List of abandoned projects

[Mooky]

BuzzFeed posted an article about unmade Disney movies -- this is the first time I have heard about a couple of these, namely The Shadow King and Catfish Bend.

[Jules]

BuzzFeed posted an article about unmade Disney movies -- this is the first time I have heard about a couple of these, namely The Shadow King and Catfish Bend.

I don't know about Catfish Bend, but I remember The Shadow King's cancellation. It was not a WDAS project.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Another one:

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief ... 0/503.aspx

Movies That Never Got Made: Disney's "Einstein"

The time was the early 1980s. And Walt Disney Productions had just invested millions in the creation of a computer animation production pipeline for this Steven Lisberger film. And -- once "TRON" was released in July of 1982 -- Disney Studio execs obviously wanted to continue to make use of this very expensive asset.

Disney has this brand new expensive tool on its hands. But studio execs have virtually no clue as to what to do with CG.

This is when Ron Miller, the then-President of the Walt Disney Motion Picture and Television Production Division began asking: "Well, what is computer animation actually good for?" And the general concensus at the time was CG was great when it came to illustrating abstract concepts. And computer animation also made it possible to accomplish these seemingly impossible camera moves. Like circling around a rocket as it roared across the galaxy.

I'm told that it was Miller himself who made the connection here. That Ron was the one who connected CG, abstract theory and space flight and came up with the idea of Walt Disney Productions doing a film about the life of Albert Einstein.

Walt Disney Productions was certainly looking to take a chance with "Einstein." I mean, take a look at the way that this proposed film was described in Disney's 1981 annual report:

"Einstein" combines the story of one of mankind's greatest figures with the genuis of Disney special effects. From an early-life biography of the man who reshaped our view of the universe, we will travel into his vast imagination through a series of spectacular visions. The sate-of-the-art computer effects of "TRON" will be taken a step further in this innovative feature.

The big hook for this film was supposed to have been that -- as Einstein actually came up with his theories -- the film would suddenly swing to CG. And seemingly boring equations like "E=MC2" would become the jumping off points for eye-popping special effects sequences. Where computer graphics would be used to make even the most complex theories accessibles (And -- more importantly -- entertaining) to the average moviegoer.

But even Miller recognized that the movie's subject matter was going to be hard to sell. Which is why Ron knew that he'd really need a star in the title role if he was going to make this proposed picture a reality. So he set his sights on one of the biggest stars of the 1980s: Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss.

And -- at first glance -- Richard really did seem to be an inspired choice to portray Albert. After all, Dreyfuss already bore a physical resemblance to Einstein. And the two men were both left handed in addition to having similiar heritages. Plus there was no denying that the Academy Award winner had a real gift when it came to portraying characters with fierce intellects.

So imagine Ron Miller's surprise when Richard Dreyfuss arrived at Disney Studios and -- instead of Miller trying to sell Dreyfuss on the idea of playing Albert Einstein -- Richard pulled a switcheroo. The way I hear it, the Oscar winner used this meeting to pitch his own idea for the bio pic that Walt Disney Productions should be producing. And that was the life story of Walt Disney!

And who did Richard envision as playing kindly old uncle Walt? You guessed it. Dreyfuss wanted to play Disney.

Ron Miller still had hopes of producing an Albert Einstein bio pic when he was unceremoniously booted out of Walt Disney Productions in the Fall of 1984. And Miller's successor -- Michael Eisner -- hasn't really shown much interest in Disney Studios doing film biographies. Over the past 20 years, the studios has attempted a handful of movies in this difficult genre.

[veu]

Here an interesting podcast about three deleted movies: Fraidy Cat, Sinbad and The Snow Queen.

http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief ... -made.aspx


I don't understand too well this podcast, because I'm from Italy and it's difficoult for me to understand what they said.
Could you write what they said about these three deleted movies? Thanks a lot by advance.

[JeanGreyForever]

I watched it and this is my recap.

FRAIDY CAT
"Oscar, a chubby cat and Corrina, a cockatoo are pampered, spoiled house pets that live an easy life in their owner's London flat. However, when a fellow neighbourhood pet is kidnapped and Oscar is the prime suspect, the two must set off on a mission to find out who the real culprit is so that they can clear Oscar's name."

