Wish (2023) Dir. Fawn Veerasunthorn, Chris Buck

A screenshot of a headline, reading: "How Disney Almost Killed 'Nimona': The Netflix animated movie suffered years of ups and downs and alleged studio interference."

A scene from Disney's Wish (2023), which will be played out in the following alternating images. King Magnifico says to Asha, "Well, you're young. You don't know anything, really."

Article Headline: "Shelving Batgirl Was the Right Decision, Says New DC Studios Head Peter Safran: ‘It Would Have Hurt DC’"

King Magnifico sends the Wishes away, telling Asha, "Whereas it is my responsibility to only grant the wishes I am sure are good for Rosas."

After Batgirl and Scoob! were dumped, a group of filmmakers with business at the studio started a text chain — a support group of sorts — to share their hopes and their anxieties, as well as encouragement and tips for navigating the studio. The one question all of them had: What was going on with their movies?

Asha asks, "So, most of these wishes will never be granted?"
Magnifico, without even looking back at her, responds, "Yet I still protect them like all the others."

"Yes I am afraid this is true," Cervone wrote in a post on Instagram Tuesday evening. "[Scoob: Holiday Haunt] is practically finished and turned out beautifully. I am beyond heartbroken."

Asha asks, "Can't you give them back instead?"

"It's heartbreaking to put so much time into a project and then have it not release," a second staffer said. "[Nimona] didn't look like anything else in the animated world. It's a big loss of effort and time."

Asha says, "The wishes you're not going to grant... you could just give them back. Then, I don't know, the people can try to pursue them themselves?" Magnifico looks at her in confusion and disdain.

Elsewhere, the [directors of Batgirl] appeared most let down by the fact that audiences were robbed of the opportunity to judge the movie for themselves. "We didn’t get the chance to show Batgirl to the world and let the audience judge for themselves,” added El Arbi. "Because the audience really is our ultimate boss and should be the deciders of if something is good or bad, or if something should be seen or not."

Asha continues, "You know, if they're dangerous, then they can be stopped, but if they're not..."

Deadline reports that the Dave Green-directed film [Coyote vs. Acme], which tested extremely well with audiences, won’t even be offered to other companies, even though Amazon was interested in acquiring it for its streaming service. The tax write-off is apparently more valuable to Warner Bros. than any potential third-party pick-up.

Magnifico interrupts Asha and begins angrily mixing a potion. He says, "You've completely missed the point. People come here because they know they can't make their own dreams come true. Their journey's too hard, it is too unfair."

Netflix tries to make itself more appealing to TV show producers by giving them bonuses and pay bumps the longer a series carries on. Harrington says that shows on Netflix are more expensive after season two and even more expensive after season three, with the premiums going up each season. “They have to give [a show] more money per series, and if they decide to recommission it, it becomes more expensive for them to make,” he explains. “Because of that, so many more shows are cancelled after two series because it costs them more.”

Magnifico magically pulls smoke from his potion, saying, "They give their wishes to me, willingly... and I make it so they forget their worries."

[Disney] could have let Blue Sky finish its last production. They could have allowed a very different kind of young heroine. They could have just dumped it to streaming and made money — which, considering they’d already bought the entire damn studio and the production, would essentially have been free money — which you would think is the actual purpose of a corporation. But, I suppose, they don’t have the ancillary rights to merch and straight-to-video sequels and a Nimona character in the parks, so fuck sharing and getting 94% of the benefit.

Asha, horrified, says, "You make it so they forget the most beautiful part of themselves."

Part of Duffield’s frustration, he says, was that Green did everything that was asked of him: He delivered [Coyote vs. Acme], which sources say cost $72 million, on budget. He hit the right test scores. He even moved away from his friends and family to London for 18 months to save the studio money on postproduction costs. All this, only to see his film get run off a cliff.

Asha takes a step closer to Magnifico, who looks up angrily. She says, "And they don't know what they're missing. But you do."

Writer-director Brian Duffield, who saw the completed film [Coyote vs. Acme], wrote that the feature “tested in the high 90s repeatedly” with audiences. “It also had interested buyers,” Duffield said. “The people working at Warner Bros are anti-art and I hope multiple anvils drop on their heads.”

Beginning to get upset, Asha says, "it's not fair. The people of Rosas are good. They deserve more than..."

"That is heartbreaking because we are not only losing our jobs, we’re losing our family, our workplace, we’re losing the closure of being able to send Nimona out into the world, where it could change kids' lives," one of the employees said. "I just want this movie to be seen by the world, because it needs to be seen by the world."

Magnifico, angrily, whips around and shouts, "I decide what everyone deserves!"

Disney has their Way, their Method , their Version of how things are meant to be, and everything they build must conform to them or be ground down and erased. It is all or nothing for them.

Tweet from Scott Derrickson, reading: "I think it’s absolute bullshit that a studio can and does shelve the creative work of hundreds of people for a fucking tax break."

A shot of Magnifico looming over Asha, in a furious stance, while she backs up.

Wish (2023) dir. Fawn Veerasunthorn, Chris Buck

hey do you think the overworked creatives about to go on strike are trying to tell us something

article sources under the cut

Mattson, Kelcie. "How Disney Almost Killed 'Nimona.'" Collider, January 2 2024.

Earl, William. "Shelving Batgirl Was the Right Decision, Says New DC Studios Head Peter Safran: 'It Would Have Hurt DC.'" Variety, January 31 2023

Couch, Aaron. "Warner Bros. Reverses Course on 'Coyote vs. Acme' After Filmmakers Rebel." The Hollywood Reporter, November 13 2023.

Ridgely, Charlie. "Scoob! Sequel Director Revealed Film Was 'Very Close' to Completion Before HBO Max Cancellation." comicbook.com, August 2 2022.

Clark, Travis. "Staffers at the animation studio Blue Sky say it's 'heartbreaking' that Disney canceled its final movie, 'Nimona.'" Business Insider, February 18, 2021.

Harrison, Mark. "Why was the Batgirl movie cancelled?" Yahoo! Entertainment, January 31 2024.

Amidi, Amid. "Warner Bros. Shelves Fully-Completed 'Coyote Vs. Acme' For Tax Write-Off." Cartoon Brew, November 9 2023.

Lee, Alex. "Why Netflix keeps cancelling your favourite shows after two seasons." Wired UK, September 28 2020.

Tyrrell, Gary. "We All Knew It Was Coming." fleen.com, February 10 2021.

"Warner Bros. Reverses Course on ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ After Filmmakers Rebel." see: 3.

Bergeson, Samantha. "Warner Bros. Will Let 'Coyote Vs. Acme' Filmmakers Shop Movie to Other Distributors." IndieWire, November 13 2023.

Strapagiel, Lauren. "Disney's First Feature Animated Movie With Queer Leads May Never Be Released." BuzzfeedNews, February 24 2021.

"We All Knew It Was Coming." see: 9

@/scottderrickson. "I think it’s absolute bullshit that a studio can and does shelve the creative work of hundreds of people for a fucking tax break." Twitter, 10 Nov. 2023, 4:52 p.m..

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