Disney's THE SHADOW KING - Lost Stop-Motion Masterpiece
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- Cancelled Disney / Pixar Movie: The story of stop-motion pioneer Henry Selick's cancelled & unreleased ''THE SHADOW KING.''
In 2011, The Shadow King was green-lit for production. Selick and his highly talented crew would begin work at Cinderbiter Studios on what was shaping up to be a masterpiece in the vein of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' & 'Coraline.'
#cancelled #henryselick #theshadowking
After spending a reported $50 million, and due to unspecified concerns over future costs and benefits, Walt Disney Pictures cancelled the project in August 2012.
Narrated by Alex BecK
Footage credit; Animators
Ian Whitlock
Sarah de Gaudemar
Mike Cottee
Eileen Kohlepp
Kevin Parry
Dave Osmand
Eric Leighton
Charles Greenfield
Damon Bard
Rebecca Stillman
Robb Kramer
Lou Romano
Special thanks to Mingjue Helen Chen
(sources & thanks in the end credits.)
Cover Art Images by Damon Bard
www-bardstudio-com
FOOTAGE (c) PIXAR / DISNEY /SHADEMAKER / CINDERBITER STUDIOS
ALL ART / IMAGES / MODELS / CONCEPT ART & STORYBOARDS & COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CREATORS.
I worked as the Puppet Costume & Hair Designer on this film. Sadly I wasn’t contacted about this documentary. My team along with Master Armature Designer Merrick Cheney, Inventor & 3D print expert Martin Meunier and Silicone & Casting materials expert Victoria Rose Most to name a few… created ground-breaking puppets that could shape-shift and mechanically perform beyond anything ever imagined before. Each Department invented new technology and each individual brought their A game and Henry Selick inspired us all to create even more fantastic than we ever imagined we could achieve. The shutdown was heartbreak in slow-motion with hope rekindled each time the project was shopped around. There was so much more finished animation footage than this documentary shows, now forever lost like shadows in a dark room.
It's just so sad. It's a devastating waste of creativity. Personally I fear I would never recover from such a gut punch, it would take something out of me. What little I saw putting this video together was beautiful, original and poignant. I saw a sketch of Hap using his hands to project shadows of himself and his late mother dancing, I feel that was the heart of the piece and it was cruelly torn away. Like I said, It's just sad, really sad. Thank you for seeing the video and taking the time to leave a comment, it made my day.
Was John Lassater a conflicting figure during the making of the film as Selick today claims?
I heard Henry got the rights to the film back. Are you going to be back on it?
As a stop motion fan, I would love to see some animation test for those puppets
Disney’s worst decision EVER, they’ve shouldn’t have canceled this project it looks amazing.
Eh, rushing the Star Wars Sequels is certainly up there.
That was because of exposed shnuh-offenyuh John Lasseter.
Worse than canceling Danny Elfman’s Little Demons and The World of Jimmy Callicut?
It's a crime this film never got made, I hope Wendell and Wild somehow sparks interest to bring this project back, if Selick is up for it that is.
It's crazy how Disney will go to any desperate lengths to save money, yet have no issue throwing away 50 million on a film that probably would've been moderately successful if they tied in with Coraline. The film would probably do WAY better today, you can only watch stuff like Frozen for so long until people get sick of all the cheeriness.
And yet, here we are now mired in a swamp of franchise-films and remakes. I mourn for the singular, wildly-creative masterpiece this could've been. I really wish it had happened. =(
it's almost as if disney hates originality and risk taking.
Disney put the movie into a simple turnaround. Anyone who saw commercial potential in the project had the chance to pick it up, _at cost_ as a turnkey production. I think it speaks volumes about the film’s limited appeal/potential that Selick and co couldn’t cobble together finishing funds from foreign presales. This is doubly true considering Sellick was both backed by Liaka; coming off the biggest hit of his career (Coraline); _and_ the attempted presale happened during the most active and successful period for stop-motion animation ever.
It should have been simple to get this movie finished. The failure rests squarely on Sellick’s shoulders. It looks like he was undisciplined in his storytelling approach from the gitgo. Potential investors saw a _70% finished product_ and said, “No thanks.”
Take an unclear story, told in an non-traditional manner, using a niche art form, and couple it with a key creative who has a notorious reputation for playing poorly with executives (a factor Selick _brags about_ in a clip shown here) and you have more than enough context to understand how and why this project came undone.
