Pixar’s ‘be fri’ – a girl power dream killed by disney’s fear of boy appeal
A meticulously crafted animated musical film, ‘Be Fri,’ once championed by Pixar, met an abrupt and disheartening end, felled by a surprising lack of faith from Disney brass. The project, a three-year development effort, reportedly hinged on a thematic resonance with Netflix’s smash hit, ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ but ultimately succumbed to a strategic misjudgment.
A creative team worth its weight in storyboards
The film, spearheaded by director Kristen Lester (known for ‘Purl’) and screenwriter Blaise Hemingway (of ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’), boasted a formidable creative team – over fifty Pixar employees – all working tirelessly to deliver a universe-spanning adventure centered around two teenage girls who shatter a cherished Sailor Moon-esque TV obsession and embark on a desperate quest to save humanity. It’s a premise brimming with potential, yet one apparently deemed insufficient to satisfy Disney’s internal metrics.
Sources close to the project, including former Pixar staff, paint a picture of relentless revisions – at least four major overhauls demanded by Disney – fueled by a consistent, baffling directive: ‘Don’t make the boys see themselves.’ As one former employee recounted, “We knew you didn’t like where the film was at right now. Give us six weeks, and we’ll redo the entire film.” The pressure was unimaginable: compressing a year's worth of storyboarding into a frantic six-week sprint to meet Disney’s revised vision.
The footage produced during this accelerated process reportedly reached “Hoppers’ level,” a testament to the team’s dedication. But the decision to scrap ‘Be Fri’ remains perplexing. The former staff member expressed bewilderment, stating, “It befuddles me why they passed on it. With each round of notes, Disney just didn’t feel like little boys could see themselves in the film enough. Basically, Disney reps were like, ‘We can’t have a girl power movie.’
A memorial service for a lost film
The cancellation sparked a profoundly disheartening reaction amongst the creative team. Reports suggest they staged a makeshift memorial service at Pixar headquarters, a poignant tribute to a project that never got to see the light of day. This wasn’t an isolated incident; Disney’s history with animated projects is littered with similar cancellations – ‘Newt’ in 2011 and ‘Gigantic’ in 2017 – demonstrating a pattern of prioritizing established franchises over potentially innovative, albeit riskier, concepts.
The timing of ‘Be Fri’s’ demise – late 2023 – coincides with a period of intense political scrutiny for Disney, including a contentious battle with Florida’s governor, criticism surrounding the same-sex kiss in ‘Lightyear,’ and a deliberate attempt to sanitize the queer representation within its films. It’s a chilling reminder of the forces shaping creative decisions behind the scenes.
Despite this setback, Pixar’s pipeline remains full – ‘Toy Story 5,’ ‘Gatto,’ and ‘Incredibles 3’ are all slated for release. But the fate of ‘Be Fri’ serves as a stark illustration: sometimes, even the most talented teams, armed with a compelling vision, can be silenced by a single, strategically-motivated veto.