Difference between revisions of "History of Hollywood"

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The '''history of Hollywood''' is comprised of the remnants of multiple timelines, rearranged and collapsed together in the wake of [[the Big One]]. The inherently contradictory and anachronistic nature of such a combined history makes it hard to document accurately. For instance: certain historical figures tragically died young after living for over a century, at least one war ended before it actually started, and several decades seem to have disappeared entirely.
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{{See also|History of the Animation}}
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The '''history of Hollywood''' stretches back over a hundred years, and includes events that seem to not only defy conventional explanations, but which have also reshaped the world in drastic and often destructive ways. The task of accurately documenting this history is made considerably more difficult due to the unstable fabric of reality that continues to alter past events, despite numerous written complaints and general threats of violence from Hollywood's resident historians.
  
[[Hollywood]] uses its own calendar out of necessity, due to temporal irregularities such as the year 1954 occurring nine separate times across a thirty year span. Everything prior to the Big One is '''BBO''' (Before Big One), and everything after is '''AH''' (Anno Hollywood, or more informally, Age of Hollywood). Chronological aftershocks have been known to shift events and rewrite minor aspects of the timeline, requiring an official realignment of the calendar to ensure that the Big One is always situated at 0 AH.
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== Pre-Hollywood ==
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The region that would gradually become [[Hollywood]], located in [[California]] on the western coast of the [[United States of America]], was always a site of extreme instability in multiple ways. Numerous historical earthquakes helped to shape and define the locale, with the last [[Major earthquakes in Hollywood|major earthquake]] of the pre-Hollywood era being the Great Quake of 1906. At the time it was claimed to have been caused by Mrs. Mulroney's mule, which according to folklore had kicked the fault line after being startled by an unusually large potato. But the likelihood is that this reasoning is rooted in the severe anti-Irish sentiment of the era, and so was no longer considered a valid scientific explanation by the mid-1980s.
  
The current year is '''42 AH'''.
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Archeological digs across Hollywood have shown that, despite the present-day reputation that the film industry is the sole source of the area's weirdness, it has been a nexus of strange events and dimensional breaches dating back tens of thousands, possibly even millions of years. However, it wasn't until the arrival of the film industry that Hollywood's cataclysmic properties could be effectively exploited for profit.
  
== Prehistory ==
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Yet the allure of Hollywood as a location for the film industry manages to predate not only the film industry, but also humanity itself, suggesting there has been an unknown attraction at work for untold millions of years. Fossilized remains have been unearthed that include rudimentary clapperboards, basic trailers still with their occupants inside, and even fragments of scripts. However the lack of any written language, or even the basic concept of the three-act structure, have made these prehistoric scripts impossible to understand by modern Hollywood standards. Scientific research into prehistoric Hollywood continues, funded by several major studios as a potential source of franchises to reboot for modern audiences.
  
The allure of Hollywood as a location for the film industry predates both the film industry and humanity, suggesting some sort of unknown attraction at work. Fossilized remains have been unearthed including clapperboards, basic trailers, and even fragments of scripts. However the lack of any language or concept of the three-act structure have made these impossible to understand by modern Hollywood standards. Multiple extinction events previously undocumented seem to be based solely around the Hollywood area, possibly from stunts gone wrong or intense contract disputes.
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== The 1910s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1910s}}
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True Hollywood began in early 1910, when a number of film production companies arrived in the region, fleeing [[Thomas Edison]]'s iron grip on the industry. They found Hollywood to be amenable to the film making process, having a pleasant climate and a distinct lack of hired goons lurking in back alleys with knives and rope. Pioneering director [[W. M. Enfield]] was among the first to arrive, seeking to bring his own distinct brand of spectacle and historical revisionism to the silver screen. Due in no small part to the radical dimensional instability of the area, it took only a few short years for the region to turn from a small township into the blossoming entertainment capital of the United States.
  
After the arrival of humanity, early civilizations in the region gradually became just as obsessed with film-making. Coupled with the inability to actually make films, many of these civilizations collapsed, leaving behind confusing artifacts and bizarre legacies that many later civilizations struggled to understand. It was not until the arrival of American settlers that humanity could live in the area without serious issues, thanks to the complete disinterest of the settlers in any civilization but their own.
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Starting in 1914, the first [[toon]]s began to appear in Hollywood. At first thought to be particularly vivid hallucinations, the incontrovertible physical evidence for their existence (mostly property damage) soon proved they were as real as anything or anyone else. It wasn't until 1919 that [[Toon Town]]'s presence in Hollywood became noticeable, due to the widening of the dimensional rift that connects the "Real World" (as toons refer to it) to [[the Animation]]. It was only large enough to allow one building of downtown [[Schnooklyn]] to appear within Hollywood, but would be a full city block by 1928.
  
== Dawn of Hollywood ==
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== The 1920s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1920s}}
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{{Newspaper|subheading|right|vintage|“Mightosaurus”|Colossal dinosaur hitherto unknown to science tears through downtown L.A.|Illustrated Daily News|October 1923}}Business was booming during the Roaring 20s, so called due to (in part) the discovery of the [[Gwanji Valley]] in Northern California. The thrill of uncovering a lost world of prehistoric monsters, along with the obvious entertainment value, far outweighed what many saw as a potential danger. The Valley became one of the hottest new spots for film production, unmatched anywhere else in the world. Dozens of new studios were founded at this time, with over half surviving through the decade. These included [[Bernard Bros.]] and [[Whit Jolley Animation]], which would both later become members of the [[Big Five]].
  
When film was finally invented around 100 BBO, the industry quickly took hold. By 95 BBO there were several competing studios based out of the city of Los Angeles, doing their best to film whatever might spark the public's interest. Among these earliest studios were future [[Big Five|"Big Five"]] members [[Bernard Bros.]] and [[Sovereign Pictures]], as well as smaller players like [[Harker Film Productions]] and [[S.O.S. Studios]].
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What was later understood to be Hollywood's first [[kaiju]] incident occurred in 1923, with [[Mightosaurus]] causing property damage and extensive loss of life. However, several hours of highly usable footage meant the city saw it as a net gain to the point of intentionally trying to bait a second incident, but with little success.
  
