At the long-awaited D23 Expo last weekend, fans got a sneak peek of everything that is going to happen in the world of Disney. From glimpses of upcoming Marvel Studio projects to the premiere of new footage for the upcoming Tron: Aresthe convention offered audiences a little bit of everything, revealing a number of sequels, stage adaptations and revivals in a dazzling array of announcements. Although the biennial event focused on boosting the popularity of the studio’s pre-existing franchises, the entertainment giant wasn’t always able to capitalize on its most iconic properties. In fact, one of Disney’s most promising canceled projects combined the team-up premise by Marvel avenger with the worldwide love for Disney princesses.

Production on this animated short film, titled “Princess Academy,” began in 2009 when it was still in development. It ultimately lasted about four years before being shelved. A ambitious concept that would have thrilled any Disney princess from 1937 Snow White to Rapunzel in the 2010s Rapunzel – Tangled Againthe project’s animators made it well into the storyboarding phase before being fired. Nevertheless, with the current CEO Robert Iger This suggests that Disney will focus on more animated sequels in the future. One should wonder what could have been if only some of these characters had come together in a crossover event similar to the MCU. avenger.

The Avengers

When an unexpected enemy threatens global security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping force SHIELD, needs a team to save the world from the brink of disaster. A daring recruitment drive around the globe begins.

Release date

May 4, 2012

director

Joss Whedon

Duration

143 minutes

What would Disney’s “Princess Academy” have been about?

As the title suggests, “Princess Academy” would have achieved its biggest crossover by introducing Disney’s iconic characters to each other at a royal boarding school, where Much of the story’s main drama would have come from their unique interactions. However, instead of limiting itself to the main characters of the film, the short would have also prominently featured Disney’s non-princess female leads, such as Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas – The Nightmare Before Christmas and Violet from The IncrediblesThis wider selection would have enabled the shorts to to honor the studio’s extensive contribution to pop culture over the yearsand shows how heroines from different backgrounds can come together in a celebratory tribute to Disney’s diverse art styles and storytelling.

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With the aim of using the musical heritage of the studio’s stories, “Princess Academy” also offers would have dispensed with a more unified plot in favor of anthology segments into individual sections. With a similar approach to one of the highest-grossing releases of Disney’s Golden Age, fantasyevery section of the film would have been accompanied by original music, featuring the studio’s infamous hitmaker, Alan Menkenonly signed up to write the film music in 2012. But despite the company’s big name and the exciting premise of the film, Not even magical fairy dust could convince Disney to believe in this project. Faced with an increasingly difficult market for animated entertainment, Disney stopped production of “Princess Academy” entirely in 2013, destroying many fans’ dreams of seeing their favorite Pixar and Disney heroes go to school together.

Why was Disney’s Ultimate Princess crossover canceled?

While this late cancellation is frustrating, Disney had a practical reason for shelving “Princess Academy.” Finding that its 3D animated films were far outperforming traditional 2D films, Disney almost completely stopped producing 2D animated films in the early 2010s and invested the company’s resources in future hits like Frozen And Vaiana – The wonderful world of love. Since “Princess Academy” was developed as a 2D tribute to the history of the entertainment giant, Disney fired the animators of the short film along with the rest of its hand-drawn animation department in 2013, as the tuition fees for Princess Academy ultimately proved too high for Mickey. Although the financial reasons for the failure of this promising project are decidedly unmagical, viewers should not worry too much, as Disney still released many wonderful films in the 2010s.

One of these films, Chaos on the Interneteven manages to partially fulfill “Princess Academy” and its original premise. While Disney’s princesses are not shown attending boarding school in the film, the 2018 sequel Ralph has had enough contains a scene in which Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) meets some of Disney’s most notable princesses over the years and encounters newcomers like Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) as they pity the tiring tropes associated with their royal positionThe scene was not scored by Alan Menken and does not contain any elaborately animated song sequences, but as a tribute to Disney’s royal continuity, the allusion at least manages to capture some of the magic that could have been found in one of Disney’s most exciting cancellations. Iron Man, Captain America and the MCU gang may not be Disney princesses, but at least we have The Avengers to satisfy our desire for crossover magic.

The Avengers can currently be streamed on Disney+ in the US

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