A Disney Movie About an Elephant in a Nightclub Was in the Works for Several Years
Disney has churned out many classic animated hits. However, at the turn of the century, the studio was experiencing a slump and needed something that would revive it. So they decided to take a risk with a movie about an elephant in a nightclub. The movie was in the works for several years, but it eventually got scrapped.
The proposed Disney movie ‘Wild Life’
During the early 2000s, Disney was not experiencing the incredible success the company was used to. Following hits like The Lion King, the House of Mouse’s releases were not catching on like they used to. And the studio was desperate to make something that would catch people’s attention.
Disney has always taken a family-centric approach with their projects. Which is why a film about a nightclub was such a huge risk for the studio. The movie, titled Wild Life, followed a former star of a popular nightclub whose popularity had been dwindling in recent years. Since the success of the club depended on the singer and their star power, the club wasn’t doing well. So they decided to find a new star to keep up with the competition and prevent the club from going out of business.
The owners of the business happen upon a talking elephant from a zoo named Ella who is reluctant to be Club Wild Life’s newest star. However, while on stage rehearsing, Ella is electrocuted by wires. She instantly becomes a singing diva who helps the club shoot back to the top.
‘Wild Life’ was too risqué for Disney so it got scrapped
Wild Life went into production in 1999 under several animators including Jim Hill, Doug Walker and Hans Bacher. According to Lost Media, the animators were proud of the work they’d done, They were hoping that their movie would “knock the socks off the competition.”
Still, they constantly feared that Disney would not be impressed with the mature themes scattered within the movie. And their fears were proven right when they presented Wild Life to Roy Disney. Roy, then Disney’s board vice chairman viewed the presentation reel and was offended by the adult jokes.
While Wild Life itself was full of such lines, one particular joke involving two gay characters was too racy for Roy. The scene saw them entering a sewer when one remarks, “Have you ever been down a manhole before?” Roy immediately ordered the project to be shut down. The company which was working on the film shut down after the film was shelved.
Several concept drawings and an animated scene from the movie have been leaked online since then. However, Wild Life allowed people to see how big of a change the movie would have been for House of Mouse at the time. And it demonstrates Disney’s unwavering stance on its family-focused approach.
Universal made a similar movie years later
Wild Life may have not lived to see the light of day. But in a way, Universal Pictures’ Sing followed suit. Released in 2016, Sing follows a koala who owns a struggling theatre.
He stages a singing competition to prevent the theater from foreclosure and ends up discovering several talented animals including the star of the show, an elephant named Meena. The movie was a massive success earning $634.2 million at the box office against a $75 million budget. It led to a sequel, Sing 2, which was released in 2021.
