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<DIV>Re: "Plot paid by Burbank" D-stories...<BR></DIV>
<DIV><EM>Disney Comics, Inc. bought the original scripts for these stories
before its 1991 <BR>"implosion"; but after the "implosion," Disney Comics'
budget had been reduced, so they could no longer afford to have the stories
drawn.</EM></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Yeah, that jogged my memory. I remember suggesting to the sales and
marketing wizards that long stories would be a good thing to do. Maybe run them
initially in several issues of one of the titles, then reprint the compilation
in hardback book form. I think some of them ran about 96 - 100 pages, but these
were fully fleshed out stories with great plots, sub-plots and tangential
character exposition. I'd forgotten about Huck Akin's "Oak Island Treasure." I
remember he did a ton of research and came in with an exciting plot outline that
just had to be done. Pat McGreal did one involving Hawaiian mythology that I did
see in print. I recall another story notion based on a Swing Music orchestra
contest involving a symphony-sized gathering of Beagle Boys entitled "Boogie
Woogie Beagle Boys," but I don't know what happened with that. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I don't have easy access to whatever records I might have, so unless I see
a script synopsis or some artwork, a title and code number don't do me much
good. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think the Disney "implosion" was more of a 1992 event and was
<STRONG><U>one</U></STRONG> of the things that motivated my departure. The
budget was reduced because the numbers crunchers wanted to show more profit.
(The best way to increase profit is to do better stuff that more people want and
more people will buy, not by decreasing the budget and cheapening the production
values.) I believed long stories that could be reprinted later as hardback books
that could go on bookshelves in bookstores, not just comic shops, would be a
great item that fans and non-fans alike would want. I wanted to do a line of
comic BOOKS, hard covered editions of about 120 pages, that would appear monthly
but were not cover-dated so they could stay on bookshelves year round. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for "...<EM>so they could no longer afford to have the stories
drawn..."</EM> good grief! If the money controllers had just stood behind us
and supported us, we might have done some memorable, groundbreaking stuff.
But, no... they had to squeeze us into monetary oblivion. Gladstone operated for
years on a handful of dedicated and talented people in modest offices in an
affordable area (Arizona). Disney had about 35 people in some of the most
expensive real estate in Burbank, with computers (I didn't get one), secretaries
(not me), and supervisors (I had four). No wonder they couldn't afford to
publish comics. My favorite quote by one of the semi-suits - "Here at WD
Publications, we're not building a publishing empire, we're building
resumes." They saw Disney Comics as a way to prove they could reduce
budgets and still get the work done, then used that skill to get jobs elsewhere.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>David, you also said, <EM>"But because Disney Comics, Inc. in Burbank
had already paid for the scripts, Egmont didn't have to pay for them
again."</EM></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I'm not so sure that's entirely true. I think Gutenberghus (Egmont) did buy
the scripts, perhaps at a reduced price, but maybe also as a diplomatic favor to
Disney. It doesn't make sense to me that the budget conscious folks in Burbank
would ever simply give anything away without breaking even on the expense.
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Finally - Hello to Flemming Andersen! Still playing the drums? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>- Bob</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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