Sometimes, despite an initial creative vision or promising team, Disney movies get shelved indefinitely or scrapped altogether. Despite the studio’s consistent releases, especially since the 90s, you might be surprised to learn Disney has quite a few projects left behind.
Here’s a look back at all of the projects that were either put on permanent hiatus or cancelled during the 1990s. In the future, it’s always possible one of these will end up in theaters!
Note: the dates listed next to each title are the dates of project cancellations.
- Puss in Boots (1991) – This Disney version of the original fairytale had nothing to do with the Shrek franchise, as it predated the Dreamworks version by a decade. However, the project was still scrapped for unknown reasons.
- Homer’s Odyssey (1992) – This would have been a feature film version of the Greek epic The Odyssey. The film reached stages of early concepts and development, but production stalled until it was shelved.
- Silly Hillbillies on Mars (1992) – Instead of a fairy tale or epic folklore, this film was an original idea from Disney. It would have been about feuding hillbillies from outer space. The story never drew much excitement in an era of blockbusters, so it never took off the ground.
- Sinbad the Sailor (1992) – Another tale from the Arabian Nights folklore of the Middle East. After Aladdin’s overwhelming success, this project was scrapped and all attention went to the prince of Agrabah.
- Song of the Sea (1992) – We don’t know much about this film, including why the project was shelved. In fact, all we know is that it was “a story about whales”.
- Swan Lake (1992) – Based off the fairy tale that inspired the world famous ballet. The project ultimately had to be scrapped after conflict with New Line, who was developing an animation based on the same tale (later released as The Swan Princess).
- Terbialos (1993) – We have less information about this project than any other on the list. No plot, production details, creative team, or even concept art has ever been released.
- Toots and the Upside Down House (1996) – Based on the book of the same name by Carol Hughes. This film would have followed a young girl who designed her own fantasy world, with both good characters and an evil Jack Frost. The film was scrapped after James and the Giant Beach bombed at the box office.
This list does not include sequels or remakes of previous Disney films. For an even more comprehensive list, including animated short films, check out the Wikipedia page here.
Previous editions of this roundup:
Stay tuned for further editions with earlier decades!