Santa Calls (lost test animation for cancelled Blue Sky film adaptation of children's book; late 1990s)
Cover for the Santa Calls book.
Status: Lost
Santa Calls is a 1993 children's book written and illustrated by William Edward Joyce, it revolves around a group of three kids joining Santa Claus in order to defeat Dark elves and save one of the kids, Esther, who is taken away by the Queen of the Dark elves.
In February 1998, it was revealed that Blue Sky Studios was going to be making its first feature film, with it being an animated adaptation of the book.[1] After its announcement, no other updates were given of the project, with it only being in the development stage before Fox ultimately cancelled it.[2][3]
Despite the brief development, a test animation was fully produced.
The Test
For a while, information on the test was scarce, with only mention of it existing being from an interview with Chris Wedge and William Joyce about the 2013 film Epic.[3] However, in February 2021, when Disney announced it would be closing down Blue Sky, a Deadline article was written by Illumination founder, Chris Meledandri, about his time working at Fox, in which he details some elements of the test, stating:
We all agreed to take a section from his [William Joyce's] book, Santa Calls, and create a visual reel that combined storyboards, color and some rendered imagery. It was a beautiful test, but we could never crack the adaptation of the book’s story.[4]
Availability/Aftermath
As of now, the test has never been made available to the public in any way, shape or form, with no footage or images resurfacing. Whether or not it still exists in some way is unknown.
After its cancellation, Blue Sky would go on to make their first feature debut, Ice Age, which would end up spawing a franchise with multiple sequels.
On the 23rd of September, 2022, William Joyce announced on his Instagram that another attempt at an animated adaptation of Santa Calls was in the works,[5] with its latest update being on the 8th of May, 2024.[6]
See Also
- Ice Age (lost original Don Bluth version of CGI animated film; existence unconfirmed; early 2000s)
- Ice Age (lost original ending of CGI animated film; 2002)
- Mutts (lost production material of cancelled film adaptation of Patrick McDonnell comic strip; 2010s)
References
- ↑ Variety article on 20th Century Fox restructuring and expanding its animation operations, which mentions Blue Sky's Santa Calls. Retrieved 17 Jul '24
- ↑ The 13th page of the artbook for the film Robots, were the film is briefly discussed. Retrieved 17 Jul '24
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Interview with Chris Wedge and Bill Joyce about the film Epic, were the film and its cancellation are mentioned. Retrieved 17 Jul '24
- ↑ Deadline article by Chris Meladandri about his time working at Fox, were he details the film's prodcution and test animation. Retrieved 17 Jul '24
- ↑ Instagram post by William Joyce, announcing production on a Santa Calls animated film. Retrieved 17 Jul '24
- ↑ Instagram post by William Joyce, with more details on the production for the film. Retrieved 17 Jul '24