Copyright BuzzFeed
15 Disney Characters And Storylines That Would've Really, Really, REALLY Changed These Movies, If They Weren't Scrapped The original idea for "Monsters, Inc." was a man meeting monsters he created as a kid that came to life and represented his biggest fears. Hot Topic 🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Disney 1. First, Syndrome wasn't originally going to be the villain in The Incredibles. Instead, he was only going to appear at the beginning of the movie, where he would attack Bob and Helen and then die in an explosion that destroys their house. The original villain was named Xerek, who underwent several iterations during the development process. In the end, Xerek was described as a James Bond-like villain and an ex-boyfriend of Helen's who is determined to bring down superheroes. 2. Lilo & Stitch was almost set in Kansas instead of Hawaii, and had a very different story. According to director and writer Dean DeBlois, the initial pitch for the movie involved an alien landing in a forest in Kansas, and it would follow the alien's interactions with woodland creatures there. Eventually, DeBlois and Chris Sanders relocated Lilo & Stitch to Hawaii, capitalizing on the rich culture while maintaining the "small town feel" that Kansas also provided. 3. The original idea for Monsters, Inc. centered on a 30-year-old man who was confronted with the monsters he had drawn as a child coming to life and bothering him as an adult. Director Pete Docter explained that the monsters would follow him around, and it "turns out these monsters are fears that he never dealt with as a kid." The monsters would eventually go away after he conquered those fears. The idea came after Docter worked on Toy Story and saw the response people had to their childhood toys secretly coming to life. 4. In Frozen, Anna and Elsa were originally not going to be sisters, with the story initially consisting of Anna being commoner, while Elsa was going to be an evil snow queen. The story would've revolved around Anna seeking out the Snow Queen to freeze her broken heart. According to director Jennifer Lee, "Elsa was going to be the complete antagonist." BuzzFeed TrendingHot Topic Obsessed with all things Disney? Join our fan community where you'll find hot topic discussions, quizzes, movie news, and more! See our Disney Discussions 5. Alongside Elsa initially being a villain in Frozen, Olaf was going to be one of her henchmen. Josh Gad explained that during the early development process for the movie, which was titled Anna and the Snow Queen, Olaf was so different that the character was actually almost cut, too. 6. Inside Out was originally conceived with Riley having 27 emotions, which is based on Dr. Paul Ekman's discovery that there are 3 to 27 different emotions that can be observed in a person. So, in order to narrow it down to Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, and Fear, a lot of potential characters were scrapped from the movie. Out of all the potential emotions, Logic was close to being in the movie. 7. Similarly, in Inside Out 2, the creative team once again had to narrow down which emotions would be featured in the sequel. Before they landed on new characters like Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui, there were several other top contenders. Director Kelsey Mann said Shame, Jealousy, Guilt, Love, Pride, Hope, Schadenfreude, Suspicion, Courage, Greed, Awe, and Gloom were all considered at one point. 8. Originally, Up started as a story about "two princes who lived in a floating city on an alien planet," according to director and writer Pete Docter. The two brothers would be vying to inherit their father's kingdom when they fell to Earth. Docter explained that after a while, the team stripped away "everything but the essential elements," which were floating away and escaping from your reality. 9. The Emperor's New Groove was initially going to be a musical titled The Kingdom of the Sun, starring Owen Wilson as a llama herder who switches lives with a self-centered prince, played by David Spade. The entire project was centered on Incan culture. Yzma, played by Eartha Kitt, was going to be a high priestess who wanted to "regain her lost youth and beauty." Sting was also brought in to write the music. Eventually, the whole story was reworked into what we know as The Emperor's New Groove. 10. In an early version of The Lion King, Timon and Pumbaa were going to be childhood friends of Simba and Nala, not just two companions that Simba meets after fleeing Scar. Director Rob Minkoff explained that the idea was scrapped because they didn't want to "deemphasize" the fact that Timon and Pumbaa would be prey to Simba and Nala, adding, "They actually eat each other." 11. In the first draft of Encanto, some of the Madrigal siblings had different gifts than the ones they ultimately received in the final version. According to Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pepa was going to be indestructible, Dolores was going to heal with food, and Julieta was going to control the weather. In the end, Pepa can control the weather, Dolores has superhuman hearing, and Julieta can heal people with her cooking. 12. Coco was originally going to be about an American boy who travels to Mexico following his mother's death. The movie would've followed the young boy and his father as they traveled to Mexico to meet his mother's family and experience Dia de Los Muertos. Similar to Coco, the boy would've ended up in the land of the dead as he came to terms with his mother's death. 13. Toy Story 2 nearly included a character named Señorita Cactus, who was meant to be Stinky Pete's sidekick. The character was initially created when director John Lasseter's wife requested that he include a Toy Story 2 character for girls and one who had "more substance than Bo Peep." According to the NY Times, Señorita Cactus was meant to "sway Woody with her feminine wiles." 14. Before Flynn Rider, Rapunzel's original love interest in Tangled was a character named Bastion, who joined a group of thieves after being orphaned as a child. He was going to stumble upon Rapunzel in her tower. The design for Bastion was also quite different than Flynn Rider. He was much taller and bigger than Flynn Rider turned out to be. 15. And finally, Zootopia initially started out as a spy movie with animals. It was set to follow a rabbit named Jack Savage, who was a James Bond-like character. Director Byron Howard explained he had "all of these ideas" planned out around the spy film, including a series of spy movies titled Savage Seas, The Savage Earth, and The Savage World. We can't fit everything into one post, so which other scrapped Disney characters, songs, storylines, and more do you WISH were included and why? Tell us in the comments below!
