1999 Overview
1999... the final year of the millenium... A year full of enthusiasm for a better tomorow yet also one where people looked back on how far they have come from the past decade, century and even millenium. After all, with such a brand new beginning coming, how could people not be excited? For the United States, this was quite the case given all the changes that have occurred over the last 20 years or so, going up to changing their own electoral system along with plenty of other changes viewed to modernize the US to be a true "city on the hill" that many hope it could be. Of course, how such a future looked like was still up in the air. On the one hand, many things could be counted upon, such as te growing usage of the internet by a variety of people as more and more websites were popping up for a mutlitude of reasons. On the other hand, this wild west approach meant that there was plenty of room for failure and learning. For example, one was the concern of the Y2K Phenomenon, a fear that the changing of the year may affect many of the older computers and cause systemic failures if not addressed, which many companies were working with one another to coodinate. President Specter spent his time in office on the last year looking over this web landscape with an approach to security as part of his overall law and order strategy, something that would come to define future American conservatives. Another defining cultural moment would be the growth of acceptance of SATMIN+ people as a result of Bagemihl's work. While acceptance rates have grown faster and larger than predicted, which in it of itself was generous of the time thanks to the legal protections along with precedent set by Specter's predecessor, the digestion over the objective evidence regarding samgen relationships and behavior found in animals outside of humanity was the final push over for the mainstream that was needed. While the mainstream media attempts to address it were somewhat clumsy if out of inexperience, there was genuine effort in understanding and compassion, especially with the need to address the issues.
Plans for such an approach were also considered in the wider world as the UN were discussing intiatives regarding SATMIN+ people such as prohibiting discrimination and other issues. As the world was coming together, various conflicts were coming to an end either through discussion or through warfare. The Kosovo War would see yet another defeat over to Yugoslavia while Albania and Macedonia would grow in prestige there. A new power player in the form of CETO would be launched as a form of counterpart over to NATO to give protection over to the former members of the Warsaw Pact who wish to join while giving them some form of plausible deniability regarding NATO. However, the influence could still be felt as part of the growing social democrat order that has been settling in since the end of the Cold War. Syria would also experience a political change as Hafez al-Assad would pass away and would be succeeded by his daughter Bushra, who made a power play to push her brother aside throug the old guard and a new alliance with Qatar, showing the growing rise of Neo-Baathism's influence. No one knows what their plans are though they have been making larger strides in modernizaton efforts, including secularization. Many have been wondering where else they are planning to spread their influence though signs seem to have point already toward Oman and possibly Yemen. Saudi Arabia has also been a prime target, with foreign policy experts preparing for potential further insurgent movements and trouble spots in the world.
As for media, there was alot to be looking forward to. One large hallmark would be
The Matrix, a unique cyberpunk film that would become quite iconic for the decades to come. Focusing on Thomas Anderson aka "Neo" (played by Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker who finds himself having an existenial crisis after a near-death accident, namely that said accident leads him to realize that the world he and the others live in may be a computer simulation. According to the Wachowskis, the original plan considered for sentinent machines to be harvesting humans, but noted that it seemed too impractical and would go on for a more gnostic sort of approach, which many suspecting that answers may come in future films and create a franchise that would influence the zeitgeist. Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan releases the
The Sixth Sense, a sensational and unusual film that would launch him up into fame. Other standout films would be
American Beauty, The Mummy, and
The World Is Not Enough, continuing on with James Bond's franchise. Contrasting the latter would be
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, the supposed sequel to
International Man of Mystery that would show another Austin Powers and seemingly disregard the events of the previous film though it appears to be a jab over the seeming lack of continuity in Bond films. One fan theory is that the two Austin Powers are different people, but related. Disney meanwhile would knock it out of the park twice with two films. One was an adaptation of
Tarzan, showing the life of the "King of the Jungle" and helping to renew interest in the works of his author while another would be another collab with Pixar in
Toy Story 2, which would prove to be a surprisingly successful sequel and show the importance of proper data management. However, the upcoming project, titled "Sea Dogs" was one that Jim Henson noted would be a "film of the future to remember" and one that he and Eisner put alot of collaborative ambition on. Though speaking of Henson, he would also get some note for helping to push for another animated film, albeit not one of Disney, that of Brad Bird's
The Iron Giant. The initial concerns over profitabiltiy would be washed by its massive success along with further credit to animation as a medium, with the film becoming a classic.
Television would also see a time of transition. Matt Groening's next series in
Futurama would be released, showing a bizarre future with the protagonist Philip J Fry awakening in the year 3000. Groening noted that if
The Simpsons was aimed at baby boomers, then
Futurama was aimed at younger brightbangers/older freeborners. This caused many to wonder if
The Simpsons may be ending soon. Meanwhile, more adult animation would be seen with the release of
Family Guy, a
Simpsons-inspired animated adult sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane alongside his two new work partners, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The former would meet them after the latter two failed with their pitch over with a show named
South Park and he decided to help them out with the buisness. Major other hits would be
The Sopranos,
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and
The West Wing aimed over for adults. Over for younger audiences, plenty of big hits came. One would be the third animated series from Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's team, that of
Wonder Woman: The Animated Series. The series would start the Amazonian demigoddess superheroine Diana would have her rescue Steve Trevor and end up stumbling into the modern human world in need of guidance and champions, especially as a powerful phenomenon was leading to ancient mythic monsters awakening from their slumber. The series has been lauded for its respectful and enjoyable portrayal of the heroine, but also in exploring her human side as Diana grows as a person and trying to figure out who she wants to be. Other shows would include
Ed, Edd n' Eddy and
Courage the Cowardly Dog on Cartoon Network along with
Rocket Power and
Spongebob Squarepants over on Nick. Anime would also get a bit of a further boost with a new dubbed series with
Digimon: Digital Monsters and a new Power Rangers in
Power Rangers: Far Galaxy, which would show the first Ranger killed in action (done with her actress going over for treatment in leukemia).
Video games would also see some classics released. From Squaresoft for the Playstation and Nintendo Ultra 64 would be
Chrono Cross, which followed up on
Chrono Trigger and in the same setting, but with the new theme of parallel worlds. The NU64 would also get another Rare game with
Donkey Kong 64. Other standout games would be
Mario Party and most of all would be
Super Smash Champs. Super Smash Champs would be a unique fighting game where some of the top stars of Nintendo could fight it out, becoming an instant classic. With Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Link, Pikachu, Samus Aran, Kirby and Fox McCloud as playable characters along with unlockable characters in Luigi, Francesa, Captain Falcon and Ness, it was quite an enjoyable time and the start of a new franchise. Pokemon would surprise everyone with the release of new games in Japan with a release elsewhere next year,
Pokemon Orange Version and
Pokemon Violet Version, improving much on what the previous left off and taking place three years after the events of the first game, playing either a male trainer (default name Orange) or female trainer (default name Violet). With 100 new Pokemon, the return of Team Rocket, new elements such as day and night cycles, held items and the like and new characters, including a fierce new rival (named Marron, for his bleak and blunt personality). Other games included
Gran Turismo 2, System Shock 2, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Rayman 2: The Great Escape and also more with
Everquest. Lastly, would be the peeks to the sixth-generation of consoles: the Playstation 2, Nintendo's
Project Dolphin, the Sega Dreamcast and even Microsoft/Atari rumored to come in with a console of their own.