Pixar’s Newt: What Happened to this Unmade Movie?

Last Updated on March 2, 2023

Pixar’s a studio that’s known for delivering quality animated classics, but little is known publicly about its development process. Indeed, the studio has a reputation for excellent quality control and hasn’t hesitated in the past when deciding whether or not a project should go forward, even when significant resources have been put into them. Such is the case with Pixar’s Newt, a cancelled film that would have marked the directorial debut of Lucasfilm vet Gary Rydstrom. It was to have featured the voices of William Shatner, Ben Stiller and Delroy Lindo, but after much development, the film was quietly taken off the Pixar schedule and has never surfaced. So what happened to Pixar’s Newt?

Indeed, Pixar cancelling movies is nothing new. The studio has always been known for its quality control, and certainly, if a project isn’t shaping up well, they tend to abandon it. It’s happened before – such as with various versions of their Toy Story sequels – and will likely happen again. But, what makes Newt such an odd case is that it was publicly announced, and the film was all-out cancelled rather than retooled.

In this episode of What Happened to this Unmade Movie, which is written by Brian Accardo, edited by John Nguyen and narrated by Bronwyn Kelly-Seigh, we dig into the ultimate fate of what would have been Pixar’s 14th feature film.

Do you think Pixar’s Newt was prematurely abandoned? Let us know in the comments!