http://www.blogcdn.com/www.cinematical.com/media/2010/05/cine-newt-sm.jpg
Pixar may have canceled an upcoming feature film. Originally announced for release next summer, ***newt ***(note the lower case “n”) may have been dropped altogether, according to a report at The Pixar Blog. They claim that an e-mail from an archivist for the Walt Disney Company “confirms” earlier rumors about the film’s demise. However, the e-mail is from an archivist, or someone using his e-mail address, and is not from someone authorized to speak on behalf of the company. Therefore, we’ll classify this as a rumor until we hear something more official.
What we do know is that ***newt ***was announced two years ago with the following plot description: “What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can’t stand each other?” Sounded like a cute rom-com, right? Academy Award-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom was set as the director, and release was scheduled for the summer of 2011.
Less than six months later, Cars 2 was bumped up an entire year, snaring the summer 2011 release slot away from newt. The most notable news since then has been the *lack *of news about newt. Pixar has always been very exacting about getting the story right, polishing the narrative until it shines. As Woody says in Toy Story 2 (quoted at the official Pixar site): “You can’t rush art.” So I hope that ***newt ***is clinging to life and will appear when it’s ready, instead of being wiped off the face of the earth.