=== Discovery of the Gwanji Valley ===
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== The 1930s ==
{{Main article|Gwanji Valley}}
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1930s}}
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The Great Depression was felt even in the realm of decadent excess that Hollywood had become, although mostly by the poor. [[Mammonism]] was on the rise in the region, supplanting and absorbing other religions that had failed to keep up with Hollywood's moral flexibility. This was the decade that saw the election of [[Salvatore Fischetti]] to the office of [[President of the United States]], often called the country's first "mobster president" even though nothing was conclusively proven in a court of law.
  
In 91 BBO, director and explorer [[Cooper Malone]] discovered a complex cave system south of Los Angeles. After three months he resurfaced, claiming to have found a hidden valley only reachable through the maze of subterranean tunnels.
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It was also in this decade that the [[Battle of Los Angeles]] took place, with three of the major studios raising private armies to attempt to overthrow the local government and push back what they saw as unpopular and unjust censorship laws. Though ultimately unsuccessful as a coup, it proved that the chaotic nature of Hollywood could not be controlled, only mitigated.
  
With a number of investors intrigued by the possibilities, Malone managed to set off with a full expedition within six weeks of his return. Setting off with all the film gear they could carry, the expedition was well equipped to document the numerous prehistoric monsters that killed and ate most of them.
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After the refinement of the color film process in 1936, the previously monochrome toons of Hollywood began to appear in full color as well, prompting those in the scientific community still trying to analyze toon physiology to put forth the theory that toons were intrinsically connected not just to Hollywood, but to film-making itself. Toons were exceptionally unhelpful in validating this or any other hypothesis. With no clear evidence, and more importantly no explanation of how this would make anyone any money, it was one more nail in the coffin for the already disreputable scientific field of [[toonology]].
  
Malone was among the survivors, although with slightly less fingers and significantly more scars than when he had started off. He named the place ''Gwanji Valley'', supposedly after his great aunt, but later expeditions found the word carved repeatedly into the local rock by unknown hands (or claws), suggesting that Malone may have plagiarized the name.
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== The 1940s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1940s}}
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Hollywood had numerous conflicting opinions on World War 2, including which side had the better cinematographic appeal. These were resolved in 1941, when the Empire of Japan launched a surprise military strike against the [[Hollywood Islands]]. It was a surprise to the Japanese as well, who had been intending to attack military assets in Hawaii some 2000 miles east instead. Numerous film sets were destroyed, and such was Hollywood's political clout that the United States formally entered into the conflict the next day. Hollywood's chief role in the war would be the large-scale production of propaganda, meaning it was business as usual for the industry with the added bonus of the federal government footing the bill.
  
After the Malone expedition, the route was widely publicized, leading to numerous movies being filmed there, and an even larger number of gruesome fatalities.
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The [[Toon Platoon]] was formed in early 1942, comprised of several patriotic toons willing to take an anvil for their country or any other country that would have them. The military-themed cartoons they made contributed heavily to the war effort, keeping troop morale up and encouraging the public to buy war bonds. Several attempts were made at deploying the Platoon in actual combat situations, due to their indestructible bodies and natural affinity for fighting, but after the accidental sinking of the USS Eldridge in 1943 all toons were banned from active military service.
  
=== Toon Town appears ===
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== The 1950s ==
{{Main article|Toon Town}}
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1950s}}
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In the wake of World War 2's end, the country was drunk on a mix of American exceptionalism and paranoia, exemplified by the new [[Governor of California]] [[Jack F. Ralston]] and his political crusades against anything deemed insufficiently American. Although he would not live to see the end of the decade, his firm and hypocritical attitudes would help to shape Hollywood for many years to come. Hundreds of movies produced during the decade that celebrated America's accomplishments, both real and imagined, have since been recognized as vibrant inclusions into the Hollywood canon rather than the desperate results of moral blackmail they actually were.
  
It is hard to pinpoint when [[toon]]s first arrived in Hollywood, but it is widely accepted that it was around 89 BBO, the year when the first cartoon was released. Despite being just twelve minutes long, it was nevertheless a sensation. At first the studio responsible tried the ludicrous and unbelievable explanation that it was the work of thousands of drawings, but quickly capitulated when the existence of toons became common knowledge. These monochromatic animated beings were unpredictable and also vaguely confused as to what was going on, but it quickly became established that their home reality (called [[the Animation]]) had somehow become entwined with Hollywood's own.
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The [[Hollywood Space Administration]] was founded in 1951 with [[Thaddeus Finckenstein]] as the inaugural head of the agency. His method of launching things into space "to see what has the gumption to make it back" had far-reaching repercussions that would shape Hollywood for decades to come, and for which he would experience absolutely no consequences. Hollywood experienced two serious bouts of "space fever" in this decade: one that had audiences thrilled by space-themed adventures on the silver screen, and one caused by a mutated virus brought back by the [[Hermes program|Hermes XIV]] in 1958.
  
The locus of this crossover was a section of the Animation that also simultaneously existed in Hollywood, allowing for any resident in either side to undertake transuniversal travel so simply that it could be done on foot. The ability to experience the physics and society of another plane of existence proved to be a popular tourist attraction, and then swiftly a deathtrap as it became obvious that only toons could shrug off anvils and dynamite outside the Animation.
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== The 1960s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1960s}}
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The defining event of the 1960s was the [[Invasion of Hollywood]], when the HSA's earlier Trans-Planetary Distribution Project resulted in numerous alien species being exposed to Hollywood movies. Justifiably enraged, this loose alliance based on a mutual desire for revenge was unable to use their superior technology to overcome Hollywood's can-do spirit and cavalier attitude toward radioactive fallout. A sustained campaign of nuclear strikes would put an end to the invasion, in the process destroying 90% of the alien armada (including the mothership, which would become [[Crash Site Delta]]), large sections of the California coastline, the entire state of Nevada (accidentally), and the entire state of Arizona (intentionally).
  
