Shuffling the Canon REDUX: A Shuffled Disney & Pixar TL Redone

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One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1971)
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    • MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    "Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians" is delightful, cheerful and a joy to experience all the way." -Vincent Candy of New York Times, December 15th 1971

    "One Hundred and One Dalmatians wold work better if it was fully animated, the live-action humans don't work well with the animated animals." -Pauline Kael of The New Yorker, December 18th 1971

    ---

    In 1961, Walt was in negotiations to purchase P.L Travers' Mary Poppins books for a live-action/animation hybrid feature. Because previous attempts to do so were shot down horrendously by Travers herself, Walt was uncertain that he would succeed. Even though Travers would allow Walt to produce a Mary Poppins feature, a back-up plan was created in case Travers say no once more. The children's novel "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians" by Dodie Smith was published in 1956, the novel was brought to Walt's attention in 1957. Walt subsequently purchased the rights to the novel but couldn't figure out a proper re-work for the film in time. Walt shelved the film for a later date and decided that "Peter Pan" would take the 1961 release window instead. Meanwhile "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians" will be brought up sparingly as a potential back-up plan in case Mary Poppins never comes to reality.

    Despite the film being shelved for almost a decade, the first story meetings actually took place during the late 1950s. Storyboards and the first few songs were composed before Walt ultimately halted production. Walt wasn't as enthusiastic as he was with "Mary Poppins", to quote Richard Sherman "Disney had fell asleep in his chair during one of our meetings, he might have been tired that day." By April 1966, Walt put "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" back into production as live-action/animation hybird. Walt's involvement in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" was minimal, he only supervised the live-action scenes and had no involvement with animation at all. 8 months later, Walt died and production had to carry on without him.

    After Walt's untimely death, production once again stalled and halted. By 1968, the contract with the Sherman Brothers was running out and development had to continue lest the film was to be scrapped entirely. Through 1969 to 1971, the Sherman Brothers re-worked most songs and included scrapped song from "Mary Poppins" which had released in 1964 well before "One Hundred and One Dalmatians". Live-action filming took place during mid-1970 in Dorset England, as well as other locations such as London. All animal characters (1) which included the titular dalmatians themselves were animated, all animated work was complete in June 1971, and remaining work in general wrapped up by August, two months before the film's premiere.

    The story was as follows: Songwriter Roger Radcliffe desperately needs a big hit. Radcliffe and his dalmatianPongo walk at the park one day for inspiration and run into Anita and her dalmatian Missis. They fall in love and soon Pongo and Missis are expecting a litter of 15 puppies. All this only attracts Anita's high school classmate Cruella De Vil, who demands that she purchases the puppies to make a unique fur coat. Cruella wouldn't take no for an answer and she soon employs burglars Jasper and Horace to kidnap the puppies. When the humans couldn't track down the puppies, Pongo and Missis alert canine gossip patrol Twilight Bark and its leader sheep dog Colonel as well as feline assistant Sergeant Tibbs to save the puppies. Tibbs and Colonel track down De Vil and find 86 more dalmatin puppies. What happens next is a series of battles and chases which leads to a car chase between Cruella and the dalmatians who stow away on a truck.

    "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" premiered in October of 1971. Receptionwise, the film received postive to mixed reviews. The film's story and songs received praise, msot notably about its balance of family-friendliness and melodramatic chase scenes. Most criticisms were directed to the mix of live-action and animation, fans today generally give praise to the animated segments and believe that the film would've been better if the film was strictly animated with no live-action scenes. Cruella De Vil would gain immense popularity and would become one of the most iconic Disney villains, making frequent appearances in Disney Parks and performances. Despite not being a part of the Animated Canon, "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" is a classic in its own right.

