Meet the Robinsons secretly referenced two canceled Disney animated movies. Here is where to spot the obscure Easter eggs. Two canceled Disney animated movies, My Peoples and Wild Life, were secretly teased in the 2007 film Meet the Robinsons. The 2000s were a time of immense change at Walt Disney Animation Studios. As the studio underwent a creative overhaul in 2006. After Disney bought Pixar and appointed John Lasseter as CCO. He wasted little time making changes to Disney animated movies. Also that were already in development and pushed through production by the studio’s former president. David Stainton, like Meet the Robinsons. Lasseter attempted to help improve the movie by making changes to the villain and ending.
Upon Meet the Robinsons‘ release in 2007 after a slight delay.
The animated movie received mixed reviews and only made $169 million worldwide. That was a disappointing result for a Disney animated movie that cost $150M to make after Lasseter pushed for changes that accounted for 60 percent of Meet the Robinsons being different. The movie also stands as a strange reminder of two different eras for Disney’s animated movies. It also secretly includes Easter eggs related to animated movies Disney canceled prior to Lasseter’s arrival: My Peoples, a love story about homemade dolls that come to life, and Wild Life, a 1970s pop culture satire.
Meet the Robinsons‘ Easter eggs.
Referencing My Peoples and Wild Life can be seen during the movie’s flashback sequence explaining the origin of Michael “Goob” Yagoobian a.k.a. Bowler Hat Guy. The scene shows how Lewis placed the robotic bowler hat named Doris in a vault with his other failed inventions once the hat attempts to do more than help humans. It is once Lewis’ vault of inventions is shown that Disney’s canceled animated movies My Peoples and Wild Life references can be seen. This happens at approximately 1:06:00 in Meet the Robinsons‘ runtime and allows characters from the canceled Disney animated movies to be seen.
The My Peoples references in Meet the Robinsons are the easiest to spot in this scene. A hillbilly-inspired doll made of car parts known as Good O’Boy is featured in the glass case right behind where Doris is placed. An Abraham Lincoln-inspired doll named Abe is featured on the left of the screen, while Angel’s Dog is featured on the far right side. The dog’s companion, Angel, is featured behind in the case to the left and slightly behind. My Peoples‘ Miss Spinster is featured to the right and behind Good O’Boy. Meanwhile, the elephant in a dress featured next to Abe is Wild Life‘s main character, Ella.
Why Disney Canceled My Peoples & Wild Life
There is a long history of canceling Disney and Pixar animated movies. Also My Peoples and Wild Life were canned years before Meet the Robinsons would reference them. Wild Life was canceled in 2000 after Walt Disney Animation Studios chairman Roy E. Disney watched an early cut. The movie reportedly featured plenty of adult humor, which he did not like, and immediately ordered production to stop. It was then in 2003 that Disney canceled My Peoples despite the film’s positive test screenings. This was because the movie was in development by the Florida-based animation team. Which Disney closed at the start of 2004 after a few underwhelming films.