History WhatCouldHaveBeen / AnimatedFilms

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheIronGiant''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/ChickenRun''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Shrek}}''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Trolls}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'':

* There were plenty of changes made during production of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', most of which is covered in the [[AllThereInTheManual official art book]]. Among other things, [[BigBad Tai Lung]] was originally going to have both an army of wolves and a clouded leopard trio known as the Wu Sisters serving under him, but they were both cut to make him seem more menacing as a OneManArmy. However, the wolves ended up going to the BigBad of the [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2 second film]] and the Wu Sisters made appearances in the video games and one of the DVD shorts, [[RefittedForSequel so they weren't completely wasted]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'': Robert Stack was originally supposed to voice Skipper the penguin, but he died before production began, so the temporary vocal track recorded by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation animator Tom [=McGrath=] was [[PermanentPlaceholder left in as Skipper's voice]].

* A live-action/animated hybrid film called ''Crazy Macaroni or The Error of Professor Bugensburg'', or ''Macaroni Madness'' for short, was being developed by the Ukrainian animator David Cherkassky in 1992. Described as "a surreal fairy tale for adult viewers" and starring many of Cherkassky's usual voice actors for his previous projects such as ''Animation/AdventuresOfCaptainVrungel'' and ''Animation/TreasureIsland1988'', around 4-and-a-half minutes of footage currently exists in the form of a trailer; however, the studio that was producing it, Kievnachfilm, shut down around the time of the Soviet Union's collapse, and it was never finished. From what can be gathered by the footage, it looked to be quite a bit more risqué than Cherkassky's previous works, and the combination of animation and live-action footage was somewhat more sophisticated than its use in ''Animation/TreasureIsland1988''.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax'' was originally going to feature a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpgUQYARIsw gritty rock opera ballad]] that would have went along with the company growing bigger as the forest gets destroyed. The creators then determined that the song was most likely too dark for this otherwise colorful family film and instead replaced it with "How Bad Could I Be?" The original song, however, is featured as a bonus track on the soundtrack.

** They were also reported to have the rights to ''Horton Hatches the Egg'', which they would produce as a sequel to ''WesternAnimation/HortonHearsAWho'', but that was years ago (around the same time they got the rights to ''Who''), and nothing has come of it. With Audrey Geisel moving shop over to Creator/IlluminationEntertainment, and later [[Creator/WarnerBros Warner Animation Group]], a film based on ''Egg'' seems unlikely. At least, to be produced by Blue Sky.

** There were also some rumors kicking around soon after ''Anastasia'' was released that Bluth would be working on an adaptation of ''[[Literature/YoungWizards Deep Wizardry]]'', which sure would have been somethin' [[note]]mostly because it's not the first ''Young Wizards'' book, but the ''[[ContinuityLockout second]]'' in the series)[[/note]]. He was also supposedly considering ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and ''The Literature/QuintaglioAscension Trilogy''. And he was even one of many directors rumored to have had a go at ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' film!

** The [[http://www.bzpower.com/board/index.php?app=blog&blogid=26&showentry=76198 early treatment]] for the fifth movie would have featured a longer journey through the mysterious Valley of the Maze, the Element Lords as key characters, and Mata Nui and crew getting launched to Bota Magna, the land of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot biomechanical]] [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]]. Of course with the toyline being cancelled, the storyline had to be quickly concluded and this and the 2011 storyline were scrapped.

** Another particularly ''fascinating'' rumored Don Bluth coulda-been: After acquiring the rights to the Beatles' songs in the mid-1980's Music/MichaelJackson approached Bluth with a movie idea called ''Strawberry Fields Forever''. It would consist of animated Fantasia-style vignettes featuring Beatles songs, similar to ''Yellow Submarine''. Not only did Don Bluth agree to it, he also planned on making it ''entirely in CGI.'' Had the movie been made, it would have predated the ground-breaking WesternAnimation/ToyStory by about ''eight years''. Further along in the project, the premise became revamped so that characters from Beatles songs (like Mr. Mustard and the Walrus) would act as New York City gangsters. Among other reasons, the main reason why the project fell through was because the surviving Beatles members denied permission to use their images in an animated film. The only part of the film that managed to be made was test footage of the "Beatles gangsters."

