In 1980 whilst at Cal Art's Brad Bird and a few friends created script for a Spirit film alongside a pencil test trailer made to help pitch the film. To quote ‘The Spirit’ movie that could have been "But if the world had turned a little differently, if fate had been a little kinder, a “Spirit” feature film would have debuted in the 1980s that would not only have been revolutionary but — those of us involved in it were convinced — a huge hit, possibly the first $100 million-grossing animated feature. And the futures of such filmmakers as Brad Bird, Gary Kurtz, John Musker and John Lasseter might have taken alternative paths."

The film would actually reach Will Eisner (who did need some convincing for an animated film but by the sounds of things was on board) and there were plenty of people who thought it looked good (Gary Kurtz producer of Star Wars jumped on board to try and get it made). However it didn't get made with many Hollywood exec's not wanting to give funding to the film " Hollywood was filled with the sound of executives scratching their heads. At least one offered to make it as a live-action film — an option Brad would not consider and the rest of us would not support. The whole idea was to make an animated film so different, so revolutionary, it would alter forever the art form."

Now what if the film had been made and funded meaning a Spirit film in early 80s maybe around 83/84? It could have done well (maybe not $100 million dollars but still) and could lead to an interesting 80s and 90s for U.S animation (particularly if most of Disney's animators from it's Renaissance in the 90s run off to joins Bird's Visions Animation + FilmWorks). I could see various superheroes getting there own animated films. Batman the animated series competing against the Spirit Animated Series? Adult Animation maybe gets a shot in the arm from the project (the film would have probably gotten a PG rating if made mostly due to having an adult feel and being based on a comic for adults). Golden Age Comics experiencing a revival just as the Dark Age begins? There are many ideas and theories that could occur from this film existing that interest me. One day I may make a timeline based off it but for now how about this.


Articles, Photos and Videos:
sprit_1.jpg

Steven Paul Levia, Brad Bird and Will Eisner, White Plains N.Y, 1981

Steven Paul Levia's essay where most of the quotes are from:
‘The Spirit’ movie that could have been
Concept Art:
spiritconcept2.jpg

spiritconcept.jpg

Letter to Steven Spielberg:
letteraspielberg.jpg

The Pencil Test Trailer:
Gives a basic idea of the films look
 
Also does anyone have any ideas for the cast of the film? I could see maybe Mark Hamill doing the voice for Denny Colt (had started voicing acting at this point) but others I don't know: Any Suggestions?
 
This is very interesting, this combined with Indiana Jones could really kick off a mini fad for the 30 & 40s
I could see Swing music and Jazz coming back partially (it did in the 90s so bumping it up by a decade isn't that shocking) and I can see companies like DC and Marvel maybe reprinting some throwback stories or doing a Sandman Mystery Theatre and remaking the character in a realistic setting of 30s/40s America. I don't know if would continue until the 90s although if Tim Burton's Batman is released I could see that happening. Also 40s fashion gets copied even more by the 80s fashion scene (power suits were essentially 40s double brested suits that were exaggerated).
 
So the essay that helped inspire this thread has a few what if's at the end that are rather interesting:

"Visions Animation and FilmWorks might have become the Pixar of its day, but with a broader mandate to do not only innovative animated films, but fantastic live-action films as well. Instead of spending most of his time as a creative consultant on “The Simpsons,” what wonderful animation and live-action features might Brad have given us?
Jerry Rees certainly would have written and directed some of the Visions films, possibly becoming a talent to reckon with, instead of a talent Hollywood has only flirted with."

A Pixar of the 80s and 90s is rather
interesting. I can see it being considered a success story of 80s Hollywood compared to movie studios like Cannon Studios and Orion. How it survives into the 2000s is a mystery although if the Spirit did well it would be a good character to merchandise. Also Jerry Rees being a director has a lot of potential behind it (he made Brave Little Toaster which haven't seen but have heard is fondly remembered).

"If Visions had been successful in raiding Disney of a good portion of the best and brightest of the Young Pups, how might that have altered its future and films? Would that have relieved the pressure on Don Bluth, causing him and his Bluthies not to bolt from Disney, which they later did, and putting him into Walt’s shoes, where he really wanted to be? Or, if John Musker had stayed at Disney, as I believe he would have, would he have become the driving force at the studio? But instead of revitalizing Disney with “The Little Mermaid” would he — Hollywood being Hollywood where imitation is the sincerest form of competition — have been tasked to animate “The Green Hornet?”

