"What do you mean Walt Disney has planned a sequel to Snow White? Wait Roy are you telling me that he wants to have Snow White and the Dwarfs meet the Wolf Man, Frankenstein and Dracula? Come on let go back to the Snow White and Red Rose adaptation, we don't need Disney making any scary movies. The Evil Queen is scary enough!"
A conversation between Roy Disney and one of the prominent writers over for an upcoming sequel to Snow White, known as
Snow White and Rose Red. a film that came out over in 1946. While initially wanting to do some live action work to try and make up some money, Walt would consider instead making a sequel to
Snow White in the hopes of using that to draw people in. However, many have noted that Walt developed a mild habit of tricking or irritating some of the staff on hand as a way to cope with stess (with later revelations that quitting smoking at the time was what caused it). This led to a particular incident when Walter and his nephew Roy proceeded to pull a trick on changing direction over on the adaptation of Snow White and Rose Red. According to onlookers, Roy managed to keep a poker face to the flustered writer and was only ended when Walt had fell laughing out of his hiding spot, causing Roy and said writer to also start laughing.
While the whole thing would be brushed off as a joke, it did show the ongoing concerns of stress and Walt would take a bit of time to recover. It also helped that
Snow White and Rose Red would become quite a large success. Beyond just it serving as a sequel, it fleshed out Snow more and revealing the ties between her and her sister Rose Red, who was portrayed as a sort of tomboy (or 'spirited young lady' to be accurate of the times) contrasting her sister. There would also be the first instance of a 'metajoke' when Rose wonders why everyone keeps thinking she would wear a red hood. This also confirmed the idea of doing potential sequels down the line if possible and done right. However, with all the assorted films Walt wanted to do, it would be a while before another one would be done. This would be when in 1981, Walt would help oversee the release of
Alice and the Looking Glass, a sequel to
Alice in Wonderland. An adaptation of the book of the same name, it would also follow in the footsteps of expandng on the character's personality and the like.
This revived the idea of sequels as a potential idea moving forward. Howeve, Walt would not get to live to see it as he would pass away in 1986, just after completing
The Snow Queen, released in 1985. This is what would lead to the
The Rescuers Down Under, which would be suprisngly successful (and show the importance of scheduling releases) and its sequel over in 1995,
The Rescuers and the Rising Sun, a loose adaptation of "Miss Bianca in the Orient", which sees Bernard and Bianca having to rescue a child over in Japan from a shady conspiracy. The film was also the first to be developed with Japanese aid, portraying the country in a "lovely and respectful light" while also serving as a thoughtful critique on greed (which many said hit home given the Japanese recesson". The success of The Rescuers trilogy along with the release of the Lord of the Ring trilogy would lead to Disney going over and doing similar in the 2000s in their "action" era as some called it. Branching beyond the fairy tales and being experimental with the "Atlantis" trilogy, their homage to pulp stories and ancient civilization and the "Treasure Planet" trilogy, an homage to "pirate and sea" stories though set in the background of space for a fresh reimagining.
"Indian unification succeeded, but who expected it would be by Tibet of all nations?!"
Edit: Ninja'd