List of unproduced Disney animated shorts and feature films

This is a list of unmade and unreleased animated shorts and features by The Walt Disney Company. Some of these films were, or still are, in development hell.

1942
Note: Disney studios produced an animated sequence for Samuel Goldwyn's film Up in Arms, which was unused in the final version of the film.

1947
Note: Fun and Fancy Free, released in 1947, was originally planned to be two separate feature films.

1949
Note: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, released in 1949, was originally planned to be two separate feature films.

1973

 * Scruffy - An adaptation of Paul Gallico's novel which centered around the barbary macaques of Gibraltar with its honorary leader named Scruffy, and the apes would be threatened by the Nazi Party's attempt to capture them from the British Empire during World War II. When the time had come to green-light the project, the studio leaders decided to approve The Rescuers for production.

1980

 * Musicana - An early version of what eventually became Fantasia 2000. Some segments of the planned film were to be titled "Finlandia", involving a fight between the Ice God and Sun Goddess; an African segment about a curious monkey and a Rain God, including many hippos, lions and elephants; "The Emperor's Nightingale", based on the Andersen story, which would have starred Mickey Mouse as the keeper of the nightingale; a southern jazz story titled "By the Bayou", which included many frogs, including caricatures of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong; a segment set in the Andes with a beautiful girl/bird; and a version of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", featuring tropical birds. It was cut due to financial issues in favor of The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron.

1981

 * Catfish Bend - Based on the book series by Ben Lucien Burman, it follows the journey of several animal residents in Catfish Bend. Following several treatments, it was never greenlit for production, and Disney dropped its option on the books.

1983

 * Where the Wild Things Are - Animators Glen Keane and John Lasseter (who later moved on to Pixar) completed a test film blending traditionally animated characters with computer-generated settings, but the project proceeded no further.

1988

 * Army Ants - Disney considered producing an animated feature film that centered around a pacifist ant living in a militaristic colony. However, the idea never fully materialized. This idea, however, was reincarnated into DreamWorks' Antz and Pixar's A Bug's Life.
 * Untitled Winnie the Pooh film - When one of her novels came to the attention of a Disney executive, Linda Woolverton was hired to work on several animated projects including one involving Winnie the Pooh, though it was later shelved once The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh aired.

1989

 * Swabbies - The story found Mickey, Donald, and Goofy out of work, out of luck, and in need of a job. They enlist in the Navy and go to boot camp with Pete as their exasperated drill instructor. They meet their feminine counterparts—Minnie, Daisy and Clarabelle—who are all WAVES. After they put to sea, they encounter a submarine full of the Beagle Boys, who all speak a Russian-sounding gibberish. The entire film was storyboarded and recorded, and an animatic was created. Complete model sheets of all of the characters were printed, and layouts and some animation had begun before the project came to an abrupt halt.

1990

 * Who Discovered Roger Rabbit - The shelved proposed prequel to the 1988 Disney/Amblin film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film, which previously went by the working title, Roger Rabbit Two: The Toon Platoon, was set in 1941 during the Second World War, and would have had Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman going on a journey through the perils of the war in search of Roger's birth parents in the Americas. It would have been a musical, direct-to-video release.
 * DuckTales (film series) - Originally, Disney had planned an entirely further line of theatrical DuckTales feature films to follow on DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, but the plans were quickly shelved in the process, just right after the box office failure of that proposed first film in the would-be series.

1991

 * Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: The Movie - The proposed feature film spin-off of the television series, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers. It was scrapped in the midst of the box office failure of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. As of 2014, the film is being put back into works.

