Earth to Echo was completed on Disney’s watch.

Yet the studio got rid of the movie.

Here’s the story…

This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.

I think the rise in digital animation is at the heart of this.

Thats not supposed to sound churlish: Animated films are all about human beings and their ideas.

Just that they dominate the family marketplace now.

It makes films such as 2014sEarth to Echofeel like a rarer beast than it should be.

Yet the behind-the-scenes stories ofEarth to Echopoint to where studios and their thinking is.

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The movie is a pretty decent effort that I liked more than most.

Its a found footage live-action family movie that basically reimagines the plot ofE.T.

The Extra Terrestrialrelatively close to its core.

It didnt get that last bit fromE.T.though.

Whats often overlooked aboutEarth to Echois that it was originally a live-action Disney project.

It was greenlit under the stewardship of Sean Bailey, the studios then-president of production.

But notably, the film didnt make it to cinemas with a Disney logo on it.

Horn had been the head of Warner Bros. in 1999 and oversaw that studios shift toward blockbuster tentpole movies.

Making fewer films, he also made the movies that the studio invested in much bigger bets.

Horn eventually retired (and not by choice) but was lured out of playing golf by Disney.

Horn wanted to follow the same guiding idea that had served him so well at Warner Bros.

Fewer movies but bigger ones.

Standalone gambles are very, very rare.

Earth to Echoclearly didnt fit that model.

When the movie was completed, Alan Horn took a look at it and decided he didnt want it.

It wasnt because it was a big risk either.

It didnt take him long to find a buyer.

Tucker Tooley, who was president of Relativity, was interested and did a deal for the movie.

That said, Relativity still went to work.

AsThe Hollywood Reporternoted back in 2014,Earth to Echos new parents chose to do significant work on it.

A January 2014 release date was abandoned, and a summer 2014 unveiling was earmarked instead.

The visual effects in particular got an upgrade.

But the problem was, commercially at least, Disney had called it right.

There wasnt an awful lot of direct family movie live-action competition in the summer of 2014.

It was soundly beaten byTransformers: Age of Extinction.

In spite of friendly reviews and a strong CinemaScore from U.S. moviegoers, it soon sank from theaters.

It emerged from bankruptcy the following year.