"Is that so? That's truly a shame." Regardless of his true thoughts, Colin still put on a regretful expression and said.
After discussing their respective views, Roy began to talk about the cooperation.
His purpose for this trip was simple: mainly to discuss the cooperation between Mickey Mouse and The Messenger Newspaper.
Due to financial considerations, Walt Disney Studios was considering offering a portion of the licensing rights for Mickey Mouse's image to be serialized in comic strips. Colin's The Messenger Newspaper and Messenger Comics were currently among New York's most popular comic publications, which was why Roy approached the Newspaper Agency.
He intended to leverage the popularity of Superman to reverse the decline in Mickey Mouse Merchandise Sales.
Understanding the meaning behind Roy's words, Colin immediately grew interested.
Of course, the subsequent negotiations did not go as smoothly as imagined. Roy Disney's arrival merely expressed preliminary opinions.
Ultimately, after three hours of discussion, Messenger Newspaper and Walt Disney Studios reached a preliminary consensus.
Namely, the Film Studio agreed in principle to sell some of the licensing rights for Mickey Mouse's appearance in newspapers, allowing Colin to serialize a comic story involving Mickey Mouse in the Superman comic. However, the plot had to be approved by Walt Disney, and Mickey Mouse, when appearing in the serialized comic strip, had to conform to Disney's animation design.
Simply put, Walt Disney Studios valued Mickey Mouse's image; after all, he was the foundation upon which the Walt Brothers built their empire.
What if Colin, in the comic, designed Mickey Mouse to be an evil villain and made him commit actions inconsistent with his image, such as destroying cities?
That would be a huge blow to the newly established Walt Disney Studios.
Of course, Walt Disney of this era would never imagine that someday in the future, Mickey Mouse's animation image would take a bizarre turn and never look back.
But then again.
If one were to watch Disney's Silly Symphonies animation series from this period, there was no shortage of bizarre content within them either. The first episode of the animation, The Skeleton Dance, featured animated content of skeletons dancing in a graveyard, which, if placed in later generations, would undoubtedly be seen as a children's horror cult classic.
Of course, during the early The Great Depression, the audience for Walt Disney's animations was actually more geared towards adults.
The shift towards children's animation largely occurred after the establishment of Disneyland.
On this side, the licensing rights issue for Mickey Mouse's appearance in the Superman comic was settled.
On the other hand, Colin also took the opportunity to propose his own request, hoping the Film Studio could produce a Superman animation.
Originally, he had planned to wait a while, until animation production technology matured, before releasing a Superman animation series, as it wouldn't be too late then.
But since Walt Disney himself came knocking, Colin naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.
Regarding Colin's request, Roy was somewhat hesitant.
"Regarding this, I need to discuss it with the Film Studio staff before I can give you an answer, Mr. Collin Roper."
...
Anti-World, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, inside the Unicorn Whale Submarine.
Colin opened his eyes and walked out of the cramped room.
Under the effect of Super Hearing, he could hear the conversations of The Resistants members inside the submarine, the roar of the submarine's massive diesel engines, and of course, the high-pitched screams from stressed octopuses deep in the ocean, sounding like airplanes whizzing by; the 'thump-thump' sounds like military drums made by schools of catfish swimming at night; and the 'gurgling' or 'rumbling' sounds of snoring made by pufferfish and porcupinefish.
The ocean was not silent; on the contrary, it was very lively.
Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to converse with fish.
Shaking his head, he withdrew his Super Hearing ability.
Colin looked towards the submarine's passageway.
As a cruiser submarine commissioned since World War II, the Unicorn Whale Submarine's internal equipment was already incredibly old and worn; even after being modified and repaired by The Resistants, it couldn't hide the fact that it had been in operational service for over sixty years.
Limited by the Washington Armistice Agreement, the US Military had been mandated to control its naval armaments since World War II.
The treaty stipulated that signatory nations had to abandon their respective capital ship construction plans and maintain their existing capital ships. After this treaty came into effect, any capital ships of signatory nations not stipulated for retention, whether completed or not, had to be scrapped according to the treaty's provisions.
Since the signing of the Armistice Agreement, the US Navy had entered a long 'Naval Holiday' era.
With the successive decommissioning of various warships, the US Navy's strength also gradually dwindled, regressing from offshore operations to near-shore defense.
If it weren't for three aircraft carriers still in service for over sixty years, maintaining the Navy's reputation by making occasional appearances in the Atlantic Ocean before returning to port for maintenance, America might have long been delisted as a major naval power.
Of course, even if not delisted, according to assessments by The New York Times and other media, perhaps in four or five years, as those aircraft carriers exceeding their service life are forced into decommissioning, the Navy's combat capability would also be significantly impacted.
In fact, because of this issue, the Senate's Military Committee has already issued an appeal to discuss the possibility of amending the Washington Armistice Agreement, believing that this regulation, which has existed since World War II, can no longer adapt to the development of modern society. As a victorious nation, Germany should be unbound, allowing them to build a new generation of naval warship equipment.
In the submarine's narrow passageway corridor, dim lights flickered faintly, emitting a sizzling electrical sound.
Clearly, affected by water pressure, the Unicorn Whale Submarine's internal power supply system was also impacted.
Withdrawing his gaze from the dim yellow lights in the corridor, Colin turned his head to look at the corridor's deck plating.
As the most important cruiser submarine of the US Military during World War II, the Unicorn Whale Submarine's size was not small; its length exceeding a hundred meters made the entire submarine operate underwater like a colossal beast.
However, limited by the technology of that time, although the Unicorn Whale Submarine's scale was enormous, a large part of it was for housing its massive engine room to accommodate four diesel engines and two electric engines.
Excluding the engine room's space, the actual usable compartments within the entire Unicorn Whale Submarine were significantly fewer.
At the same time, the numerous reinforcement plates inside the submarine made the already confined submarine even more cramped.
Within the Unicorn Whale Submarine, the ubiquitous reinforcement plates obstructed everyone's view, but they couldn't block Colin's eyes.
As his gaze focused, the deck plating before him began to peel away, revealing the old wiring and internal mechanical structures within.
[Ability - Super X-Ray Vision (Black Iron)]
[Ability Description: Superman's eyes are different from those of Earthlings, possessing miraculous power that enables him to see through most objects.]
Thanks to Sphinx's Riddle for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.
(end of chapter)