Disney is responsible for some of cinema’s most memorable and iconic moments, delivering countless beloved movies. From animated classics like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Lion King to groundbreaking, heartfelt Pixar collaborations such as Toy Story, Inside Out, and Up — as well as live action blockbusters including the Pirates of the Caribbean series — it’s almost certain that Disney has touched your life in some way.
Despite its vast and varied catalog of movies, there are still a surprisingly large number of planned movies that have been scrapped over the years for a variety of reasons.
From ballooning budgets to creative clashes, here are 10 Disney movies that never saw the light of day, for one reason or another.
‘Fantasia 2006’
Breaking away from any kind of traditional narrative structure and, instead, opting to present audiences with a series of abstract, visually stunning segments set to classical music, Fantasia was a groundbreaking masterpiece that inspired future animators and filmmakers to explore the limitless possibilities of animation.
Fast-forward 60 years, and Disney released Fantasia 2000, which, like its predecessor, consists of animated segments set to pieces of classical music. Unlike its predecessor, though, it made very little impact and flopped at the box office.
Parts of ‘Fantasia 2006’ Have Been Released as Individual Segments
Surprisingly, despite the commercial disappointment of Fantasia 2000, early development for a third film began in 2002. However, the project was shelved in 2004 for reasons unknown. In the years that followed, two proposed segments were released as individual short films, with One by One featuring on the DVD release of The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride Special Edition and The Little Matchgirl being released as an extra on The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD.
‘Newt’
The Disney/Pixar movie Newt was announced in the late 2000s and was set to follow two blue-footed newts named Newt and Brooke. The only remaining male and female of their kind, the fate of their species relies on them successfully mating. Unfortunately, the pair can’t stand each other, which understandably complicates things significantly.
‘Rio’ Got There First
If the plot sounds familiar, it’s because it shares more than a few similarities to the story found in the 2011 hit Blue Sky Studios animated feature Rio — only with newts as opposed to macaws. The similarities are so striking, in fact, that upon learning about Blue Sky’s production of Rio, Pixar scrapped its work on Newt. Ironically, Disney acquired Blue Sky Studios when it bought 21st Century Fox in 2019, meaning Rio is technically now a Disney movie.
For those curious about what Newt may have looked like, there’s concept art and images of potential scenes that have been floating around online for years.
‘1906’
While Disney had been working with Pixar since the release of Toy Story back in 1995, it did not officially acquire the studio until 2006. Prior to this, Pixar had plans to collaborate with Warner Bros. on a live-action adaptation of James Dalessandro’s novel 1906. There was a brief period following Disney’s acquisition that Pixar planned to continue with the project with both Disney and Warner Bros., but as the budget reportedly ballooned to over $200 million, Disney eventually pulled out of the project, and Warner Bros. failed to secure funding from other studios.
‘1906’ Would Have Been Pixar’s First Foray into Live-action Movies
Focusing on the events leading up to the catastrophic 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it would have marked a major departure from Disney and Pixar’s usual child-friendly animated fare. While it’s unlikely the movie will ever see the light of day, director Brad Bird offered a glimpse of hope in 2018 when he mentioned the possibility of Warner Bros. adapting the novel as a TV series, and turning the earthquake sequence into a live-action feature film.
‘The Graveyard Book’
Having acquired the rights to The Graveyard Book by author Neil Gaiman, it was announced that Disney/Pixar would be releasing a stop-motion adaptation in late 2013. Henry Selick, known for directing a slew of iconic stop motion movies including The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline, had signed on to produce the movie with Ron Howard taking on directing duties.
The movie, which tells the story of Nobody Owens — a young boy raised by ghosts in a cemetery after his family was murdered – has been in production hell for what seems like an eternity. The movie’s rights were originally purchased by Miramax, but after production stalled, Disney picked them up, where it has lain dormant ever since.
‘The Graveyard Book’ Is Dead and Buried
When asked about the status of the movie in 2019, Neil Gaiman conceded that it was unlikely the movie would ever see the light of day and stated:
“Every 18 months, the same cycle has been happening, where [Disney] tell me that they’ve got a new writer on it. Then, a few months later, they send me a script and it’s okay. It’s 75% of the way there. It reads a lot like the last scripts that were done. And then, they tell me that they’re out for a rewrite. Normally, I don’t get sent the rewritten script. They just tell me, ‘No, we don’t really like it. But we’ve got an idea for a writer who’s going to really nail this.’ And then, a few months later, they tell me that they’ve hired the new writer, and it begins again. That’s been happening since they bought The Graveyard Book.”
Since, several serious sexual assault allegations have been made against Gaiman, seemingly putting the final nail in the coffin of the entire project.