Ron Muskers and John Clements were hoping that Andreas Deja would animate Oscar after finishing with Lilo on Lilo & Stitch. Hans Bacher said that after reading the story treatment for the film, he thought it was the best treatment he had read in a very long time and this film should be immediately developed. He thought it was like a continuation of 101 Dalmatians because it was also a charming crime story set in London during the 1960s but with a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock with animals. Don Hahn fought for this film as well and thought it was one of the best ideas for a film that he had ever come across at Disney. However, management felt that the concept would go over the heads of most kids and that the references and jokes wouldn't be commerical enough. Ron and John left after the film was cancelled until John Lasseter convinced them to come back six months later after Disney bought Pixar.

THE SNOW QUEEN
In 2006, Alan Menken was creating The Snow Queen as a stage musical for Tokyo DisneySea, commissioned by the people who make shows for the Disney Parks. Glenn Slater would have handled the lyrics. The only song available is the love ballad Love Can't Be Denied. Lasseter loved the song enough that he wanted the story to start off as a full-length animation feature, not as a show for the Disney Parks. For whatever reason, Menken didn't end up doing the music for the film so not sure what Lasseter really wanted here.

SINBAD/SINDBAD THE SAILOR
Menken ended up writing a song for the redesigned Sindbad ride at Tokyo DisneySeas. The ride is based off a film that Ron and John almost made after Aladdin. It was intended to be their next film and even more comedic than Aladdin (which might explain the tone of Hercules). Apparently Roseanne Barr and her then husband, Tom Arnold, were supposed to voice the villains. Here's the story outline with the character descriptions. Scroll down to the link and click on the part that says Sinbad.
http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp37- ... INBAD.html
The Sinbad in the film had never gone on seven voyages before, let alone any voyage. His character was based off of Michael J. Fox (much like how Aladdin was originally envisioned) and apparently Milo from Atlantis ended up having a lot in common with how Sinbad was intended to be like.
The film didn't go through because Ron and John felt it was too close to the style of storytelling done in Aladdin and they wanted to go ahead with Treasure Planet, their dream project. Either this or Michael Eisner felt it was too similar to Aladdin and shut the project down. The script circulated around though hence why the Tokyo ride was created.

TREASURE PLANET
Sean Connery was the intended choice for Long John Silver at the time.

[veu]

I watched it and this is my recap.

FRAIDY CAT
"Oscar, a chubby cat and Corrina, a cockatoo are pampered, spoiled house pets that live an easy life in their owner's London flat. However, when a fellow neighbourhood pet is kidnapped and Oscar is the prime suspect, the two must set off on a mission to find out who the real culprit is so that they can clear Oscar's name."

Ron Muskers and John Clements were hoping that Andreas Deja would animate Oscar after finishing with Lilo on Lilo & Stitch. Hans Bacher said that after reading the story treatment for the film, he thought it was the best treatment he had read in a very long time and this film should be immediately developed. He thought it was like a continuation of 101 Dalmatians because it was also a charming crime story set in London during the 1960s but with a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock with animals. Don Hahn fought for this film as well and thought it was one of the best ideas for a film that he had ever come across at Disney. However, management felt that the concept would go over the heads of most kids and that the references and jokes wouldn't be commerical enough. Ron and John left after the film was cancelled until John Lasseter convinced them to come back six months later after Disney bought Pixar.

THE SNOW QUEEN
In 2006, Alan Menken was creating The Snow Queen as a stage musical for Tokyo DisneySea, commissioned by the people who make shows for the Disney Parks. Glenn Slater would have handled the lyrics. The only song available is the love ballad Love Can't Be Denied. Lasseter loved the song enough that he wanted the story to start off as a full-length animation feature, not as a show for the Disney Parks. For whatever reason, Menken didn't end up doing the music for the film so not sure what Lasseter really wanted here.

