In the 1980s, Jim Henson flirted with the idea of buying the struggling Walt Disney Productions. This timeline deals with Henson buying into the company and working his way through the ranks, as well as the long-term effects.
The Hensonverse is a timeline on AlternateHistory.com by Geekhis Khan. The two threads, A Hippie in the House of Mouse and When you Wish Upon a Frog, can be read here
and here. A third thread, focusing on other information, can be read here.
Tropes include:
- Adaptational Name Change: Touchstone Pictures is known as its originally intended name, Hyperion Pictures.
- Crossover: A crossover special between the Disney characters and The Muppets airs in 1980, in which the Disney characters must run The Muppet Show while the Muppets must run the Disney parks.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: Michael Jackson dies of surgery complications in 1986, at the age of 27.
- Different World, Different Movies:
- The Black Cauldron is directed by Tim Burton and is Darker and Edgier than OTL's version.
- Ghostbusters (1984) has Winston played by Eddie Murphy instead of Ernie Hudson. It's also distributed by Paramount Pictures instead of Columbia Pictures.
- Back to the Future comes out one year earlier and is thus set in 1984, with Doc Brown played by John Lithgow.
- The Thief and the Cobbler is released in 1987 after Steven Spielberg and Don Bluth begin assisting Richard Williams in production. It becomes a flop in the box office, but later becomes a
Cult Classic.
- No Such Thing as Bad Publicity: After the remake of Song of the South manages to become a success despite the controversy surrounding it. Frank Wells wonders if the film did well because of the controversy.
- The Other Marty: In-universe, this trope becomes "The Other Anna", after Shelley Long is replaced by Diane Keaton in the role of Anna during the Troubled Production on ''The Money Pit".
- Power Trio: The trio of Ron Miller, Jim Henson, and Frank Wells, nicknamed "The Three Mouseketeers" by the press.
- Richard Nixon, the Used Car Salesman:
- Henson becomes a high-ranking Disney executive.
- Joe Ranft later becomes head of Disney.
- Seasonal Rot: In-universe, The Muppet Show gets two more seasons, which aren't seen as good as the first five.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Henson is still alive ITTL.
