Why "Drusilla" and not "Donna Troy" in the 1970s WONDER WOMAN TV series?

[Phoenixx9]

I thought I'd read somewhere that the media rights to Donna Troy had leased separately from Wonder Woman and that the TV show couldn't use her. I don't know that that's true, and I read it so long ago that I can't recall if it was in a fanzine or a message board.

Yeah, I remember hearing something about that years after the show. There was also something about not mentioning the name "Hippolyta" on the show in regards to Diana's mother, the Queen.

[marhawkman]

I thought I'd read somewhere that the media rights to Donna Troy had leased separately from Wonder Woman and that the TV show couldn't use her. I don't know that that's true, and I read it so long ago that I can't recall if it was in a fanzine or a message board.

I know there have been cases where a movie or TV show has license to use parts of a franchise but not all of it. It's possible the deal they had only included a handful of characters. It's like the "Bat embargo" in Justice League. The show had all sorts of villains but not characters who were primarily Batman. That was an editorial decision more than licensing though. It's the same logic behind why you don't see Aquaman in JLU. They were planning on giving him his own series, but didn't actually produce it.

More recently there was the thing with having Wanda Maximoff in Avengers, but not calling her a "Mutant" because that aspect of the franchise was separately licensed.

[No1WonderFan]

Well, not sure.......but Shirley temple was the template person on which Mary Marvel was based

Mary Marvel was based on Judy Garland's likeness...not Shirley Temple.

[Phoenixx9]

Mary Marvel was based on Judy Garland's likeness...not Shirley Temple.

You are right. Doh! I knew that--got mixed up there, lol!

[RealWonderman]

Yeah, I remember hearing something about that years after the show. There was also something about not mentioning the name "Hippolyta" on the show in regards to Diana's mother, the Queen.

The Donna Troy licensing issue carried all the way through to Young Justice TV series. Donna was one of the original characters slated for the show, but she was kept off limits until the most recent season.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/10-astrou...iere-episodes/

Interestingly according to producer Greg Weisman, during a Q&A,Donna Troy was intended to appear in the first two seasons of Young Justice but those plans were derailed for various reasons.

EARLY, early on, Donna was one of our leading candidates for Season One. This was before we had even narrowed things down very much. And BEFORE any true decisions were made, we were informed by our DC Liasons that both Wonder Girls were off-limits for legal reasons that were never explained to us. (So don’t ask me.) So neither Wonder Girl was seriously considered. Then Geoff Johns came aboard and made both Wonder Girls available. Unfortunately, by that time, it was flat out too late to include Donna. So we decided we’d put Cassie in Season Two. And have Donna be one of the characters who joined and left the Team during the timeskip, and cameo her in Season Two. Unfortunately, for reasons reported fairly accurately from ASK GREG LIVE, we were unable to cameo either Troia or Mary at Rocket’s bridal shower because there just wasn’t time for Phil Bourassa to design FOUR new characters, i.e. the two girls in both their civilian and super-hero costumes. Had they appeared in “Satisfaction”, then they would have also had cameos in “Endgame”, since their designs would already have been completed. But since they didn’t appear in the earlier episode, we weren’t able to get them at all. This is a sadness to me. But there are realities of production that we’re all subject to.

But in the '60's....

https://youtu.be/Zd9j3Nu7sBY

[Largo161]

The Donna Troy licensing issue carried all the way through to Young Justice TV series. Donna was one of the original characters slated for the show, but she was kept off limits until the most recent season.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/10-astrou...iere-episodes/

Interestingly according to producer Greg Weisman, during a Q&A,Donna Troy was intended to appear in the first two seasons of Young Justice but those plans were derailed for various reasons.

EARLY, early on, Donna was one of our leading candidates for Season One. This was before we had even narrowed things down very much. And BEFORE any true decisions were made, we were informed by our DC Liasons that both Wonder Girls were off-limits for legal reasons that were never explained to us. (So don’t ask me.) So neither Wonder Girl was seriously considered. Then Geoff Johns came aboard and made both Wonder Girls available. Unfortunately, by that time, it was flat out too late to include Donna. So we decided we’d put Cassie in Season Two. And have Donna be one of the characters who joined and left the Team during the timeskip, and cameo her in Season Two. Unfortunately, for reasons reported fairly accurately from ASK GREG LIVE, we were unable to cameo either Troia or Mary at Rocket’s bridal shower because there just wasn’t time for Phil Bourassa to design FOUR new characters, i.e. the two girls in both their civilian and super-hero costumes. Had they appeared in “Satisfaction”, then they would have also had cameos in “Endgame”, since their designs would already have been completed. But since they didn’t appear in the earlier episode, we weren’t able to get them at all. This is a sadness to me. But there are realities of production that we’re all subject to.

