Alright so today let's talk about the formerly in the works and now officially canned Pixar film:
To be perfectly honest I wasn't super excited about this one. If you don't know, the premise is these two newts who are the last of their kind (blue footed), and science has decided that they will save their kind.
It sounded so overdone to me that's probably why I didn't feel too attracted to it, I think part of it is that their hands and feet are poisonous and I'm sure that factored into things.
Well honestly I didn't find out about the official cancelation until today but apparently it was official as of May. But for a while Steven and I had wondered why we hadn't heard anymore about it outside from a few mentions on some Simpsons comentaries by one of the writers involved. I was on facebook today and saw that Pixar had posted on their facebook an album of concept art for the cancelled project.
And the art is in usual Pixar fashion-beautiful. I told Steven about the offical axe and we pondered together, over the phone, why they would do something so uncharacteristic of Pixar. Well we all know that many original works have been pushed back in lieu of sequels such as the "I'm not convinced until I see it isn't crap" Cars 2, and now the "That's certainly dangerous territory" Monsters Inc 2. And as much as I love Disney and Pixar if they so much as go near trying to make me sit through another Finding Nemo I might just give up on all animation everywhere (worst Pixar movie EVER). I'm just hoping they do not repeat this with Brave which has already been moved back and I am so genuinly excited for.
Back to newt.
So as I said I was never excited about this film but I certainly didn't want it cancelled. I figured Pixar would surprise me and they never got a chance. After relooking through the concept art and thinking about the formulaic nature of romantic comedies (which I love the route that would have been ineveitably taken, I am a HUGE Pride and Prejudice nerd.) Think about it: The last of their kind..they HAVE to mate to save their kind. Well if they like each other no prob right? So the obvious route is they're thrown together, do not get along, but have to work together to get out of whatever mess they're in, and fall in love along the way. There are tons of examples of this hate turns to love formula and I can throw a few out- Anastasia, Road to El Dorado, Shrek, French Kiss (love this movie), and most recently a big sore spot for Disney...The Princess and the Frog.
So just to help illustrate the point have a look at this art of the female newt:
Looks an awful lot like a certain frog we know, right? Brown eyes and everything.
I think, and this is just speculation here, I think that TPatF had alot to do with this movie getting the axe. Sending people to a theater to watch a movie that does little more than evoke de ja vu of a movie that while not bad didn't wow people like everyone had hoped.
So along with the hefty workload they are under I assume they took the route of not trying to kill themselves for a movie that might not fair so well.
Lets face it no one wanted to have this:
Turn into that:
Alot of good work was done for this film and hopefully it gets either picked back up later or by some other studio that will do it justice...that being said I'm still not entirely enthused by the concept. But I never want to see someones brain child go the way of the blue footed newt as it were.
See ya real soon.
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