    Release Date: October 7th 1971

    Live-Action Cast:
    Roddy McDowall (Roger Radcliffe)
    Lisa Davis (Anita Radcliffe)
    Angela Lansbury (Nanny)
    Betty Lou Gerson (Cruella De Vil)

    Animated Cast:
    Rod Taylor (Pongo)
    Debbie Reynolds (Missis)
    J Pat O'Malley (Jasper) (1)
    Mel Blanc (Horace, Colonel) (1)
    David Frankham (Sergeant Tibbs)

    Notable Songs:
    Cruella De Vil (sung by Roger to mock Cruella, also composed by Roger in-universe)
    The Beatiful Briny (sung by Pongo and Missis at the end of the film)

    (1) Jasper and Horace are animated unlike the other humans

    Notes: Before I re-arranged everything on the list of films, One Hundred and One Dalmatians was originally slated to be a 1990s film. Here it's a live-action/animation hybrid, with the animals plus Jasper and Horace being animated while everything else is live-action. I decided to include Missis from the original novel here and keep Cruella De Vil as a villain song due to how iconic it is.
     
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    • MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    I will give further hints of 1977-1981:

    1977a: Will not have a proper or at least coherent narrative
    1977b: Features a romance
    1977c: Not part of the WDAC IOTL and ITTL
    1981: Released Post-Renaissance IOTL
     

    SomeGuyOnline

    JoeCarioca2491 said:
    I will give further hints of 1977-1981:

    1977a: Will not have a proper or at least coherent narrative
    1977b: Features a romance
    1977c: Not part of the WDAC IOTL and ITTL
    1981: Released Post-Renaissance IOTL
    Click to expand...
    1977a: The Three Caballeros
    1977b: Beauty and the Beast
    1977c: Toy Story
    1981: Wreck-it Ralph
     

    PGSBHurricane

    JoeCarioca2491 said:
    "Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians" is delightful, cheerful and a joy to experience all the way." -Vincent Candy of New York Times, December 15th 1971

    "One Hundred and One Dalmatians wold work better if it was fully animated, the live-action humans don't work well with the animated animals." -Pauline Kael of The New Yorker, December 18th 1971

    ---

    In 1961, Walt was in negotiations to purchase P.L Travers' Mary Poppins books for a live-action/animation hybrid feature. Because previous attempts to do so were shot down horrendously by Travers herself, Walt was uncertain that he would succeed. Even though Travers would allow Walt to produce a Mary Poppins feature, a back-up plan was created in case Travers say no once more. The children's novel "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians" by Dodie Smith was published in 1956, the novel was brought to Walt's attention in 1957. Walt subsequently purchased the rights to the novel but couldn't figure out a proper re-work for the film in time. Walt shelved the film for a later date and decided that "Peter Pan" would take the 1961 release window instead. Meanwhile "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians" will be brought up sparingly as a potential back-up plan in case Mary Poppins never comes to reality.

    Despite the film being shelved for almost a decade, the first story meetings actually took place during the late 1950s. Storyboards and the first few songs were composed before Walt ultimately halted production. Walt wasn't as enthusiastic as he was with "Mary Poppins", to quote Richard Sherman "Disney had fell asleep in his chair during one of our meetings, he might have been tired that day." By April 1966, Walt put "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" back into production as live-action/animation hybird. Walt's involvement in "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" was minimal, he only supervised the live-action scenes and had no involvement with animation at all. 8 months later, Walt died and production had to carry on without him.

    After Walt's untimely death, production once again stalled and halted. By 1968, the contract with the Sherman Brothers was running out and development had to continue lest the film was to be scrapped entirely. Through 1969 to 1971, the Sherman Brothers re-worked most songs and included scrapped song from "Mary Poppins" which had released in 1964 well before "One Hundred and One Dalmatians". Live-action filming took place during mid-1970 in Dorset England, as well as other locations such as London. All animal characters (1) which included the titular dalmatians themselves were animated, all animated work was complete in June 1971, and remaining work in general wrapped up by August, two months before the film's premiere.