[[caption-width-right:350:Screenshots for the scrapped movie ''The Works'', which was meant to be the first CGI animated movie ever made, pre-dating ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' by 10 to 15 years.[[note]] Interestingly, many of the people who worked on this would later work on ''Toy Story.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:Screenshots for the scrapped movie "The Works", which was meant to be the first CGI animated movie ever made, pre-dating ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' by 10 to 15 years.[[note]] Interestingly, many of the people who worked on this would later work on ''Toy Story.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:Screenshots for the scrapped movie "The Works," which was meant to be the first CGI animated movie ever made, pre-dating ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' by 10 to 15 years[[note]] Interestingly, many members who worked on this had also worked on''Toy Story.'']]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Sausage Party}}'':
** A piece of Lavash's pubic hair was originally visible at the end of the 8-minute food orgy scene, but this gave the film an NC-17 rating. In order to be reassigned with an R rating, his scrotum was digitally shaved.
** Mark Osborne was originally tapped to direct the film, but dropped out to work on ''WesternAnimation/TheLittlePrince2015''.
** [[https://youtu.be/DUTjQ6pyk10 According to Nick Kroll]], [[BigBad Douche]] was supposed to be an EvilBrit but the producers felt that he didn't sound Douchy enough.
** [[BigBad Douche]] was, in one scene, doing “[[BestialityIsDepraved unsavory physical things with a group of rabbits]].” Unsurprisingly, that got cut.
** A lot of things were shuffled around, altered, or removed altogether between the original script and the finished movie, as explained [[https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/4xcfck/heres_a_list_of_things_in_sausage_partys_script/ here]]. To highlight some of the more important changes:
*** Instead of opening with Frank and the other sausages preparing to sing the film's theme song, the story begins with a corn cob and a mushroom arguing over who will be chosen by the Gods. Furthermore, the lyrics for "The Great Beyond" in the original script are very different than the ones in the finished version.
*** Barry was apparently supposed to be the main character of the story instead of Frank[[note]]In fact, some of the earlier reports about the movie said that this was the case when it was announced that Creator/MichaelCera would voice a character in it[[/note]], and in the original script, there was a mural with a picture of Barry on it, and it's said he's supposed to be TheChosenOne.
*** The food massacre happens much earlier in the original script.
*** The song "The End" by Music/TheDoors was supposed to play during the scene where [[spoiler: Honey Mustard commits suicide]].
*** There was a scene where [[BigBad Douche]] is fighting off a group of rats when he encounters a piece of cheese stuck in a mouse trap. [[spoiler:Taking advantage of this, [[KickTheDog he sacrifices the cheese to the rats]], and becomes their leader in the process.]]
*** The [[spoiler:[[SexMontage orgy scene]]]] happens ''before'' the climax in the original script, [[spoiler:and it was supposedly much longer and more graphic than in the finished movie. Also, it was mostly restricted to the main gang instead of the entire store.]]
*** In addition to that, instead of Frank trying to show the cookbook alone, he would save his friends from the rats and show the cookbook to his friends and they would inform the rest of the store, who believe it without a second thought.
*** [[spoiler:Instead of ending with the foods going through the portal that Gum built into the real world to [[RageAgainstTheAuthor take on their real creators]], the original script concludes with the foods leaving the store after the climactic battle as they set out into the outside world, ending the story with a FadeToWhite.]]
*** Originally, Vash [[spoiler: was intended to die near the end of the film in a HeroicSacrifice, due to the fact that he had reached his expiration date]]. However, this was changed so that he instead becomes [[spoiler: the boyfriend of Sammy Bagel, Jr.]] This was most likely due to the fact that expiration isn't shown to be fatal in itself to foods and they only die when Darren throws them out.
* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'':
** The [[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}} first movie]] was originally going to be a hand-drawn feature and would have featured Bill Murray as Shrek and Steve Martin as Donkey.
*** Chris Farley was originally cast as Shrek and even recorded some dialogue, which was scrapped after his death, and then Creator/MikeMyers took over the role. Farley's version of Shrek was a shy and sensitive ogre [[BasementDweller still living with his parents]] and being pressured into the family business of scaring people. Farley's Shrek also had Creator/JaneaneGarofalo attached (for a while) as Princess Fiona.
*** It was also going to be re-released in 3D on IMAX screens during either Christmas 2001 or Summer 2002, but it got cancelled due to creative differences.
** ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'': The king was going to be naked for the first half of the movie as an {{homage}} to ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'', with his privates always covered by a SceneryCensor.
*** Dragon, as Donkey's "true love", was going to be transformed into a pink pegasus by the Happily Ever After potion. In the final movie, Dragon doesn't appear until TheStinger since the filmmakers realized that [[StoryBreakerPower she would have made breaking Shrek, Donkey, and Puss out of jail and crashing the ball too easy]].
*** The ending ball was going to be a costume ball, and the king was dressed as the Magic Mirror, [[spoiler:which would have reflected the Fairy Godmother's spell]] rather than the royal armor he wears in the final movie. Also, one idea for the FinalBattle involved the Fairy Godmother enchanting food to attack Shrek and company.
** ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'': King Arthur from ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' was slated to return to this film. Music/JustinTimberlake, who voiced Arthur in the previous film, was unable to reprise his role as he wanted to focus more on his music career, and all of Arthur's scenes were cut.
*** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/DavidMorrissey and Music/PaulMcCartney were candidates to play Rumpelstiltskin. At one point, there are rumors that [=McCartney=] was close to securing the part, but at the last minute, [=DreamWorks=] chose to have Walt Dohrn play the role.