1992

 * Homer's Odyssey - A feature film set around the odyssey of Homer.
 * Mickey Columbus - Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are cast as the captains of the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, and Minnie stands in for Queen Isabella. The film's writers could not decide what to do about the Native Americans that Columbus would encounter in the New World.
 * Mickey's Arabian Nights - A feature film starring Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy, set around the entire One Thousand and One Nights anthology.
 * Sinbad the Sailor - This proposed feature film, itself based on the Arabian Nights tale of the same name, was scrapped after Aladdin was released.
 * Song of the Sea - It was described as "a story about whales".
 * Swan Lake - Later retooled into The Swan Princess by former Disney animator and animation director Richard Rich, who had been working on and proposed a pitch to Disney about the film.
 * Silly Hillbillies on Mars - Based on the idea of feuding hillbillies from outer space, it was inspired by a Disney storyman who saw the title of a Disney short, "The Martins and The Coys", mistaking it for "The Martians and The Cows".

1993

 * Terbialos

1994

 * Hare in My Soup - A fourth Roger Rabbit cartoon short based on Who Framed Roger Rabbit was planned for release in 1995, to coincide with the release of Toy Story, preceding that proposed feature film in the process. It was canceled after pre-production ended and before production could begin, and was replaced in the gap with a rerun of Rollercoaster Rabbit.

1995

 * Sweating Bullets (a.k.a. Sweatin' Bullets) - The story was to center around a bull, named Bullets, who lives on a ranch in the old west. Together, Bullets and the other ranch animals must band together to save their home. In 2000, due to story problems, Mike Gabriel and Mike Giamo were replaced by Will Finn and John Sanford who revamped the story into Home on the Range.

1996

 * Toots and the Upside Down House - A tale of a young girl who creates a fantasy world of goblins, fairies, sprites, and an evil Jack Frost.

1997

 * Aida - Verdi's opera Aida tells the story of the fatal love affair between the Egyptian war hero Radames and the captured slave girl Aida. Jarrod Emick, who won a Tony for Damn Yankees, would play Radames. The title character Aida was offered to Audra McDonald, who was doing Master Class and won a Tony for Carousel.
 * Where is Roger Rabbit? - A sequel to the original Roger Rabbit film, planned as either direct-to-video or a theatrical feature film sequel.

1998

 * Jack and the Beanstalk - Based on the eponymous fairy tale, this short was written by Peter Tolan and featured George Carlin. It was a completed but unreleased third film produced for the planned television series Totally Twisted Fairy Tails, alongside Redux Riding Hood and Three Little Pigs.

2000

 * Wild Life - Loosely based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, the movie was to tell the story of an elephant who becomes a sensation on the New York club circuit. In the fall of 2000, Roy E. Disney watched a work-in-progress screening and was appalled by the film's adult humor that he immediately ordered production to be shut down.

2001

 * Atlantis II: Shards of Chaos - The original proposed direct-to-video sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, it ultimately became Atlantis: Milo's Return, just two years after the film was scrapped, along with plans for a television series spin-off of Atlantis.
 * Don Quixote - Another attempt to adapt the novel that was under development by Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi who aimed for a more adult take, but the project was never approved.
 * Dumbo II - Disney planned a proposed direct-to-video sequel to Dumbo. It was aborted before it began production, and the development of the film was revived. However, the trailer is included on the Dumbo: 60th Anniversary Edition DVD.
 * Hercules II - Disney planned a proposed direct-to-video sequel to Hercules. Hercules is now living in Athens with Megara and their daughter, Hebe. However, when an old friend named Helen is captured by the evil Paris of Troy, Hercules joins the united Greek army as they head out to war. However, this war will create revelations, and Hercules finds an old friend who eventually goes missing.
 * Stoneflight - Based on the children's book by Georgess McHargue, the story follows a lonely girl seeking refuge from her parents who befriends a lonely gargoyle at the roof of her Manhattan brownstone. The gargoyle then transports her to Central Park where other gargoyles have convened with other children from troubled families.
 * The Frog Prince - A satirical adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, The Frog Prince. It was developed by Eric Goldberg and his wife, Sue, and it was pitched to then-Feature Animation president Thomas Schumacher who rejected it feeling a satirical animated feature would not be popular with audiences.

