The Shuffled Disneyverse 2.0: Another Alternate Disney Canon Timeline
- Thread starter PGSBHurricane
- Start date
1941a will feature a tour in some capacity.
Hopefully, I can get this back on track soon. In the meantime, I hope I can develop a good way to fit the story the 1941a film here was based on IOTL.
Maybe I could help brainstorm some ideas for it in your test thread?
I'll PM you and let you know if that's the case. I'm also working on another timeline in the meantime.
I’m guessing something based off material that didn’t exist in 1941?
As for the thirteen non-canon films that are being shuffled here, I picked the 10 that are live-action/animation hybrids, Disenchanted because it’s the sequel to Enchanted, A Goofy Movie because of the success of that film and seeping into other Disney lore IOTL, and Chip and Dale because it’s in the same vein as Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I considered the Duck Tale movie from the 90s but I decided not to include it because it wasn’t that successful IOTL in terms of box office and extending outside the Duck Tales lore. Personally I consider it an extension of Duck Tales while A Goofy Movie can be viewed independently of The Goof Troop.
Thanks. I look forward to writing how I'll be doing those movies too.
I’m over halfway done with the write-up for the next film. All I have to really plan out is the voice cast.
OTL's version kind of has the same feeling as it but more acclaimed, so no.
Tangled (1941)
Tangled (1941)
This next film isn’t so much a feature as it is a behind-the-scenes look at Walt Disney’s animation studio in Burbank, California, intermixed with a handful of animated sequences. Development began in May 1940, just months after Alice in Wonderland was released, and was a box office failure on top of being decried as avant-garde and unfaithful to its source material. With 40-45% of Disney’s revenue cut off thanks to a growing international war, he found himself in a desperate situation. With most other studios, they could easily take standing sets, enlist some B-list or C-list actors and a semi-decent director, and spin up a quick, low-budget feature with a generic and familiar plot for easy cash. Disney, on the other hand, did not have any standing sets or famous movie stars available. Still, this did not stop Walt. He decided to create a low-budget film of his own to be released in the summer of 1941 to help with the studio’s revenue streams and to allow more time to develop new features.
Walt met with actor-comedian Robert Benchley, and, from there, conceived the idea of a tour of Walt Disney Studios featuring animated sequences. When asked during a story conference, Walt noted that while his staff took their duties for granted, the inside operations of the studio were unknown to the public. It helped that Disney just invested in upgrading production facilities and opened a brand new Burbank studio in February. It also had been an idea Disney had toyed with since 1937 while promoting Cinderella. Writing was complete by August 1940, and filming of the live-action segments began in October. As for the main animated segment, the story of Rapunzel was proposed throughout the 1930s for a full-length film [1]. It did, though, have two problems. First, it was a much shorter story than Cinderella. Second, the character of Rapunzel herself was even more passive than the character of Cinderella, who became one of Disney’s most divisive characters. As a full-length feature, this would’ve struggled. As a featurette, this worked perfectly to Walt’s advantage.
The film starts with Robert Benchley contemplating how to pitch a version of the fairy tale Rapunzel to Walt Disney Studios. His wife pushes him into it, and the two drive to the studio. Once there, Robert sneaks inside and initially observes a live drawing session of an elephant and listens to a voice recording session with the voice actor for Donald Duck, Clarence Nash. Benchley then meets a studio employee named Doris. She then demonstrates sound effects with a sonovox, the multiplane camera, and the general mechanics of animation and photography, the ink-and-paint department (presenting a completed cell for an upcoming Disney feature), and the maquette department (showing small statues of characters from films released as late as the 1950s). From there, Benchley journeys into the storyboard department where an idea for a new short entitled Baby Weems is shown using a story reel with limited animation. He then stumbles upon a group of animators animating a Goofy short entitled How to Ride a Horse. Finally, Benchley meets Walt Disney and starts playing a reel for his 20-minute version of Rapunzel.
