Walt Disney Animation Studios wants Jordan Peele to direct an animated film, and the Get Out director could be just what the studio needs to reintroduce its terrifying side. Jared Bush, Disney Animation’s chief creative officer, recently expressed his excitement about working with the Oscar-winning filmmaker, whose films have helped redefine modern horror. While nothing has been announced, Peele has prior experience with animation and has even pitched Disney on a film based on one of its darkest properties.
Speaking with Collider, Bush made his enthusiasm clear. “Oh my God. I need Jordan Peele to come to Disney Animation immediately,” he said. Bush lauded Peele for his courage as a storyteller and his willingness to take creative chances, traits that might make him a perfect director to bring back a tradition Disney has mostly left behind. Then again, if they’re so eager to work with him, why did Disney let Peele’s previous pitch for a Gargoyles movie slip away?
Disney used to have no problem scaring the hell out of children. The Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was transformed into a terrifying old witch. Pinocchio depicted children being turned into donkeys and sold into slavery, whereas Fantasia unleashed Chernabog and an army of demons in “Night on Bald Mountain.” Who could forget Maleficent’s transformation into a visually-terrifying, fire-breathing dragon in Sleeping Beauty? Even The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad concluded with the Headless Horseman catching up to Ichabod Crane in a haunted forest.
Then there’s 1985’s The Black Cauldron, in which the skeletal Horned King tries to raise an army of undead warriors. The notoriously troubled production became one of Disney’s biggest box office disappointments, and the studio has largely ignored the property since. It’s a shame, considering all the potential still lying in Lloyd Alexander’s fantasy novels. Disney still hasn’t quite lost its fascination with witches and monsters. Bush also co-wrote the upcoming animated film Hexed, which features a magical realm of witches and a sinister queen. However, the colorful imagery and playful humor make the supernatural feel more whimsical than terrifying. Nothing wrong with that, but Peele has a chance to do something Disney animation hasn’t done in decades: make people really scared.
Peele understands how to make audiences uncomfortable while maintaining humor and heart. In addition to Get Out, Us, and Nope, he co-wrote, produced, and voiced a character in Wendell & Wild, a 2022 stop-motion horror comedy directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas‘ Henry Selick. He’s also no stranger to Disney animation, having played Bunny alongside his longtime comedy partner Keegan-Michael Key as Ducky in Pixar’s Toy Story 4. He has already shown his talents translate to animation, and Disney knows it.
In 2018, Peele reportedly approached Disney about directing a live-action adaptation of Gargoyles, the beloved 1990s animated series about ancient Scottish creatures guarding modern-day Manhattan. Disney executives were hesitant to move forward with the project, which never materialized. Disney later developed another live-action Gargoyles adaptation with James Wan’s Atomic Monster, but that project has also fallen through. Peele’s interest in the franchise is already established, so an animated feature could be the ideal way to revisit his original pitch.
Disney doesn’t even need to find Jordan Peele a story. He already brought them one. And if the studio genuinely wants to embrace bold filmmaking again, letting one of our generation’s finest horror filmmakers scare a new generation of Disney fans would be a great way to start.
