Here is one of the most interesting TaleSpin piece of history!

An original script that never got into production, which is an early draft to the "Grual & Unusual Punishment" episode!

I will comment it page by page below.

Click on the pictures to expand them!

.

What do we learn here?

- It has been written in late 1989, which I believe, was pretty late in TaleSpin pre-production so it's probably one of the last scripts written.

- It's written by "Michael & Mark Edens" (brothers?) I have checked the credits of the episode, and they were indeed credited as writers of "Grual & Unusual Punishment".

- The script was supposed to be a two parter, but as we know, only two of them were eventually produced for the series ("For Whom the Bell Klangs" and "A Bad Reflexion on You")
"Grual & Unusual Punishment" was only a one-parter. This is probably explained by the big "NO GO" and the indication to make this a 1/2 hour instead :)

- Not sure who "KK & DW" initials are for?

- So there was supposed to be a "Holland" parody country in the TaleSpin world, with a pun on "Bangladesh"?

- Some similarities with the original script (Baloo having to lose weight, the prison...), but some big differences too : Broadcast Sally would have been in it! As far as I know, she's only featured in two episodes : she has a major role in "The Time Bandit" , and a minor role (almost unspoken) in "Time Waits for No Bear" (if it's really her, because her name isn't mentioned in it).

- Notice the "Could be a lot of fun, but needs an emotional nook" and the "What's the emotional story" note at the top!

- So Becky has been on diets, uh? Why doesn't this surprise me? :)

- The scientist is named "Werner Van Brain", while in the final version, he is "Professor Krackpotkin"

- Pretty much else was kept, except the end - the storm never happens. And neither does the landing in Don Karnage lair!

Pretty much everything from this part 2 has been scrapped. It's a shame in a way, because somehow it would have been the only episode in which there are both the air pirates and the Thembrians (unless I'm forgetting one, I can't recall any with the two of them?) There was a lot of potential here!

I like the part with Karnage & the mad scientist collaborating, and Baloo being fooled (once again?)...

- Kit being overconfident seems pretty much in-character, and Don Karnage extorsion scheme reminds me a lot of Plunder & Lightning...

- He suddenly prefers revenge to money : the "Why?" note is clearly justified...

- Don Karnage "stopping the bad guy" would have been quite interesting to see!

- Is it only me, or is this ending really short and abrupt?

- Why did Baloo need a pilot licence in the first place? He already has one, right? They have different ones in that country? (that's never even mentioned)

So, what's my opinion overall on this script?

In some ways, it looks not much more than the usual fanfic, even though it was written by official writers. But still, it could have been a great, epic episode, much more than the final one.

BUT I have to agree with whoever rejected it (Jymn?) It definitely lacked EMOTION, something that TaleSpin definitely had! (and what most nowadays cartoons lack of!) The final episode definitely was more interesting on that aspect.

I'm glad to see that Jymn & others insisted on this, because the emotional side is probably the thing that makes me such a TaleSpin fan, and what makes it so unique, even compated to other fan-loved Disney Afternoon series like Darkwing Duck which clearly had more action that emotions.

Stay tuned for more, and please comment below!