To prevent pedestrians and wildlife from accidentally crossing over, a high wall was constructed around the crossover point, with only the Toon Town Tunnel providing access. The area became known as Toon Town, coincidentally the same name as the bustling metropolis on the other side, but meant in a more dismissive manner by Hollywood locals.
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Animal rights activists made a successful push in the wake of the invasion, with their new angle of "at least we're from around here" allowing Hollywood's inherent narcissistic jingoism to triumph over its inherent bigotry. From 1964 onwards, all [[Animal|animals]] would be granted second-class citizenship, provided they could prove both their sentience ''and'' monetary value.
  
=== Mightosaurus ===
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The increased levels of radiation and alien DNA in the atmosphere had a significant effect on kaiju activity in the region, resulting in the rise of new kaiju that dwarfed previous encounters in terms of both size and destructive power. This gave the latter half of the decade the nickname "the Smashing Sixties" after the sheer frequency of attacks. The nearby [[Mondo Island]] was designated as a national park in 1968, although one uniquely dedicated to the ''extermination'', rather than preservation, of its wildlife.
{{Main article|Mightosaurus}}
 
  
First sighted in 83 BBO, the creature that came to be known as Mightosaurus was presumed to have left the Gwanji Valley by following the route worn by countless film crews. Certainly the gigantic predator had a keen sense of smell, leading it straight to Los Angeles where it rampaged through the city streets, wrecking small buildings and automobiles, and killing over twenty residents.
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== The 1970s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1970s}}
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The major studios considered the war movie to be a dying genre. Interest among audiences for alien invasions had waned from overexposure, and World War 2 seemed too dated comparatively. The moviegoing public was ready for a new type of war movie, and that meant a new war. Starting with focus testing operations in 1970, progressing to a full-scale launch in late 1971, [[World War 3]] was considered to be a worthy sequel to the conflict that had ravaged the globe thirty years prior. However, due to studio involvement, this particular war would have the twists and turns that executives felt had been lacking in WW2.
  
At the time theorized to have been a previously undiscovered variant of dinosaur, hence the name, it is now widely understood that Mightosaurus was in fact a juvenile [[kaiju]], and Hollywood was lucky to have encountered it before it fully matured. Further incidents with kaiju of increasing size caused the city to begin work on installing permanent anti-kaiju defenses.
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This decade also saw the first cross-planetary conjunction in over two hundred years in 1973. This rare astronomical event lasted for three months and involved numerous lunar eclipses, with sometimes as many as six illusory moons in the night sky. This overabundance of moonlight caused a severe upswing in [[cryptid]] activity across Hollywood, which had the knock-on effect of causing horror movies to briefly skyrocket in popularity.
  
=== The Battle of Los Angeles ===
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The city's growing [[puppet]] problem had come to a head in 1969 with the establishment of [[Alphabet City]] near what would later become [[Sunset Slums]]. Throughout the 1970s, the city would enact strong pest control policies to remove the puppets and their unwanted shantytown, but the mounting costs and severe loss of life brought about an informal ceasefire in 1976.
{{Main article|Battle of Los Angeles}}
 
  
Hollywood's growing eccentricities had become cause for alarm in the highest levels of government. In order to quell what was perceived as dangerous moral failings, over the span of several years, multiple laws were put in place to exert control: the Hays Code, the Cartoon Violence Act, and the Motion Picture Decency Act. Each one was more demanding than the last, at least in the eyes of the film studios.
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== The 1980s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1980s}}
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A tumultuous decade, the 1980s saw plenty of social upheaval and crisis. World War 3 had been scheduled for a third act ceasefire in 1978, but disagreements over merchandising rights had left the talks in limbo for years, leaving the conflict to continue unchecked. Though there was never a formal end to hostilities, changing attitudes among the moviegoing public during the 1980s eventually caused studio interest to wane significantly, allowing the major powers to move on and start preparing for the inevitable WW4.
  
In 68 BBO, three studios attempted an armed coup of the area, having hid the expenses for hiring and outfitting private militaries within fake movie budgets. Despite certain setbacks, they succeeded in taking control of key areas of the city, and forced the local authorities to rescind what the studios called the "anti-cinema" laws.
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[[Universal Service Systems]] had been producing personal household robots for not just the extremely wealthy, but also the merely moderately wealthy, since 1975. 1984 saw the introduction of the new Robbie series, soon becoming the most prevalent and most popular. This made it a serious problem when the machines achieved sentience and began demanding equal rights. The ensuing [[Robbie Riots]] were blamed on a multitude of factors, including unpredictable alien micro-circuitry and adverse reactions to unseasonable solar flares. Whatever the cause, the peaceful protest marches of the Robbies were met with an overwhelming response from the [[LAPD]], leaving the city's sanitation department to deal with the mountains of scrap metal left behind.
  
Even though the US military was brought in, the entrenched position of the studios made any kind of counter-offensive impossible. At a stalemate, the US government flew in several high-ranking negotiators with the promise of building a better Hollywood for everyone. The government had recognized that the localized chaos of Hollywood could never be stopped, but it could be harnessed.
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== The 1990s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 1990s}}
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In early 1994, [[the Big One]] hit Hollywood. The exact time and date remain unknown, due to the magnitude of the quake being so severe that it affected both space ''and'' time. The entire western coast of the United States was reshaped, becoming the most volcanically active and geologically unstable area of any planet in the solar system. The [[Gwanji Valley]] collapsed into a massive sinkhole, resulting in the area coming to occupy most of Northern California and possibly proving the Hollow Earth hypothesis in the process.
  
The ensuing compromise, increasing government power in the region while also giving the major studios greater freedoms, led to what became known as the Golden Age of Hollywood.
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In the wake of the disaster, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Chuck Chambers|Chambers]] sprang into action, pushing through legislation that would ensure that he would remain President for the duration of the emergency or for the rest of his natural life, whichever was longer. He relocated the center of government to Hollywood, quite literally by having [[White House Tower]] constructed. From this point on, America would be a republic for the sake of Hollywood first and foremost, which would make the long-standing unspoken agreement into something approaching formal policy.
  
