The Animated Fighting Tournament: The 1940s

Introduction

Over 100 characters stood in one giant auditorium; anyone from Shrek to Cinderella. None of them knew why they had been summoned there, but they were aware of the consequences of not attending.

Suddenly, the room became very quiet as a hooded man entered onto the main stage. His face wasn't visible. He began to speak.

"Ah, how nice it is to see such beloved characters all in one room," he announced.

"But the Hunchback is here," Yogi Bear joked from the crowd.

Some people laughed at the joke, while others became insulted, causing a stir.

"Enough, enough," the hooded man demanded, holding up his hands. "My fellow associates and I have put together a potential business opportunity that involves the lot of you."

"Now that's what I'm talkin' about," Shrek exclaimed. The crowd happily agreed with him.

"However, we do not have the finances to pay all of you."

Groans came from the crowd.

"Therefore, we have put together a mandatory fighting tournament to determine who shall be the lucky winner. The only unfortunate thing about this endeavor is that if you do not win, well, then you die. This is a fight to the death, people!" the hooded man said with excitement.

The auditorium was dead silent.

"Excuse me, sir, but what do you mean by 'mandatory'?" Snow White questioned.

"This means that if you choose not to participate then you, along with everyone in this room, and everyone you love, will be executed. And yes, that could include seven little men, Miss White."

Snow White gasped and began to weep.

Is if on cue, the entire auditorium roared in anger.

"Enough!" the hooded man bellowed. "The answers you want regarding this tournament are to no concern of you lot; the details are only to be between me and my fellow associates. Now, I want everyone to remain quiet as I explain the rules of the tournament."

Everyone was too stunned to speak.

"We will begin by eliminating the lesser wanted characters. To do this we will only take, what we consider to be, the best animated film of each year. For example, if only two movies came out in 1950, then we will choose the one we consider best, and send the other home. We plan on doing this a decade at a time, to determine the best animated fighter of each decade. At that point, all of the winners of their decades will compete to see who is the best fighter overall. Also, the main character is the only character allowed to fight; no side characters."

"The location of the fight will be determined based on who is fighting. The world of the more popular film, between the two, will be the world in which the fighting will be done. However, this does give the opposing person first weapon of choice; each world will have three weapons to choose from. The weapon that isn't chosen will disappear."

"Lastly, I just wanted to reiterate that this is a fight to the death. Also, side note, the films from the 1930s will be in the 1940's bracket because only two films came out in the '30s. Capiche?"

The characters were still too petrified to speak.

"Alright, let's begin the selection process for the 1940s," he said as he clapped his hands. No one shared his enthusiasm.

"Just remember that a movie didn't come out every single year, all right?"

Silence.

"You sure are a tight-lipped bunch."

He took a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and began to read the names for the 1940's portion of the tournament.

"From 1937 we have Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Snow White wept even louder.

"You know what, this is gonna be tough to read out. I'll just leave the piece of paper tacked on the wall right here," he said as he pinned it up. He walked out.

...

(1937) Snow White from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

(1939) Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels

(1940) Pinocchio from Pinocchio

(1941) Dumbo from Dumbo

(1942) Bambi from Bambi

(1947) Mickey Mouse from Fun and Fancy Free

(1949) Ichabod Crane from The Adventues of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

OTH

(1940) Mickey Mouse from Fantasia

(1941): Hoppity from Mr. Bug Goes to Town

...

"What does 'OTH' mean?" Mickey Mouse questioned.

"It means 'off the hook', meaning you're allowed to leave because you weren't the best movie from your year. Unfortunately, you are the main character of two movies, and one of them was the best of their year. So, you still have to stay," the hooded man replied.

Mickey grunted angrily as little known Hoppity was allowed to leave.

In time, the hooded man came out with two circular rings, similar to hula-hoops.

"May I have my first two contestants to the stage? Snow White and Ichabod Crane," he announced.

"Oh, my," Snow White whispered to herself.

Ichabod looked up from his book and gulped.

As they approached the stage they made eye contact and gave each other an empathetic look. The hooded man laid down the two hoops, side by side, and instructed Snow and Ichabod to step into the hoops.

Snow White took hold of Ichabod's hand as they stepped inside the rings. They looked at each other with a forgiving smile and then they disappeared as the rings transported them to the arena.