I’m sorry, I still can’t believe this news! The upcoming animated Disney Canon film that was set to be released in 2020, Gigantic, has now been shelved! Gigantic, a new musical take on Jack and the Beanstalk, was the upcoming animated Disney film that I was most looking forward to! It was being directed by Nathan Greno and Meg LeFauve and would have featured songs by the Lopezes of Frozen fame. It was supposed to be released earlier in 2018 before being pushed back to 2020. And now, it’s been totally shelved.
Sigh…is anyone else distraught over this news?
The Animation Commendation 
I am so sad. Like very upset
Same!
I am distraught. I have vaguely heard of the plans, and am actually in love with the concept. I used to read variations on the story when I was very young. Sad news, indeed.
Distraught is the right word! It’s such a blow!
To be honest…not really. For one, Disney already has done at least two takes on the story, and while Micky and the Beanstalk isn’t exactly their best work, it is memorable enough that I am not exactly keen on them trying again. Two, I don’t think that the story sounded all that interesting. Three, the original story is pretty horrifying if you ask me. I really don’t see how Jack is in any way in the right there to steal from the giants. Four, I don’t really like the Frozen Soundtrack as a whole, I like isolated songs, but even the ones I do like don’t really work all that well in the context of the movie.
Of all the projects Disney is currently working on, this one is my least favourite. And I actually prefer Disney shelving something which doesn’t work over forcing a project through just because they already invested in man hours.
Fair opinion. Yeah, Jack is definitely in the wrong, lol, but I was still looking forward to this film since it wasn’t a sequel and the songs were hopefully gonna be good.
Let’s see what their replacement is.
To be 100% honest, I’m not really upset about GIGANTIC being shelved, nor was I truly surprised; a fair amount of projects explode in the hangar (as Calvin [from CALVIN AND HOBBES] once phrased it).
Of all the shelved animated features I know of, the one that I’m most fascinated by (and sorry for) is THE LEGEND OF TEMBO (which was to have been the first animated feature from the Digital Domain Media Group, which sadly went bankrupt due to mismanagement), the brainchild of BROTHER BEAR co-director Aaron Blaise. The basic synopsis is as follows: In ancient times, an African elephant is born who has a fascination with insects, and a strong dislike of fighting. At a young age, he is captured by human traders, and placed on a ship. At some point on their journey, the ship is wrecked, but Tembo (as the calf is named) survives. He washes ashore in India, where he is captured again, and placed on a work farm, where he grows into an adult bull. In order to get back home to Africa, he learns to overcome his aversion to fighting, and enlists in the military to become a war elephant.
For more, here is the visual development reel (featuring art by Aaron Blaise, and live-action footage from such diverse sources as AFRICA’S ELEPHANT KINGDOM [Discovery Channel Pictures, 1997], ALEXANDER [Warner Brothers Pictures, 2004], and PLANET EARTH [BBC, 2006]): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDS8IiDkM0Y
In addition, here’s a story-reel scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXkVUkBMts
And a proof-of-concept animation test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gzpuXTdCls
From all of this material, I can only say that this film had a lot of potential, and it saddens me to know that it was shelved. However, there is a glimmer of hope: According to one source I read, a film studio in China claimed the rights to it, and just *might* finish it. (Fingers crossed, though…)
Yeah, I’ve heard others say they weren’t too excited about Gigantic either.
Ooh, thanks for the story reel link!
I am bummed! I was looking forward to this one. Though if it’s not working for them for whatever reason, I’m glad they are shelving it rather than trying to push on with it anyway.
Yeah, I guess it’s the better move for them, but I was just so looking forward to it!