Would Disney animation have even survived? When Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg took over it was reported that they wanted to dump the animation department, but Roy E. Disney wouldn’t allow it. But what if the department had been gutted of talent? Would Roy Disney have carried the day? Would Disney Studios even exist today, much less be the media giant it now is?"

I find this the most interesting of the articles what if's. I think Disney Animation would have survived but in a very limited capacity with most of the staff leaving to pursue other careers with the possibility of the American Animation industry becoming splintered as various different production companies are set up. It would also mean that Disney doesn't become the media Goliath it is now. I can see the company splitting resources between making live action films for children and making live action films for adults under the Touchstone banner. I doubt there would be the Disney renaissance per say but it doesn't mean that the American Animation Industry is going to stay in it's "Dark Age". There maybe more competition which would be interesting to see. Maybe Vision v.s. Bluth would be a thing with various other companies competing as well. Maybe Amblin Entertainment gets involved in the animation world as Steven Spielberg and the company helped produce a number of animated films and TV shows in the 80s and 90s.


There are a few more but I thought those were the most interesting what if's the essay poses.
 
A very basic idea of a possible timeline of production:
1980-1981: First Draft of Script is made, rights from Will Eisner are gained, film production is started with help from Amblin Entertainment/Steven Spielberg who starts trying to secure funding for Visions Animation + FilmWorks. Vision also starts poaching various Disney animators much to Disney's annoyance.

1982-1983: Final draft of script made, Universal Pictures provides funding for the film and is chosen as the distributor after being convinced by Spielberg, Pre-Production finishes and production starts by early 1983 hoping for a Early 1984 release. Most of 1983 is spent animating, getting voice acting done and soundtrack composed which is done by Micheal Kamen (seems like the best choice) with alongside popular music from the time period like The Ink Spots and Woody Guthrie Vigilante Man being used as well.

1984: Film is finished by late 1983 around the time the first trailer is released with promotional materials and other products getting ready for the late spring release date. The film is released in Early May 1984 and does well particularly against the competition of Breakin and then the Natural reaching top 1st box office figures for two weeks until it's beaten out by Indiana Jones. The film does decently and manages to raking in $42 Million in the U.S. and $84 Million Worldwide (Sorry Brad no $100 million for you) on $9 Million budget and is considered a financial success.


That was a very rough timeline of events. There are other things that I haven't covered but I think that a good enough summery of events. I can see the years after the films production being interesting with other film companies possibly planning there own animated films afterwards. The late 80s and early 90s would be interesting time for Vision particularly after achieving a success like that. Also I wonder how Don Bluth Entertainment is doing especially after The Spirit is a success, he may get more funding for future productions although I wonder if American Tail is made by him (maybe because Spielberg watched Legend of Nimh but at the same time Vision is always happy for the work).
 
Who's going to be the villain? The Octopus? Or maybe there's multiple villains? Who else is going to be in it? Ebony, P'Gell, Dolan? What's the story?
 
This could jumpstart Brad Bird's career earlier, which could have massive butterflies for both him and Western animation.

He was in the test footage for the film shown in the OP, looking a lot less stereotypical than his comics incarnation.
 
Who's going to be the villain? The Octopus? Or maybe there's multiple villains? Who else is going to be in it? Ebony, P'Gell, Dolan? What's the story?
I guess there will The Octopus and quite probably Dr Cobra at the start, Ebony, Dolan and Ellen will all appear in the story (mainly because it isn't really a spirit story without them). P'Gell I don't know about but she could possibly have a role in it (wouldn't be surprised if she's in it). Story is a bit harder to fathom (everyone always talks about the feel of it or the tone of the film not the actual story) but I'm going to go with a sort of Superhero origin story with the film being about Denny getting back to fighting crime after the incident that almost killed him. Octopus will probably be the mastermind of it all behind the scenes because he usually is (maybe he tricks the Spirit with one of his many disguises at one point).
 