Selick is ground zero for my love of cinema. I am a huge fan. I literally know Nightmare Before Christmas by heart. He has influenced my life as much as my own father. But Selick is his clearly own worst enemy when it comes to the business part of show business. Remember that he was supposed to be _the man_ at Liaka, until he blew that deal up after Coraline and went over to start his new company under Disney. Even Travis Knight, the biggest supporter of stop-motion in the world, didn’t want to use his own bankroll to finish this project. And contrary to what you claim about Disney, _Knight_ clearly isn’t afraid of trying something new and different.
Normally, I wouldn’t be so harsh on an iconoclastic filmmaker. Normally, I would kind of admire it. But here’s the thing - I LOVE stop-motion with a passion. I want to see more stop-motion features made. But stop-motion productions are _so difficult to mount._ Selick’s shrugging attitude regarding “being a Hollywood director” belies an irresponsible approach could literally *kill the entire medium.* and is feeding his ego really worth that price?
Disney hated The Nightmare Before Christmas until it became a big hit on home video and developed a huge cult following. They even originally released it on their Touchstone Pictures label instead of Disney.
They are just maintaining their image.
It is also very important to have a signature that is easily recognizable rather than various different styles you won't be able to identify as one.
Disney have a lot of other companies so they can experiment in some sort of way.
But I saying a statement like that doesn't regard a lot of Disney History. It made the first long duration animated film, almost got bankrupted funding it, and don't get me started with Disneyland... They sure are great at risk taking in a technological sense. But you can't blame them for wanting to keep a continuity in its style.
Disney is an evil corporation run by total idiots. The movie looked phenomenal and they shitcanned it!
@@joeyday576They scrapped Danny Elfman’s other musical projects back in the 90s too.
"It's too dark, kids like colourful things" just seems so insulting! Sure, some kids like colourful things, I like colourful things but I love dark things even more. I was practically raised on Tim Burton films and so I loved darker media, I know I am not alone in that, I mean look at how popular Coroline is! I wonder how some adults forget what it's like to be a kid, kids are often way more complex than some give credit for. It's truly tragic this one was never finished :(
[edit] okay, so Disney's change of focus gave us Wreck it Ralf. I'm slightly less upset, but I still stand by the loss being a tragedy.
Disney don't care about movie or people only money.
I can’t believe I didn’t see this sooner, what an incredible film that never came to fruition...thank you for salvaging the clips you could- considering all of the puppets / armatures have been destroyed...its haunting to see their animated scenes with so much life ; n ;
Okay, a new addition to my list of "reasons why I hate Disney from the bottom of my heart"
I personally don't hate Disney just some of their decisions but that also goes to other studios like Warner Bros Universal Pictures Sony Paramount lionsgate etc
@@isinganddootherthings4616 I think Disney is uniquely horrible .... They charge so much for their DVDs even for old films that everyone has seen ... any other studio? They tend to sell their older films cheaper (if they are still known or popular) ..... Then they also freak out over "copyright concerns" when people have used clips or music within reasonable fair use (..... clips that everyone except the blessed have seen before .....) ...... they are also obsessed with the legacy of one tasteless man - Walt Disney -; I know jack shit about the Warner brothers. Why is Disney such a cult?
Disney is simply another profit driven company... It's kinda silly to hate or love a company. Being devils advocate without Disney there wouldn't have been Nightmare Before Xmas, and Disney did release the right to the film which no one else picked up either despite already having it in production.
ISingand DoOtherThings it’s the corporate leadership of Disney that sucks especially now. Too Afraid Of taking risks now.
I totally agree with you we lost this movie for rack it Ralph!!!!!!
Disney then: Full of imaginations.
Disney now: Money making machine and no originality or creativity
Like Batista said, “What the hell happened to this company?”
I can't believe such an amazing movie work and idea was cancelled! I'm devastaded, it looked just so wonderful that makes me cry! I hope that this film can have a future or someone interested in help on make this project go to the big screen :"(
For years I have wondered when this movie was to look like. Thank you for uncovering the short sequences.
I hope it gets revived someday!!!! It looks like it could be a really good movie!!! Wishing Selick the best of luck!!
This story reminds me so much of The Thief and the Cobbler and how it took decades to finally get a "mostly" complete piece. The ending is mostly rough sketches and some storyboards but at least the damn movie is out for those that care. I hope at least something like this can occur for this film. It sounds like they got quite a lot of work done already.
I’m so happy that the AMPAS has preserved the near-finished cut of THIEF AND THE COBBLER, but it can probably never be commercially released
I have been stalking updates on the shadow king for the last 5 years hoping it would finally come through. There isn't enough Henry selick animated movies 😭
@@isabellesouth9567 thank you so much for the heads up! I'll be looking out for it!