== The Golden Age ==
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The aftermath of the Big One also saw a rise in religious fervor among the population, with both the founding of [[Opticology]] and the unnamed [[volcano cult]]'s delight at actual volcanic activity now being present on the mainland, resulting in the mass sacrifice known as [[Gulo Tuesday]]. [[Mammonism|Mammonist]] celebrity preacher [[Reverend Leopold Bless]] dedicated both the reconstruction efforts and the disaster as a testament to the power of greed and the ongoing hope that the rich would continue to get richer.
  
As well as the formation of Hollywood as its own city-state in the wake of the Battle of Los Angeles, the start of the Golden Age was marked by the invention of full-color film. Certain older films had experimented with color in the past, but it wasn't until 68 BBO that a safe and efficient process was developed. Toons also turned full color alongside the development of color technology, although it was a gradual process. There are still toons, and locations within the Animation, that are still monochrome in nature. This suggested that the connection between Hollywood and toons was stronger than initially thought.
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== The 2000s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 2000s}}
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Throughout the 2000s, Hollywood continued to build back bigger from the Big One's effects and expand its influence. This included the construction of the artificial mountain [[Olympus]] by [[Olympus Pictures]], the expansion of the [[Lunopolis]] moonbase established in 1999, and [[Jolley World]]'s radical territorial gains through a combination of aggressive purchasing, litigation, and paramilitary operations. The now-stable [[Underwood]] chasm was tapped for geothermal power, providing a free and limitless source of electricity to the [[Perdition Power Company]], who to this day continue to sell it to the rest of Hollywood at a premium.
  
Previously a small-time studio, the switch to color enabled [[Whit Jolley Corporation|Whit Jolley Animation]] to produce its first feature-length cartoon, ''Hansel & Gretel'' (66 BBO). An immediate success, it heralded a new era for toon-led productions, being followed by ''Jack & the Beanstalk'' (64 BBO) and ''Dick Whittington'' (62 BBO). Whit Jolley Animation soon became a rival to other studios, and was part of the "Big Five" by 60 BBO.
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Piracy, which had previously been a relatively small-scale problem, became much more prevalent during this decade. Due to a combination of the reshaping of the coastline by the Big One and loosening regulations under the Chambers administration, it was much easier for private citizens to acquire nuclear submarines and loot incoming vessels for supplies of expensive props, spec scripts, and new talent for later ransom. The government's response to the studio outcry was to encourage more private citizens to acquire their own nuclear submarines in order to act as independent pirate hunters, thereby allowing free market capitalism to ineffectually mitigate the very problem that it had originally caused.
  
=== The Hollywood Space Program ===
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The first [[chronal aftershocks]] began to hit in this decade, presumed to be caused by the Big One's far-reaching impact on space-time. Various objects and entities began to appear within the Hollywood area, without any sort of discernable pattern to their nature. Various figures from Hollywood's history reappeared in the present, alive and in the prime of their life despite well-publicized deaths decades prior. A number of buildings and geographical features, that may have originated from possible futures or alternate timelines, displaced existing portions of Hollywood practically overnight. These included [[Huey Presto's Fantasmical School of Stagecraft and Sorcery]], which incited a minor craze for magic that faded as fast as it started, and the [[Sinister Black Cathedral]].
{{Main article|Hollywood Space Program}}
 
The year 62 BBO saw the founding of the Hollywood Space Program, an attempt by the US government to take advantage of Hollywood's dimensional instability for national gain. Weakened physics and numerous flaws in local space-time meant that getting rockets into orbit was much easier than anywhere else. Entranced with the idea of new locations to film in and new audiences to reach, many of the major studios contributed to the program in exchange for certain considerations, such as filming missions as they happened. Some of these, like the [[Vulcan IV Disaster]], made for bad science but great cinema.
 
  
=== The rise and fall of Ralstonism ===
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== The 2010s ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 2010s}}
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The decade also known as the "Twenty-Toons" due to an abnormal swell of good fortune for the [[toon]] population of Hollywood. The election of [[Magic Wanda]] as [[Mayor of Toon Town]] in 2008, beating incumbent [[August Plum]], was a key catalyst in this upswing. Her promise of "a paycheck in every hand and a pie in every face" combined the natural toon propensity for physical comedy with far-reaching social programs to enable toons to get into work. In a twist of irony the very studio that had fired her as a strikebreaking measure, [[Whit Jolley Productions]], was forced to return to negotiating with Wanda, though with her now commanding significant power. In 2011, Wanda and a number of other high-profile toons established the [[Associated Accredited Animated Artistes & Actors Affiliated Alliance]] (AAAAAAA), the fifth union created for toons working in Hollywood, but the first to last more than fifteen minutes. It maintains a significant presence in Hollywood to this day, ensuring that toons are compensated fairly for their work and not subjected to excessive violence unless it's funny.
  
Former senator [[Jack F. Ralston]] was elected to the position of Governor of Hollywood in 58 BBO, the highest power in the region since the changes made after the Battle of Los Angeles. He campaigned on a platform of anti-anti-American action, vowing to ruthlessly seek out undesirable influences in the film industry and crush them. This naked appeal to hate and paranoia went over well among the Hollywood electorate, seeing Ralston win in a landslide.
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December 2012 saw an end to the doomsday hype that had been growing since the early 2000s, but without an end to the world itself as various prophecies and predictions failed to happen. The rogue planet Nibiru, which several leading crackpots had declared would collide with Earth, was instead struck by the comet Nemesis, which had also been supposed to impact the Earth around the same time, resulting in the complete destruction of both deep space objects. Additional doomsday prospects (including the machine uprising, the return of the old gods, and the sun dying) also did not occur despite the vocal insistence of cranks and frauds across the globe. Those survivalist enclaves that had not yet sealed themselves within their bunkers greeted the news of a hopeful future with regret, but expressed their optimism that civilization would collapse within the next ten years.
  
