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- What Was Chris Sanders’ Original Vision for Bolt?
- Why Did Chris Sanders Leave the Project and Disney?
- Chris Sanders’ Career Turn Worked Out for the Best
As a seasoned storyteller with years of experience under my belt, I can’t help but empathize with Chris Sanders, the talented animator whose vision was met with resistance at Disney. It seems like the path of an artist is often paved with obstacles and compromises, and it takes a certain resilience to keep pushing forward.
Animation has seen its fair share of exciting auteurs in the modern era. Visionaries like Hayao Miyazaki, Brad Bird, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller have all managed to develop distinct voices and aesthetics, and they’ve repeatedly gone out of their way to prove that animation is a medium worthy of critical respect. However, one of the most unsung animation auteurs is Chris Sanders, who gave an offbeat, quirky charm to gems like Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon.
After nearly a decade’s absence, he’s unveiling his latest creation, titled “The Wild Robot“, and if initial critiques are any guide, it seems he’s struck another home run. Given the distinctive animation style that sets him apart in this medium, one might think Sanders enjoys complete creative autonomy. However, this is far from true; about two decades ago, his career came close to an untimely end when he departed Disney over the project that eventually became “Bolt”.
What Was Chris Sanders’ Original Vision for Bolt?
In the mid-2000s, Disney Animation found itself in one of its toughest periods, with the studio suffering significant setbacks. Their most recent projects, such as “Treasure Planet”, “Home on the Range”, and “Chicken Little”, had not fared well commercially or critically. To keep up with the popular works of DreamWorks and Pixar, Disney was shifting from traditional hand-drawn animation to computer-generated imagery. This transition, coupled with a company culture that often favored marketability over quality, left many creatives feeling disheartened. Even renowned Disney veterans like Ron Clements and John Musker considered leaving the studio after their well-received idea for “Fraidy Cat” was abandoned without much ceremony.
Despite the fact that Disney’s upcoming lineup generally appeared unpromising, even die-hard Disney skeptics found themselves intrigued by Chris Sanders’ upcoming 2008 film, “American Dog.” Given that Sanders’ previous movie, “Lilo & Stitch,” was arguably the company’s only significant box-office hit after the Disney Renaissance had ended, the executives entrusted him with full creative control over his next project. While Sanders had ventured into the unusual with “Lilo & Stitch,” this time around, he seemed ready to push his offbeat sense of humor to its limits.
The show titled “American Dog” is about Henry, a canine star in television who has a skewed perception of reality due to his upbringing on movie sets. As Sanders puts it, “he was purchased from a kennel and spent his life on film sets, so he believes that his entire world is the acting he does in these movies, and when he’s not on set, he’s just confined to a dark cage.” However, when Henry finds himself lost in the Nevada desert, he learns he is ill-prepared for real-life human interactions and the uncertainties of the actual world.
As a cinephile, I’ve got to say that the plot seemed peculiar from the get-go, but boy, did it escalate! Henry teams up with an unusual duo – a one-eyed cat and a radioactive rabbit, who call the gas station their home. Despite his belief that he’s still in a TV show, Henry embarks on a quest to find his way back home alongside these peculiar companions. Rumor has it that this journey takes some wild turns, involving an enigmatic nightclub waitress, a knife-throwing gorilla, and even an undead Girl Scout! Quite the cinematic adventure, wouldn’t you agree?
Why Did Chris Sanders Leave the Project and Disney?
2006 marked a significant turning point in development, as Disney took over Pixar two years before the release of “American Dog”. This acquisition brought John Lasseter on board as Chief Creative Officer. Lasseter became involved with upcoming Disney productions like “Tangled” and “Meet the Robinsons”, and while his creative ideas were generally welcomed by the team, he encountered strong opposition from Chris Sanders.
It is said that a version of the movie was shown to Lasseter and his colleagues towards the end of 2006, leading them to suggest significant changes in the film’s storyline. They were puzzled by what they witnessed, with Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull expressing his concern as “This idea had grown too complex.” There are differing accounts about what exactly transpired; Sanders asserted that Lasseter was perplexed by the intricacies he had imagined for the main character’s identity: “It was largely due to clarifying who this dog was. ‘Can he drive a car or not?’ The answer was both yes and no – he could make the car move, but he couldn’t technically drive it. This became a contentious point. I personally found that concept straightforward; however, it didn’t seem logical to others at the studio.
However, other accounts state that Lasseter felt the film simply wasn’t working, according to Jim Hill Media. Allegedly, he wasn’t a fan of Sanders’ work on Lilo & Stitch to begin with, but mostly, he was convinced that American Dog was unmarketable to mainstream audiences and saw Sanders as unwilling to take his input. He stated, “Chris Sanders is extremely talented, but he couldn’t take it to the place it had to be.” As a result, in early 2007 (just 18 months before release), Sanders was fired from the film.
Following this, Chris Williams and Byron Howard assumed control over the project, which underwent a significant transformation and was renamed Bolt. They completed production in an impressive 18 months, barely making the studio’s deadline. During this time, Chris Sanders departed from Disney, moving to DreamWorks Animation, where he was soon appointed as the director for the 2010 release, How to Train Your Dragon. This marked the beginning of a long-running animated series.
Chris Sanders’ Career Turn Worked Out for the Best
Despite how difficult it might have been for Disney and Chris Sanders to go their separate ways, it’s evident that the situation ultimately benefited them both following the project’s reworking. Although it would have been intriguing to witness Chris Sanders’ concepts for “American Dog” being realized (and he has hinted at a possible future revival of the project), such a movie never would have been the blockbuster hit that Disney urgently required.
Previously, Bolt marked a significant milestone for the company as its most successful critical and commercial release in years. Meanwhile, Sanders’ career soared to new heights at Dreamworks following the tremendous success of How to Train Your Dragon. The positive reception towards The Wild Robot only reinforces Sanders’ ongoing success in animation, even after a temporary obstacle. At present, The Wild Robot is gracing screens in cinemas.
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2024-10-04 00:31