There aren’t enough Danny Elfman operettas either... his personal projects got scrapped way back in the 90s.
There is an interesting update to this: right around the release of wendell and wild, Selick announced he got the rights to the shadow king back from Disney and that he may revive it.
Also Disney not wanting to do the film because kids dont like dark and scary? That says a lot when literally a month before wreck it ralph they release Tim Burton's animated remake of Frankenweenie.
I can't wait for Selick to finish it at another studio, only for Disney to try and buy it back and apologize when it's successful. I feel like I would have loved this plot.
Disney is so out of touch it makes them insane.
Children love wonder & imagination. New ideas to stimulate & get lost in. The Shadow King looked like a fun experiment of shadow work that hasn't been attempted even to this day. Bring it back.
Maybe a company like NETFLIX could resurrect The Shadow King?
Maybe......
Only if Disney releases the rights for HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA sorry couldn't even finish that thought.
They tried selling it. I honestly had hope that a company like Annapurna or Netflix would pick it up.
Henry was working on a movie with Netflix that’ll release next year called Wendell and Wild, maybe he can ask them on resurrecting The Shadow King?
And yes, retrieve the rights from Disney.
@@tonymata8070 yee
If I had a nickel for every time an animated feature with an amazing concept involving shadows was cancelled, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it’s frustrating that it happened twice.
(Look up DreamWorks' _Me and My Shadow._ It is a crime that DreamWorks canned it.)
The reason for it getting canceled pisses me off to no end
Dude, I would watch the shit out of that. And if it would get it made, I'd pledge to buy a shitty plastic toy from it too.
There's another interesting story about a cancelled Disney Movie by maybe Disney's most iconic directors Ron Clements and John Musker, iconic for there work more than name, cause mainstream people don't know them but certainly know The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Moana and much more, they were producing a movie in the early 2000's at Disney called Fraidy Cat, with a release estimated to be 2009, the story would be kind of a mystery story, the core of it would be that the movie was going to be a big Hitchcock Tribute, but unfortunately the project was cancelled by Disney's new president of animation even though it had the script and all storyboard already done, the reason to it was and I quote "I mean, who today even remembers who Alfred Hitchcock was? So why would kids in 2009 pay good money to see an animated film that pays tribute to an old, fat, dead movie director?", after the cancellation Ron and John were fired after 30 years at Disney, some short time later Iger brought Lasseter to the studio from Pixar and the first thing he did was to bring Ron and John back and they already started work on The Princess and the Frog for 2009, same date as the ill faded Fraidy Cat, ironic isn't it?
Diego Calderon sad it’s the nature of the business. No more risk taking anymore.
FRAIDY CAT and AMERICAN DOG (which was neutered and turned into BOLT) could’ve both been special
@@J.S.3259 true and newt
Its been ten years now I really hope we'd get to see this someday 🙏
Jesus christ I would not have believed those scenes to be stop motion if I hadn't been told directly they were.
It’s so weird how they can just scrap and destroy all the sets and puppets.
I'd say some may be at the Disney Archives and at animators' houses.
This is a classic Disney shit the bed with cancelling this one
This sounds like another coraline level banger, really interesting concept already. And I feel so bad for everyone that worked on it.
wonder if someone would do a crowd funding for the film if it could help get the project back up and running? if public interest was big enough then maybe? bc this should've been made and released, such a good idea and the work that they already did looked pretty good.
This sucks, because this is a movie I would've LOVED 😔
not only was this going to be a classic animated stop motion film, it wouldve been big for black representation in media. heres to hoping this project can be picked up again.
Good Lord, this would have been fantastic. It’s such a shame that greed is more important than creativity in the house of Mouse. Think of all the money they’ve poured into that disastrous attempt at a Star Wars reboot. Makes this even more sad. :-(
I don't think this looks all that interesting if I'm being honest. Then again, I'm not really a fan of Henry Selick's work in general, so maybe that's just me.
@@joshkaid ahh you damn normies never give a reason why you don't find the weird stuff "not interesting" ... Always try to "politely" be disinterested, but truly you only care that you are proving your normality. Jackass! Hahaha!
What another wonderful movie I can’t see.
Thanks, though, for your videos. They’re very well done and well researched.
I love learning about these things that I grew up with and want to do some day. I’m 25 now and I want to become a great animator and story teller for horror one day. Stuff like this gives me that drive I need when I’m in a rut.
