History WhatCouldHaveBeen / AnimatedFilms

** According to composer Nathan Furst, LEGO planned a Makuta origin movie for a short while, which never came to be after the toy company realized kinds found flashback stories confusing. Lhikan's line "Makuta! You were sworn to protect the Matoran!" from the second film was intended as a setup for this movie. Instead, Makuta's past would be explored in various books and online stories.

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheIncredibles''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Anastasia}}''

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Luca}}''

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Pocahontas}}''

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheCroods''

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/KungFuPanda''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheIronGiant''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/LooneyTunesBackInAction''

* ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen/SuperMarioBros The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]''

* Back in 2015, it was announced that Jared Hess was set to direct a [[https://geektyrant.com/news/jared-hess-set-to-direct-nicktoons-crossover-movie-for-nickelodeon-films Nicktoons crossover movie.]] While details were scarce, it was supposed to be a live-action/animation hybrid, and all of the cartoon characters would have been limited to the Nicktoons' 90's catalogue. (i.e, WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}, WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy, WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters etc.) [[https://www.facebook.com/TheRiseAndFallOfNickelodeon/posts/the-nicktoons-movie-is-confirmed-to-not-be-happeningjoe-murray-creator-of-rockos/461613877375402/ However, a Facebook grouped name The Rise And Fall of Nickelodeon]] later got word that the film never got off the ground. Joe Murray, the creator of WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife, said Jared only sent a ''pitch'' to Paramount, which got rejected, only for him to then ''pretend the film was still in development anyway'', in a last ditch effort to have the internet's hype do the work for him and have the higher ups change there minds. Judging by the fact the movie is on this page and there hasn't been a single word about a Nicktoons crossover film since then, [[ForegoneConclusion it didn't work.]]

* Back in 2015, it was announced that Jared Hess was set to direct a [[https://geektyrant.com/news/jared-hess-set-to-direct-nicktoons-crossover-movie-for-nickelodeon-films Nicktoons crossover movie.]] While details were scarce, it was supposed to be a live-action/animation hybrid, and all of the cartoon characters would have been limited to the Nicktoons' 90's catalogue. (i.e, [[WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}, WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy, WesternAnimation/AhhRealMonsters etc.]] [[https://www.facebook.com/TheRiseAndFallOfNickelodeon/posts/the-nicktoons-movie-is-confirmed-to-not-be-happeningjoe-murray-creator-of-rockos/461613877375402/ However, a Facebook grouped name The Rise And Fall of Nickelodeon]] later got word that the film never got off the ground. Joe Murray, the creator of WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife, said Jared only sent a ''pitch'' to Paramount, which got rejected, only for him to then ''pretend the film was still in development anyway'', in a last ditch effort to have the internet's hype do the work for him and have the higher ups change there minds. Judging by the fact the movie is on this page and there hasn't been a single word about a Nicktoons crossover film since then, [[ForegoneConclusion it didn't work.]]

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/LooneyTunesBackInAction''

* ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen/SuperMarioBros Super Mario Bros 2023]]''

* ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheLegoMovie Lego Movies]]''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut''

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/Anastasia''

* ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheLegoMovie Lego Film Franchise]]''

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheCroods]]

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheBadGuys2022''

* Creator/DreamWorksAnimation has a lot:
** Creator/JohnKricfalusi was nearly hired to work for them, but after meeting the executives, who wanted him to conform to the studio's style, he backed out. Kricfalusi highlighted this event in his blog.
** There are dozens of whole films that were never made. These include ''Punk Farm''[[note]]based on a children's book[[/note]] and ''Truckers''[[note]]based on a children's trilogy written by Creator/TerryPratchett. It was eventually revamped as ''WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}}''[[/note]]. The earliest is ''Tusker'', centered around elephants and supposed to be the follow-up to ''Shrek'' before a sequel to that took precedence; once it was canned, ''Westernanimation/{{TMNT}}'' makers Imagi inherited the project, but the studio closed just one year later.
** In the mid-2000s, they came this close to creating a property based on Miss Chevious, a character from an extremely obscure 80s black-and-white comic (''ComicBook/TalesFromTheAniverse''). Given [=DreamWorks=]' muscle, it could easily have lifted a 6-issue furry comic from the 80s to prominence, but apparently someone high up the ladder didn't understand the [[http://www.myspace.com/zimmgraphix/blog/527198549 treatment]] written by the comic's creator.
** Music/TimMinchin pitched an Australian musical adventure called ''Larrikins'', in which a bilby is sent away by his family in order to find a new self-sufficient life. Unfortunately, the film was being made at a turbulent time at [=DreamWorks=], having been pushed back repeatedly and with little creative agreement. Then it got caught up by the [=DreamWorks=]-Creator/{{Universal}} merger, and the new studio executives opted to shut down the movie entirely when production stalled for too long. The character models created for ''Larrikins'' were ultimately used instead for an 8-minute short titled ''Bilby''.
** Creator/{{Hasbro}} considered [[https://deadline.com/2014/11/dreamworks-animation-hasbro-merger-negotiations-in-works-1201282751/ merging with Dreamworks Animation]] at one point, but [[http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2014/11/14/hasbro-dreamworks-animation-reportedly-end-merger-negotiations/ quickly pulled out]] after Hasbro's stock took a 4 percent decline and because DWA's high asking price at $35 per share was too much for them. Rumors that Creator/{{Disney}} was planning to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers end all of its agreements with Hasbro]] [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor if the merger was to move forward]] probably didn't help.\\\
A subsequent [[https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1297401/000119312516599178/d152530dprem14c.htm SEC filing]] published nearly a month after [=NBCUniversal=] agreed to acquire the company revealed that [=DreamWorks=] and Hasbro terminated the merger agreement after a month of discussions over news publications reporting on the talks in the first place.

** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/MonstersUniversity''
** ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/RalphBreaksTheInternet''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen/DreamWorksAnimation

* WhatCouldHaveBeen/MarvelComicsFilmAndTV

* ''WhatCouldHaveBeen/SpaceJamANewLegacy''

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