SINBAD/SINDBAD THE SAILOR
Menken ended up writing a song for the redesigned Sindbad ride at Tokyo DisneySeas. The ride is based off a film that Ron and John almost made after Aladdin. It was intended to be their next film and even more comedic than Aladdin (which might explain the tone of Hercules). Apparently Roseanne Barr and her then husband, Tom Arnold, were supposed to voice the villains. Here's the story outline with the character descriptions. Scroll down to the link and click on the part that says Sinbad.
http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp37- ... INBAD.html
The Sinbad in the film had never gone on seven voyages before, let alone any voyage. His character was based off of Michael J. Fox (much like how Aladdin was originally envisioned) and apparently Milo from Atlantis ended up having a lot in common with how Sinbad was intended to be like.
The film didn't go through because Ron and John felt it was too close to the style of storytelling done in Aladdin and they wanted to go ahead with Treasure Planet, their dream project. Either this or Michael Eisner felt it was too similar to Aladdin and shut the project down. The script circulated around though hence why the Tokyo ride was created.

TREASURE PLANET
Sean Connery was the intended choice for Long John Silver at the time.

Thank you very much for your comment! You're a great friend! Thanks.
I found the plot of Sinbad, it was very interesting. It's a lot like Hercules, it's great. Thank you!

[Sotiris]

A lot of projects were in development at WDAS that I hadn't heard before such as Dragons, Tiny the Alligator, and Baba Yaga.

Besides "Beauty and the Beast," based on the Perrault fairy tale, other projects include the Ashman-Menken musical "Aladdin," "Who Discovered Roger Rabbit" (a Roger Rabbit prequel), "King of the Jungle" (a coming-of-age story about a lion cub), an adaptation of the "Swan Lake" story, lyricist Tim Rice's "Dragons," "Humphrey the Whale," "Tiny the Alligator" and Disney alumnus Tim Burton's stop-motion animation project, "Nightmare Before Christmas."

Source: https://newspaperarchive.com/santa-ana- ... 991-p-157/

"Mermaid's'' success put back on track the illustrating of fairy tales. A slight detour was made in 1990 with the box-office disappointment of "The Rescuers Down Under,'' which was in production before "Little Mermaid'' struck gold. But the studio seems to be back on track with a musical version of "Aladdin'' slated for Christmas 1992, a "Bambi'' style nature adventure called "King of the Beasts'' for 1993, and "Swan Lake,'' "Humphrey the Whale,'' "Tiny the Alligator'' and Tim Burton's stop-action "A Nightmare Before Christmas'' all in the works.

Source: https://www.postbulletin.com/beauty-and ... 773f0.html

Future projects include Fantasia Continued, a revision of the "greatest classical hits," old and new, as well as King of the Jungle, Tiny the Alligator, Humphrey the Whale, and Swan Lake.

Source: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/133909935/

Katzenberg said Disney was still committed to release one new animated feature a year and among the projects in development were an adaptation of the Swan Lake story, Tim Rice’s Dragons, Humphrey the Whale, Tiny the Alligator (a “growing up story” of a resident of New York City who happens to be the size of an 18-wheeler), Baba Yaga (the Russian folk tale written by Dale Wasserman who wrote the stage musical Man of La Mancha) as well as Beauty and the Beast and King of the Jungle (that became The Lion King).

Source: http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/an ... dotes-372/

[JeanGreyForever]

Never knew about those either. Really interested in the Baba Yaga project. I know that Don Bluth also was interested in making a Baba Yaga film as a spin-off to Anastasia before it became a vehicle for Bartok.

[Sotiris]

In this edition of his podcast series, Jim Hill talks about the abandoned Christopher Columbus Mickey Mouse featurette that was supposed to follow The Prince and the Pauper.

[Sotiris]

Disney once considered adapting The Catcher in the Rye.

In Variety July 18th, 1985, it was mentioned that Disney was developing a full length animation project based on J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. “Producer Joe Hale confirmed the studio gave Catcher a brief whirl but ultimately backed away when faced with the inevitable legal task of asking Salinger for the right to turn his characters into animated canines. Salinger’s central Holden Caufield character said Hale, was envisioned as ‘a gangly teenage German shepherd type’.”

Source: http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/an ... dotes-391/

Another good sign for animated features is that the Disney studio, still the leader in the field, is stepping up production. In the works are a feature-length Sherlock Holmes cartoon and another animated feature about a dog called Dufus, based on an idea from studio chairman Michael Eisner. ''The last four animated films from Disney were tremendous moneymakers,'' said Howard Green, the studio`s production publicity manager. ''We`re overlapping productions so that we can have a new animated feature every two years instead of every four or five.''