You might be interested in “Little Demons” and “The World of Jimmy Callicut”. Danny Elfman’s passion projects that also got scrapped, way back in the 90s before Disney even knew what a hit they were squandering with Nightmare Before Christmas.
I was waiting for this project for years just to be disappointed and hear it was canceled. Henry Selick makes movies that are pieces of art. not just fast food cinema like most stuff made these days.
GOSH, WHY DO COMPANIES CANCEL SO MANY AMAZING ANIMATED SHOWS AND MOVIES, THIS IS THE SECOND TIME I HEAR ABOUT A ANIMATED MOVIE ABOUT SHADOWS GET CANCELLED, I'M SO MAD
I love this Chanel I find cancelled movie as interesting as the ones that come out
Everyone remember that Disney cancelled this movie to focus on IPs and merch money instead of original films
It's such a shame. Selick's ideas dovetailed neatly in Pixar's style of storytelling, the previews alone show a tale about a storyteller becoming exploited by someone with a business. The irony of that should not be lost on anyone.
15:58 - 16:58. He's *seething*, it's quite obvious. What a clusterf@ck of a situation and such an unjust predicament.
It really sucks it never came to be. It would’ve been a huge hit!
Hopefully after making the other movie Wendell and Wild that he’ll be able to make the shadow king. I mean I didn’t think the were gonna make the stop motion Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro bit it’s in the works right now and they said that it was canceled. I legit love stop motion movies and was excited af to watch the shadow king.
why cancelled shadow king? it looks like interesting story!!!🥺 i hope they can continue ‘shadow king stop motion...come on henry selick
continue it pls 🥺
This needs to go on KickStarter
Would you do a video on Danny Glover's Toussaint Louveture biopic about the Haiti Revolution?
Or Morgan Freemans Sci fi epic Rama?
You have my name in your credits as “Sarah DeGuardemar”, but it is actually Sarah de Gaudemar.
I'm a fool, I'm very sorry I'm put that out without proofreading. I think your work, and that of your colleagues, is genius.
It’s okay, just wanted to attach a correction in the comments. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
So, they didn't cancel coraline for being dark, but they did with the shadow king?
The executive level of Disney has been mind-numbing shitshow since the early 2010's, most likely a result of the current state of the bloated big-studio film industry but it hits harder since Disney in contrast has a lot of incredibly talented people producing so much creative material within the company.
On the plus side, he's got a new film coming out this October with Jordan Peele as executive producer in the form of Wendel & Wild
I'm so hurt by this
Wasn’t Jordan Peele involved in trying to revive this film? I was hoping he would have some influence on getting it finished
i think if wendell and wild is a success they could revive shadow king.
Disney is running on the fumes of the magic it brought years ago. The live actions are getting worse and boring. How dare they reject this masterpiece!
Bravo! Fantastic video. Henry is amazing.
The background music was “moonlight sonata” good choice of music for this.
Awesome! Thanks for this masterpiece!
Do you have a Patreon of something of the sort? It pains me to such strong video essays -- that have had so much work put into them -- not receive proper recognition. I wouldn't be able to contribute any notable amount of money, but I'd like to help in some way if I can. As someone who loves movies, I find such acute inspiration from your videos. Keep up the good work.
Hey, that's really cool of you to say, thanks so much for watching, it's genuinely appreciated!
The brothers look very familiar to the new movie coming out soon "Luca".... How very disappointing 😞
Shame this movie was cancelled would of saw it if it were made
Where did you get the first 3 storyboards from cause I can't find them anywhere
Another excellent video. Have you thought of doing one on Coppola’s Megalopolis?
Yeah, I was hoping to do it the one after the next.
Supervoid Cinema
Sweet!!!
Excellent work. Can you do a video on the film adaptation of 1906 which was going to be a co-production between Disney and Warner Bros. directed by Brad Bird? That would be an interesting topic to cover.
What's 1906 about?
@@kittykittybangbang9367 An earthquake that happened on the year 1906.
@@mafeuk oh 👌
My God, what a waste of talent and work! It would had been a wonderful movie, and very different for what I see. I think there's a direct correlation between Marvel movies and Disney becoming a company obsessed on playing safe and get money at any cost. I know, they've always have had the goal of making money and they are very unconsiderate with employees, but even so they had some space, if little, to creativity.
It's been years since their all cancelled why can't they bring a few back
Disney should stop making these remakes because most of them compared to the original aren't as good and they should focus on more original and unique work like this, besides a lot of older children from 8 years old or more would love a movie like this.