‘The Shadow King’
The Shadow King is yet another stop-motion project that Henry Selick was attached to that was unfortunately scrapped. The movie would’ve followed a young orphan boy with abnormally long fingers. He is forced to hide away from the world to avoid ridicule. When a dangerous monster with mayhem on its mind threatens his world, he meets a shadow girl who teaches him to transform his hand shadows into life-like creatures and weapons to be used against the creature.
There Is Hope Yet for ‘The Shadow King,’ Just Not From Disney
In August 2012, it was reported that after spending a reported $50 million, Walt Disney Pictures canceled the project, with the official explanation being that from “a creative and scheduling standpoint, the pic wasn’t where it needed to be to meet its planned release date.”
Sellick later elaborated, saying that the film suffered from interference from the then CCO of Pixar, John Lasseter, who he claimed came in and constantly changed elements of the script and production that ended up ballooning the budget.
While there is no chance of Disney ever releasing the movie, there may be hope for the project yet, seeing as Selick has now reacquired the rights for The Shadow King from Disney and has suggested he may revive the project.
‘Fraidy Cat’
Definitely one of the most intriguing prospects on the list, Fraidy Cat was set to be an animated film serving as a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock’s film noirs, with a planned release in 2009. It was to revolve around a house cat named Oscar and a cockatoo named Corina who have to work together to clear Oscar’s name after he is accused of kidnapping a fellow neighborhood pet.
An Intriguing Concept
While a twisty animated film noir stacked full of Hitchcock homages sounds like a fantastic concept on paper, David Stainton, the then president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, felt that it lacked the mass appeal needed to turn a decent profit. Despite being impressed with the early footage, the plug was pulled on the project and never heard of again.
‘Dumbo 2’
Dumbo is a timeless classic that has consistently entertained generation after generation of children since its release way back in 1941. But have you ever wondered what became of the titular elephant and Timothy Q. Mouse after the events of Dumbo?
Lost in New York
According to the proposed sequel, which was scheduled for release in 2001, the pair would find themselves stranded in New York, forced to locate their way back home alongside a host of new animal characters, including an ostrich named Penny, Godfry the hippo, and a zebra named Dot. Unfortunately, production was riddled with consistent setbacks and was eventually scrapped in 2006. Instead, we got Tim Burton’s live-action adaptation in 2019, which was met with mixed reviews and middling box office returns.
‘Gigantic’
Gigantic was set to be a computer-animated spin-off of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk story in which Jack discovers a world of giants hidden within the clouds, where he befriends an 11-year-old, 60-foot-tall giant called Inma. Together, they must work to put a stop to the villainous Storm Giants.
‘Gigantic’ Was Initially Scheduled for a 2018 Release
Nathan Greno (Tangled) and Meg LeFauve (Inside Out) were set to direct, and it was initially scheduled to be the 59th animated feature in the Disney Animated canon, following the release of Frozen 2 in November 2019, but according to Disney and Pixar Animation President Ed Catmull, the project was canceled due to “creative differences.”
Live-Action ‘Aristocats’
The most recent cancellation on this list comes in the form of the Aristocats live-action remake. The movie was set to be directed by Quest Love, the drummer of hip hop collective The Roots, but due to the poor critical and commercial performance of the Snow White live-action movie and multiple production problems, it was recently announced that the project had been officially shelved.
Quest Love Has His Fingers in a Number of Pies
The original, beloved movie tells the story of a family of Parisian felines catnapped by a greedy butler hoping to steal their inheritance. While not short on ideas about how a live-action reimagining would potentially look, Quest Love details how the project was just not meant to be when he said:
“A new administration came in, and then I was like, ‘Okay, well, this is what I plan to do, and dadada, do the song and dance, and here’s some of the music examples, and there’s some team I’m working with dadada,.. And then they had another administration shuffle, and it was like, ‘Okay well. All right.’ And by the third time I was just like, ‘Maybe this isn’t meant for me, because there’s also, at least, like right now, there’s so much options I have in pickings.’”
‘King of Elves’
Based around a band of elves and a dwarf living in the Mississippi Delta, King of Elves would have followed the ragtag gang of mythical creatures and their interactions with a local human named Calder, who is unwittingly crowned their king after he helps save them from an evil troll.
‘King Of Elves’ Was, at One Point, a Priority for Disney
Originally slated for release in 2012, the film was reportedly shelved in December 2009. In 2010, it was reportedly back in development and set to be released in 2012 with Chris Williams, who co-directed Bolt, helming the project. Production was going so well that it was reportedly being prioritized over Frozen at one point. However, due to disagreements over the script and story direction, it was eventually scrapped.
