Talk:Back to the Future

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Current revision as of 19:07, 5 May 2012

[edit] Back to the Future: The Game

I don't get the reasoning behind not including Marty and Trixie from the game in this article. They're from the Back to the Future franchise, and they're appearances aren't just passing references (Marty's accused of murdering a H*R character and Trixie is mentioned in a conversation between Max, Strong Bad, Tycho, and the Heavy). The adventure game is an official continuation of the series taking place after the Back to the Future movies, which was approved by Universal and overseen by Back to the Future co-creator Bob Gale. I fail to see how these references don't fit here. Jennifer 01:38, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

This article is about H*R referencing Back to the Future. Back to the Future referencing H*R are considered Sightings. At least that's what I know. — Ngamer01 03:22, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

I don't have a strong opinion on this one, but I would like to point out it's not as cut and dried as Ngamer01 makes it seem. On the one hand, we have to presume that the Chaps had some kind of input here—or at the very least gave their approval for their characters to be used. On the other hand, it doesn't fit on the page as neatly as a reference made on the official site does. — It's dot com 04:27, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

Complicating matters is the fact that Trixie would not actually be introduced into Back to the Future until February 2011 (in "Get Tannen"), when Poker Night was released before then. I'm extremely leery about Poker Night references to anything Telltale, especially stuff that hadn't been released yet. --Jay (Talk) 07:35, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

In my opinion, even that would still be approved by The Brothers Chaps, since the copyright holders of the characters played the game before release (since Penny Arcade posted a blog about them playing Poker Night at the Inventory before it was out to the public). The brothers chaps would have seen Trixie, Sam, Monty Muzzle, Bluster Blaster, and Flint Paper there. They could have complained about all or any of those references, or complained that they didn't want Strong Bad in a game with a character that was an advertisement for a future game (since they could have brought up Trixie's model if they had concerns because it was fairly obvious she was a model from a future game), but since all those references appeared in the final game, it's safe to say those references were all approved by the Brothers Chaps (the same goes for the characters in the PAX cartoons or the images in the Behind the Bad videos). Jennifer 06:50, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

I'm not entirely sure why the Brothers Chaps would need to approve each and every cameo in a game that's nothing but cameos individually. It's extremely unlikely TBC had anything to do with Trixie's appearance. --Jay (Talk) 16:53, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

Now that the craziness of the cross-overs has died down, maybe it's time to get a consensus on this once and for all. I still think that the crossovers should be accepted, for the reasons I stated above. As for my comment about the additions being Brothers Chaps approved, maybe I can clarify. To me, this is like the Warner Brothers cartoon characters appearing with Disney cartoon characters and MGM cartoon characters at the end of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Very few of them had speaking roles, but it would be worthwhile to add all of the appearances into a Warner Brothers animation wiki, despite the fact that Disney was the one who added all of them there, just because it was such a rare occurrence, and because it was allowed by Warner Brothers. Like the Brothers Chaps, they could have complained about the addition once they saw the test-print of the film. They could have said they don't want their characters in the final scene if they have any speaking roles, just like the Brothers Chaps could have said they didn't want their characters in any scene with a cameo from a Telltale game. But they didn't complain, so they gave their de-facto approval after seeing the work-print. So, they should be allowed here, in my opinion. Jennifer 08:36, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

What "craziness" are you referring to? I still don't think I agree. To list what characters appear in Poker Night on the Poker Night page = A-OK. Fine by me. To list a cameo by a Back to the Future: The Game character (or what would later become one, at any rate) in a Telltale game that happens to include Strong Bad on a page dedicated to Homestar Runner references to Back to the Future? I still don't see much reason. --Jay (Talk) 00:56, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

I agree with Jay. The wiki is about documenting TBC's work, not telltale's. Sure TBC had some input into poker night, but I don't imagine the conversation went "hey chaps, we're planning on having a future character from back to the future make a cameo in this game and we know you reference back to the future a lot, so whaddaya saY?" I imagine it was more like "here's the game. What do you think?" meaning that TBC had no input or influence over this "reference". — Defender1031*Talk 08:46, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

By "craziness" I was referring to the craziness at the time when it seemed like Strong Bad kept crossing over with Telltale's stuff (Poker Night at the Inventory, Make a Scene at Pax, Behind the Bad, etc.). And, yes I agree the Chaps just saw the game and didn't have input with the whole thing, but my point is they did get to see the game before release. And they saw that Telltale had put a bunch of cameos in. They could have made an input there if they didn't approve, but they didn't (they could have said "no, I don't want Strong Bad to be shown in the same room with characters from other Telltale games", but they didn't). It was an official, Matt Chapman-voiced Homestar Runner product. The reason that I think it should be allowed on the Back to the Future page beyond just the Poker Night page is that it's pretty significant that it's not just a reference, but that the characters actually made an appearance in the same room with Strong Bad. Normally a character page would be made for even a non-speaking character that made an appearance beyond just references in an official Homestar product. At the very least, they should at least be allowed on the page of their source material. Jennifer 01:09, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

Did Strong Bad acknowledge Trixie? Did he mention Back to the Future or make any references to it? Did Trixie even have any dialogue? Or did Trixie just happen to cameo in a Telltale game that also featured Strong Bad, independently of The Bros. Chaps' involvement? When you assume that the Chaps had anything to say regarding Trixie being in, you assume a lot. --Jay (Talk) 13:14, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

The way I view it, the criterion for whether an appearance of something in crossovers and collaborations belongs on this wiki as follows: If the appearance is directly connected to the portion of the work that is TBC's, it belongs, as this wiki documents TBC's work. While it is true that in a purely H*R cartoon, a character simply appearing in the same room would be a reference (since the decision to include the character would have been TBC's), in a collaboration such as this, it does NOT count, as the reference was not made by TBC. Did they see the game? Absolutely. Could they have vetoed it if a cameo they didn't like appeared? Maybe, but that would be somewhat petty. Did they even have any idea who this cameo was, or reason to believe it was from some future Back to the Future game? Unlikely. Did they have anything to do with deciding to put this cameo in the game? Almost certainly not. And that, as I see it, is the main criterion, which is not met here. — Defender1031*Talk 19:07, 5 May 2012 (UTC)