Your comment on how meddling shouldn't MATTER if a story is being told well made me think about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Yes, yes, I KNOW the show has a...somewhat questionable fan base, at times (and if you don't know... uh, well, now you do), and the jury's still out on whether later seasons were good, but Lauren Faust, it's creator, was bound by MANY strict rules because, you know, the series was owned by frickin' HASBRO; and she made it work.... 'I MUST have an incredibly girly character who can talk to animals, you say? Okay! But she's so painfully shy she can't talk to anybody else and gosh darn WE'RE GONNA DEVELOP HER! Someone HAS to be pink? Got it, the pink one is a reality twisting ball of excitement on a constant sugar high and we're using her to break the forth wall. What, I also HAVE to have a character obsessed with fashion because "that's what little girls like" and "we want to sell them fashion packs"? ...Well gosh, I guess now this character is a fashion designer and we need to dedicate multiple episodes to her work and skills." Limits can enhance, rather than restrict, if done right.
Okay, that's really cool, and I've never heard of this before.
That shows someone creative using their creativity instead of allowing it to be constricted.
Obviously if you are creating something for a company like this (Hasbro is a great example) they will have strict rules for you to follow. But this proves that you can take their rules and make them still work for the story you want to tell.
This shows that she had a solid idea of what she wanted to create – and she was able to mold and shape the rules and guidelines she was given to fit that.
In this way, also, she can create a show that fits both demographics of the actual audience, and appease the studio executives at the same time. Brilliant.
(I'm not tagging this MLP even though it's talked about because... yeah...)