The featurette begins with a girl named Clara and a boy named Victor in 1940s America being struck by lightning and transported into a strange fairy tale world. Clara finds herself as the princess Rapunzel and Victor as a charming prince named Bastion. Before they can escape, Clara (aka Rapunzel) is kidnapped and trapped in a tower by the wicked witch Dame Gothel. Years pass, and Rapunzel is in the tower, with her blond hair now as long as the tower itself. Bored out of her mind with nothing to do but paint and talk to a rabbit named Roger, her sole companion, she sings one day from the tower window, and Bastion arrives on the scene. Once he says, "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” her hair magically picks him up and into the tower with the princess. Reunited, they plan their escape back into the real world, but Gothel catches them and threatens to kill them. The two outwit the witch, cutting Rapunzel’s hair in the process, and ride off into the sunset before being transported back to the real world, leaving Gothel caught in the vines of the princess’s hair. Disappointed that his pitch is rejected, Benchley says that he is all tangled up, ending the film.
Tangled was planned for release on June 6, 1941 [2], but the animators' strike, which had origins tracing back to the box office disappointments of Alice in Wonderland and The Jungle Book, pushed this back by three weeks. Things grew more complicated as 500-700 employees associated with the Screen Cartoonist's Guild walked out from the Disney Studio on May 28, the same day Tangled was initially previewed. Critic reviews were favorable, albeit some dismissed it as propaganda amidst the Disney strike. On the other hand, audiences felt confused and even cheated that this was not a single-story film or a proper feature, period. Audiences also sympathized with the strikers during that summer. This money-making scheme backfired, only earning $860,000 in box office rentals in North America off a budget of $900,000. The film was never re-released as a whole, but Disney re-released the animated segments individually. There was one thing about Tangled, however, that everyone appreciated: Roger the Rabbit.
Live-Action Cast:
- Robert Benchley as himself
- Nana Bryant as Mrs. Benchley
- Frances Gifford as Doris
- Alan Ladd as himself
- Norm Ferguson as himself
- Ward Kimball as himself
- Fred Moore as himself
- Walt Disney as himself
Voice Cast:
- Clarence Nash as Donald Duck
- Florence Gill as Clara Cluck
- Pinto Colvig as Goofy
- Raymond Severn as Baby Weems
- Dinah Shore as Clara/Rapunzel
- Danny Kaye as Victor/Baston
- Cliff Edwards as Roger the Rabbit
- Noreen Gammill as Dame Gothel
[2] Per the May-June 1941 issue of the Motion Picture Herald
Last edited:
Before posting this update I changed the budgets and the box office rental grosses to be more simplified and in-line with the 1940s. Additionally, I'm struggling to come up with a voice cast for the animated segment hence if anyone can help me with that, I would appreciate it. I also based the story of TTL's version of Rapunzel based on the Fractured Fairytales cartoon and some deleted concepts from OTL's version. Unfortunately, Rapunzel will NOT be part of the Disney Princess lineup ITTL.
If Roger the Rabbit doesn’t have any have lines, I suggest someone who can do animal sounds to voice him.
Shirley Temple could work as Rapunzel, or maybe Judy Garland.
Maybe Frankie Darro, better known as Lampwick in OTL's Pinocchio
He can talk. In fact his dialogue makes him one of the more memorable parts of the featurette.
So far he is the closest thing we have to Jiminy Cricket ITTL in terms of personality and Eve role he plays and just as Jiminy is featured in a second canon film IOTL (Fun and Fancy Free) expect another Roger Rabbit appearance on the horizon fairly soon. It helps that his source material doesn’t exist ITTL as the original book is 40 years off IOTL. I considered putting Jiminy Cricket here instead of Roger Rabbit but in the failed attempt to develop Pinocchio here, his character serves the same purpose as in the original novel (only appearing in one scene and being squished by Pinocchio himself). Hence someone else had to fill the void.
Last edited:
Well in that case, we can have Cliff Edwards (OTL's Jiminy) to voice him. I'm assuming Roger Rabbit will also appear in the 50s TV Shows then?