Found this through reddit, i’m not into any of this sort of stuff but the editing, voice over, narrative, and overall production quality of this video is too compelling to pass.
amazing job, you’re going to be very successful
Just self-produce what you want. Sure, it'll take 40 years, but you won't have to listen to bottom-line executive input, compromise your vision, or worry about anything being a pointless viral success. That's all old hat now with the web. Your smaller yet far more passionate niche audience exists.
Wow!! Love Henry! 😭
Jesus that kid's hands are disturbing nightmare fuel.
LoL it’s funny u get easily disturbed
Is there any draft of the script available on the Internet?
Is it just me or does this narrator sound a bit like tim curry? Also, great video!
Pero de que joya nos privo la compañia del raton u_u
Could you do a video on Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon?
What song/songs are playing in the background?
Beethoven' Moonlight Sonata Op.27 No.2 Mov.1,2,3
"It's to dark"
what a pity and loss for us ...
i'm sad and mad now
gained? you deserve it!! continue;)
Is the piano music in the background played by yourself?
No, I wish i was that talented, it's by a gentleman named Paul Pitman who allows his music to licensed @ musopen.org/music/performer/paul-pitman/
You know what....after seeing those hands, I understand why it was canned.
That's the point. For some reason, adults think that children can't handle genres beside comedy. But that's not true. As a kid, I liked horror fiction for kids, such as Neil Gaiman's "Coraline". I grew up with Don Bluth dark cartoons. My mind was able to appreciate full-drama pieces, such as "The Prince of Egypt", "Brother Bear" and "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron". I was a big fan of Tim Burton aesthetics.
And that's a shame that we don't allow children to have that experience anymore. To taste something else along with excessively sweet stories. Sometimes, a thing or two slip through censorship, but I consider that as a luck, rather than a sign of a developed industry branch. "Pan's Labyrinth", "Where the Wild Things Are" "Monster House", "Dragon Hunters", "Courage the Cowardly Dog", "The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack"... child's mind is way more complex than we think. And it shouldn't be fed only with one type of content. Emotional diversity also should become a trend.
Well, that's how I feel about it, at least.
Great vid. May I ask what's the music playing around the 12 minute mark? Thanks.
It's Beethoven's "Moonlight" Sonata, 3rd Movement "Presto Agitato"
@@SupervoidCinema Thank you so much. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint it.
@@SupervoidCinema "Moonlight" and "The Shadow King"; very apropos.
looks amazing. pity disney pulled the plug on it and laika wasn't interested in taking over. since selick has a movie coming out at netflix this year, i wonder if netflix would be interested in continuing the the shadow king? i guess it's to late now
This is a real shame.
coraline is still the best (:
Have you read the 90s Daredevil script by Chistopher Columbus I really liked it
Yeah, just recently it was great, the next video is Chris Columbus Fantastic Four.
@@SupervoidCinema 😱 thank you I love that I'll watch it when it comes out
@@SupervoidCinema hey just wondering if you are well because of the coronavirus stuff going on
I'm alright, thank you for asking, hope you're doing okay too? Events are horrible.
@@SupervoidCinema just wondering when that video is coming
Just another reason why Disney is destroying original cinema
Can you give the sources for the set photos along with the pictures of Hap and the Shadow Girl playing together? Preferably in the form of links. Those are the only two I can't trace back.
Disney, why?
What about the fantastic four?
Is he any kin to Tom Sellick? Probably is.
When is the next video?
Should be a couple of weeks away.
I thought K5 is releasing the film in USA this fall 2020?
??????
Guess what
NGL, this does not sound like a good movie.
ALFRELY
First
I know Disney gets a lot of flack, and most of it is justified. But it's easy for us to judge on the outside looking in. But if you're a producer, you'd under a lot of pressure to deliver. It's easy to judge when it's not YOUR $50 million.
Also, I'll be honest. This doesn't seem all that interesting.
Kinda true
Oh of course, we should pity the producers! We wouldnt want them losing their fortunes!! Capitalist shit!
Ahahahaha ok i respect your opinion, but i totally disagree
Character design looks pretty basic and generic, weird concept. the test footage with the long fingers was unsettling, gross and unappealing, I can see why they canceled it.
Don’t be hating on my character design..... betch.
Heidi Smith I think it’s awesome that you replied! I’m sorry that we never got a chance to see this film see the light of day. Are you working on anything else now?
And someone asking your opinion?
Dude, first analyze and depth before judging and knowing things, because really your comment is unecessary.
you better have kept it!😒
movies like this and that other shadow movie from dreamworks that got cancelled really be making me depressed 🥲 movies these days just dont tickle the brain like they used to