Their TV cartoons don't exist ITTL, and I don't think Dreamworks will be making their TV Shows here.
When You Wish Upon a Nightmare - WDAS Collapses in the 80s
So no Gravity Falls? No Owl House? No Phineas and Ferb?
Also, what happens with Disney Channel? It was a premium channel at the time? Perhaps the channel gets sold to say, Turner along with the library to form a earlier version of a super Cartoon Network?
Don’t think so…
It’s still owned under the Disney banner, just nothing animated
Considering most of these shows were pitched to other networks.....maybe these could be salvaged for say, Cartoon Network or a surviving Fox Family, which would definitely need the shows, especially considering the creators.
I can see Phineas and Ferb going to another network, but I don’t think The Owl House would be made at all (I read somewhere once that Terrace pitched TOH to CN and they turned it down, so…yeah).
Or.....since Disney doesn't exist by 2001.......maybe Fox Family survives and picks up the majority of their shows???
Also, all because Disney is dead doesn't mean shows like Gravity Falls have to go down with it. Just change Nickelodeon's attitudes.........
If anything, I could see Warner Bros or Sony Animation pick up some projects. Not everything always have to be doom and gloom and overtly realistic..........
I never said Disney would cease to exist, even if animation is long gone
Oh I have my plans for Warner Bros, we'll see
Who will distribute DreamWorks’ early films? Perhaps Paramount as that was where Katzenberg worked before going to Disney.
Chapter 5: An American Tail & the Beginnings of Dreamworks
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Chapter 5: An American Tail & the Beginnings of Dreamworks
The collapse of Walt Disney Animation Studios had left some pretty big shoes to fill by Disney's competitors and rivals. One notable example was 1986's "An American Tail", produced by Don Bluth who had been Disney's biggest rival up to the collapse. Bluth had released "The Secret of NIMH" in 1982, which while performing ok at the box office, was a huge critical success. However the "failure" of NIMH forced Bluth to close his studio. Soon Bluth was met with an oppoturnity: Steven Spielberg approached Bluth to collaborate on an animated project based on a concept by David Kirschner, it was originally conceived as an all-animal world like Disney's "Robin Hood", later it was re-worked to a hidden animal society similar to how "The Great Mouse Detective " and Bluth's own NIMH was.
To make the film stand out compared to all the previous mouse films would be a difficult task. To surpass NIMH in terms of quality was already going to be hard, but to surpass Disney's (which at the time still existed) "The Rescuers" and the "Great Mouse Detective" would be extremely headache inducing. The finalised script was way too long for the feature, and many scenes had to be cut. Both Bluth and Spielberg were starting to have doubts regarding the film, which had been named "An American Tail". When the news broke that Walt Disney Productions would shutter their animation department completely in 1986 however, it was a golden oppoturnity to see whetehr Bluth could fill in the void.
Russian-Jewish mouse family Mousekewitzes celebrate hanukkah. Papa Mousekewitz tells the family about the United States, which he describes as a paradise where no cats are to be found. When the celebrations are interrupted by a gag of cats who destroy the Mousekewitz household, the family was left with no choice but to immigrate to the US. On the way there, the youngest son Fievel Mousekewitz gets thrown overboard and is seperated from the rest of his family. Fievel floats to New York in a bottle and must now try to reunite with his family with new allies, all while avoiding dangerous obstacles in this unfamiliar landscape.
"An American Tail" released on November 21st 1986. Financially, not only did it outperform NIMH, it pentupled its initial $9 million budget and became the highest grossing animated film of 1986, and this was merely four months after WDAS shuttered its doors. The film also performed well critically, generally receiving positive reviews regarding its themes and moral lessons, even if some criticisms surrounding the film's depressing tones did arise. Thanks to the success of "An American Tail", Bluth and Spielberg decided to continue their partnership. Together they established their own animation studio: Amblimation.
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Oliver and Company (1988)
Shortly after Walt Disney Animation Studios collapsed in 1986, a disappointed Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney to form his own animation studio: Dreamworks Animation. Among those who followed him were John Lasseter, Mark Dindal and Mike Gabriel, Brad Bird later joined Dreamworks to reunite with longtime friend Lasseter. Some could argue that Dreamworks was founded out of pure spite against Eisner and Disney for shuttering animation. During a meeting in December 1986 dubbed "the gong show", Mark Dindal would come up with the idea of adapting the Charles Dickens novel "Oliver Twist", but with cats and dogs in the place of humans. Katzenberg approved Dindal's idea alongside a few others. Production officially started on Boxing Day 1986 with Dindal and Lasseter becoming directors, the film was set for a 1988 release. While Dreamworks could keep itself afloat with animating television adverts, "Oliver and Company" would be a risky move. For one, Dreamworks was still relatively new, and the budget put into the film wasn't small either.
In 1980s New York, a small orphan tabby named Oliver wanders the streets in search of adoption. Oliver meets Dodger, a laidback street dog who steals to keep himself alive. Oliver follows Dodger and discovers a larger gang of dogs led by the street rat Fagin, who is indebted to nefarious loan shark and criminal Mr Sykes. Oliver earns the respect of the dogs by scratching Sykes' guard dogs and joins their gang, the next day he joins them on a stealing spree, where he winds up in the wealthy Foxworth family and is adopted by their daughter Jenny. Fagin seizes this oppoturnity to hold Oliver for ransom in hopes that he'll receive enough cash to pay back Sykes, but ultimately gives up the plan when Jenny shows up with her piggy bank as ransom money. The film reaches its climax when Sykes kidnaps Jenny and holds her for ransom. Oliver, Dodger and the dogs must save Jenny from Sykes before its too late.
"Oliver and Company" released on November 18th 1988, the same day on what would've been Mickey Mouse's 60th birthday. While the film was a financial success and earned Dreamworks some much needed cash, its critical performance ranged from mixed to negative. Many criticised the film's bland plot and weak animation, Dickens fans tore the film apart for being an off-brand re-telling of Oliver Twist. The most memorable and well received aspect of the film was Billy Joel and "Why Should I Worry?", in a way, the song became more well-known than the film itself. It seemed like Dreamworks would have a long way to go before truly reaching stardom, but fortunately Katzenberg didn't wait long to deliver.
The cast for both films stay the same as OTL.
Is there by any chance that Walt Disney Animation Studios will resurface and launch anew sometime in the future?
I don't think we'll be seeing WDAS be revived anytime soon sadly.
Great start for Amblinmation and DreamWorks! I think Amblinmation should make TTL's Jurassic Park if they wanna make a name for themselves.