Disney Circle Seven Animation (partially lost production material of cancelled Pixar sequel films; 2004-2006)

Circle 7 Animation logo.

Status: Partially Found

In January 2004, Pixar announced they would not be renewing their agreement with Disney, due to rising tensions between the two companies. While Pixar left to find different distributors, Disney bought the rights to the Pixar characters and created Circle 7 Animation. The company was formed to make direct-to-video sequels of Pixar’s movies. Circle 7 Animation had 3 films in production, however, they didn’t get very far in production with their projects, as Michael Eisner (then-CEO of Disney) was kicked out, and Pixar was bought by Disney for approximately $7.4 billion. Thus, Circle 7 Animation was closed on May 26, 2006. As of 2006, Circle 7 Animation had 168 employees.

Cancelled Projects

Toy Story 3

Not to be confused with Pixar’s 2010 sequel film of the same name, Toy Story 3 focused on a malfunctioning Buzz Lightyear who is shipped off to Taiwan, the location of the Buzz Lightyear factory. But as it turns out, the Buzz Lightyear brand has been recalled, so Woody and the gang ship themselves to Taiwan to rescue Buzz.

Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise

Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan enter Boo’s door to celebrate Boo’s birthday. However Boo has moved, so Mike and Sulley go on a mission in the human world to search for Boo.

When Pixar got the rights to their characters and the making of sequels back upon the merger with Disney in 2007, the project was re-made as a prequel tilted Monsters University, released to theatres on June 21st, 2013.

Finding Nemo 2

The plot for this film was never revealed, and no concept art has been released, suggesting that very little material was worked on it before it was cancelled. This project should not be confused with Pixar's 2016 sequel film Finding Dory.

Availability

Very little video footage of these projects was ever released, most likely because Circle 7 Animation was shut down before they could produce any more video material. The only images to have surfaced of these projects are multiple pieces of concept art. It is unknown if Disney still has these scripts, as Pixar has stated that they will never look at the scripts.