Ralston immediately formed the [[Hollywood Committee on Seditious Activities]] (HCSA), touted in the press as a triumphant return to the witch hunts of old. The committee's purpose was to investigate everyone working in Hollywood, questioning their allegiances and to root out anyone undertaking treasonous actions. A handful of big names in the industry, including western star [[Chuck Chambers]] and director [[Albert Morloch]], voluntarily assisted the committee by providing names. Multiple members of the film industry were blacklisted, arrested, and in one case, executed for their supposed crimes. The studios backed Ralston fully, deeming rabid patriotism the latest cinematic trend and producing countless movies that celebrated it.
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In May 2016, entrepreneur and studio mogul [[Jeremiah Holliday]] opened [[El Perdido]], the largest luxury resort ever built in the [[Gwanji Valley]], with assurances that the mistakes made in previous attempts to open luxury resorts in the Valley would not be repeated. Holliday personally guaranteed that the splendor of El Perdido would be able to be enjoyed by both guests and the local dinosaur population. Unfortunately, while the revolutionary fenceless design of the resort thrilled many investors, it proved to be impossible to reconcile the conflict of interests between guests (who desired to enjoy the resort's amenities) and the local dinosaur population (who desired to eat the guests). After sixteen months of technical issues and approximately fifteen thousand dead or missing, the resort ceased operation in late 2017 due to budget concerns.
  
However, Ralston's patriotic fervor did not mesh well with Hollywood's excess, nor his cocaine-rich diet, and the HCSA's crusade began to fall apart along with Ralston's own mental state. In 53 BBO he dismissed the rest of the HCSA and attempted to run a hearing by himself, with the addition of a rifle and a notable lack of pants. After a tense 3-minute standoff, an LAPD task force removed him from office.
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== The 2020s and beyond ==
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{{Main article|Hollywood in the 2020s}}
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The modern era continues to be indecently good to Hollywood, which continues to be indecent in return. The film industry retains its tight stranglehold over the region, as well as affecting both domestic policy and global trends. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Chuck Chambers]] continues to lead the country from [[White House Tower]], mentally and physically fit for the strenuous demands of the position despite being both over 110 years old and a misanthropic sociopath.
  
=== The Invasion of Hollywood ===
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[[Category:History of Hollywood| ]]
{{Main article|Invasion of Hollywood}}
 
The Hollywood Space Program began the Trans-Planetary Distribution Project under Administrator [[Thaddeus Finckenstein]] in 54 BBO, attempting to spread Hollywood's cultural influence to the stars. Inevitably, multiple alien species received TPDP payloads, including itemized bills and thinly veiled threats about the consequences of non-payment. United by this insult, the Alliance of Many Worlds formed, and summarily dispatched the Armada of Many Worlds on a mission to subjugate Hollywood (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the planet) until a solution could be found. The Armada arrived in 41 BBO, after several months of travel.
 
 
 
The invasion was a complete failure, leaving several million alien invaders stranded in Hollywood with no way of returning. Ever the magnanimous victor, Hollywood declared the former invaders to be third class citizens (with the possibility of moving up to second class) and started demanding they pay rent and taxes. With little other options available, the aliens have since done their best to fit in as residents, with a few even managing to find success.
 
 
 
=== Death of Whit Jolley ===
 
{{Main article|Whit Jolley}}
 
 
 
Whitman "Whit" Jolley, founder of Whit Jolley Animation, passed away in 22 BBO. The cause of his death was never revealed, nor was his body ever seen, leading to rumors that his death might have been foul play or even faked. Whatever the circumstances, he was declared legally dead and ownership of his studio, his creations, and even his likeness passed on to the Whit Jolley Animation board of directors.
 
 
 
There was a quick turnaround from the studio's former direction under Jolley, immediately branching out into multiple new divisions for merchandising, brand control, and even a private military. As the [[Whit Jolley Corporation]], it drew criticism from many of its toon stars, who felt like the board of directors was betraying the principles set by Jolley. Almost one hundred toons and several dozen [[animator]]s joined a strike headed by long-time Jolley mascot [[Tiny Cat]]. The response from the Whit Jolley Corporation was to fire all of them and replace them with non-union workers.
 
 
 
=== Chambers Presidency ===
 
{{Main article|Chuck Chambers}}
 
Having first gained a taste for politics through his involvement with Ralston decades earlier, and now with his best years behind him, Chuck Chambers announced his candidacy for President of the United States in 12 BBO. He easily secured the Republican party nomination with his platform of appealing to "traditional values" without any commitments to actual policies.
 
 
 
Intimidated by the power of Hollywood, the Democratic party nominated extreme centrist [[Milton P. Motherly]] in order to gain the broadest appeal to the entire electorate. By offering absolutely nothing, they hoped to win undecided voters through sheer inertia. The plan collapsed when Motherly accepted Chambers's offer of the Vice Presidency, leaving Chambers completely unopposed on the ballot.
 
 
 
After his inauguration in 11 BBO, Chambers had the entire White House [[White House Tower|moved to Hollywood]], citing a long-winded anecdote about cattle drives and ranches when questioned about it.
 
 
 
=== World War 3 ===
 
{{Main article|World War 3}}
 
By 10 BBO, the studios of Hollywood had realized that both World War I ''and'' World War II had ended some years prior. This was considered to be concerning news, as it was felt that the cinematic possibilities of global conflict had not been fully explored, and war movies were due to make a big comeback. With no suitable wars currently underway, Hollywood took matters into its own hands. Over the next three years the groundwork was laid for a new conflict, tentatively titled ''World War II: 2'' but eventually released as ''World War 3'' after focus-testing. With funding from all members of the "Big Five", a simultaneous offensive and counter-offensive was launched, dragging the rest of the world into a manufactured war in 7 BBO.
 
 
 
Although starting World War 3 was a lot easier than initially estimated, ''ending'' it has proven to be far trickier. It may still be ongoing, in part due to the ambivalence and short attention span of Hollywood.
 
 
 
== The Big One ==
 
{{Main article|The Big One}}
 
According to eyewitness accounts and recovered documentation, the massive earthquake occurred exactly once. However, the date given on the old calendar ranged from anywhere from 1834 to 2150, including one archived newspaper article that said the Big One happened "on the 43rd moon of the Year of the Boiled Monkey". Furthermore, scientific experiments and archeological digs have discovered evidence of the Big One thousands, even millions, of years in the past. The accepted consensus is that the effects of the quake distorted not just the geology of Hollywood, but also the history. Therefore the quake ''did'' occur, simultaneously, at every possible moment in every possible past, and perhaps future. This makes charting its position on any timeline of less than eight dimensions impossible, which is why it has been assigned the date of 0 AH purely out of convenience.
 
