The days when Disney related news was depressing are over. Look no further than the latest on Disney’s fairies fandom cash-in movie Tinker Bell. The all computer animated feature has been in production for awhile, but the company’s newly installed head of animation John Lasseter has yanked the e-brake and delayed the thing. What’s the hold up? Lasseter’s not in to raping Disney’s classic characters for a quick buck.
The story comes from O-Meon through JoBlo, where they say the 80% completed movie will be pushed back till 2008 and most of it, will never be seen. Apparently, Lasseter saw an early screening of the movie and wasn’t happy. He wasn’t pleased to see Peter Pan and Captain Hook rendered in substandard, direct-to-dvd quality animation and used in a script found on the bottom of your daughter’s shoe rack.
O-Meon’s source describes his reaction this way, “John Lasseter came out [of a Disney Fairies Trilogy screening] so angry, many feared he would use his influence to shut down DisneyToon Studios.” Atta boy! Let’s face it, the direct-to-dvd crap which Tinker Bell represents is a blight on Disney’s once shining reputation. They’re basically movie-length commercials. Disney uses them to sell toys, they don’t really care about the quality of the movie.
So even though Lasseter’s contract with Disney doesn’t technically give him authority over DisneyToon Studios, the company’s branch that’s making all this puss, he’s used his power to get things done. The story is being altered to eliminate any appearance by Peter Pan and Captain Hook, thus saving Disney’s classic characters from being damaged by an appearance in a lousy film. Lasseter is out to protect the company’s classic property, he’s taking the long view here. Sure, you can make a mint off them now, but you’re killing yourself in the long run by ruining the company’s reputation as a beacon of high-quality family entertainment.
So Tinker Bell is being revamped and released much later than originally intended by the company. But the big question here is: Will this be the beginning of the end for Disney’s sequel rush jobs? Does this mean no more Cinderella IIIs and Aladdin 7s? We can only hope so.
Read the full saga of Tinker Bell by clicking over to O-Meon here.
