Have you ever wondered about animation ideas or projects that were in existence at some point (or even near-completion!), but, unfortunately, never saw the light of day? There are apparently many such cases, and, no wonder, as it is not just creativity and ideas that need to be considered, but also talent on offer, financing, timing, and even general societal trends. Below are some of the grandest examples of animations that, at one point, were envisioned to be made public as “next big hits”, but, unfortunately and sadly, were never released (or eventually released in their “chopped” or unintended versions). Later, see also my sister post “5 Great Films Never Made“.

I. Kingdom of the Sun

Picture this: a stirring, thought-provoking story inspired by Twain’s story The Prince & the Pauper, that focuses on two very different look-alikes who switch places; a moving romance; an Incan Empire setting that showcases the ancient civilisation in all its glory, with rituals and llamas; great animated sequences completed under the direction of Disney’s Roger Allers (The Lion King); a full musical score already recorded by none other than singer Sting (for example, see song One Day She’ll Love Me); and a moving film message about friendship, kindness and love triumphing over greed and arrogance. That is the unproduced animation Kingdom of the Sun, an epic dramatic adventure story that was not to be. The project was axed in 1998 when Allers was denied just some months to complete his film. After hundreds of people worked extremely hard during years of its production, Kingdom of the Sun was completely re-wrote and re-directed to become a funky animated comedy Emperor’s New Groove.

No wonder people got angry, and there is even documentary Sweatbox by Trudie Styler that detailed the injustice committed against Kingdom of the Sun. The surprising thing for me was that one of the reasons for the axing was that the plot of Kingdom of Sun was deemed too similar to “any number of other The Prince and the Pauper stories”. The question is – such as which? A forgotten-by-everyone animated Mickey Mouse cartoon? I think The Prince & the Pauper story is underseen and underappreciated in both film and animation, and has much potential. It intrigues just on the basis of its thought-provoking issues as to character identity and psychology, which means the animation would have had much appeal for adults, too.

II. My Peoples

“More than any other project, I poured my soul into it. I opened myself up to all the things I love. The culture I grew up in, the music that I still, to this day, love dearly – it was all part of that. It was very personal for me as a filmmaker.” Barry Cook on the making of My Peoples

I believe that My Peoples by Barry Cook (Mulan) would have been an amazing animatory work given a chance. It had all the hallmarks at the initial stages, and the original idea was conceived in 2000. The animation-never-to-be tells of a boy and a girl (Elgin and Rose) from Texas (1940s) who fall in love despite their families having a feud. The boy sends a doll to the girl that he made himself, but it so happens that her father’s potion makes the doll come alive. This is Romeo & Juliet meets Toy Story, an intriguing proposition. The few animation stills that were made available hint to us that the visuals would have also been great, with memorable and lovable characters. To make matters worse, the animation that was greenlighted over My Peoples was Chicken Little (2005). Yep.

III. The Thief and the Cobbler

The case of animation The Thief and the Cobbler is sad and infuriating. The idea for this film dates back to the 1960s, and it was supposed to be a visually mesmerising fairy-tale-like story detailing the adventures of cobbler Tack who lives in Golden City ruled by King Nod. The project was given a green light in 1989 and was headed by animator Richard Williams (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), who produced up to three hours of the animation as far back as 1971. However, when the production fell behind time and was pressed financially, the original animation was “slaughtered”, i.e. re-edited and cut beyond all recognition by various companies and hastily produced under at least two different names. Richard Williams’s true vision never saw the light of day, and it is a real pity because it had all the making of a wonderful, multi-dimensional and visually-entrancing story based on Eastern folklore.

There is even a documentary titled Persistence of Vision by Kevin Schreck that documents the whole decades-long experience of Richard Williams trying to bring his animation to audiences as it was originally intended.

IV. Dreaming Machine

Satoshi Kon’s unfinished animation Dreaming Machine would have an epic film directed at the younger audience and involving a road journey, robots and visions of the future. There were going to be three main characters – Ririco, Robin and King – all robots. Unfortunately, Kon died in 2010 before completing his film, and, even though 600 out of 1500 shots have been animated, so far, the project have not been completed due to the lack of both talent and finances. It is clear that Dreaming Machine would have been a great animation. Kon is the creator of such masterpieces as Perfect Blue and Paprika, works that fuse reality and fantasy, and in Dreaming Machine, he would have again showed us his boundless imagination through a story set in retro-futuristic post-apocalypse times. 

V. The Shadow King

According to its director Henry Selick (Coraline), The Shadow King was to be “a deliciously magical tale about nine-year-old New York orphan Hap who hides his fantastically weird hands with long fingers from a cruel world. But when a living shadow girl teaches him to make amazing hand shadows that come to life, his hands become incredible weapons in a shadow war against a ravenous monster bent on killing Hap’s brother Richard and ultimately destroying New York.” The premise is intriguing, the animation visuals on display are great, and the boy with long fingers reminds me of the titular character from Burton’s film Edward Scissorhands. It is simply incredible then that some 50 million dollars were spent in making The Shadow King before it was eventually scrapped in 2013. However, the good news is that Selick got the rights back now for this project, so, who knows, perhaps, we will still see this animation in future.