I have come to notice that on all the films listed where the original director had been replaced midway into production,...
Before Bolt, Chris Sanders was planned to direct "American Dog" which he also wrote. Coming off the success of Lilo and Stitch, "The film's plot told the story of a dog named Henry, a famous TV star, who one day finds himself stranded in the Nevada desert with a testy, one-eyed cat and an oversized, radioactive rabbit who are themselves searching for new homes, all the while believing he is still on television." However, Lasseter and the Disney executives didn't think it was too mainstream.
So Chris Sanders left, and told the animation team to complete the film in 18 months all with a reworked and rewritten script. "Bolt" kinda follows some of the Pixar tropes. The buddy picture formula, the road trip style which is considered "mainstream".
Next up, Brad Lewis having creative differences with Lasseter during the production of Cars 2. The film itself was kinda influenced by Lasseter's PR trip promoting the first Cars. There were of course story issues and nothing could save it when making a comic relief like Mater turned out to be a bad idea.
Speaking of Cars. Jorgen Klubien's originally idea was "The Yellow Car" an ugly duckling story about an electric car in a world of fuel-reliant cars and has a message of renewable energy. Lasseter kinda stole his and Joe Ranft's idea, and it was largely different. (Retooled as once "Route 66" but "Cars").
Now "Brave" is the most interesting. Brenda Chapman who was head of story on The Lion King and co-directed The Prince of Egypt, sounds like a good track record. "Brave", originally titled "The Bear and the Bow", was to focus heavily on the mother and daughter relationship between Merida and Elinor. Personal to her own experience. In the end, she and Lasseter butted heads and she was booted off the film. Replaced was Mark Andrews. In the end, her original vision was toned down in favor of other elements to make the film mainstream. Basically how Merida acted, the amount of forced comedy/slapstick, and basically how the film is basically a remake of "Brother Bear". The female perspective lenses wasn't their as the whole film ended up being influenced by a "dude atmosphere".
Lasseter then replaced Bob Peterson, the original director of The Good Dinosaur because of story issues. Peter Sohn was brought in, and with little time he had, it didn't do enough to save the film from its box office woes.
Now with him gone, the same issue plagues Skydance Animation's upcoming film, "Luck". One-word titles says it all. The film was originally planned to have Alessandro Carloni from Dreamworks direct it, and Kung Fu Panda writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger to write it. But as soon Lasseter came, all of them were gone due to creative differences.
The film would have been about the two worlds of luck, good luck and bad luck, being in a ridiculous war and it would commentate on how silly war is and then Lasseter threw it out and replaced it with a film that sounds like he stole the idea from "Monster's, Inc.". Something similar to DreamWorks' efforts, but it got toned down to make it match Lasseter's personal standards. Coming in are Peggy Holmes who worked with Lasseter on Secret of the Wings and The Pirate Fairy, and Kiel Murray who had worked on the script for Cars and Cars 3.
Same thing with Zootopia, still a great film after all. Only Nick and Judy's roles are swapped. Nick Wilde was supposed to be the main character. And then production scrambled to get the film done on time.
If you are sensing a pattern, Lasseter has too much control. You can say he is kinda of a power trip. As soon as he left Disney and Pixar, things changed for the better. You can guarantee that Domee Shi would have been booted off of Turning Red and her story and female team would have been replaced by more generic mainstream stuff. Same with Soul and Luca, and he would have made more sequels to Lightyear.
Over at WDAS, they have their own Brain Trust set up by Lasseter, and that kinda influenced the production of Raya and the Last Dragon as the original directors and lead actress were replaced just 6-7 months before release date. Ralph Breaks the Internet was the last film Lasseter was credited for, and that film was immediately dated and disliked by animation fans. Frozen II went through last minute changes to make the film more simpler for kids, that means more shoehorned Olaf. "Encanto" improved heavily, and there is no touch of Lasseter anywhere in the film at all.
In the end, Lasseter had too much influence and didn't have much confidence with first-time directors and didn't see the perspective of a women. And when he is influenced by profits and shareholders over potential good storytelling, that's when things fall apart.
I wish both Disney Animation and Pixar the best under new leadership. With an emphasis on new types of storytelling, new talent, and less sequels, more originality.
