The Cancelled Motion Capture Animated Film Worth Weeping Over

Yeah, I guess motion capture animation is okay, if you do stuff like The Adventures of Tintin and The Polar Express and not stuff like Mars Needs Moms and Tarzan. Motion capture animated films suffered a large setback when Disney closed down their joint venture with animation pioneer Robert Zemeckis, ImageMovers Digital. Films that should've never been made were cancelled, like remakes of Yellow Submarine and The Nutcracker, but there is one film that was scrapped that I think would've been dope and could've actually broke even.

The film I'm talking about is Calling All Robots, and it looks so cool. First off, the pictures of ideas for the film make it look like a sci-fi action film, and who doesn't like those? Also, I think the film could've broke even. The profit was bound to be around $200 million, but the film could've legged out to $450 million and maybe even $500 million. However, it was probably going to turn a loss, one of the reasons Disney severed ties with Zemeckis on motion capture animation after losing about $200 million working with him.

The film also had the potential to be critically well-received and mark a turning point in Zemeckis' career after not-so-well reviewed films. Parts of the plot from this film were used in Pacific Rim, which received positive reviews from critics (I mean, Guillermo Del Toro directed it, so it was probably gonna be good anyways.)

All in all, this film will probably never see the light of day, unless Disney or some other company picks it up again, although the only way Disney would distribute it would be if they changed leadership. I would've loved to see Calling All Robots, but all we're left with are some dope-a** pictures.