This could jumpstart Brad Bird's career earlier, which could have massive butterflies for both him and Western animation.
He was in the test footage for the film shown in the OP, looking a lot less stereotypical than his comics incarnation.
It certainly would, instead of the 11 credits he has at the moment I could see him having a rather vast and varied career maybe even breaking into filmmaking in the late 80s/early 90s (part of Visions idea as a production company was to make both films and animations). Also I see more smaller animation studios popping up inspired by Vision and Don Bluth in the 80s. I can see the 90s being even more diverse in animated content (especially if you factor in the anime craze that hit America and TV channels like HBO investing in Animation at certain points)

Also I wonder if the film would have used Detective Grey as well. I could see him appearing as a way to balance out the whiteness of the cast (also I can see Will Eisner not particularly if more black or other ethnicity's were added to the The Spirit especially since he said quite a few times he regretted what he did in the 1940s with characters like Ebony).
 
I thought earlier how a company like Visions could affect things like the music video industry. For the first few years whilst there making Spirit bet there will be people in the company doing side jobs or short films for both the company's and employees portfolios. I bet there will be some bands that would like an animated video and Vision employees would be quite happy to do it (the money would help). I wonder what odd and interesting music videos would come out of this era.
 
A Brief Synopsis of the 1984 The Spirit Animated Film: (I know nothing of what the films plot would have been as the scripts were never released so this is my own personal interpretation)
1940, Central City and Denny Colt (Mark Hamill) is the leading crime fighting detective having managed to bust many nefarious operations ran by many different types of criminal. He has a good life and is good friends with Commissioner Dolan (?) and is in a romantic relationship with Ellen Dolan (Susan Sarandon?). However whilst stopping a mad scientist called Dr Cobra from poisoning the city Denny is poisoned causing him to fall into a deep coma which looks liked he died to anyone else. Waking up and realising everyone thinks he's dead he decides to take on the mantle of The Spirit to fight crime with help from Dolan, Ebony White (?) a child taxi-driver and the occasionally support of a Detective Grey (Keith David). However the Spirit soon realises that a ruthless new crime lord called The Octopus (J.E. Freeman) has come into the city and intends on taking it all for himself. So the Spirit must fight various goons, thugs and femme fatales (P'Gell maybe) to find the Octopus and bring him to justice (long story short the Octopus gets away as he usually does).
 
Beyond The Spirit: Vision Studios Between 1980 and 1993, By Stephen Cavalier, 2012
Chapter 8: Title Sequences, Music Videos and Experimentation (1982-1990):
The outside of the films, TV shows and short films that Vision would create, produce and help make during the 1980s there was a wealth of various other projects that were being done by employees to help bring in money, to increase word of the company and to help the portfolios off new members of the company (as well as giving them more practice). During this period it was encouraged that employees experiment as much as possible so that different styles, techniques and ideas could be used in later productions. During this period a variety of creators would appear a put themselves on the map. Here are some important examples:
Peking Duck, 1982
Based on argument Brad Bird had with Glean Keane whilst getting dinner one evening this short film was created mainly as pencil test for Glean in his spare time which he slowly turned into a short film. The short film follows two men called Paul (voiced by Brad Bird himself) and John (Jerry Rees) as they go out to eat one evening. Along the way they have to deal with each other, rude staff and numerous problems with orders in particularly the order of the title. This short film was sent off to numerous festivals and won a Grand Prix alongside Dimensions of Dialogue at the 1983 Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

.........
(More to come soon. Consider this a taste of what will be happening in the future, Slowly)
 
Face to Face, 14th November 1994, Brad Bird (Extract)

Interviewer: You're famous for your animated films ranging from The Spirit to the recent Ray Gunn, however you have repeatedly stated you've wanted to direct several live action films as well. But apart from a couple of short films and the 1988 film *batteries not included you haven't managed to get into the live action film industry as quickly as the animation industry. Why do you think that is?

Brad Bird: Well mainly because I decided to take on the stupid responsibility of co-owning a animation/film studio just as it was hitting it big. It meant most of my time was spent trying make sure it stayed afloat and the rest of the time was writing, producing and directing animated films and all this started before I turned 30 as well. So I didn't really have the time to go off and direct a live action film, however I now have the ability to start working on live action projects properly which is good. Give's me a chance to expand my artistic endeavours.