    The story was as follows: Songwriter Roger Radcliffe desperately needs a big hit. Radcliffe and his dalmatianPongo walk at the park one day for inspiration and run into Anita and her dalmatian Missis. They fall in love and soon Pongo and Missis are expecting a litter of 15 puppies. All this only attracts Anita's high school classmate Cruella De Vil, who demands that she purchases the puppies to make a unique fur coat. Cruella wouldn't take no for an answer and she soon employs burglars Jasper and Horace to kidnap the puppies. When the humans couldn't track down the puppies, Pongo and Missis alert canine gossip patrol Twilight Bark and its leader sheep dog Colonel as well as feline assistant Sergeant Tibbs to save the puppies. Tibbs and Colonel track down De Vil and find 86 more dalmatin puppies. What happens next is a series of battles and chases which leads to a car chase between Cruella and the dalmatians who stow away on a truck.

    "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" premiered in October of 1971. Receptionwise, the film received postive to mixed reviews. The film's story and songs received praise, msot notably about its balance of family-friendliness and melodramatic chase scenes. Most criticisms were directed to the mix of live-action and animation, fans today generally give praise to the animated segments and believe that the film would've been better if the film was strictly animated with no live-action scenes. Cruella De Vil would gain immense popularity and would become one of the most iconic Disney villains, making frequent appearances in Disney Parks and performances. Despite not being a part of the Animated Canon, "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" is a classic in its own right.

    Release Date: October 7th 1971

    Live-Action Cast:
    Roddy McDowall (Roger Radcliffe)
    Lisa Davis (Anita Radcliffe)
    Angela Lansbury (Nanny)
    Betty Lou Gerson (Cruella De Vil)

    Animated Cast:
    Rod Taylor (Pongo)
    Debbie Reynolds (Missis)
    J Pat O'Malley (Jasper) (1)
    Mel Blanc (Horace, Colonel) (1)
    David Frankham (Sergeant Tibbs)

    Notable Songs:
    Cruella De Vil (sung by Roger to mock Cruella, also composed by Roger in-universe)
    The Beatiful Briny (sung by Pongo and Missis at the end of the film)

    (1) Jasper and Horace are animated unlike the other humans

    Notes: Before I re-arranged everything on the list of films, One Hundred and One Dalmatians was originally slated to be a 1990s film. Here it's a live-action/animation hybrid, with the animals plus Jasper and Horace being animated while everything else is live-action. I decided to include Missis from the original novel here and keep Cruella De Vil as a villain song due to how iconic it is.
    Click to expand...
    I personally am a bit surprised to see that One Hundred and One Dalmatians turned out to be a live-action/animated hybrid. Not in a bad way, of course, just a bit curious to see how it would work in reality. Of course, I think Cruella is one of the live-action highlights so I think even most haters of the live-action elements probably wouldn't mind this, unless she switches between both animated and live-action. Would be unique if that were to happen.
     
    MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    PGSBHurricane said:
    I personally am a bit surprised to see that One Hundred and One Dalmatians turned out to be a live-action/animated hybrid. Not in a bad way, of course, just a bit curious to see how it would work in reality. Of course, I think Cruella is one of the live-action highlights so I think even most haters of the live-action elements probably wouldn't mind this, unless she switches between both animated and live-action. Would be unique if that were to happen.
    Click to expand...
    In reality it would probably look something like the Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit scenes in OTL’s Song of the South, but done in the Xerox style of course. And Cruella is strictly live-action although it would’ve been interesting to see her in both animation and live-action
     
    Zootopia (1973)
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    • MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    "At best, Zootopia is only midly entertaining. There's nothing much that stands out or gives a good chuckle." -Jay Cocks of Times

    "Zootopia is a hallmark of Disney. It's rich full animation and enduring characters are such a delight." -Charles Champlin of Los Angeles Times

    ---

    What ended up becoming Zootopia was the result of a proper adaptation of the "Reynard the Fox" tales, the film had been in and out of production throughout the last few decades due to one major problem: Reynard the fox, despite being the main protagonist of the fables, was beyond unlikeable. The storymen had no idea how to rework a villainous character into a likeable hero. Walt expressed such concerns during the early stages of production. There were many story suggestions including drafts where Reynard was to become an anti-hero and be forced to use his wits, and yet Reynard still came off as a villain than anything. This early attempt at adapting the Reynard tales ended before it even began and Walt instead chose to adapt "Robin Hood". For the time being, Reynard stayed in the shelf.

