Overview
- The Hollywood Reporter’s Friday investigation, echoed by AV Club and Gizmodo, quotes former Pixar staffers who say Disney pulled the plug in late 2023 over doubts that young boys would connect with the girl-centered story, and Pixar declined to comment.
- Be Fri was led by director Kristen Lester with writer Blaise Hemingway and editor Nicholas C. Smith, and it followed two teen friends who discover their favorite magical-hero TV show is real.
- After the third Braintrust review, Disney asked for a major overhaul, and the core team spent six weeks rebuilding a version that sources say would normally take about a year.
- Despite four iterations that moved the film toward animation, Disney halted the project, and Pixar employees later held an informal memorial at the studio to honor the work.
- Sources place the decision in a cautious period after Lightyear’s backlash and Elio’s rework, while comparisons to Netflix’s hit KPop Demon Hunters and Pixar’s recent original Hoppers raise questions about passing on female-led originals.