But in the '60's....

https://youtu.be/Zd9j3Nu7sBY

So this indicates Donna got to TV before Diana, correct? It predates that animated Brady Kids episode and the SuperFriends. The irony!

[Nevets]

The Donna Troy licensing issue carried all the way through to Young Justice TV series. Donna was one of the original characters slated for the show, but she was kept off limits until the most recent season.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/10-astrou...iere-episodes/

Interestingly according to producer Greg Weisman, during a Q&A,Donna Troy was intended to appear in the first two seasons of Young Justice but those plans were derailed for various reasons.

EARLY, early on, Donna was one of our leading candidates for Season One. This was before we had even narrowed things down very much. And BEFORE any true decisions were made, we were informed by our DC Liasons that both Wonder Girls were off-limits for legal reasons that were never explained to us. (So don’t ask me.) So neither Wonder Girl was seriously considered. Then Geoff Johns came aboard and made both Wonder Girls available. Unfortunately, by that time, it was flat out too late to include Donna. So we decided we’d put Cassie in Season Two. And have Donna be one of the characters who joined and left the Team during the timeskip, and cameo her in Season Two. Unfortunately, for reasons reported fairly accurately from ASK GREG LIVE, we were unable to cameo either Troia or Mary at Rocket’s bridal shower because there just wasn’t time for Phil Bourassa to design FOUR new characters, i.e. the two girls in both their civilian and super-hero costumes. Had they appeared in “Satisfaction”, then they would have also had cameos in “Endgame”, since their designs would already have been completed. But since they didn’t appear in the earlier episode, we weren’t able to get them at all. This is a sadness to me. But there are realities of production that we’re all subject to.

But in the '60's....

https://youtu.be/Zd9j3Nu7sBY

This was a whole Wonder Woman legal thing. No Wonder Woman character could appear in a series if they were not the star. That legality went away during Young Justice season 1, which is why Cassie was able to appear in season 2, and both she and Donna appeared in season 3.

[AmiMizuno]

Should Drusilla be a real characters in the comics

[Phoenixx9]

Should Drusilla be a real characters in the comics

No, not really because she was Wonder Girl. And I'd rather have Donna Troy! Donna will always be Wonder Girl to me.

[The I.A.D.C.]

Should Drusilla be a real characters in the comics

Why not? In my head, she already is. When I see those covers of the the "Wonder Family" stories from the Silver Age - the ones with Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl and Wonder Tot all appearing in the same story - I see Diana as Wonder Woman, Donna as Wonder Girl and Drusilla as Wonder Tot! .

[Fuzzy Mittens]

Should Drusilla be a real characters in the comics

She actually was. Though in the comics she wasn't Dianas younger sister. She was an Amazon gifted with Hippolytas magic pendant of dimension travel which allowed her to travel from Paradise Island to Earth (along with other dimensions like the realm of Camelot) to pick up Diana and take her to the island during the first 'in another dimension' phase

[Phoenixx9]

She actually was. Though in the comics she wasn't Dianas younger sister. She was an Amazon gifted with Hippolytas magic pendant of dimension travel which allowed her to travel from Paradise Island to Earth (along with other dimensions like the realm of Camelot) to pick up Diana and take her to the island during the first 'in another dimension' phase

Yes, this is the Drusilla I would keep, not the TV WG one.

[marhawkman]

She actually was. Though in the comics she wasn't Dianas younger sister. She was an Amazon gifted with Hippolytas magic pendant of dimension travel which allowed her to travel from Paradise Island to Earth (along with other dimensions like the realm of Camelot) to pick up Diana and take her to the island during the first 'in another dimension' phase

https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Drusilla_(Earth-462)

[AmiMizuno]

Should we have both Donna and Drusilla be cannon in the main universe or just one?

[marhawkman]

Should we have both Donna and Drusilla be cannon in the main universe or just one?

Given the differences, it's not hard. One is an Amazon who's decades old, the other a young outsider who is only an honorary Amazon.