Interviewer: In recent years you've found yourself in a bit of a bother with politics and the films you make. Do you think there's a reason for that?

Brad Bird: Over-analysis (chuckles) You are right about that. I've read reviews which accuse me of being a objectvist, social democrat, libertarian hippie etc. For the over the last year some reviewers have talked about my films being violent or having adult content and then I get angry letters saying how angry they are for me making an violent "kids" film. Maybe it's because I have a loud voice and that effects my films, or maybe people are just over-analysing.

Interviewer: Vision Productions has been under fire repeatedly for having adult content in animated films. How do you think this has effected your Studio?

Brad Bird: Ironically it's made us more popular. When ever people rant about one of our films or shows being to inappropriate for kids or demand a boycott or whatever thing they want we slowly start seeing our productions being more popular. I remember when we did the adaptation of Fafhard and Gray Mouser and we decided to keep a lot the more adult content in. So anyway we're slapped with an R rating but people still bring children with them to watch it and then when it turns out to be violent they complain that we're the problem. You win some you lose some.

End of extract, Full program can be found on BBC Knowledge, Face to Face or can be caught on BBC 4 as part of the Face to Face Season.
 
Chapter 1:Big Time
4th of April 2001, Los Angeles County
"Heard what John doing?" Jerry said waiting for Glean to finish his coffee. Glean shook his head and continued drinking. "He's becoming the head of Disney's animation department. Said he's going to restructure it all." Jerry continued as Glean looked very confused. "Why is he bothering? He knows he could do anything so why settle for that?" Glean said his coffee down on the table. Both men knew though that John always loved Disney even when it didn't love him, they both remembered that sad day in 1985 when he rang up and told them that the Animation Department was essentially dead. They imagined that he been very happy when he got the call. He was going to do well they could tell. He had a habit of making anything he touched turn into gold.
***********
The conversation that occurred inside a quiet old diner was the aftermath of a rather successful guest lecture at CalArts where they talked about there experiences in the animation industry in particular there experience founding and help running Vision Productions. It had gone down well and CalArts asked if they could come back sometime to do another lecture. The pair had mentioned that they would think about it but they knew they would say yes. Any excuse to get out studio and the back and forth that occurred in the offices there. The offices could be best described as a microcosm of the animation world in one studio and with it came all the arguments that were occurring all across the American Animation.

It had started when the computer department demanded more funding from the studio so they could improve there equipment. Cue the other departments demanding increase in funding and things escalated there as the various departments started pettily arguing much to Jerry and Brad's annoyance. Glean was thankfully that he didn't have to deal with that as he ran he dealt with being the show-runner on The Spirit:The Series. He could only handle so much and having deal with constant bickering was something he didn't want to deal with. "Anyway how's the series going?" Jerry asked getting up out of the booth they were in. Glean followed leaving a tip behind as Jerry head towards the door. "It's going fine, the people I'm working with are great. We're nearly finished and the production staff have plenty of morale." Glean said in tone similar to TV salesman. Jerry looked at him and smiled as he opened his car. "Good, how are your new workers? Things going well there." he said getting in. "Yeah my
Young Pups are doing well" Glean said with a smile on face as he got in too. Jerry chuckled and started the car. "Remember when we were the Young Pups. That changed quickly didn't it." he said reversing his car. Glean only nodded in response as they drove back to the studios.
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Why yes I am starting at what is essentially the end expect this timeline to be less of timeline but instead rather anarchic thing that will bounce around the time. Up next the sad day of 1985 (well it was for Disney).
 
Interesting. I would like to see the potential project Bird does with this career boost.
Thanks, I'm not a mind reader but I can guess a few. Being he's grown up on comics I can see maybe a superhero production, maybe a western and probably a pulpy scfi story in the vein of Flash Gordon. He would try and make some live action films but numerous problems would stop him from being fulfilled.
 
Things I plan to cover on the next few posts:
1985 Dissolution of the Disney Animation Department (close to happening in real life)
The 1984 Release of The Spirit
Other works that Vision was creating at the time 1982-1987
Green Hornet film in 1988 (by John Musker)
and the effects on the comic industry
 
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