A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common corporate ownership.
Crossovers generally occur between properties owned by a single holder, but they can more rarely involve properties from different holders, provided that the inherent legal obstacles can be overcome. They may also involve using characters that have passed into the public domain with those that currently enjoy copyright protection.
A crossover story may try to explain its own reason for the crossover, such as ‘they live next door’ (one example being the casts from ‘Golden Girls’ and ‘Empty Nest’) or ‘a dimensional rift brought them together’ (a common explanation for science fiction properties that have different owners). Some crossovers are not explained at all. Others are absurd or simply impossible within the fictional setting, and have to be ignored by the series’ respective continuities. Still others intentionally make the relations between two or more fictional universes confusing, as with ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Futurama,’ where each show is fiction in the other.
The earliest crossover event was Gardner Fox’s ‘Zatanna’s Search,’ in 1964. The story dealt with Zatanna attempting to reconnect with her father, Zatara, and seeking the aid of Hawkman, Batman, Robin, The Atom, Green Lantern, and Elongated Man along the way. The first major crossover event was spearheaded by the Marvel Editor-in-Chief at the time, Jim Shooter. As a way to further toy sales he devised the ‘Secret Wars’ crossover which brought all the major Marvel heroes into a twelve issue mini-series to battle a common threat. After the threat was dealt with they all returned to their regular titles. This ‘Secret Wars’ was hailed as both a critical and commercial success largely because the events of the crossover had lasting effects on the characters (such as the introduction of Spider-Man’s black suit which would later become the villain Venom).
During the 1970s and 1980s, crossovers were particularly common among the Hanna-Barbera properties. Some of the earliest examples happened on ‘The New Scooby-Doo Movies,’ which featured appearances by characters from Harlem Globetrotters, Josie and the Pussycats, and Batman and Robin. However, not all crossovers are necessarily composed of characters under common ownership. Two of the most notable cartoon crossovers consisted of characters from different companies. Disney’s famous movie ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit,’ a landmark in animation, had characters from various companies, most notably Disney and Warner Bros.
Daffy Duck and Donald Duck made a simultaneous appearance in one scene, in which the two of them exchanged blows during a piano duet. Later in the movie, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny were shown parachuting together (to keep things from getting too iffy legally, Mickey and Bugs’ lines were written so that each of them said exactly the same number of words in the movie). The film also includes cameos of characters from MGM (e.g. Droopy). And of course, the end of the movie features all the cartoons from all of the animation companies joining together in song, to be concluded by Porky Pig uttering (or, rather, stuttering) his famous ‘That’s All, Folks!’ line as Tinker Bell ends the scene with a magical fade-out.
It is also common for authors to ‘crossover’ characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use into their works (e.g. Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula). In contrast with legal crossovers, unofficial crossovers are created solely because of the artistic pleasure derived by its producers. Generally, unofficial crossovers take the form of fan-written fiction and fan art, but it is increasingly prevalent in amateur films and audio. Whereas official crossovers are frequently stymied by such concerns as copyright, royalties payments, quality of writing and ownership of the characters, unofficial crossovers are unfettered by such concerns, so long as property holders do not exercise their right to enjoin the distribution of such material.
The Daily Omnivore 
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