10 animated movies we never got to see – and the reasons why

hopticsOctober 10, 2025

xx animated movies which were cancelled - and the reasons why Picture: Metro — Whether you’re a fan of cartoons and animated movies or not, there’s no denying they’re big business.
The genre has kept many of us – both young and old – glued to the screen for decades now,with the likes of the Toy Story franchise, Wallace and Gromit, and Shrek proving that animation isn’t just something to keep the kids occupied in the school holidays. But as with many other genres, there’s a raft of animated movies out there which, despite the talents and best efforts of everyone involved, failed to make it as far as our screens. Read on to discover more about some of those awesome-sounding animated features which sadly we never got to see…

1. Larrikins

Larrikins (Picture: Dreamworks) — First up, we have a project which actually got to the production stage before the plug was unceremoniously yanked. Larrikins, co-directed by Tim Minchin and Chris Miller, and originally set to land on screens in February 2018, was a rock musical about a bilby forced to fend for himself in the Australian outback after being kicked out of his burrow. With a voice cast which included the likes of Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie, it looked like a surefire hit. Until it was abruptly shelved in March 2017 with ‘creative issues’ cited as a factor. However, it also coincided with Universal Studios’ acquisition of DreamWorks Animation, and concerns among its new owners that the film wouldn’t do that well. Speaking on Richard Herring’s podcast in 2020, Minchin reflected on how four years of work on the film had gone to waste. ‘Netflix wanted to buy it, Animal Logic wanted to buy it, the short story is Universal made it completely non-viable,’ he explained (Picture: Dreamworks)

2. Antz sequel

Scene from the 1998 computer generated film Antz featuring an all star cast of voices. — DreamWorks made quite the splash in the world of animation with Antz in 1998, scoring a critical and commercial hit with the story of an anxious worker ant (Woody Allen) who falls in love with a Princess (Sharon Stone). Considering the film made $172 (£141m) worldwide, quite a bit more than its budget, it’s no surprise that there were plans for a sequel – albeit a direct-to-video one rather than a cinematic one. That was until the project fell foul of a studio restructuring which saw DreamWorks close its television animation unit and merge it with its DTV unit, as well as concerns that the whole thing was just too similar to Pixar’s hit A Bug’s Life, also released in 1998. Subsequently Antz II crawled away, and the movie looks likely to remain a standalone feature (Picture: Claudette Barius/20th Century Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

3. The Little Beauty King

The Little Beauty King ? (Picture: Uli Meyer) — You might think Shrek broke new ground in the way it pokes satirical fun at Disney-style fairytales but it wasn’t the first time an animated movie had tried to pull such a stunt. Enter Fox Animation and their planned project The Little Beauty King, which was all set to be directed for the studio by Ace Ventura helmer Steve Oedekerk. While little is known about the plot, it’s thought the movie was aimed at a more adult audience than your average fairytale. And images showing a princess on the toilet surrounded by anthropomorphic bathroom fixtures suggest it wouldn’t have held back on the fun-poking. We never got to see it though because the failure of another Fox Animation project, sci-fi adventure Titan A.E, led to the entire studio being shut down, and the cancellation of all their upcoming projects. Meaning this one never made it past pre-production – and we’ll never know what might have been (Picture: Uli Meyer)

4. The Wanderer

The Wanderer (Picture: Dreamworks) — Most of the films on this list fall into the computer-animated category, but that doesn’t mean that hand-drawn animation hasn’t also fallen foul of the cancellation curse. Step forward The Wanderer, the story of a wild bear who falls in with a pack of circus bears and ends up changing their lives. The movie was originally announced in 1998, one of a number of 2D DreamWorks productions that also included The Prince Of Egypt, The Road To El Dorado andSinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas. While all those reached the cinema though, this one did not – thanks to unspecified studio changes, and director Simon Wells quitting the project to direct his live-action adaptation of The Time Machine. Some concept art exists though, giving you some idea of how the finished film might have looked (Picture: DreamWorks)

5. Spooky Jack

Spooky Jack — Horror movies and TV shows might be having a moment now but that didn’t stop this co-production from DreamWorks and Blumhouse Productions being cancelled back in 2021. Spooky Jack, which was due for release in September that year, centred on three siblings who move into a creepy new home and discover it full of all the creatures they’ve been told don’t exist – from leprechauns through to the boogeyman. It’s not clear why this one never made it to the big screen, but DreamWorks removed it from their release schedule in 2019, instead focusing on another animated project, The Bad Guys – which eventually made its way into theatres in 2022