Source: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct- ... story.html

There’s a moment in Howard, Don Hahn’s incredible documentary about the life of Oscar-winning lyricist Howard Ashman, that is so quick you will probably miss it. It’s in a section of the movie that details Disney’s attempt to woo the lyricist and writer in the late 1980s, after his frustrating experience on the film version of Little Shop of Horrors and after his would-be Broadway hit Smile had a spectacular flameout. Hahn shows a letter from then-Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, offering him a role at the studio and a list of potential projects he could work on (ultimately, he chose a Tina Turner biopic before moving over to Animation). But there was a project on that list, sandwiched between The Little Mermaid and a potential Mary Poppins sequel, called Dufus. It was an animated project and one that I had never heard of. So when we chatting with Hahn about the documentary, I had to ask what Dufus was.

“Catcher in the Rye with German shepherds,” Hahn said, laughing. “I’m not making that up.” He continued: “Michael [Eisner] loved Catcher in the Rye and he said, ‘We ought to do Catcher in the Rye.’ And we told him the truth, which is [JD] Salinger‘s never going to do Catcher in the Rye for anybody. And he said, ‘Well, let’s just do that kind of story, that kind of growing up, coming of age story.’ So it was that.”

Source: https://collider.com/disney-catcher-in- ... explained/

Andreas Deja: I did spend some time on "Dufus". Remember that one?

Steve E. Gordon: God yes! Doofus the police dog....named after Eisner's dog. That was the direction he saw for animation ...between that and Oliver things looked grim.

Source: http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/02 ... epose.html


From the book Walt's People: Volume 11.

Katzenberg didn't like Mistress Masham's Repose. Roy liked it and he kept renewing options on it. Somewhere along the line I needed a new assignment. So Eisner said, "I've always wanted to do Catcher in the Rye." The author, J. D. Salinger, had always turned down anybody that wanted to buy his book and turn it into a movie. Eisner wanted to call it Dufus, the name of his dog. He asked me to work up a treatment on it. I went to Roy and said, "Gee, Roy, we can't just make a picture based on a book as well-known as that." I had read the book several years before. I said, "This is crazy." Roy said, "Well, start it and we will see where it leads." I got Al Wilson, Dave Jonas, and Rick Rich together and we kind of worked up an outline. We did a one-liner on it and worked up one storyboard. I wrote a bunch of dialogue for the dog based on the book, trying to capture the feeling of Holden Caulfield as he talked in the book. Eisner came in several times, and we went through the boards for him. He said, "There is not enough Penny (the sister) in this." So I went to Roy again and I said, "Roy, goddamn it, we could get sued over this. If I get called into court under oath and they ask me if we intentionally based this movie on Catcher in the Rye, I'm not going to lie."

About that time, we had a press preview for The Black Cauldron. One of our publicists told a columnist for one of the trade papers about this new picture we were working on based on Catcher in the Rye, and he wanted to talk to me about it. I went over and started talking to him. He started asking me very pointed questions, and I realized he thought it was a crazy idea also. So I sort of backpedaled on it and I said, "You know, we really aren't basing it on Catcher in the Rye." Somehow the word got out and I started getting calls from critics around the country. One of the critics, after quizzing me for a few minutes, said "I'm thinking of writing a column called The Three Worst Ideas I Have Ever Heard in My Life."

Anyway, a couple of days later, a reporter from one of the trade papers was on the lot and buttonholed Eisner as he was returning from lunch, and asked him if he was really thinking of doing Catcher in the Rye with animals. Eisner said, "No, no that is a dumb idea. I would never do that." He flatly denied it. Then Roy called me up to his office and chewed me out a little bit for talking to this reporter. I didn't tell him who had spilled the beans in the first place. I think Roy thought that the whole incident was funny. Much to my relief, that was the end of that project.

[Disney's Divinity]

[JeanGreyForever]

As much as I love that book, Disney has no excuse to try and get their hands on that. They'd completely butcher it.

[Sotiris]

Disney was developing in the '60s a live-action adaptation of Hansel & Gretel with the Sherman Brothers penning the songs.

Disney Never Made: Hansel and Gretel
https://www.mouseplanet.com/12300/Disne ... and_Gretel

[unprincess]

In Variety July 18th, 1985, it was mentioned that Disney was developing a full length animation project based on J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. “Producer Joe Hale confirmed the studio gave Catcher a brief whirl but ultimately backed away when faced with the inevitable legal task of asking Salinger for the right to turn his characters into animated canines. Salinger’s central Holden Caufield character said Hale, was envisioned as ‘a gangly teenage German shepherd type’.”