    Walt revived the project again in 1961 when "Peter Pan" was nearing completion, prior to this he contemplated on including animated Reynard segment in the live-action film "Treasure Island". Once again, Reynard's unsympathetic personality became the main hurdle. In the 60s version, the film would've spiraled into a courtroom comedy, different animals played courtroom roles which included rhinoceros guards and a lion king. This version lacked a clear story, this coupled with Reynard's hard to rework personality ultimately scrapped the project for the second time.

    Another project concurrently in the works was "Chanticleer". Prior to the 1960s, "Chanticleer" had actually been greenlit in the mid 1940s, World War 2 halted plans and the film wasnn't revived until the 1960s when it and "Raya and the Last Dragon" were put into production. During the early stages of this 1960s attempt, one draft was to have Chanticleer play the role of a mayor whose crows is believed to cause sunrise. Ultimately it was “Raya and the Last Dragon” which Walt and the storymen had more faith in, and sadly it turned out horribly. Walt retired from the animation business after that fiasco, leaving the fates of both "Chanticleer" and "Reynard" uncertain.

    By 1968, studio executive Card Walker proposed adapting a "classic" tale for the stuido's next film after "Home On the Range" to Ken Anderson during a fishing trip. During discussions with Marc Davis, Davis suggested to combine the tales of "Chanticleer" and "Reynard" and make one animated film. To solve the long-lasting issue of Reynard's personality, it was decided that the tales would be flipped to the perspective of Chanticleer while Reynard would become the villanious foil to Chanticleer. The film would officially go into production by the time "Tangled" wrapped up. For voice cast, Phil Harris was brought back once again to voice Senor Poco Loco. Harris had been both a main stay and fan favourite voice actor, so bringing him back was a no brainer. The songs and score were composed by George Bruns and Roger Miller, Miller also played the role of Chanticleer himself. The film, now named "Zootopia", was set to release in 1973 as the studio's 21st animated feature.

    "Zootopia" starts with Chanticleer crowing and waking up the quiant little French town, fittingly named "Zootopia". Chanticleer's popularity allowed him to be appointed as mayor of Zootopia by the lion King Noble, yet his "Work! Work! Work!" campaign wasn't popular. This allowed the sly fox and also wanted criminal Reynard to undermine Chanticleer by instead campaigning for "Fun! Fun! Fun!" under the disguise Honest Joaquin (1). Chanticleer keeps his position as mayor regardless so Reynard brings in the famed swordfighter Senor Poco Loco for a duel, in reality this gave Reynard the oppoturnity to raid the henhouse. Once the townsfolk discovers Reynard's distruction, King Noble orders the arrest of Reynard who twists up a tale about his father's wealth hidden in a volcano. Needless to say, the townspeople are tricked and the volcano explodes when they get there, injuring many (2). Having decided that the fox is now the most wanted criminal, Chanticleer challenges Reynard to a swordfight and wins. The film ends with Chanticleer placing Reynard in maximum security jail.

    "Zootopia"'s reception was mixed during its initial 1973 release. It's Xerox animation was praised for being a step-up to the notorious style used in "Home On the Range", the voice acting was also a highlight of the film and was were most of its initial praise came from. On the other hand, people were quick to notice recycled animation from "Little Mermaid", "Tangled" and "Home On the Range". It didn't help that Phil Harris, who voiced Flynn Rider and Rico in the latter two respectively had returned to voice Poco Loco, whose animation was already recycled fom "Tangled", so audiences were just prone to notice. Through the decades, Zootopia would gain a cult-like following and became a fan favourite of many. Alongside the next film chronologically in the WDAC, it is the most fondly remembered 1970s film.

