There aren’t many things that hurt more than an exciting and highly anticipated movie getting canceled. While major film projects don’t get canceled completely all that often, Disney has a long history of canceling projects that had a lot of promise.
It may surprise you to learn that Disney has canceled plenty of movies over the years for one reason or another, and some will shock you even more when you realize that some were parts of majorly successful series. These movies may have never seen the light of day, but now you’ll know all about them.
10 Meet The Robinsons 2: First Date
There are tons of people who loved 2007’s Meet the Robinsons, Disney’s animated film about a young genius and a boy with a time machine. What you might not know is that, at one point, Disney planned to make a sequel titled, Meet The Robinsons 2: First Date.
The only thing widely known about the film is that it was intended to continue the story of the first movie, but it was sadly canceled alongside a number of other projects. Considering the original wasn’t a huge box-office success, cancellation isn’t all that shocking.
9 The Seven Dwarfs
While there is plenty of talk going on about the live-action Snow White movie from Disney, few people are aware of the fact that, back in the 2000s, the company had planned to make a prequel to the animated original. It would have been CGI, which may have taken some of the movie’s charm away, but it still would have excited fans.
The prequel was set to tell the tale of how all the iconic dwarves became friends. At the same time, the story was going to explain how someone as wicked as the Evil Queen could take the kingdom’s throne for herself.
8 Gigantic
Just from the title, you probably guessed that this movie was going to be intended to be Disney’s take on the classic story, Jack And The Beanstalk. Unlike many other projects, this film was quite heavily planned and was only canceled a few years ago back in 2017.
The movie was planned to be the classic comedic-musical-Disney-style, but for whatever reason, things just weren’t clicking behind the scenes. The film would have taken audiences to Spain, but it seems like the bean never truly sprouted for this movie.
7 The Aristocats 2
It may sound odd to make a sequel to a film nearly 40 years after the original’s release, but stranger things have happened. The plan was to release Aristocats 2 in 2008, a long way from the original’s 1970 release, but the whole thing was canceled.
There seems to have been quite a bit of work put into the development of the sequel as there are plenty of unique details for you to learn about its production. An entire script existed at one point, and even basic animatics were done up.
6 Newt
The Disney Pixar film Newt was originally planned to release in 2011, but it would never end up seeing the light of day. According to some voices that worked on the project, things simply weren’t working out, likely meaning Newt was doomed for quite a while before it was canceled.
The story was meant to tell the story of two newts who were forced together to save their species despite not being able to stand one another. That doesn’t sound like the easiest story to make work without bumping into a lot of other issues, so it might be better off canceled anyway.
5 The Search For Mickey Mouse
It seems like there was some effort to get The Search For Mickey Mouse made, but the project just wasn’t meant to be. Telling the tale of Mickey’s friends searching for the lost mouse, it’s hard to see where this movie would have gone.
Supposedly, the film was meant to be filled with cameos from other Disney animated films, something that would serve as a celebration of Disney. It was originally canceled in 2002 and supposedly failed to see a revival roughly a decade later.
4 Rainbow Road To Oz
Unlike many other of Disney’s canceled film efforts, this Disney take on The Wizard Of Oz was intended to be live-action. The film reportedly had some actors attached to play some major roles, but it would never end up being completed.
Unfortunately, Disney would end up abandoning the film altogether in the mid to late fifties, leaving the world to wonder what their take on The Wizard Of Oz could have been. Some old photos of the production do exist, and whether or not it’s nightmare fuel is up to you to decide.
3 Gremlins
It’s actually shocking that this Disney animated effort never ended up being made because it also included the creative mind of Roald Dahl. A book of the story was eventually created, but the movie never took to the skies for all the Disney fans at home.
The story itself was about a man who spotted Gremlins in an attempt to sabotage his plane in the middle of World War 2. Exactly how that would have worked on the big screen is anyone’s guess, but considering its cancelation, it’s likely it didn’t have enough Disney magic.
2 Fraidy Cat
Fraidy Cat was intended to be released in 2009, but the feline-led film would fail to make it to theatres. The movie seems to have been about a cat and a cockatoo who go on some kind of adventure to save a pet in the neighborhood that has been kidnapped.
While that does sound like a fairly standard Disney plot, the real twist is that the movie was meant to be a kind of callback to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, something that the higher-ups at Disney didn’t think would end up working all that well.
1 Roger Rabbit 2: The Toon Platoon
You probably know and love Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which means you would have loved a sequel, something that makes this entry hurt all the more. A sequel was likely to have come out in the early nineties, but it simply wasn’t meant to be.
The movie was set to take place during World War 2 and would see Roger on an adventure to find his true family. That may not exactly sound like the kind of movie that would work, but if it means more Roger Rabbit, no one would be complaining.