Three Pixar sequels that never saw the light of day

Pixar Animation Studios have a near-impeccable track record, even with its sequels. Toy Story, The Incredibles and Up are just a few of the Oscar-winning features from the production powerhouse.

Before Pixar was bought by Disney in 2006 for $7.4-billion, Disney was about to move forward in a very different direction with certain projects. Circle Seven Animation was founded to produce direct-to-DVD sequels to several Pixar projects. Because of the way their deals were structured, Disney owned all sequel rights and had the ability to produce content without Pixar involved, should they choose to pass on the projects.

Pixar’s John Lasseter was floored by the news. “It’s like you have these dear children and you have to give them up to be adopted by convicted child molesters,” he told Pixar employees regarding the Circle Seven news. These sequels would have been less expensive to create and faster to produce.

Luckily, Circle Seven was shut down nearly immediately following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. Here is more information about the three Circle Seven sequels to Pixar films that never saw the light of day.

Finding Marlin

Years, before 2016’s Finding Dory, a sequel baring many similarities was in the works at Circle 7 Animation. Finding Nemo 2 would have flipped the script. This time, Dory, Nemo and Nemo’s lost long brother Remy would set out to find Marlin, who had been captured by an aquarium.

Much like Finding Dory, a major plot point would be the forgetful blue fish gaining her memory back. A script to the original Finding Nemo sequel leaked online years after the production was cancelled. You can read it here.

Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise

The legacy of Monsters, Inc. has lived on far past the 2001 film. A fun-loving prequel, Monster’s University, was released in 2014. Disney Plus has recently scored another hit series in Monsters at Work, a series surrounding Mike and Sully taking over as heads of the corporation.

Before these franchise additions, a direct Monsters, Inc. sequel was once considered. Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise would have followed Mike and Sully becoming stuck in the human world. After venturing out to give Boo a birthday present, the two discover she has moved houses. The pals are at odds with one another on how to handle the situation. This is the most enticing Pixar sequel idea, that would have (literally) opened the doors to a world of creative possibilities.

You can check out some of the concept art for Lost in Scaradise below.

A very different Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 is a top 5 Pixar film. The film’s original concept has no resemblance to the Academy Award-winning 2010 final product.

Meet the Fockers scriptwriter Jim Herzfeld wrote the final script, which involved the toys shipping themselves overseas to save Buzz Lightyear after he’s recalled to a factory in Taiwan. In his journeys, Buzz would befriend two other recalled toys, Rosey and Jade, along with facing the Star Command toy Daxx Blastar, who was set to replace him.

Concept art from the original Toy Story 3 leaked online a few years ago and looks grim, to say the least.

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