    Release Date: November 8th 1973

    Cast:
    Roger Miller (Chanticleer)
    Pat Buttram (Reynard the Fox)
    Peter Ustinov (King Noble)
    Phil Harris (Senor Poco Loco)

    Notable Songs(3):
    Whistle Stop (sung by Chanticleer in the opening titles)
    Chanticleer (4) (sung by the townsfolk at the start of the film to introduce Chanticleer)

    (1) Since no attempts were made to adapt Pinocchio before at least the Renaissance, I’m re-using the name Honest John as Reynard’s disguise, albeit twisted just a bit.
    (2) The volcano would’ve killed many townsfolk in one of the original drafts, but was toned down to fit the light-hearted tone
    (3) A variation of ”The Phoney King of England” from OTL’s Robin Hood is also sung here to mock Reynard
    (4) A song written by George Bruns for OTL’s attempt to adapt Chanticleer

    Notes: So “Zootopia” is basically if Disney managed to produce their 1960s take on both “Chanticleer” and “Reynard” by combining the two together. Here, the story is a combination of the 1940s Reynard storyline, the 1960s attempt to merge the two together, and also a bit of “Robin Hood” thrown in. Meanwhile I’ve been contemplating on starting my “WDAS collapses in the 80s” TL earlier, and the 1977a film should be relatively simple as I’ve figured that out way beforehand. Stay tuned for both.
     
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    • MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    1977a should be coming in the next few days or so. After that 1977b will be hard considering OTL's counterpart is mixed and controversial, so that might not happen for a while until I figure out a suitable treatment.
     
    Fun and Fancy Free (1976)
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    • MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    "One of Disney's finest gems next to their Pooh feature." -Leonard Maltin

    ---

    Next to "Peter Pan", "Snow White" and the unsuccessful attempts at adapting "Alice in Wonderland", one of Walt's most desired material to produce was the Cosmopolitan Magazine story "Bongo the Circus Bear" by Sinclair Lewis. Walt had intended to produce a Bongo feature as early as 1941, then suggested to be a sequel to "Dumbo". However, the original story had such a downer ending that it had to be re-worked to a more uplifting end. Walt and the storymen couldn't figure out a suitable treatment, and soon the US military occupied the studio in response to Pearl Harbour, halting both "Bongo" and "Dumbo". "Dumbo" would be completed and released in 1950, meanwhile "Bongo" stayed on the cutting room floor.

    "Bongo" was brought up again as a potential featurette to be paired with "Mickey and the Beanstalk" in the mid 1940s. Once again, there wasn't a suitable story treatment by the time "Mickey and the Beanstalk" wrapped up production and released as its own fetaurette. The 1940s attempts had been unsuccessful, and Walt moved on the other projects while "Bongo" was scrapped indefinitely. It wouldn't be until 1963 when the project would re-start, this time the film would be directed by Wolfgang Reitherman. Midway through production, the same issues were brought up once more and it seemed like the film would once again return to the shelf. It was deicded that the film would be re-worked into a featurette to better fit its tone and pacing, re-working Bongo into a film was simply too headache inducing and the pacing didn't work at all.

    Since most of the Nine Old Men were working on "Tangled", only Eric Larson and John Lounsbery were tasked to animate the characters. While the original 1940s storyboards had Bongo appear more animal-like and realistic, the animators instead opted for cartoonish designs, closer to what the package era attempt designed Bongo as. The first featurette "Happy-Go-Lucky Bongo" released in 1966 to critical acclaim, many praised the featurette's light hearted tone and family friendliness. By 1967, a second featuette was in production focusing on Bongo's adversary Lumpjaw. One of the main issues and criticisms from the 1966 featurettes was a lack of stakes, so this was the main issue the animators fixed.