2002

 * Antonius - The project follows the story of a leopard in ancient Egypt who becomes a freedom fighter.
 * The Emperor and the Nightingale - Emperor Wu has a nightingale whose beautiful songs bring him much joy. One day, the emperor receives a mechanical bird that can sing and dance, and he devotes his attention to the toy bird. Neglected and ignored, the nightingale flies away. Some time passes and the mechanical bird breaks down. The emperor, never realizing the treasure he had in his nightingale, pines for the melodious songs of the nightingale. One day, the nightingale returns to the palace and the emperor promises to never neglect it again.
 * The Fool's Errand - The story is said to center on a court jester who goes on a mythical journey to return peace to his kingdom.
 * The Search for Mickey Mouse - In honor of Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary, the project was about Mickey who gets kidnapped by unknown forces, forcing Minnie Mouse to enlist Basil of Baker Street to investigate his disappearance, and later encounters one character from Disney's animated film canon such as Alice, Peter Pan, Robin Hood, and Aladdin. However, the project suffered script problems with the multiple cameos being thought to be too gimmicky. The project was later replaced by Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers. It was also rumored that the story idea was reused for the Disney game Kingdom Hearts.
 * Treasure Planet II - The cancelled direct-to-video sequel to the original film. Treasure Planet: The Animated Series was supposed to follow the sequel.

2003

 * My Peoples - Produced at Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, this proposed feature film was to be about two young lovers named Elgin Harper and Rose McGee. They are both from two rival families in Appalachia during the late 1940s. A group of mountain spirits inhabiting folk art dolls do what they can to bring the two of them together. Mixing traditional and computer-generated animation, it had already gone through a number of title changes, including A Few Good Ghosts, Angel and Her No Good Sister, Elgin's People, and Once in a Blue Moon, and was being directed by Barry Cook, the co-director of Mulan. Set to a bluegrass score, its voice cast included Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Hal Holbrook, and Charles Durning. Due to creative reasons, production was ultimately shut down in late 2003, along with the Florida studio.
 * Tam Lin - An adaptation of the Scottish fairy tale that Roger Allers had developed, but it was rejected after it was pitched to Michael Eisner, who was in a corporate struggle with Roy E. Disney, once he recognized the project as Disney's "baby". In May 2003, Sony Pictures Animation announced the project was being directed by Allers and Brenda Chapman, but one year later, he was later moved to co-direct Open Season.
 * The Jungle Book 3 - Multiple story ideas were suggested such as Baloo and Shere Khan being captured and sold off to a Russian circus, and Mowgli, Shanti, Ranjan and Bagheera deciding to save them both. Over the course of the film, Shere Khan regrets his hatred against humanity because of his capture, and eventually reforms, but the project never materialized.
 * The Prince and the Pig - The project was described as a fairy tale centering on the grand adventure of a boy and his pig as they set off against all odds to try to steal the moon.
 * The Three Pigs - An adaptation based on David Wiesner's book The Three Pigs. In May 2002, it was reported that the book was optioned to Walt Disney Feature Animation, and its development was announced in December 2003 as a 2D/3D animated hybrid film.
 * Uncle Stiltskin - The story begins where the famous Brothers Grimm fairy tale Rumplestiltskin leaves off. In Uncle Stiltskin, the fabled aspiring babynapper Rumplestiltskin again tries to fulfill his dream of being a father but, this time, he discovers the true meaning of family.
 * Which Witch? - Based on the children's novel of the same name by Eva Ibbotson, the project tells of a fantasy adventure in which a magical wizard realizes that before he retires, he must find a wife. He holds a contest in which all the world's witches compete by performing their most outrageous spells. In October 2014, it was announced that the project is in development again at the Jim Henson Company with Billy Crystal serving as a writer, producer and star.

