Did you know that Pixar almost released a live-action film? Find out more about the canceled production that almost no one knows about
Over its almost 40 years of existence, Pixar has been responsible for creating animations that have impacted the lives of thousands of adults and children around the world. In its catalog, we can find a countless list of hits, such as “Toy Story”, “Monsters Inc”, “Cars”, “Inside Out”, among others.
However, something that Pixar never invested in was live-action, a format that, in recent years, has been very well explored by Disney through remakes of some of its greatest classics, such as “Beauty and the Beast”, “Mulan ”, “Aladdin”, in addition to films that are yet to come, such as the realistic version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Moana”.
However, something that many fans may not know is that there was already a project for Pixar’s first live-action film that, unfortunately, ended up being canceled and forgotten in the studio’s drawers: the adaptation of the historical novel “1906”, by the author James Dalessandro.
The live-action discarded
Released in 2004, the book is set during the great earthquake and fires that shook the San Andreas fault, in San Francisco, in the United States, on April 18, 1906, which left around 3 thousand fatal victims, and totaled more than 11 billion dollars in losses at the current price.
Before being released as a book, “1906” began to be worked on as a film in 1998, attracting the attention of major producers, such as Warner Bros., which became responsible for making it. At the turn of the century, with the script well underway, the project ended up attracting Disney and Pixar, which entered the production as responsible for the visual effects.
With the arrival of the studio, the filmmaker Brad Birdresponsible for “The Incredibles”, was chosen to direct and adapt the book by James Dalessandro, marking his first work with a live-action feature film. Despite his hiring, the film remained forgotten for a long time.
As reported by Collider, the last time “1906” was mentioned was in 2007, during promotions for “Ratatouille”, when bird commented that he was still optimistic about production:
“I was starting to work on a live-action film a few years before I embarked on ‘Ratatouille,’ so I’m going back to that and I’m really excited about that idea. I don’t want to say too much about it yet”, said the director in an interview.
Why did the movie never happen?
Also according to Collider, the real reason why “1906” never saw the light of day was not revealed by Warner Bros., Disney or Pixar. The portal says that, according to speculation, the main reason for the production’s shelving would have been the high budget and the enormous logistical challenges in being able to recreate the tragedy.
In 2018, bird he spoke again about the film, where he said that he has not given up on production, and that he is still looking for a way to get the project finally off the ground.
“I love the cinematic experience and I would like the earthquake to be on a movie screen, but I recognize that the story is very big, so I’m trying to do it as an amalgamation and people are kind of intrigued by it,” explained the director. “I’m still interested, but I want it to be done in a way that encompasses all the possibilities and yet somehow remains close or part of it or something on the big screen, so we’ll see what happens.”
Despite the statement, to date, there have been no new updates regarding the possible release of “1906”.
Source: Recreio
