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Pixar has been in the headlines over the past month as an original comedy Hoppers It was a huge success with great critical response and cheerful box office results, giving optimism in the Disney-owned animation studio’s ability to launch an original property on the cusp of Toy Story 5 He becomes a potential giant this summer.
But Pixar has also been the subject of recent debate over the reveal of a planned movie that’s unlikely to ever come to life. per day Hoppers opened last month, Wall Street Journal published a story looking into the future of the company and confirmed that there is a feature called Be Friday (Similar to bevery) was in development for years until it was canceled in late 2023. The article noted that Pixar employees were distraught that a project involving 50 people and three years in the making would be halted — perhaps Pixar’s longest film in development to receive such a fate — given that the studio had previously been adept at reworking troubled films, as it did with the 2012 release. brave.
Be Friday It was the brainchild of director Kristen Lester, best known for directing the 2019 Pixar short film. purl. Inspired by Lester’s real-life experience involving a disintegrated teenage friendship, Be Friday The focus was on two teenage girls who were once best friends but found themselves separated after learning that their favorite… Sailor MoonA real-life style TV show and they need to embark on a universe-spanning mission to save humanity. Writer Blaise Hemingway was also part of the core creative team, whose credits include the 2021 film Clifford the big red dogand editor Nicholas C. Smith, who retired from Pixar in 2024 after nearly 20 years with the company.
A former Pixar employee who worked there Be Friday He asked to remain anonymous Hollywood Reporter That the project went through four iterations after different sets of feedback from higher-ups and was ready for the animation stage when Disney chose to pull the plug. A rough transcript of select scenes from the film has been circulating on social media, indicating the girls getting nervous before a later sequence shows them in a car while being chased by an angry demon. The Pixar alum recalled shortly afterwards Be Fridays Braintrust 3 – the name of the company, in this case, the third of six check-ins with studio heads and test focus throughout the film’s development – Disney required a major retooling.
There was a meeting after BT3, where Christine and Blaise made the case to Disney, says the former Pixar employee: “We know you don’t like the state of the movie now. “Give us six weeks, and we’ll remake the whole movie.” “Christine, Blaise, Nick and two panel artists spent six weeks of night and day, seven days a week, literally reformatting. Pre-production of an animated feature takes a year to storyboard, so [they had] To compress that into six weeks to get a fourth cut of the film.
The former employee, who was not present for Disney’s comments but heard from others who were present, recalls his astonishment at the final shots that Be Friday The team was created: “It was on Hoppers level. It baffles me why it was passed on, but with every round of feedback, Disney didn’t feel like little boys could see themselves in the movie enough. Basically, Disney reps were saying, “We can’t have a girl power movie.” Inside out 2which became the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and a Disney+ show Turned red.)
This decision to stop progress Be Friday It came in late 2023, months later toy story Prequel movie Light year It was a box office failure in light of right-wing critics who caused an uproar over a same-sex kiss. This was also around the same time that Pixar president Pete Docter and the studio team decided to retcon their original sci-fi feature Eliostripping away the strange characterization of the lonely boy who longs to visit space. Shortly after these internal decisions, Docter sparked public controversy when he suggested in a 2024 interview that the studio should make “more relatable films” possible, which some social media users saw as a push to move away from underrepresented characters and voices.
“When they canceled the movie itself, it was devastating,” says the former employee, who recalls employees coming together to erect a memorial to honor them. Be Friday. “They had what amounted to a funeral Be Friday In the studio. They had a little place where you could write down notes or things that really mattered to you. There was art everywhere that really commemorated the film, and there was an outpouring of love for a project that everyone really wanted to see brought to life.
says another former Pixar employee THR Some employees are disappointed that the studio seems to let concerns about public perception drive its decision-making on films like… Elio and Be Friday. According to the individual, “the joke about Pixar” is that the drive “has no backbone at all.” A studio representative declined to comment for this story.
The Pixar team has reason to be optimistic about the state of its original projects. After a difficult situation with Elio This came after a slow start at the 2023 box office racist (Although this film eventually made a small profit), Hoppers It received rave reviews and crossed $330 million at the global box office, giving hope for future original films like next year’s film. They came. Meanwhile, director Andrew Stanton Toy Story 5 It will be in theaters next June and looks like it will be another smash for the Oscar-winning franchise.
Over the past 12 months, it has undoubtedly been the animated film that has received the most attention Demon hunters in kpopwhich originated at Sony Pictures Animation but skipped theaters and debuted on Netflix through the studio’s first-look deal with the streamer. It wasn’t lost on the former Pixar employee who worked on it Be Friday This is the Netflix movie, and it is the most watched title of all time on the platform and beats it Elio To win the Academy Award for Animated Feature of the Year, it has similar themes to the now-cancelled Pixar project.
“Comparisons with Demon hunters in kpop “It’s pretty undeniable because there were musical aspects to it, and it was a tumultuous time,” the individual says. “I can imagine that anyone at Disney denied it Be Friday Existence is seen Kpop And they kick themselves, saying, “Damn, I can’t believe Netflix is doing exactly what we wanted to do.”
