Cancelled projects
Monkey
Back when Pixar was still a part of Lucasfilm in 1985, it started pre-production on a film called Monkey. After Pixar spun off as a new company in 1986, however, it was still working on it. In the end, Pixar abandoned the project due to technical limitations. [28] [29] [30]
The Yellow Car
In 1995, Jorgen Klubien started writing a script for a film titled The Yellow Car. He wrote the first draft of the script with Joe Ranft. Then in 1998, the film was scrapped in favor of Toy Story 2 (1999). In 2001, The Yellow Car would eventually be reworked into Cars (2006). [31] [32]
1906
In 2005, Pixar began collaborating with Disney and Warner Bros. on a live-action film adaptation of James Dalessandro's novel 1906 , with Brad Bird announced as the director. [33] It would have marked Pixar's first involvement in a live-action production and its first collaboration with a major production company other than Disney. Disney and Pixar left the project due to script problems and an estimated budget of $200 million, and it is in limbo at Warner Bros. [34] However, in June 2018, Bird mentioned the possibility of adapting the novel as a TV series, and the earthquake sequence as a live-action feature film. [35]
Newt
A Pixar film titled Newt (which would have been Gary Rydstrom's feature directorial debut) was announced in April 2008, with Pixar planning to release it in 2011, [36] which was later delayed to 2012, [37] but it had finally been canceled by early 2010. [38] [39] John Lasseter noted that the film's proposed plot line was similar to another film, Blue Sky Studios' Rio (2011). [40] In a March 2014 interview, then-Pixar president Edwin Catmull stated that Newt was an idea that was not working in pre-production. When the project was passed to Pete Docter, the director of Monsters, Inc. and Up, he pitched an idea that Pixar thought was better, and that concept became Inside Out. [41] [42]
ShadeMaker
In 2010, Henry Selick formed a joint venture with Pixar called Cinderbiter Productions, [43] [44] which was to exclusively produce stop-motion films. [45] [46] Its first project under the deal, a film titled ShadeMaker was set to be released on October 4, 2013, [47] but was canceled in August 2012 due to creative differences. [47] [48] Selick was given the option to shop ShadeMaker (now titled The Shadow King) to other studios. [49] Selick later stated in interviews that the film suffered from interference from John Lasseter who Selick claimed came in and constantly changed elements of the script and production that ended up raising the budget that would lead to its cancelation. [50] By November 2022, it was announced that Selick had reacquired the rights for The Shadow King from Disney and that he might revive the project. [51]
The Graveyard Book
In April 2012, Walt Disney Pictures acquired the rights and hired Henry Selick, director of The Nightmare Before Christmas and the film adaptation of Gaiman's novel Coraline , to direct The Graveyard Book. [52] The film was moved to Pixar as a stop-motion production, which would have been the company's first adapted work. [53] After the studio and Selick parted ways over scheduling and development, it was announced in January 2013 that Ron Howard would direct the film. [54] [55] [56]
In July 2022, it was announced that Marc Forster would direct the adaptation with a screenplay by David Magee under Walt Disney Studios. [57] Later that year, Neil Gaiman stated that he has no involvement with the film. [58] In September 2024, it was reported that the production had been halted due to a variety of factors including sexual misconduct allegations against Gaiman. [59]
Circle Seven Animation projects
In addition, when the now-defunct Circle Seven Animation was open, there were plans for sequels to Finding Nemo (for which Pixar made its own sequel, Finding Dory) and Monsters, Inc. (for which Pixar made a prequel, Monsters University), as well as a different version of Toy Story 3. [60] Pixar's later sequels had no basis in Circle Seven's projects, and were created completely separately.
Other cancelled projects
Teddy Newton, Mark Andrews, Bob Peterson, Lee Unkrich, and Dan Scanlon worked on untitled original films that were shelved before their announcement. [b] The screenplay for Newton's film was written by Derek Connolly. [61] Andrews, Unkrich, and Scanlon left Pixar in 2018, [66] 2019, [67] and 2024, [68] [69] [70] respectively. Unkrich later returned to Pixar by 2025 to helm Coco 2. [2]
Collaboration
Pixar assisted in the English localization of several Studio Ghibli films, mainly those from Hayao Miyazaki. [74]
Pixar was brought on board to fine tune the script of The Muppets . [75] The film was released on November 23, 2011.
Pixar assisted with the story development for The Jungle Book , as well as providing suggestions for the film's end credits sequence. The film was released on April 15, 2016. Additional special thanks credit was given to Mark Andrews. [76]
Mary Poppins Returns includes a sequence combining live-action and traditional hand-drawn animation. The animation was supervised by Ken Duncan and James Baxter. Over 70 animators specializing in hand-drawn 2D animation from Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios were recruited for the sequence. [77] The film was released on December 19, 2018.
Planes is a spin-off of the Cars franchise, produced by the now defunct DisneyToon Studios and co-written and executive produced by John Lasseter. The film was conceived from the short film Air Mater , which introduces aspects of Planes and ends with a hint of the film. It was released on August 9, 2013. A sequel, Planes: Fire & Rescue , was released on July 18, 2014. A Planes spin-off film was announced in July 2017, with a release date of April 12, 2019, [78] but was removed from the release schedule on March 1, 2018. [79] The film was eventually canceled when DisneyToon Studios was shut down on June 28, 2018. [80]
Ralph Breaks the Internet , produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and co-executive produced by Lasseter, features Kelly Macdonald reprising her role as Merida from Brave, [81] as well as a cameo from Tim Allen reprising his role (via archive recordings) as Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story franchise, [82] and a sample of Patrick Doyle's score from Brave. [82] The film, released on November 21, 2018, also features many visual references to Pixar and its films. [83] Additionally, Andrew Stanton received a "Narrative Guru" credit. [82]
