Girls also becomes a full series ITTL, premiering in 2004 on Toonami.
- Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated lasts longer and gradually becomes a more mature and serious show and winds up becoming the definitive installment of the Scooby-Doo franchise. The show also butterflies Be Cool, Scooby-Doo and lasts surprisingly, until 2019 with a final special crossing over THE ENTIRE HANNA-BARBERA UNIVERSE(early Cartoon Network characters even included).
- Looney Tunes: Laff Riot goes thru as intended, premiering in 2010 on Kids' WB and becoming an HUGE success for the block and Cartoon Network. It lasts until 2019.
- MAD still exists.
- Young Justice isn't canceled in 2013, but rather, goes on, ending in 2016.
- DC Nation still exists, but is given better treatment. Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Beware the Batman does a little better. Other new DC shows are introduced over the years.
- Due to the satisfying conclusion of Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go! doesn't exist, but the creators do create a similar show to it, but less cringe. It ends in 2018.
- Ben 10 is instead retooled as a Dial H for Hero series that premieres in May 2006 on Toonami. The show is actually still just as much of a hit as OTL's Ben 10. Come 2009, Ben 10 and Dial H for Hero are both spun off with Dial H: Hero Generation and Ben 10: Alien Force(with elements from Ultimate Alien) respectively.
- Mike Tyson Mysteries still exist.
- Bunnicula still exists, but in place of OTL's other shows, we instead get Top Cat and Yogi Bear revivals. The Flintstones gets revived by Seth Macfarlane with a new show for Fox's Animation Domination, which doesn't go on a hiatus ITTL.
@TheFaultsofAlts @Tacomaster @THE KINGFISH @kirbopher15 @KPyall @ExowareMasses @lukesams @leap123 @vl106 What are your thoughts?
So basically, Warner Bros. Animation manages its animation properties much better than OTL?
Personally, I prefer living in a world where say - Turner bought the rest of MGM in 1996 instead of merging with Time Warner. That way MGM/Turner focuses more on the Tom & Jerry and Scooby-Doo franchises (while avoiding anything like Velma existing) and Warner Bros (after getting their pre-1950 library back) focuses more on the DC and Looney Tunes franchises (thus allowing the latter to have a better 2000s/2010s).
The this is what Warner bros should be instead of the merry old land of tax write offs is strong with this one
I am annoyed at being left out of the discussion, but ok...
These are all good ideas...but too many executives are obsessed with amassing wealth to care about anything else.
I think the tax write-off policy is just rent-seeking in its purest and most profane form, since it literally rewards companies for their mediocrity.
I think we should reform the tax laws so executives don't get to increase their portfolio by ruining good art.
In the Phantom TL, the AOL merger doesn't happen, or is at least handled a LOT BETTER.
Right, but this TL's PoD is around 2000 or so.
Right.
I'm sorry. I'll make sure to ring you in my next idea dump here.
Sadly true.
Exactly.
Yes. It's a TL based on this canceled gaming console.
Phantom Entertainment - Wikipedia
After Encanto, Walt Disney Animation Studios decides to take a hiatus for the entire year of 2022, so that they can focus more on their centennial celebration film, Wish. And it all managed to pay off in the end. As a result, TTL's movie is very similar to Anny Mation's reimagining of it IOTL. Not only that, but it hides the fact that it's CG way better than OTL.
Strange World also benefitted from the hiatus in that it got delayed all the way to November 2024. Like Wish ITTL, this version of the movie is so different that you can easily say the plotline of both TTL's film and OTL's film aren't the same at all.
And yes, the Moana TV series still exists as planned.
Strange World also benefitted from the hiatus in that it got delayed all the way to November 2024. Like Wish ITTL, this version of the movie is so different that you can easily say the plotline of both TTL's film and OTL's film aren't the same at all.
And yes, the Moana TV series still exists as planned.
Giancarlo Esposito has done such a good job at playing the evil businessman, as both Gus Fring and Stan Edgar, that I would love to see him play Lex Luthor in at least one movie.
This scene can be summed up as "Lex Luthor telling Superman to go sit in the corner."
Esposito's appearance makes him as close as you can to the DCAU Lex Luthor in looks as any real-life person can. This version of Lex Luthor isn't a deranged egomaniac but a chillingly ruthless man who uses his skillset to outmaneuver the Man of Steel.
This scene can be summed up as "Lex Luthor telling Superman to go sit in the corner."
