Lasseter's Wild Things screen test

(Source: theseaofwakingdreams.blogspot.com)

Here's some more evidence to prove that early-1980's Disney executives couldn't find their posteriors with both hands and a detailed cut-out-and-keep guide. In 1983, John Lasseter submitted a screen test for a proposed adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's novel Where the Wild Things Are. At that time, Disney owned the movie rights to the book, and Lasseter proposed a combined cel-and-CGI movie that would keep the quality of "squash and stretch" that had made Disney animation the benchmark of the genre.

Even though former Disney animator Don Bluth had dumped the Mouse House and scored a hit with 1982's The Secret of NIMH, Disney executives were too fat and happy to pull themselves out of the tar pits and greenlight what could've been a pretty awesome concept. Granted, they were wincing after sinking umpteen dollars into 1982's Tron (a movie that tanked in theatres but has a sizable cult audience today). But Disney + animation had been a well-nigh unbeatable combo since 1937, when old Walt did the impossible and made a full-length animated movie.

But Mouse House executives didn't think this computer thing was going to last, and nixed the project. Lasseter, reading the writing on the wall, bailed from Disney, and spent the next several years making Pixar into the animation powerhouse it is today. Oh yes, and it cost the Mouse House $7.6 billion to get Lasseter back, this time as Chief Creative Officer.

Anyway, thanks to the magic of YouTube, that screentest for Where the Wild Things Are has finally seen the light of day. As you can imagine, this sucker is pretty rough but there is a certain charm to the animation. And you can see the first glimpses of what magic Lasseter would bring to such hit flicks as Toy Story. So, for animation fans, this is a pretty groovy historical artifact. You can check it out over here.

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