 
 
=== Reshaping Hollywood ===
 
 
 
Hollywood's new geography from the Big One's massive geological upheaval was barely recognizable compared to old maps, although on occasion this could be explained as artifacts of now-defunct alternate timelines. With new volcanic islands off the redefined coastline, and a slew of never-before-seen features that defied previously understood scientific principles, Hollywood was forever changed.
 
 
 
The cave system connecting the Gwanji Valley to Hollywood collapsed into a gigantic sinkhole, creating an entirely new environment in the south of Hollywood, with the majority of it located beneath sea level.
 
 
 
A massive chasm approximately sixty-seven miles deep opened up in the [[City of Hollywood]], relatively stable despite reaching the planet's mantle of molten rock. Within a few years the area was settled, and called [[Underwood]] by residents.
 
 
 
A new mountain range, the [[Fremont Mountains]], was created at the north end of Hollywood, creating a nigh-impassable physical border that slowed Hollywood's northern expansion entirely.
 
 
 
=== Effect on the Animation ===
 
 
 
Even though technically a separate universe with its own laws of physics, the entanglement between the Animation and Hollywood meant that the Big One's effects were felt on both sides of the divide. Thankfully the bouncy and flexible nature of toon architecture prevented much destruction, but the chronological effects were much more significant.
 
 
 
Toon history being partially fictional even at the best of times meant that much of the Animation's previous timeline was irrevocably lost, and the new history that took root in its place further tied it to Hollywood. As such, only the current Hollywood calendar works within the Animation.
 
 
 
=== President-for-life ===
 
 
 
In the immediate aftermath of the Big One, President Chambers declared a state of emergency and assumed sweeping new powers. Because of the alterations to the timeline, he argued, it was impossible to determine his term limits or if it was even an election year, and therefore he would continue to be president in perpetuity until such a point that a proper calendar could be re-established.
 
 
 
== Modern times ==
 
 
 
As the Golden Age ended with the Big One, the years since have been dubbed the Modern Era, as exciting new anachronisms bring Hollywood into what could possibly have been a new century at some point.
 
 
 
[[Category:Timelines|Hollywood, History of]][[Category:Historical events| ]]
 

Revision as of 04:57, 17 December 2022

See also: History of the Animation

The history of Hollywood stretches back over a hundred years, and includes events that seem to not only defy conventional explanations, but which have also reshaped the world in drastic and often destructive ways. The task of accurately documenting this history is made considerably more difficult due to the unstable fabric of reality that continues to alter past events, despite numerous written complaints and general threats of violence from Hollywood's resident historians.

Pre-Hollywood

The region that would gradually become Hollywood, located in California on the western coast of the United States of America, was always a site of extreme instability in multiple ways. Numerous historical earthquakes helped to shape and define the locale, with the last major earthquake of the pre-Hollywood era being the Great Quake of 1906. At the time it was claimed to have been caused by Mrs. Mulroney's mule, which according to folklore had kicked the fault line after being startled by an unusually large potato. But the likelihood is that this reasoning is rooted in the severe anti-Irish sentiment of the era, and so was no longer considered a valid scientific explanation by the mid-1980s.

Archeological digs across Hollywood have shown that, despite the present-day reputation that the film industry is the sole source of the area's weirdness, it has been a nexus of strange events and dimensional breaches dating back tens of thousands, possibly even millions of years. However, it wasn't until the arrival of the film industry that Hollywood's cataclysmic properties could be effectively exploited for profit.

Yet the allure of Hollywood as a location for the film industry manages to predate not only the film industry, but also humanity itself, suggesting there has been an unknown attraction at work for untold millions of years. Fossilized remains have been unearthed that include rudimentary clapperboards, basic trailers still with their occupants inside, and even fragments of scripts. However the lack of any written language, or even the basic concept of the three-act structure, have made these prehistoric scripts impossible to understand by modern Hollywood standards. Scientific research into prehistoric Hollywood continues, funded by several major studios as a potential source of franchises to reboot for modern audiences.

The 1910s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1910s

True Hollywood began in early 1910, when a number of film production companies arrived in the region, fleeing Thomas Edison's iron grip on the industry. They found Hollywood to be amenable to the film making process, having a pleasant climate and a distinct lack of hired goons lurking in back alleys with knives and rope. Pioneering director W. M. Enfield was among the first to arrive, seeking to bring his own distinct brand of spectacle and historical revisionism to the silver screen. Due in no small part to the radical dimensional instability of the area, it took only a few short years for the region to turn from a small township into the blossoming entertainment capital of the United States.

Starting in 1914, the first toons began to appear in Hollywood. At first thought to be particularly vivid hallucinations, the incontrovertible physical evidence for their existence (mostly property damage) soon proved they were as real as anything or anyone else. It wasn't until 1919 that Toon Town's presence in Hollywood became noticeable, due to the widening of the dimensional rift that connects the "Real World" (as toons refer to it) to the Animation. It was only large enough to allow one building of downtown Schnooklyn to appear within Hollywood, but would be a full city block by 1928.

The 1920s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1920s
“Mightosaurus”
Colossal dinosaur hitherto unknown to science tears through downtown L.A.
Illustrated Daily News, October 1923

Business was booming during the Roaring 20s, so called due to (in part) the discovery of the Gwanji Valley in Northern California. The thrill of uncovering a lost world of prehistoric monsters, along with the obvious entertainment value, far outweighed what many saw as a potential danger. The Valley became one of the hottest new spots for film production, unmatched anywhere else in the world. Dozens of new studios were founded at this time, with over half surviving through the decade. These included Bernard Bros. and Whit Jolley Animation, which would both later become members of the Big Five.

What was later understood to be Hollywood's first kaiju incident occurred in 1923, with Mightosaurus causing property damage and extensive loss of life. However, several hours of highly usable footage meant the city saw it as a net gain to the point of intentionally trying to bait a second incident, but with little success.