Esposito's appearance makes him as close as you can to the DCAU Lex Luthor in looks as any real-life person can. This version of Lex Luthor isn't a deranged egomaniac but a chillingly ruthless man who uses his skillset to outmaneuver the Man of Steel.
I'm currently working on my own alternate timeline regarding American animation. Here's the basic outline of what I have planned for Hanna-Barbera so far (subject to change):
- 1930s and 1940s: Same as OTL, as they're still part of MGM at this time.
- 1950s: Same output as OTL, but I'm on board with the idea of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera being promoted to heads of MGM's animation department rather than said department shutting down in 1957 and them partnering with Columbia/Screen Gems (this also means that any adaptations/revivals of Tom & Jerry as well as other MGM theatrical cartoons will be done by Hanna-Barbera from this point forward).
- 1960s: Mostly the same output as OTL, though Top Cat and The Jetsons last longer in their initial runs (possibly Jonny Quest as well, though it's unlikely given how expensive it was to produce at the time). If they remain with MGM, there'd probably also be quite a few more feature films produced by the studio from this point onward (including some of their made-for-TV films being promoted to full features). The sale of the studio to Taft Broadcasting is avoided.
- 1970s and 1980s: I was originally going to scrap a lot of their lesser shows from these two decades, but now I'm actually considering keeping said shows and improving on them (naturally, this means that the moral panic surrounding the influence of television on children in the late 1960s, and the resultant censorship and educational mandates forced on most animated tv shows of this era, will be avoided somehow - this will also benefit animated tv shows done by studios other than Hanna-Barbera as well). That said, I feel that some of these shows (namely the ones based on properties Hanna-Barbera themselves did not create) can be done by studios other than Hanna-Barbera ITTL (Hanna-Barbera still handles the animated adaptation of The Smurfs).
- 1990s: Cartoon Network is still formed, though ITTL it's due to a mutual merger between MGM and Turner Broadcasting (assuming the former still keeps Hanna-Barbera as its animation studio). The output by both Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network remains mostly the same, though I might butterfly Cave Kids and Yo! Yogi and replace them with different shows, as well as give Pirates of Dark Water, SWAT Kats and 2 Stupid Dogs an additional season each. I'm on the fence on whether or not to maintain the merger between Turner and Time Warner, but I will say regarding the latter that:
- They will get their pre-1948 animated short library back (assuming they ever lost it in the first place, which might not happen ITTL).
- Most if not all of the shows developed for Cartoon Network by Warner Bros. Animation will still exist in some form.
- Time Warner's later mergers with AOL, AT&T, and Discovery will not happen.
- 2000s and beyond: Following Bill Hanna's death in 2001, Hanna-Barbera will either be folded/rebranded into Cartoon Network Studios or will continue on separately from it (in the case of the latter, it will be mainly focused on legacy projects featuring the old Hanna-Barbera/MGM characters, though some of the original animated shows from the 2000s and 2010s that were produced by Cartoon Network Studios or Warner Bros. Animation IOTL might be produced under the Hanna-Barbera label here).
OTL, a spin-off of Hey Arnold, centering a teenaged Helga and her family, almost saw the light of day.
In a video by Jordan Fringe, featuring Craig Bartlett himself, explores how this would've gone, and it feels like The Patakis would've been a spin-off that actually grew up with its audience:
1. Showing the consequences of the Pataki family's dysfunction in a more sobering manner: Olga becoming a failed actress, Miriam having to go to AA meetings, and Big Bob becoming almost gangsterish in his business dealings.
2. Arnold and Helga dating and breaking up, showing Helga's crush would not have met expectations.
The thing that would've made this perfect is, like Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, the show featured actual swearing by the main characters. Not for shock value, but to show how a teenaged Helga and a brash Bob would communicate in real life.
In a video by Jordan Fringe, featuring Craig Bartlett himself, explores how this would've gone, and it feels like The Patakis would've been a spin-off that actually grew up with its audience:
1. Showing the consequences of the Pataki family's dysfunction in a more sobering manner: Olga becoming a failed actress, Miriam having to go to AA meetings, and Big Bob becoming almost gangsterish in his business dealings.
2. Arnold and Helga dating and breaking up, showing Helga's crush would not have met expectations.
The thing that would've made this perfect is, like Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, the show featured actual swearing by the main characters. Not for shock value, but to show how a teenaged Helga and a brash Bob would communicate in real life.
Cool.
Ok. Also, hi, I'm @Otakuninja2006 here! Nice to meet you. Hope you enjoy your time in this forum!