2004

 * One for Sorrow, Two for Joy - Based on the Clive Woodall novel of the same name, it is set in an imaginary kingdom of Birddom and follows the plight of a plucky robin tasked with saving the world from evil magpies. In 2004, Disney entered negotiations with Woodall to acquire the film rights in hopes of producing an animated adaptation.
 * Recess: The First Day of School - This would have been a direct-to-video film to be released in August 2004, the fourth direct-to-video film, and the fifth film in the Recess franchise. The plot revolved on T.J. and his gang (except Gus, who wouldn't have moved to town yet) adjusting to fourth grade, making it a prequel to the events of the series. It was scrapped shortly after Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade and Recess: All Growed Down were released at the end of 2003.

2005

 * Untitled Winnie the Pooh film - Screenwriter Robert Reece wrote a treatment for a Winnie the Pooh feature film. It was to center around a dilemma for one of Pooh's friends, but it was never pitched.
 * Fraidy Cat - This proposed feature film was to have chronicled the life of a frightened cat who had already lost three of his nine lives trapped in a Hitchcock-esque plot, and came under development by Ron Clements and John Musker. However, David Stainton, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, refused to green-light the project.

2006

 * Fantasia 2006 - Also known as Fantasia III, this would have been the third film installment in the Fantasia series, even Minnie, Pluto and Goofy were going to join in one of these unknown segments, until the plans were eventually dropped altogether, and proposed segments from that abandoned film were instead produced and released as individual stand-alone Disney animated shorts.
 * Mulan III - In 2002, a third Mulan film series was announced to be in production. Like the first sequel, this proposed second sequel to Mulan would have ultimately gone direct-to-DVD, but the production was eventually canceled.

2007
Following the acquisition of Pixar in March 2006, DisneyToon Studios president Sharon Morrill stepped down, and the animation studio units under the Walt Disney Company underwent corporate restructuring as the Pixar leadership assumed more control. Thus, most sequels, plus a prequel series, out of DisneyToon Studios were canceled.
 * The Aristocats II - The canceled direct-to-video sequel to the original 1970 film. The story was to have concerned Marie, Duchess's daughter, who becomes smitten by another kitten aboard a luxury cruise ship. However, she and her family must soon take on a jewel thief on the open seas.
 * Chicken Little: The Ugly Duckling Story - The proposed direct-to-DVD sequel to Chicken Little.
 * Meet the Robinsons: First Date - The canceled direct-to-DVD sequel to Meet the Robinsons.
 * The Seven Dwarfs - At one point, Disney was developing a Lord of the Rings-like franchise series of direct-to-DVD films which would chronicle the adventures of the Seven Dwarfs before they met Snow White. The proposed project didn't go through, and the planned series was ultimately canceled. However, the concept was revived into a television series titled The 7D airing on Disney XD.
 * Pinocchio II - The proposed direct-to-video sequel to the original 1940 film.
 * Disney Princess Enchanted Tales (film series) - Initially, after the release of the film Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, there was to be an entire series of Enchanted Tales film installments.

2010

 * Jack and the Beanstalk - An adaptation of the British fairy tale. In August 2013, it is back in the works at Disney under the name Giants with a new plot, loosely based on the fairy tale.
 * Newt - The first canceled proposed project from Disney/Pixar. It would have concerned the exploits of two blue-footed newts, one male and one female, trying to find each other and bonding. They eventually found each other and prevented the extinction of their newt race. It was planned to be released in 2012, but when Disney heard of another animated film with a similar concept being released soon, they canceled the film.

2011

 * Mort - This proposed traditionally animated film would have been based on Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel of the same name. It would have been directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, the directors of the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog. Unfortunately, Disney could not afford the rights to the film, so it was scrapped.
 * Phineas and Ferb (feature film) - The film would have been released 26 July 2013, but it was delayed to 2014. By August 2013, it was removed from the release schedule, but series co-creator Swampy Marsh confirmed via Twitter that the movie was just put on hold.
 * Untitled Mickey Mouse film - Disney story veteran Burny Mattinson revealed in one interview that he was developing a "Mickey, Donald, Goofy feature film idea," but he has yet to pitch the idea.
 * Yellow Submarine (remake) - (See the cancelled remake of Yellow Submarine).