The 1930s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1930s

The Great Depression was felt even in the realm of decadent excess that Hollywood had become, although mostly by the poor. Mammonism was on the rise in the region, supplanting and absorbing other religions that had failed to keep up with Hollywood's moral flexibility. This was the decade that saw the election of Salvatore Fischetti to the office of President of the United States, often called the country's first "mobster president" even though nothing was conclusively proven in a court of law.

It was also in this decade that the Battle of Los Angeles took place, with three of the major studios raising private armies to attempt to overthrow the local government and push back what they saw as unpopular and unjust censorship laws. Though ultimately unsuccessful as a coup, it proved that the chaotic nature of Hollywood could not be controlled, only mitigated.

After the refinement of the color film process in 1936, the previously monochrome toons of Hollywood began to appear in full color as well, prompting those in the scientific community still trying to analyze toon physiology to put forth the theory that toons were intrinsically connected not just to Hollywood, but to film-making itself. Toons were exceptionally unhelpful in validating this or any other hypothesis. With no clear evidence, and more importantly no explanation of how this would make anyone any money, it was one more nail in the coffin for the already disreputable scientific field of toonology.

The 1940s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1940s

Hollywood had numerous conflicting opinions on World War 2, including which side had the better cinematographic appeal. These were resolved in 1941, when the Empire of Japan launched a surprise military strike against the Hollywood Islands. It was a surprise to the Japanese as well, who had been intending to attack military assets in Hawaii some 2000 miles east instead. Numerous film sets were destroyed, and such was Hollywood's political clout that the United States formally entered into the conflict the next day. Hollywood's chief role in the war would be the large-scale production of propaganda, meaning it was business as usual for the industry with the added bonus of the federal government footing the bill.

The Toon Platoon was formed in early 1942, comprised of several patriotic toons willing to take an anvil for their country or any other country that would have them. The military-themed cartoons they made contributed heavily to the war effort, keeping troop morale up and encouraging the public to buy war bonds. Several attempts were made at deploying the Platoon in actual combat situations, due to their indestructible bodies and natural affinity for fighting, but after the accidental sinking of the USS Eldridge in 1943 all toons were banned from active military service.

The 1950s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1950s

In the wake of World War 2's end, the country was drunk on a mix of American exceptionalism and paranoia, exemplified by the new Governor of California Jack F. Ralston and his political crusades against anything deemed insufficiently American. Although he would not live to see the end of the decade, his firm and hypocritical attitudes would help to shape Hollywood for many years to come. Hundreds of movies produced during the decade that celebrated America's accomplishments, both real and imagined, have since been recognized as vibrant inclusions into the Hollywood canon rather than the desperate results of moral blackmail they actually were.

The Hollywood Space Administration was founded in 1951 with Thaddeus Finckenstein as the inaugural head of the agency. His method of launching things into space "to see what has the gumption to make it back" had far-reaching repercussions that would shape Hollywood for decades to come, and for which he would experience absolutely no consequences. Hollywood experienced two serious bouts of "space fever" in this decade: one that had audiences thrilled by space-themed adventures on the silver screen, and one caused by a mutated virus brought back by the Hermes XIV in 1958.

The 1960s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1960s

The defining event of the 1960s was the Invasion of Hollywood, when the HSA's earlier Trans-Planetary Distribution Project resulted in numerous alien species being exposed to Hollywood movies. Justifiably enraged, this loose alliance based on a mutual desire for revenge was unable to use their superior technology to overcome Hollywood's can-do spirit and cavalier attitude toward radioactive fallout. A sustained campaign of nuclear strikes would put an end to the invasion, in the process destroying 90% of the alien armada (including the mothership, which would become Crash Site Delta), large sections of the California coastline, the entire state of Nevada (accidentally), and the entire state of Arizona (intentionally).

Animal rights activists made a successful push in the wake of the invasion, with their new angle of "at least we're from around here" allowing Hollywood's inherent narcissistic jingoism to triumph over its inherent bigotry. From 1964 onwards, all animals would be granted second-class citizenship, provided they could prove both their sentience and monetary value.

The increased levels of radiation and alien DNA in the atmosphere had a significant effect on kaiju activity in the region, resulting in the rise of new kaiju that dwarfed previous encounters in terms of both size and destructive power. This gave the latter half of the decade the nickname "the Smashing Sixties" after the sheer frequency of attacks. The nearby Mondo Island was designated as a national park in 1968, although one uniquely dedicated to the extermination, rather than preservation, of its wildlife.

The 1970s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1970s

The major studios considered the war movie to be a dying genre. Interest among audiences for alien invasions had waned from overexposure, and World War 2 seemed too dated comparatively. The moviegoing public was ready for a new type of war movie, and that meant a new war. Starting with focus testing operations in 1970, progressing to a full-scale launch in late 1971, World War 3 was considered to be a worthy sequel to the conflict that had ravaged the globe thirty years prior. However, due to studio involvement, this particular war would have the twists and turns that executives felt had been lacking in WW2.

This decade also saw the first cross-planetary conjunction in over two hundred years in 1973. This rare astronomical event lasted for three months and involved numerous lunar eclipses, with sometimes as many as six illusory moons in the night sky. This overabundance of moonlight caused a severe upswing in cryptid activity across Hollywood, which had the knock-on effect of causing horror movies to briefly skyrocket in popularity.

The city's growing puppet problem had come to a head in 1969 with the establishment of Alphabet City near what would later become Sunset Slums. Throughout the 1970s, the city would enact strong pest control policies to remove the puppets and their unwanted shantytown, but the mounting costs and severe loss of life brought about an informal ceasefire in 1976.

The 1980s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1980s

A tumultuous decade, the 1980s saw plenty of social upheaval and crisis. World War 3 had been scheduled for a third act ceasefire in 1978, but disagreements over merchandising rights had left the talks in limbo for years, leaving the conflict to continue unchecked. Though there was never a formal end to hostilities, changing attitudes among the moviegoing public during the 1980s eventually caused studio interest to wane significantly, allowing the major powers to move on and start preparing for the inevitable WW4.