* ''Franchise/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In one draft of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobSquarePantsMovie'' originally [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick on their journey to retrieve the crown were to encounter the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' cast scuba diving. There is also a storyboard on the DVD with Sandy appearing on the surface having her own adventure.
** Some of the drafts to ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' originally had either [=SpongeBob=] teaming up with Patrick on his apocalyptic adventure, or [=SpongeBob=] could've done it alone.
*** It also featured different superhero designs for the main characters, being more realistic than what we got now.
*** One scene featured a car chase involving [=SpongeBob=] and Plankton, after which Mrs. Puff (who was driving after them) gives [=SpongeBob=] a F-, despite him not even driving.
*** Teamwork song was originally more detailed.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOnTheRun'' had two storylines that did not make the cut.
*** The first draft involved Gary being kidnapped and taken to Atlantis instead of Atlantic City, where King Neptune and his guards were played by actors instead of being animated.
*** The second draft involved Gary being kidnapped by alien cats and being taken to Cat World, ruled by a cat named Twinkles, while also showing Gary's backstory on his home planet, which [[RetCon completely contradicted the episode "Rule of Dumb", which revealed that Gary and Patrick are cousins]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersMovie'' had a script that had a lot of differences from what was seen when the movie came out:

** The "Uncle Fucker" was originally going to be called "'Mother'' Fucker" instead. This would've landed the movie an NC-17 rating, so it became the "Uncle Fucker" we all know and love.

** [[http://templarstudios.tumblr.com/post/6494704713/mnolg-storyboards-ta-koro This post]] by Templar Studios (the people that created the ''Mata Nui Online Game'') reveals there had been plans for a ''BIONICLE'' movie as early as 2001, but it got scrapped, along with the ''BIONICLE: The Legend of Mata Nui'' video game.

** Creator/GregWeisman worked on the first movie for a very short time before being fired for what he thought was a stupid reason. Though some of his ideas were kept, it's interesting to imagine how the film(s) would have turned out had he stayed on board.
** According to composer Nathan Furst, Lego planned a Makuta origin movie for a short while, which never came to be.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'':
** The movie was originally going to be a hand-drawn feature and would have featured Bill Murray as Shrek and Steve Martin as Donkey.
** Chris Farley was originally cast as Shrek and even recorded some dialogue, which was scrapped after his death, and then Creator/MikeMyers took over the role. Farley's version of Shrek was a shy and sensitive ogre [[BasementDweller still living with his parents]] and being pressured into the family business of scaring people.
*** Farley's Shrek also had Creator/JaneaneGarofalo attached (for a while) as Princess Fiona.
** It was also going to be re-released in 3D on IMAX screens during either Christmas 2001 or Summer 2002, but it got cancelled due to creative differences.
* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'':
** The king was going to be naked for the first half of the movie as an {{homage}} to ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'', with his privates always covered by a SceneryCensor.
** Dragon, as Donkey's "true love", was going to be transformed into a pink pegasus by the Happily Ever After potion. In the final movie, Dragon doesn't appear until TheStinger since the filmmakers realized that [[StoryBreakerPower she would have made breaking Shrek, Donkey, and Puss out of jail and crashing the ball too easy]].
** The ending ball was going to be a costume ball, and the king was dressed as the Magic Mirror, [[spoiler:which would have reflected the Fairy Godmother's spell]] rather than the royal armor he wears in the final movie. Also, one idea for the FinalBattle involved the Fairy Godmother enchanting food to attack Shrek and company.
* ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'':
** King Arthur from ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'' was slated to return to this film. Music/JustinTimberlake, who voiced Arthur in the previous film, was unable to reprise his role as he wanted to focus more on his music career, and all of Arthur's scenes were cut.
** Creator/TomCruise, Creator/DavidMorrissey and Music/PaulMcCartney were candidates to play Rumpelstiltskin. At one point, there are rumors that [=McCartney=] was close to securing the part, but at the last minute, [=DreamWorks=] chose to have Walt Dohrn play the role.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}'' was going to have scenes set in medieval and pirate times, those scenes even were finished and there is a few merchandise based on these. But are cut due to the movie length and pacing issues.

** The king was going to be naked for the first half of the movie as a {{homage}} to ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'', with his privates always covered by a SceneryCensor.

** Originally, none of the characters from ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' were actually going to talk, but this was changed toward the end of production as an attempt to avoid copying the "Rite of Spring" segment from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' shot by shot (the battle between Littlefoot's mother and the Sharptooth even looks almost exactly like the battle between the Stegosaurus and the 'Tyrannosaurus rex''!). This is also true with Disney's ''{{WesternAnimation/Dinosaur}}'', which was originally ''almost'' going to be directed by ''[[Film/StarshipTroopers Paul Verhoven]]'' of all people!

** The company's last feature project was an adaptation of ''Webcomic/{{Nimona}}'' that suffered a delay as parent company 20th Century Fox was acquired by Disney, continued to be produced even as everyone had to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was ultimately cancelled with Disney's shutdown of Blue Sky in 2021, with the movie being reportedly 75% complete at the time.

** Sheila originally her going into full-on SanitySlippage, culminating with an insane rant of wanting "pretty things", revealing Kyle wasn't born in a hospital and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking mistaking Satan for Alan Dershowitz]].