Don’t toy with me! An extra-long hair-of-the-dog edition of Why For

Jim Hill

18 years ago

Lucie S. wrote in to ask:

Enough with all the “Roger Rabbit” stories. What I really want to know about is what Disney Feature Animation is going to do after “Meet the Robinsons.” What’s happening with “American Dog” …

… and “Rapunzel Unbraided”? And are the rumors that I’ve been hearing true? Is John Lasseter actually revived the “Toy Story 3” project?

Your wish is my command, Lucie.

Let’s start with “American Dog,” shall we?

What follows is a selection of photographs that Nancy took back at SIGGRAPH 2005. Which shows some pre-production art as well as stills from a few CG tests for this Chris Sanders film.

“American Dog” is the story of Henry, a dog who stars in a popular television series …

… Where each week this Hollywood hound has all sorts of James Bond-like adventures …

… But Henry always manages to come through unscathed. Thanks to his TV show’s carefully written scripts as well as his dedicated stunt team.

But one night, during an on-location shoot, one stunt goes horribly wrong. Henry gets knocked out. And when he finally comes to, this diminutive dog finds himself on a moving train …

… Thousands of miles away from Tinseltown …

… in the middle of America …

After years of being treated like a celebrity, being waited on hand & foot, Henry doesn’t quite know how to get along in the real world …

… How to interact with real people …

Mind you, not everyone that Henry encounters when he’s stranded ‘way out in middle America could be called normal. Take — for example — that over-sized radioactive rabbit …

… or that one-eyed cat with the eye patch.

As it turns out, the rabbit and the cat have access to a classic old car …

And Henry cons these two into driving him back out to Hollywood. Where this dog can resume his plush celebrity lifestyle …

That is — of course — if Henry can actually manage to stay inside the car …

… or manage to survive the drive back to Tinseltown.

I know, I know. This doesn’t sound like your typical Disney Feature Animation production. But let’s remember that this is a Chris Sanders film. And Sanders is the guy who brought us the quirky “Lilo & Stitch.” So we can expect that “American Dog” will have the same sort of left-handed charm.

As for the performers that Disney has hired to provide voices for this particular film … Though the Mouse has yet to officially confirm any of this information, Roy Disney — at this year’s Cartoons on the Bay animation festival — let slip that John Travolta, Thomas Haden Church and Mario Cantone have been signed to do vocals for the trio that makes that fateful roadtrip back to Hollywood.

And speaking of things that were recently let slip …

Back in July, while Tim Allen was out doing publicity for “Zoom,” this sitcom vet mentioned that work was already underway on “Toy Story 3.”

That’s right. The project that John Lasseter made a very big show of shutting down earlier this year (Back when “TS3” was going to be produced by Circle 7 Studios) has quietly been turned back on. Only this time around, this sequel will be produced up in Emeryville and that whole Buzz-Lightyear-has-been-recalled-to-Tawain storyline …

… has itself been recalled. In favor of a new storyline that Lasseter has supposedly created, which will put a nice cap on the “Toy Story” trilogy.

If all goes according to plan, “American Dog” will be Walt Disney Pictures’ animated release for the Summer of 2008. While “Toy Story 3” will be the company’s big holiday release for that same year.

As for 2009, Disney’s long-in-development “Rapunzel” …

… looks like it finally officially begin production sometime later this year.

Glen Keane recently showed John Lasseter the first act of this new feature-length fairytale …

… and John reportedly told Glen that the first 20 minutes of this film was the strongest opening he’d ever seen for a Disney animated feature.

FYI: Disney’s “Rapunzel” is no longer a “Shrek” – like project, full of pop culture-related gags.

No, in its latest incarnation, “Rapunzel” is now a straight-forward fairytale …

… loaded with magical creatures like pixies and sprites.

Of course, this time around, all of the sprites and fairies will be done with CG.

According to people that I’ve spoken with at WDFA, most of the staffers there are thrilled that “Rapunzel” will soon be going into production. Given the years that this project has been in development and the millions that have been poured into R & D …

… this Glen Keane film will not only be Disney’s most beautiful looking CG project, it will also have a solid, emotionally-based stories.

And speaking of stories … I’ve finally come to the end of today’s tale. Here’s hoping that you enjoyed taking a look at all of this development art & CG tests for “American Dog” and “Rapunzel.”

Have a great weekend, okay?