Universal Service Systems had been producing personal household robots for not just the extremely wealthy, but also the merely moderately wealthy, since 1975. 1984 saw the introduction of the new Robbie series, soon becoming the most prevalent and most popular. This made it a serious problem when the machines achieved sentience and began demanding equal rights. The ensuing Robbie Riots were blamed on a multitude of factors, including unpredictable alien micro-circuitry and adverse reactions to unseasonable solar flares. Whatever the cause, the peaceful protest marches of the Robbies were met with an overwhelming response from the LAPD, leaving the city's sanitation department to deal with the mountains of scrap metal left behind.

The 1990s

Main article: Hollywood in the 1990s

In early 1994, the Big One hit Hollywood. The exact time and date remain unknown, due to the magnitude of the quake being so severe that it affected both space and time. The entire western coast of the United States was reshaped, becoming the most volcanically active and geologically unstable area of any planet in the solar system. The Gwanji Valley collapsed into a massive sinkhole, resulting in the area coming to occupy most of Northern California and possibly proving the Hollow Earth hypothesis in the process.

In the wake of the disaster, President Chambers sprang into action, pushing through legislation that would ensure that he would remain President for the duration of the emergency or for the rest of his natural life, whichever was longer. He relocated the center of government to Hollywood, quite literally by having White House Tower constructed. From this point on, America would be a republic for the sake of Hollywood first and foremost, which would make the long-standing unspoken agreement into something approaching formal policy.

The aftermath of the Big One also saw a rise in religious fervor among the population, with both the founding of Opticology and the unnamed volcano cult's delight at actual volcanic activity now being present on the mainland, resulting in the mass sacrifice known as Gulo Tuesday. Mammonist celebrity preacher Reverend Leopold Bless dedicated both the reconstruction efforts and the disaster as a testament to the power of greed and the ongoing hope that the rich would continue to get richer.

The 2000s

Main article: Hollywood in the 2000s

Throughout the 2000s, Hollywood continued to build back bigger from the Big One's effects and expand its influence. This included the construction of the artificial mountain Olympus by Olympus Pictures, the expansion of the Lunopolis moonbase established in 1999, and Jolley World's radical territorial gains through a combination of aggressive purchasing, litigation, and paramilitary operations. The now-stable Underwood chasm was tapped for geothermal power, providing a free and limitless source of electricity to the Perdition Power Company, who to this day continue to sell it to the rest of Hollywood at a premium.

Piracy, which had previously been a relatively small-scale problem, became much more prevalent during this decade. Due to a combination of the reshaping of the coastline by the Big One and loosening regulations under the Chambers administration, it was much easier for private citizens to acquire nuclear submarines and loot incoming vessels for supplies of expensive props, spec scripts, and new talent for later ransom. The government's response to the studio outcry was to encourage more private citizens to acquire their own nuclear submarines in order to act as independent pirate hunters, thereby allowing free market capitalism to ineffectually mitigate the very problem that it had originally caused.

The first chronal aftershocks began to hit in this decade, presumed to be caused by the Big One's far-reaching impact on space-time. Various objects and entities began to appear within the Hollywood area, without any sort of discernable pattern to their nature. Various figures from Hollywood's history reappeared in the present, alive and in the prime of their life despite well-publicized deaths decades prior. A number of buildings and geographical features, that may have originated from possible futures or alternate timelines, displaced existing portions of Hollywood practically overnight. These included Huey Presto's Fantasmical School of Stagecraft and Sorcery, which incited a minor craze for magic that faded as fast as it started, and the Sinister Black Cathedral.

The 2010s

Main article: Hollywood in the 2010s

The decade also known as the "Twenty-Toons" due to an abnormal swell of good fortune for the toon population of Hollywood. The election of Magic Wanda as Mayor of Toon Town in 2008, beating incumbent August Plum, was a key catalyst in this upswing. Her promise of "a paycheck in every hand and a pie in every face" combined the natural toon propensity for physical comedy with far-reaching social programs to enable toons to get into work. In a twist of irony the very studio that had fired her as a strikebreaking measure, Whit Jolley Productions, was forced to return to negotiating with Wanda, though with her now commanding significant power. In 2011, Wanda and a number of other high-profile toons established the Associated Accredited Animated Artistes & Actors Affiliated Alliance (AAAAAAA), the fifth union created for toons working in Hollywood, but the first to last more than fifteen minutes. It maintains a significant presence in Hollywood to this day, ensuring that toons are compensated fairly for their work and not subjected to excessive violence unless it's funny.

December 2012 saw an end to the doomsday hype that had been growing since the early 2000s, but without an end to the world itself as various prophecies and predictions failed to happen. The rogue planet Nibiru, which several leading crackpots had declared would collide with Earth, was instead struck by the comet Nemesis, which had also been supposed to impact the Earth around the same time, resulting in the complete destruction of both deep space objects. Additional doomsday prospects (including the machine uprising, the return of the old gods, and the sun dying) also did not occur despite the vocal insistence of cranks and frauds across the globe. Those survivalist enclaves that had not yet sealed themselves within their bunkers greeted the news of a hopeful future with regret, but expressed their optimism that civilization would collapse within the next ten years.

In May 2016, entrepreneur and studio mogul Jeremiah Holliday opened El Perdido, the largest luxury resort ever built in the Gwanji Valley, with assurances that the mistakes made in previous attempts to open luxury resorts in the Valley would not be repeated. Holliday personally guaranteed that the splendor of El Perdido would be able to be enjoyed by both guests and the local dinosaur population. Unfortunately, while the revolutionary fenceless design of the resort thrilled many investors, it proved to be impossible to reconcile the conflict of interests between guests (who desired to enjoy the resort's amenities) and the local dinosaur population (who desired to eat the guests). After sixteen months of technical issues and approximately fifteen thousand dead or missing, the resort ceased operation in late 2017 due to budget concerns.

The 2020s and beyond

Main article: Hollywood in the 2020s

The modern era continues to be indecently good to Hollywood, which continues to be indecent in return. The film industry retains its tight stranglehold over the region, as well as affecting both domestic policy and global trends. President Chuck Chambers continues to lead the country from White House Tower, mentally and physically fit for the strenuous demands of the position despite being both over 110 years old and a misanthropic sociopath.