Nice.
Cool. How would Cartoon Network evolve ITTL?
Nice to meet you, too! Actually, your TL-2K23 has been one of the main inspirations for my own timeline. I hope that you enjoy it!
It'd be mostly the same as OTL up to 1998, but after that point is where the effects of the Turner/Time Warner merger start to become evident IOTL, so from there it'll depend on how I handle that aspect (including if the merger ever happens to begin with). Still, it'll be until early-to-mid 2007 where things seriously diverge from OTL. Here's some stuff that I've already decided on:
- Most if not all of Cartoon Network's original animated shows will still be on the network ITTL, though I do have some non-CN shows and failed pilots from OTL in mind to potentially become CN originals here.
- Toonami, Boomerang, and Adult Swim will still exist ITTL. I might even start Adult Swim a year or two early.
- The evolution of Cartoon Network's bumpers will be mostly the same as OTL up to 2007, though instead of the Yes! era I'll give CN City another year or two, plus a revival later down the line.
- Basically, it goes: Checkerboard Era (1992-1997) -> Starburst Era (1997-1998) -> Powerhouse Era (1998-2004) -> CN City Era (2004-2007) -> ??? (2007-2011) -> 20th Anniversary (2012) -> ??? + CN City revival at an unspecified point (2013-present)
- Regarding CN City specifically, there will be more appearances from classic MGM/Hanna-Barbera characters as residents of the city. Possibly the Looney Tunes and other characters created/licensed by Warner Bros. Animation as well.
- CN Real is butterflied, though I might have some of the live-action shows aired on Cartoon Network/Adult Swim IOTL air on a different network.
- One thing I'm considering is for Adult Swim to eventually branch off into its own channel around 2006-2008 a la Boomerang, which is where it'd start airing live-action original programming as a way to differentiate itself from the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network.
- On a related note to Adult Swim and CN Real, the Boston bomb scare incident is butterflied as well.
- The Cartoon Cartoon Fridays block airs up to at least 2007, though the intro switches to the Fridays one from 2004 onward. I haven't fully decided if the Fridays rebrand itself will be butterflied, but Fried Dynamite and Har Har Tharsdays definitely are.
- The Fridays intro is updated each year to reflect the new programming on the network.
- Cartoon Network Invaded (or some sort of equivalent) will still be a thing, though it will be overhauled from OTL: specifically, it won't be sponsored by Kraft (who pulled out at the last minute IOTL anyway, so the only difference is that they won't be involved to begin with), and the selection of shows involved in the event will be different.
- There will still be an animation/live-action hybrid project a la Re-Animated/Out of Jimmy's Head at some point, though that specific movie/series is butterflied, as the one that I have in mind is geared more towards an older audience.
- Even though I haven't fully decided on if the Turner/Time Warner merger will happen (my main concern is that consolidating MGM and Warner Bros. would put too many popular IPs under one roof, and I'd like to avoid an OTL Disney situation if possible), I'd still like there to be some level of synergy between Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation. Perhaps in exchange for the CN originals developed by WBA, some of the new shows developed by MGM/Hanna-Barbera air on Kids WB?
An alternate timeline where the J.J. Abrams "NuTrek" movies never happen and instead we see big screen adaptions of the "Mass Effect" trilogy which garner widespread acclaim from both critics and audiences.
Critics and movie goers praise the 2008 Mass Effect 1 movie as a new and refreshing take on the space opera genre.
It revives interest in serious adult space adventure.
It also breaks the video game curse.
Marvel and James Cameron's "Avatar" still become the big pop culture phenomenons they were in OTL but instead of "Valerian" and "Jupiter Ascending" we get Denis Villeneuve's adaptions of Dune in their place.
Serious near future sci fi like "Interstellar", "The Martian", "Ex Machina", and"Arrival" are still successful.
By 2020 all interest in comic book movies die out and serious adult sci fi movies are often the most successful movies at the box office from the early 2020s to the 2040s which are fed by a renewed interest in UFOs as well as the second space race between the Western aligned nations against China. A "Rendezvous with Rama" movie produced by Morgan Freeman and directed by Denis Villeneuve is one noteworthy success.
The first astronaut on Mars includes a reference to a sci fi movie during their first words spoken on Mars.
Critics and movie goers praise the 2008 Mass Effect 1 movie as a new and refreshing take on the space opera genre.
It revives interest in serious adult space adventure.
It also breaks the video game curse.