Why do I feel like some of these elements ended up in Oliver and Company?
Would've been interesting to see Baba Yaga.
Fraidy Cat feels a lot like Bolt...

[JeanGreyForever]

Disney was developing in the '60s a live-action adaptation of Hansel & Gretel with the Sherman Brothers penning the songs.

Disney Never Made: Hansel and Gretel
https://www.mouseplanet.com/12300/Disne ... and_Gretel

Hmm, I always wanted an animated musical version but this sounds more like Babes in Toyland to me honestly. I agree with the author that despite the enthusiasm the Sherman Brothers and Walt had for it, the overall plot of the story didn't sound very good. However, the songs did sound inspired and I wish we could hear them.

In Variety July 18th, 1985, it was mentioned that Disney was developing a full length animation project based on J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. “Producer Joe Hale confirmed the studio gave Catcher a brief whirl but ultimately backed away when faced with the inevitable legal task of asking Salinger for the right to turn his characters into animated canines. Salinger’s central Holden Caufield character said Hale, was envisioned as ‘a gangly teenage German shepherd type’.”

Why do I feel like some of these elements ended up in Oliver and Company?
Would've been interesting to see Baba Yaga.
Fraidy Cat feels a lot like Bolt...

Now that you mention it, I can see those parallels as well.

I've always wanted to see a classical Russian fairy tale with Baba Yaga as well. It's a shame since Don Bluth worked on the Anastasia sequel/prequel spin-off featuring Bartok and Baba Yaga but the film wasn't really up to his par. I didn't care for the interpretation of Baba Yaga either. Apparently, the film was also meant to be a Baba Yaga film before they decided that Bartok was popular enough to warrant his own movie.

What makes you think Fraidy Cat is like Bolt?

[thedisneyspirit]

So if Disney had managed to make their version of Catcher in the Rye, would they have thrown the movie later in the vault alongside Song of the South due to the novel's association with serial killers?

I like what I read of Sinbad. It sounds by the numbers today, but I imagine around 1994 it would've sounded quite original. The female lead makes me think of a Megara and Marina (from Dreamworks' Sinbad) mashup.

[JeanGreyForever]

Lol, at the Catcher of the Rye comment.

I actually got a lot of Hercules vibes from the Sinbad treatment. Which makes sense, since they ended up making Hercules instead. But the anachronistic comedy, humorous villains with inept sidekicks, incoherent plot with lots of plot holes, and mishmash of cultural elements that really don't fit together seem a lot like what Hercules ended up becoming.

[Sotiris]

Following “Lilo & Stitch,” DeBlois turned his attention to live-action filmmaking, landing a two-picture deal at Disney. A project called “The Banshee and Finn McGee” had been assigned a start date and budget when a change of presidency at the studio killed it. “It was my first crash course in live action where a project may be a go one day and a disaster the next,” DeBlois says.

Source: https://variety.com/2019/film/spotlight ... 203142940/

[blackcauldron85]

Disney was developing in the '60s a live-action adaptation of Hansel & Gretel with the Sherman Brothers penning the songs.

Disney Never Made: Hansel and Gretel
https://www.mouseplanet.com/12300/Disne ... and_Gretel

Using magic, she transforms herself into a beautiful young woman, similar, but not exact, to the one the woodcutter was chasing.

Reminds me of TLM.

I'm surprised the songs never made it onto an album.

[Disney's Divinity]

I remember the Mickey and Minnie take on Hansel & Gretel from House of Mouse. I watched that show initially because I liked the mix of all the various characters, but it was a letdown overall.

Martha Wentworth as the Witch would've been so good, although they never say when/why they had her playing the role over Geraldine Page. I guess it doesn't matter, but it sounds like Page turned it down for some reason after initially agreeing. Marni Nixon would've been great, too. Really a shame that didn't happen. The beginning with them terrorizing the housekeeper reminds me of the beginning of Mary Poppins with the belabored nanny resigning. The story itself sounds kind of....? Well, hard to say without seeing it, but a little bizarre. Too bad the witch's two would-be songs have never been revealed anywhere.

First I've heard of the Tim Burton TV film.