6. The Incredible Mr Limpet

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 16: Jim Carrey attends the Los Angeles Premiere of Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" at TCL Chinese Theatre on December 16, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) — Back to the 1990s now, and this one, which would have reunited Steve Oedekerk with Jim Carrey, was intended as a remake of the 1964 hit about a mild-mannered bookkeeper who achieves his dream of joining the US Navy after he is transformed into a talking fish. Sounds like perfect Carrey material, right? Well yes, and it should have been. However attempts to use motion-capture technology to superimpose Carrey’s face onto a fish’s body – at a cost of around $10m (£8.2m) no less – was far from successful, producing a fish that looked more like a deep sea creature than a cute colourful comedy character. Both Oedekerk and Carrey subsequently quit the project, which was subsequently sunk by Warner Bros and despite other attempts to remake the movie over the years – most notable in 2014 with Richard Linklater directing – Mr Limpet has yet to surface (Picture: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

7. Alma

Alma ? 2009 short film (Picture: Rodrigo Blaas) — Here’s one that did get made – in short form at least – but ended there. Made in 2009, Alma is a short, fantasy-horror film about a girl who suffers an unexpectedly dark fate when she comes across a deserted toy store. Plans were afoot to turn the six-minute movie into a full-length feature, with original director Rodrigo Blaas on board and Guillermo del Toro set to produce. There was even a scriptwriter – Sunshine Cleaning’s Megan Holley – on board. However the project never became a reality, with DreamWorks instead shifting focus to Rise Of The Guardians, while Blaas and del Toro shifted focus to the TV series Trollhunters – and a suggestion that the theme might have been a bit too scary for a children’s film (Picture: Rodrigo Blaas)

8. Tortoise vs Hare

Tortoise and the Hare (Picture: Suzy Fagan Parr/Aardman) — A new Aardman movie is always cause for celebration – but sadly, here’s one we never got the chance to see. The studio announced in 1999 they were making a film version of the classic Aesop fable The Tortoise and The Hare about the slow-moving creature taking a hare on in a race – complete with a stellar voice cast that included the likes of Bob Hoskins, Paul Whitehouse, Brenda Blethyn and Lee Evans. But despite a 2004 release date being eyed for the flick, it never got over the finish line. Production was postponed in July 2001 to rework the script, but ultimately the whole thing was shelved in early 2002. Writing in the book Aardman: An Epic Journey, director Peter Lord said: ‘I often wonder, had we gone ahead and finished it, would it have been so bad? It was bloody painful for so many people when we closed down that film – very stressful and very upsetting. So what if we’d kept going? Because when you do keep going, you do make it better’ (Picture: Suzy Fagan Parr/Aardman)

9. Monkeys Of Mumbai

Monkeys Of Mumbai — A lavish attempt to bring an animated Bollywood musical to the screen, Monkeys Of Mumbai – also known as Bollywood Superstar Monkey – revolved around two orphaned primates, Raj and Deepu. The pair struggle to survive on the streets of Mumbai, until they unexpectedly end up having to save the world from the clutches of a demon. The film, inspired by the ancient Indian tale of the Ramayana, a story of the triumph of good over evil,was originally set for release in December 2015, but was delayed to 2016, and 2017, before it was written off in the wake of DreamWorks Animation’s sale to Comcast. Director Kevin Lima later revealed to the film website Den Of Geek that production on the movie had been about to start – and songs written for it – when it was canned. He said: ‘I have to say that it’s one of the great disappointments of my film career not seeing that one move forward’

10. Me And My Shadow

Me and My Shadow ? (Picture: Scott Wills/Dreamworks) — Finally, here’s one we came super close to seeing – except it wasn’t to be. Me and My Shadow was a hand-drawn, computer animated fantasy comedy which tells the story of Dan (voiced by Bill Hader), a shadow stuck with a timid owner Daniel Grubb (Josh Gad) before taking control of Daniel to prevent an evil shadow from leading a rebellion where shadows take over their human counterparts. This one was announced in 2010 and even went into production in 2012 but was affected by continual changes in release date (with the studio instead deciding to focus on animated hit Mr Peabody and Sherman), a shift in management, and a lack of confidence in its box office potential. To this day it remains unseen. It’s not the only shadow-themed movie to be stuck, with Henry Selick’s The Shadow King, a Disney stop-motion effort, cancelled due to ‘creative differences’ (Picture: Scott Wills/Dreamworks)

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