Marvel and James Cameron's "Avatar" still become the big pop culture phenomenons they were in OTL but instead of "Valerian" and "Jupiter Ascending" we get Denis Villeneuve's adaptions of Dune in their place.
Serious near future sci fi like "Interstellar", "The Martian", "Ex Machina", and"Arrival" are still successful.
By 2020 all interest in comic book movies die out and serious adult sci fi movies are often the most successful movies at the box office from the early 2020s to the 2040s which are fed by a renewed interest in UFOs as well as the second space race between the Western aligned nations against China. A "Rendezvous with Rama" movie produced by Morgan Freeman and directed by Denis Villeneuve is one noteworthy success.
The first astronaut on Mars includes a reference to a sci fi movie during their first words spoken on Mars.
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I've always been a bit skeptical about the ability to turn mass effect into a successful movie tbh. A lot of the appeal of mass effect comes from the fact that you can make a ton of different choices to alter the plot, as well as the exploration, neither of which can really be translated into a movie.
A world where Richard Stone, the composer for Steven Spielberg's Warner Bros. cartoons, and Howard Ashman, the Oscar-winning composer for Beauty and the Beast, didn't die so young.
Their depths left a huge void in animation history because they accomplished so much in so short a time. Who knows what musical wonders Howard Ashman would've made in the modern day? He was so talented that Disney built a production studio near his house so he could work and get the treatment he needed for AIDS.
Their depths left a huge void in animation history because they accomplished so much in so short a time. Who knows what musical wonders Howard Ashman would've made in the modern day? He was so talented that Disney built a production studio near his house so he could work and get the treatment he needed for AIDS.
Really? Even the parts where I kill Viacom and Nickelodeon?
Ok.
I want to see this. Would some shows last longer?
Nice. Starting AS in '99 would actually be great. We could even beat Comedy Central to some of the shows they picked up IOTL.
Ok. I would do this:
City - 2004-2007
Get Animated!(includes elements of Yes!, Summer '07 and Fall '07) - 2007-2010
Noodfuse(mixture of Noods, Lets Go! and Prefuse) - 2010-2012
20th Anniversary - 2012-2013
Check It - 2013-2017
Dimensional - 2017-2020
Mashup - 2020-2022
City 2.0 - 2022-present
Although it depends on how the network and how linear TV is by 2022. If it's still dying ITTL, then I'll change this.
So basically, forcing WB and Turner to get along ITTL?
How does Fox Family do ITTL? If that survives, then that's the perfect place for them to go. Or we could start a spin-off network to compete with Nick.
So by 2007, we'll have CN, AS and Boomerang? I think the AS channel would probably replace Court TV instead of Tru TV(while it's crime shows could air on HLN and it's sketch comedy shows could even air on AS and/or TBS).
That's good.
So.......what becomes CN's comedy premiere block from 2007 onwards, as well as their action shows? Shockingly, you haven't mentioned the fate of Toonami yet.
Ok.
How would they be overhauled? Could it become Miguzi's first T.I.E. event? Also, why DID Kraft pull out at the last minute?
I want to hear this.
Ok. Maybe here, Turner buys MGM in '96, then merges with WB in 2000? Warner Bros would be the main film label with MGM being secondary with New Line as their third label.
That could work. I could also see some of the DC and other rejected WBA shows air.
Cool!An alternate timeline where the J.J. Abrams "NuTrek" movies never happen and instead we see big screen adaptions of the "Mass Effect" trilogy which garner widespread acclaim from both critics and audiences.
Critics and movie goers praise the 2008 Mass Effect 1 movie as a new and refreshing take on the space opera genre.
It revives interest in serious adult space adventure.
It also breaks the video game curse.
Marvel and James Cameron's "Avatar" still become the big pop culture phenomenons they were in OTL but instead of "Valerian" and "Jupiter Ascending" we get Denis Villeneuve's adaptions of Dune in their place.
Serious near future sci fi like "Interstellar", "The Martian", "Ex Machina", and"Arrival" are still successful.
By 2020 all interest in comic book movies die out and serious adult sci fi movies are often the most successful movies at the box office from the early 2020s to the 2040s which are fed by a renewed interest in UFOs as well as the second space race between the Western aligned nations against China. A "Rendezvous with Rama" movie produced by Morgan Freeman and directed by Denis Villeneuve is one noteworthy success.
The first astronaut on Mars includes a reference to a sci fi movie during their first words spoken on Mars.