WILD Disney Sequels 😳 That Were Planned But Never Created

In the past 100 years, there’s been one big thing that Disney has been known for above anything else — animation.

There’s no doubt that the company excels in movie-making and creating stories that people can relate to. But things haven’t always been easy for Disney. In fact, around the turn of the millennium, it was Pixar that was having great success…and Disney was doing its best to capitalize on that.

Ever wondered if there were scrapped Disney or Pixar movies that never came to light? Well, a recent report from Collider shares some great behind-the-scenes history of a former Disney animation studio that never got to release a single film.

©Pixar

Back in 1999, Pixar released a very successful film, Toy Story 2. It should’ve been cause for celebration, but instead, it was a point of contention between the Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, and the Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who had very different ideas on how Pixar should be run. The two CEOs had begun negotiations on a new contract, but Disney wanted Pixar to continue making sequel films, while Pixar hoped to instead make more original movies.

Since they couldn’t reach an agreement, Eisner waited, assuring Disney shareholders that Pixar’s next original movie, Finding Nemo, would be a flop. However, the 2003 film performed well, and gave Pixar the assurance it needed to proceed with making new stories.

In response, Eisner developed a new strategy. The Disney CEO started a new animation studio called Circle 7 Animation (named for the street it was located on in Glendale) with the sole goal of creating sequels to the 7 Pixar films that Disney had the rights to. The new studio started by working on three films — Toy Story 3 (but not as we know it today!), Monsters Inc. 2: Lost In Scaradise, and Finding Nemo 2.

The Toy Story 3 production made it the furthest of the three films, with the plot centering around Buzz being sent back to the Tawainese factory he came from due to a recall. The other toys shipped themselves to Asia to rescue Buzz.

The Monsters, Inc. sequel would’ve involved Sulley and Mike going into the human world to find Boo. And Finding Nemo 2 featured Nemo’s long-lost brother, Remy, who survived the barracuda attack that had killed Nemo’s mom and his other siblings.

Ultimately, none of these films were ever released because Eisner was pushed to step down from his position as Disney CEO. In 2005, Bob Iger was named the new Disney CEO and his solution to the Pixar problem was to buy the company. He negotiated the terms with Steve Jobs and purchased Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion.

Nearly 20% of the Circle 7 Animation employees were let go, but Disney helped many of them find new jobs. The remaining employees were absorbed by Disney Animation. All in all, it was a very interesting and short-lived endeavor. Ultimately, the studio was nicknamed “Pixaren’t” by its rivals — the animation company that never got to release any films.