Pixar had an animated musical movie in development for three years that was thematically similar to KPop Demon Hunters, but Disney brass killed the project in 2023 reportedly because, according to one former Pixar employee, “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.’”
Titled Be Fri (stylized as BeFri), the film’s creative team included director Kristen Lester (Purl), screenwriter Blaise Hemingway (Clifford the Big Red Dog), editor Nicholas C. Smith, and at least 50 other Pixar employees.
“Inspired by Lester’s real-life experience involving an adolescent friendship that dissolved, Be Fri was to focus on two teenage girls who were once besties but find themselves drifting apart after learning that their favorite, Sailor Moon-style TV show is real and that they need to set out on a universe-spanning quest to save humanity,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Citing unnamed sources close to the project, including former Pixar employees, Be Fri would have found a kindred spirit in Netflix’s future Oscar-winning blockbuster, KPop Demon Hunters. “The comparisons to KPop Demon Hunters are pretty undeniable because there were musical aspects to it, and it was a rip-roaring time,” according to a former staffer.
THR claims Lester, Hemingway and Smith retooled Be Fri at least four times after receiving notes from Disney.
One former Pixar employee, who was not present at for this pivotal meeting with Disney brass, recalled what those who were in attendance said happened:
“We know you don’t like where the film is at right now. Give us six weeks, and we’ll redo the entire film. … Kristen, Blaise, Nick and a couple board artists spent six weeks of night and day, seven days a week, literally reformatting. Preproduction on an animated feature takes a year of storyboarding, so [they had] to compress that into six weeks for a fourth version of the film.”
This former employee praised the retooled Be Fri footage as being “on Hoppers’ level. It befuddles me why they passed on it, but 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.’”
The staff members who worked on Be Fri were reportedly so devastated by the film’s cancellation that they essentially staged a memorial service for it at work.
Disney was facing political backlash at the time Be Fri was canceled in late 2023, including a very public feud with the governor of Florida, criticism from right wingers over the same-sex kiss in Lightyear, and the overhauling of Elio to remove any references to queer identity.
It’s not unprecedented for Disney to put a stop to an animated film in development. Pixar previously canceled the film Newt in 2011, while Disney Animation pulled the plug on Gigantic in 2017.
Pixar’s next movie releases include Toy Story 5, Gatto, and Incredibles 3.
