Sometimes big success comes because of big risk. You’ve got to swing hard if you want to make a home run. But sometimes that big swing also leads to a big miss. And sometimes big risks end up seeming…questionable at best.
Collider has one hell of an exclusive scoop that is definitely a “big swing” idea from Disney. Drew Taylor was speaking with Howard director Don Hahn about the life and career of Disney legend Howard Ashman. In the new Disney+ documentary about Ashman’s life, Hahn shows a letter from then-Disney exec Jeffrey Katzenberg listing several possible Disney animated projects. One of those projects shown is a movie called Dufus. So Taylor did some digging and asked Hahn what that unproduced movie was. Here’s Hahn’s response:
“Catcher in the Rye with German shepherds. I’m not making that up.”
Well, that’s…quite the pitch.
Here’s more from Hahn:
“Michael [Eisner] loved Catcher in the Rye and he said, ‘We ought to do Catcher in the Rye.’ And we told him the truth, which is [JD] Salinger‘s never going to do Catcher in the Rye for anybody. And he said, ‘Well, let’s just do that kind of story, that kind of growing up, coming of age story.’ So it was that.”
Let’s take a minute to think about this idea. Really, really think about it. On the surface, the proposal of an animated Catcher in the Rye featuring talking dogs seems ludicrous to the extreme. That’s because it is. But when you get down to the core of J.D. Salinger’s classic novel, there is a lot there that could be translated to an animated movie. Holden Caulfield is an outcast, a troubled young man who is drifting away from society because of his own issues. That could be the basis for a Disney film, right? This Dufus film could have been inspired by Catcher in the Rye without being an exact adaptation. Obviously Disney would have done away with any obvious references to mental health and illness. See, when you really think about it this doesn’t sound like the worst idea ever.
Christ, I can’t believe I’m defending Catcher in the Rye starring dogs.
You know what, inspiration comes from some crazy places. I’m not going to knock the creative process. Besides, Disney was on a red-hot roll around the time of this proposed Dufus idea so I’m not going to doubt them.
But, honestly, if I want to see a Disney film about an animated dog outcast roaming around the tough streets of New York, I know what I’ll watch:
Huge hat tip to Drew Taylor at Collider for this ridiculous story.