When you watch a major motion picture, you'd never imagine that a huge production would
make any last-minute decisions.
Or if they did, it would surely be over something small, not something that could drastically
change the movie forever.
But really, the opposite is true.
Some of your favorite films were within in an inch of turning out terrible, if it wasn't
for a last-second change that made these movies into what they are today.
Toy Story
Before Toy Story became a classic of computer animation, it was almost a mean-spirited cartoon
about a jerky cowboy doll that everyone hated.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, Disney's CEO at the time, had wanted this cartoon in a new medium to
be as edgy as possible.
Eager to please, the Pixar folks pushed the meanness to the max and hoped it was going
in the right direction.
When they screened the first part of the film, no one could believe the results.
It was just a story about mean, hateful toys.
There was no fun and nothing lovable.
In this version, Woody intentionally tosses Buzz out the window.
Then, the toys revolt against him and throw him out the window to his own doom.
Even director John Lasseter couldn't believe how bad it was.
"I was pretty much embarrassed with what was on the screen."
The result: the execs wanted Lasseter to fire a bunch of people and start animating under
Disney's direct supervision.
He refused, and asked for two weeks to make it work.
Disney allowed it and, after working all hours and disregarding all the previous notes, the
Pixar team was able to present enough of the revised Toy Story to keep their jobs and keep
going with the film.
In the end, the story was completely retooled and became the wonderful movie we all love
today.
Zootopia
In its original form, Zootopia hardly resembled the film we know now.
First of all, Judy Hopps wasn't the main character.
Plus, all the predators had to wear shock collars around their necks for their whole
lives.
If that sounds unpleasant, don't worry, the Zootopia filmmakers agreed.
In the original script, once predators got to a certain age, they'd have to put on their
taming collars for the first time.
Watching this happy little bear realize he'll never be free again is heartbreaking.
Though Disney doesn't usually shy away from heartbreak, the filmmakers eventually felt
the overall taming concept made the movie too dark and unappealing.
So, they revamped the entire script, made Judy the main character, and threw those collars
in the idea-garbage.
American Beauty
Before winning five Academy Awards, American Beauty nearly had a different ending that
may have kept it out if the Oscars altogether.
In the first draft of the script, the story is bookended by a court trial in which Lester's
daughter Jane and her boyfriend, Ricky, are accused of shooting Lester.
The trial uses the tape they made where Jane says she'd like Ricky to get rid of her dad
as the proof.
The film ends with Ricky and Jane getting wrongfully convicted and sent to jail.
In the end, a last minute edit came to the rescue.
"We shot all of that stuff, but, uh, luckily Sam, you know in editing, sorta took it out."
Screenwriter Alan Ball agreed with the change, feeling that the ending was too depressing.
That might sound strange for a film that already ends with the main character getting shot,
but the innocent teens taking the blame was a step too far.
Plus, it took away from Lester's main story, so the wraparound was cut and Ricky and Jane
got to go free.
Shrek
The character of Shrek went through a lot of changes before we ended up with the Scottish
ogre with a heart-of-gold.
Originally, Mike Myers recorded most of his lines in a Canadian accent.
It was basically, Myers' own voice with a bit of exaggeration.
But the actor felt it wasn't working right.
Inspired by the upper-class English accent John Lithgow used for Lord Farquaad, Myers
felt Shrek should have a more working-class sound.
He ended up settling on Scottish and insisted on redoing all the lines with his new idea.
"Look, there's Bloodnut the Flatulent.
You can guess what he's famous for."
"Alright, now I KNOW you're making this up."
Unfortunately, the animators had already finished a third of film, and the new voice required
a ton of changes.
In fact, Myers' choice to go Scottish cost the film at least $4 million.
Clerks
Kevin Smith made a big splash with his independent film debut, Clerks.
A black and white comedy about two aimless men working at a convenience store, Clerks
set up characters that Smith would return to for years to come.
Part of what makes Clerks great was its casual, comedic dialogue and slice-of-life tone.
That all could have been ruined by the original ending.
Originally, Dante, one of the Quick Stop workers, gets shot in a robbery and the film ends right
after that.
Brian O'Halloran, the actor who played Dante said, "I hated that ending.
I just thought it was too quick of a twist."
As it turned out, Smith wasn't married to that finale either.
He shot it mostly because he wasn't sure what to do to end the movie.
Luckily, he agreed with O'Halloran and went with the non-tragic ending, where the simply
store closes for the evening, and life goes on.
Terminator 2
The ending of Terminator 2 is, literally, the most metal ending of all time: a robot
gets lowered into a vat of molten metal.
So imagine if, after that, the movie cuts to a bright blue sky over a playground where
granny Sarah Connor is tying her cute little grandchild's shoes.
That's originally how director James Cameron wanted it to end.
In that ending, Judgment Day never happened, John Connor is a senator, and Sarah is an
old lady with a drinking problem.
Thankfully, Cameron realized that this ending was completely out of tone with the rest of
the film and would have ruined any chances for sequels.
Or...maybe he finally saw the wisdom in the Terminator's own words.
"It has to end here."
Nah.
It was totally about the sequels.
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