    By 1974, three "Bongo" featurettes had been released to theaters, all of which were critical successes in their own right. It was decided that thanks to the success of the three "Bongo" featurettes, a package film would be made to combine all three featurettes together alongside new animated bridging segments. Originally having either Jiminy Cricket or Rusty Robin to host bridging segments, the storymen felt that having an unseen narrator tie all the segments together felt more natural and charming. The film, now named "Fun and Fancy Free" as originally intended in the Package Era attempt, would be released in Christmas 1976.

    The first segment was "Happy-Go-Lucky Bongo". Bongo the Circus Bear gets thrown off a circus train after the elephant matriach gets jealous of his success. Lost in the wild, Bongo finds comfort in nature but soon has to face the reality and hardships of the wild, having considerations of returning to the circus. Ultimately Bongo decides to stay in the forest after he meets his love interest Susie (1). The second segment "Bongo and the Jealous Lumpjaw" introduces Bongo's adversary Lumpjaw, jealous of Bongo and yearns to win Susie's heart. After a brief fight, Bongo sends Lumpjaw tumbling over a waterfall, where he c barely climbs out and vows revenge on Bongo for humiliating him. The third segment was "Bongo and Chimpy", Bongo's circus sidekick Chimpy escapes the circus and reunites with Bongo in the forest. Bongo and Susie teach Chimpy all about forest life before Lumpjaw returns to take revenge on Bongo. Ultimately Chimpy saves the dya by once again, throwing Lumpjaw off a waterfall and humiliating him. The final segment and the only newly animated one "Bongo says Farewell" was made as the film's closing, featuring Bongo, Susie and Chimpy walking off into the sunset and enjoying forest life.

    Like with the previously released Bongo featurettes, the film became an immediate hit. While deviating from the original story, many claimed that "Fun and Fancy Free" still manages to capture the essence of the source material and craft one of Disney's most enjoyable and jovial films to date. Today, "Fun and Fancy Free" and "Zootopia" are widely considered the best films of the 1970s.

    Release Date: December 20th 1976

    Cast:
    Sterling Holloway (Narrator)
    Arnold Stang (Bongo)
    Barbara Luddy (Susie)
    John Fiedler (Chimpy)
    Sebastian Cabot (Lumpjaw)

    (1) The original suggested name for Lulubelle in OTL

    Notes: So "Fun and Fancy Free" here is essentially an analouge to OTL's Pooh, reasons being the story having been expanded and also "Say It with A Slap" being in TTL's Jungle Book instead. The first two segments are based of OTL's Bongo segment from "Fun and Fancy Free", the third segment is based off a proposed sidekick for Bongo IOTL. Bongo will be the substitute for Pooh for the time being, until Pooh himself shows up at least.
     
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    • MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    I’m planning on re-shuffling all WDAS films after 1981, since the 2024-2026 sequels were announced and I am planning to take a break from TTL after 1981. Should I re-shuffle starting from 1985 or the Renaissance
     

    SomeGuyOnline

    MrCarioca said:
    I’m planning on re-shuffling all WDAS films after 1981, since the 2024-2026 sequels were announced and I am planning to take a break from TTL after 1981. Should I re-shuffle starting from 1985 or the Renaissance
    Click to expand...
    Depends on how much you've already written out for those periods. Say, if you've already written about the 1985 film, then I think it's fine to keep that rather than having to reshuffle and rewrite EVERY thing. If not, then re-shuffle starting from 1985.
     
    MrCarioca

    MrCarioca

    I decided to re-shuffle everything post-1991 since I have a clear idea of what the first few Renaissance films will look like.

    As an additional hint to what 1977b might be, it's not a fairytale nor fable/mythology based.
     
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