New shows on Disney Plus

[mharrington]

I have decided (temporarily at least) to come out of semi-retirement to post some new ideas, although I'm holding off on anything Disney parks-related until Disneyland ever reopens...

I have had some ideas for new shows to be added to the Disney Plus streaming service, all based on preexisting ideas. And this was all long before Disney Plus came up several new shows of their own.

I will go into detail on each idea of mine later, but for now, here is a brief overview of just a few of the ideas I have:

1) MOUSERCISE: A revival of the record album-turned-TV show from the old school Disney Channel: a kids' exercise program involving exercise routines and health tips, all set to Disney songs
2) MAXIMUM HORSEPOWER: A finally-realized abandoned concept for a Disney Afternoon show, which explains why Horace Horsecollar has gone missing from Disney cartoons since the 1930s
3) WOODY'S ROUNDUP: The actual TV show from which Woody had originated is finally available to the public
4) A series (or maybe just a movie) where Super Goof (Goofy's superhero alter ego) meets the Avengers

I will go into more detail later on, but it gives you an idea. What do you think?

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

They’re interesting.

 

[mharrington]

Here's a little more detail on "Mousercise":

I actually got this idea from the video on the show on DefunctTV:


Near the end of the video, it talks about how the program has seen a resurgence in popularity as a result of the COVID-19 quarantine, with elementary teachers using the album to instruct "Mousercise" for their students over the Internet as a means to keep active in their homes. The video claims that these teachers were likely Mousercisers when they were the age of their students.

That's the direction I'm going with in the Disney Plus iteration of "Mousercise". It would play into the social distancing measures set up. Instead of a single host like Kellyn Plasschaert, as on the original show, it will feature these individual teachers. I'm thinking of trying to get the people who were once Kellyn's students on the show. By having them appear individually, it could be something like those Disney Family Singalong programs that were a direct result of the social distancing measures from the pandemic. To that end, sadly, the costumed versions of the characters won't be appearing, since it will be taking place in various other locations.

Additionally, the choice of songs will not just come from the original album from whence the show had originated, but also from a 2005 revival CD:

The 2005 CD remixes classics from the original album while also throwing in newer songs like "A Whole New World" and "Go the Distance", all with exercise interstitials. They will be featured as well.

I have heard also that in 2016, "Mousercise" was advertised in Japan and featured further updated themes, such as from "Frozen". I don't know much about it, but it will be included as well.

Similar to the original show, the newer show will occasionally mix in footage of Disney animation during the songs, although obviously with newer, post-1983 material. For example, in the "Mousercise" version of "Step In Time" (redone for the newer version) (go here: https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Step_in_Time#Mousercise_Version), it will feature footage of the original "Mary Poppins", as well as other bits of footage. For instance, at the "roar like a rocket" part, it will show a brief snippet of "Toy Story" showing Woody and Buzz trying to catch up with the moving van by lighting Buzz's rocket. Another song, "Bug-A-Boo" would feature brief snippets of "A Bug's Life".

And of course, the show will open and close with the "Mousercise Theme", but the style will be more derivative of the 2005 CD than the 1980s record album. This is the only place where you can see Mickey and the gang, rendered in animated style:

MICKEY: Oh, boy! Looks like the gang's all here! Are you ready to exercise?

MINNIE: Oh, no!

GOOFY: No...

DONALD: No.

MICKEY: Well... (laughs) Are you ready to MOUSErcise?

MINNIE: (giggles)

GOOFY: Yeah! (guffaws)

That bit of exchange is used to open the 2005 CD:


It's the same theme as on The Disney Channel (and by extension the record album), but the theme is done in the style of the 2005 CD.

Anyway, that gives you an idea of reviving "Mousercise" and putting it on Disney Plus. What are your thoughts there?

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

It looks cool. I tried to think of original Disney+ content too.

 

[Miru]

Good job for Mousersize so far. I could see the original added to Disney+ to provide hype for the relaunch. If Mousercize is successful enough, I could see some brand new songs composed for it. “One Little Spark”, “Try Everything”, “Into the Unknown”, and “You’re Welcome” could work pretty well.

As for Maximus Horsepower, perhaps try to tie it into the Ducktales-verse, or even the Epic Mickey lore given its premise of a forgotten character explaining why they are gone. A full Epic Mickey series would be neat to add in the future.

 

[mharrington]

Good job for Mousersize so far. I could see the original added to Disney+ to provide hype for the relaunch. If Mousercize is successful enough, I could see some brand new songs composed for it. “One Little Spark”, “Try Everything”, “Into the Unknown”, and “You’re Welcome” could work pretty well.

Yeah, those might work.

As for Maximus Horsepower, perhaps try to tie it into the Ducktales-verse, or even the Epic Mickey lore given its premise of a forgotten character explaining why they are gone. A full Epic Mickey series would be neat to add in the future.

