Forgotten Disney

Fraidy Cat

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 2015

Fraidy Cat
Lost Disney Films

This film was going to be the first computer animated project from directors Ron Clements and John Musker. The team behind The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, the movie was about a nervous feline caught up in a life of intrigue and suspense.

Fraidy Cat is a 3-D animated film project of the Walt Disney Animation Studios of the first half of the 2000s. The two partners began working on Fraidy Cat in 2002, with the help of several artists in the studio who helped them find the graphic style of the film. The project included Andreas Deja, Han Bacher and Harald Siepermann.

The plot was about Oscar, a cat and Corrina, a cockatoo, are pampered, spoiled housepets that live an easy life in their owner's London flat. However, when a fellow neighbourhood pet is kidnapped and Oscar is the prime suspect, the two must set off on a mission to find out who the real culprit in order to clear Oscar's name.

Fraidy Cat was happening in the 60's and had to resemble a movie by Alfred Hitchcock in animated and animal sauce. They followed Oscar, a cat accused of a crime he had not committed. Accompanied by Corina a cockatoo, they began to investigate to try to make Oscar innocent.

Despite the enthusiasm of the artists who worked on the project, Fraidy Cat was finally canceled in 2005. The reason? The style of the film was too far from the standards of the studio. The cancellation resulted in the early retirement of John Musker and Ron Clements who no longer felt at home at the Walt Disney Animaition Studios. They finally returned in 2007 after the arrival of John Lasseter at the head of the studio.

Fraidy Cat began production in 2004, under the direction of Musker and Clements with Andreas Deja, Harald Siepermann and Hans Bacher handling character and background designs. The initial storyreel was presented in May of that year and although many of the animators were impressed with it, David Stainton wouldn't agree to release the movie. This was because he did not think that it would be able to be marketed to a general audience, on account of average people, especially children were not well-versed in Hitchcocks films.

It would have a mixed comedy, adventure and mystery. Production went to The Princess and the Frog instead.

Source: Disney Wiki, The Art of Disney, Lost Media Archive Wiki

November-27-2019 Update: Updated and changed chapter with added information.