- Bolt
- Cars 2
- Brave
- The Good Dinosaur
Before Bolt, Chris Sanders was planned to direct "American Dog" which he also wrote. Coming off the success of Lilo and Stitch, "The film's plot told the story of a dog named Henry, a famous TV star, who one day finds himself stranded in the Nevada desert with a testy, one-eyed cat and an oversized, radioactive rabbit who are themselves searching for new homes, all the while believing he is still on television." However, Lasseter and the Disney executives didn't think it was too mainstream.
So Chris Sanders left, and told the animation team to complete the film in 18 months all with a reworked and rewritten script. "Bolt" kinda follows some of the Pixar tropes. The buddy picture formula, the road trip style which is considered "mainstream".
Next up, Brad Lewis having creative differences with Lasseter during the production of Cars 2. The film itself was kinda influenced by Lasseter's PR trip promoting the first Cars. There were of course story issues and nothing could save it when making a comic relief like Mater turned out to be a bad idea.
Speaking of Cars. Jorgen Klubien's originally idea was "The Yellow Car" an ugly duckling story about an electric car in a world of fuel-reliant cars and has a message of renewable energy. Lasseter kinda stole his and Joe Ranft's idea, and it was largely different. (Retooled as once "Route 66" but "Cars").
Now "Brave" is the most interesting. Brenda Chapman who was head of story on The Lion King and co-directed The Prince of Egypt, sounds like a good track record. "Brave", originally titled "The Bear and the Bow", was to focus heavily on the mother and daughter relationship between Merida and Elinor. Personal to her own experience. In the end, she and Lasseter butted heads and she was booted off the film. Replaced was Mark Andrews. In the end, her original vision was toned down in favor of other elements to make the film mainstream. Basically how Merida acted, the amount of forced comedy/slapstick, and basically how the film is basically a remake of "Brother Bear". The female perspective lenses wasn't their as the whole film ended up being influenced by a "dude atmosphere".
Lasseter then replaced Bob Peterson, the original director of The Good Dinosaur because of story issues. Peter Sohn was brought in, and with little time he had, it didn't do enough to save the film from its box office woes.
Now with him gone, the same issue plagues Skydance Animation's upcoming film, "Luck". One-word titles says it all. The film was originally planned to have Alessandro Carloni from Dreamworks direct it, and Kung Fu Panda writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger to write it. But as soon Lasseter came, all of them were gone due to creative differences.
The film would have been about the two worlds of luck, good luck and bad luck, being in a ridiculous war and it would commentate on how silly war is and then Lasseter threw it out and replaced it with a film that sounds like he stole the idea from "Monster's, Inc.". Something similar to DreamWorks' efforts, but it got toned down to make it match Lasseter's personal standards. Coming in are Peggy Holmes who worked with Lasseter on Secret of the Wings and The Pirate Fairy, and Kiel Murray who had worked on the script for Cars and Cars 3.
Same thing with Zootopia, still a great film after all. Only Nick and Judy's roles are swapped. Nick Wilde was supposed to be the main character. And then production scrambled to get the film done on time.
If you are sensing a pattern, Lasseter has too much control. You can say he is kinda of a power trip. As soon as he left Disney and Pixar, things changed for the better. You can guarantee that Domee Shi would have been booted off of Turning Red and her story and female team would have been replaced by more generic mainstream stuff. Same with Soul and Luca, and he would have made more sequels to Lightyear.
Over at WDAS, they have their own Brain Trust set up by Lasseter, and that kinda influenced the production of Raya and the Last Dragon as the original directors and lead actress were replaced just 6-7 months before release date. Ralph Breaks the Internet was the last film Lasseter was credited for, and that film was immediately dated and disliked by animation fans. Frozen II went through last minute changes to make the film more simpler for kids, that means more shoehorned Olaf. "Encanto" improved heavily, and there is no touch of Lasseter anywhere in the film at all.
In the end, Lasseter had too much influence and didn't have much confidence with first-time directors and didn't see the perspective of a women. And when he is influenced by profits and shareholders over potential good storytelling, that's when things fall apart.
I wish both Disney Animation and Pixar the best under new leadership. With an emphasis on new types of storytelling, new talent, and less sequels, more originality.