Unfortunately, as great as those ideas are, "Ducktales" is coming to an end. Also, "Maximum Horsepower" has a period setting, at least initially (although I believe "Tale Spin" had a period setting, too). Finally, sadly, "Epic Mickey"'s time has passed, which is too bad, as it had potential. I believe Horace was a detective in the game, which doesn't say much.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

If you need more ideas for Disney+ films or shows I had this one concept that involves the Disney Princesses franchise.

 

[mharrington]

If you need more ideas for Disney+ films or shows I had this one concept that involves the Disney Princesses franchise.

I don't think that will be necessary.

 

[Miru]

Yeah, those might work.



Unfortunately, as great as those ideas are, "Ducktales" is coming to an end. Also, "Maximum Horsepower" has a period setting, at least initially (although I believe "Tale Spin" had a period setting, too). Finally, sadly, "Epic Mickey"'s time has passed, which is too bad, as it had potential. I believe Horace was a detective in the game, which doesn't say much.

I would ignore those things; Disney seems open to reviving old things, and MH could serve as a pseudo-sequel to Ducktales. Epic Mickey being sorta revived through this series could be fun.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

The Ducktales-verse could still exist because of the planned Darkwing Duck reboot spin-off.

 

[mharrington]

I would ignore those things; Disney seems open to reviving old things, and MH could serve as a pseudo-sequel to Ducktales. Epic Mickey being sorta revived through this series could be fun.

The only way an "Epic Mickey" series could work is if Warren Spector came back with Junction Point, but I thought that went out of business.

The Ducktales-verse could still exist because of the planned Darkwing Duck reboot spin-off.

Maybe that could work. Except, as I said, it's going to be something of a period piece, so it might be difficult.

Okay, here are some details related to "Maximum Horsepower"...

This cartoon series was once considered as a series on the Disney Afternoon lineup of the 1990s. It was the brainchild of writer Tad Stones. Unfortunately, it never made it past the pitch phase as Disney apparently wanted to focus on expanding their brand, which led to TV series adaptations of movies like "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin" and "The Lion King" (which starred Timon and Pumbaa).

The premise justifies the mysterious disappearance of Horace Horsecollar from cartoons after the 1930s. In the 1930s, when Mickey Mouse first started, one of his closest friends and costars early on was Horace Horsecollar. However, as Mickey became more popular, his friendship with Horace offscreen became strained. Unlike Mickey, Horace never became a big star in the same vein, instead always relegated to minor roles, and he resented it. To make matters worse, Horace felt that Mickey had seemingly abandoned him in favor of two other friends/costars, Donald Duck and Goofy, both of whom had started out as bit players like Horace, but quickly achieved the kind of stardom in their own right that Horace never got.

Then came the straw that broke the camel's... or rather, the horse's back. In 1939, Horace learns that the Disney Studio is making a brand-new movie called "Fantasia", a series of animated vignettes all set to different pieces of classical music. On top of that, Mickey was going to appear in one of those vignettes: an adaptation of Paul Dukas' "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Horace decides enough is enough and decides to use this concert feature as his ticket out of bit roles. He starts to head down to Walt Disney's office to demand that the boss give him a role in "Fantasia" as well.

Horace doesn't get far, however, as the next thing he knows, he suddenly disappears in a flash of light! When he reappears, he finds himself on a spaceship, having been spirited away by a race of none-too-bright aliens and sent to another galaxy. These aliens have chosen him as their new champion. Ever egotistical, Horace decides to play along, bluffing his way through a series of intergalactic misadventures, all while trying, but never quite succeeding, in returning home to his own time.

As stated before, however, the series was only pitched and that was it. The closest the concept got to realization was the cover of an Italian comic magazine called "Disney MEGAzine". The cover of one issue, from 1998, shows Horace surrounded by a race of aliens:

Inside, one story is called "Incontri ravvicinati" (or "Close Encounters"), which may have taken some inspiration from the proposed TV series.

I've thought of Bill Farmer (who, of course, is best remembered as the voice of Goofy (and the barking of Pluto)) to voice Horace, having done so in "The Prince and the Pauper", "House of Mouse" and even the Kingdom Hearts games. In fact, I was thinking of having Horace sound like he does in "KH: Birth By Sleep":


Anyway, that's the concept for "Maximum Horsepower" on Disney Plus.

 

[Miru]

I have a few ideas for arcs/episodes:

* Xadhoom from Paperinik New Adventures could be used, so she can make her animated debut.
* An episode where they debate if Pluto is a planet or not.
* Perhaps the aliens had taken Julius the Cat earlier on? He could become a recurring character, having bluffed the aliens earlier. I see Mike Pollock voicing Julius.
* We could explore the array of alien races in the Mickey verse here. Zalthroobians, Evronians, etc.
* An episode where it seems Mickey has forgotten Horace, replacing him with Tanglefoot.

 

[mharrington]

I have a few ideas for arcs/episodes:

* Xadhoom from Paperinik New Adventures could be used, so she can make her animated debut.
* An episode where they debate if Pluto is a planet or not.
* Perhaps the aliens had taken Julius the Cat earlier on? He could become a recurring character, having bluffed the aliens earlier. I see Mike Pollock voicing Julius.
* We could explore the array of alien races in the Mickey verse here. Zalthroobians, Evronians, etc.
* An episode where it seems Mickey has forgotten Horace, replacing him with Tanglefoot.

Good ideas. I like them, especially the return of Julius the cat from the Alice Comedies. He could be kind of a sidekick to Horace. I could probably see this meriting its own thread here some time.

Also, I just came up with another revival of an abandoned concept, a Muppet series: "Kermit the Frog: Private Eye".

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Cool, and Maximum Horace could make a cameo in Darkwing Duck till Darkwing, Gizmo Duck, and Maximum Horace form a Avengers like team.

Sorry if the Disney princess concept doesn’t interest you. All I could say about it is that it’s a live action series we’re our favorite Disney Princesses are reborn as teenagers in our world dealing with teen life. Like for example Snow White’s reincarnation is the new girl who moved from Missouri to New York, and is allergic to apples, and Aurora’s reincarnation loves fashion, and has a habit of falling asleep.

 

[mharrington]

Cool, and Maximum Horace could make a cameo in Darkwing Duck till Darkwing, Gizmo Duck, and Maximum Horace form a Avengers like team.

Sorry if the Disney princess concept doesn’t interest you. All I could say about it is that it’s a live action series we’re our favorite Disney Princesses are reborn as teenagers in our world dealing with teen life. Like for example Snow White’s reincarnation is the new girl who moved from Missouri to New York, and is allergic to apples, and Aurora’s reincarnation loves fashion, and has a habit of falling asleep.

That does sound interesting.

 

[Twilight_Roxas]

Another classic that could be brought back is the Disney Sing-Along Songs bringing back classic hosts like Professor Owl, Jiminy Cricket, and Ludwig Von Drake along with new hosts as well.

 

[mharrington]

Another classic that could be brought back is the Disney Sing-Along Songs bringing back classic hosts like Professor Owl, Jiminy Cricket, and Ludwig Von Drake along with new hosts as well.

As cool as they were, I'm not so sure.

Anyway, the third new idea for a series is a Pixar one: the actual series "Woody's Roundup" (which originated in "Toy Story 2"), the old TV show which shows the origin of the Roundup Gang!

From the article on the Disney Wiki...

It is sponsored by a cereal brand called Cowboy Crunchies. It is also the show's opening theme song performed by Riders In the Sky.

In the film, the show ran from 1949 to 1957 and gained a great deal of popularity, especially for its lead character, Sheriff Woody. However, the show was canceled after the launch of Sputnik that made westerns less popular with kids, as Stinky Pete declared that "once the astronauts went up, children only wanted to play with 'space' toys" and Woody remarks on how he know how that feels (referencing his jealously towards Buzz from the first "Toy Story" movie). As such, the final episode ended on a cliffhanger at the Grand Canyon that, according to Pete, was never resolved due to its cancelation then, yet Woody and company remained pretty sure that it was indeed "Woody's finest hour."

The same article shows a description...

A crucial story element involved Woody discovering his past life as a TV star. Delving back to the early days of black-and-white television, the Pixar team envisioned Woody’s Roundup in the primitive marionette format of the day. To capture that authenticity, the crew enlisted various CGI processes to make the vintage television footage look not only old but also like it had been stored in a garage.

The main difference between the show in the movie and the Disney Plus show is that the final episode of the show, "Woody's Finest Hour", will finally air. And perhaps the closing of that episode could be that the Toy Story characters were watching it on a TV (possibly a DVD release of the show?). This would take place between the events of "TS3" and "4", which means they would be with Bonnie by now.

Ideas for other episodes could stem from a series of books that I just discovered. You can click here to view a sample of ideas (scroll down to where it says "Woody's Roundup"): https://www.fantasticfiction.com/t/kiki-thorpe/.

Anyway, that's my next idea for a Disney Plus series. What did you think?

 

[Miru]

This will be great! I can see why real marionettes wouldn’t be used (maybe just for a gag ala SpongeBob) instead of CGI, but it’s cool to see Woody finally get what Buzz had in the early 2000s. The scrapped Senorita Cactus could be used as a major villain in the show.
About the Sing Along Songs revival, I’m still not sure why they didn’t put the originals on D+ yet. Some other example hosts could include Dreamfinder, the Ghost Host, and heck, even Yen Sid.

 

[Brer Panther]

Are we all allowed to suggest ideas for Disney+ shows, or this just for your ideas?

 

[mharrington]

Are we all allowed to suggest ideas for Disney+ shows, or this just for your ideas?

Mostly, they're just my ideas, but you can post ideas, too.