My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analyses: april 2026

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.

Make sure to leave a comment if you like this site! And if there's something you think could be improved, please let me know. But in a constructive way, please. And just a note; I'm not a Native English writer, so my incorrect grammar may be notable.

And finally; If you haven't seen the films, beware of spoilers! And the funny lines aren't meant to be nothing than funny. So I hope you won't find them offensive. If so, I apologize

Bridget is my (Nigel) servant, so that`s why I`m standing on her :)

At the beginning of this new Century, Disney had once again reached a new low and was stuck once again with a bad staple and reputation. After releasing a string of critical and commercial duds, Disney essentially reached their lowest low with the release of Chicken Little. A movie that was commercially successful, but badly received critically. It was a movie that was so bad that Disney soon learned from it`s critical failure and tried to not make a movie that reached such a low. But Disney essentially had followed the norm of what most animated studios were doing at the time and ditched Hand Drawn animation completely.

And transitioned to CGI. But if we`re going to regard the Official List of Animated Movies from Disney, most of them have been released by the House of Mouse. However, there have been some exceptions to the rule. It would`ve been tempting to bring up Dinosaur, who despite was produced by the Secret Lab, was a Disney property, after all. Afterwards came Valiant in 2005, despite how it wasn`t a Disney property, was released with the Disney name. But the following year would see another movie who would follow that mold. And that was The Wild.

General Information About The Wild

At least I`m not
Bridget Jones :)

Released in April 14th 2006, The Wild was

produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Hoytyboy Pictures, Sir Zip Studios, Contrafilm, and C.O.R.E. Feature Animation. But it was animated by C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures. Starring Kiefer Sutherland, Eddie Izzard, Jim Belushi, Janeane Garofalo, Richard Kind, Greg Cipes, Patrick Warburton, Jess Harnell and William Shatner. Alan Silvestri was the composer. Kevin Lima was the executive producer. Scott Johnston (The Lion King) and Oskar Urretabizkaia (Hercules) were the animators. Ken Duncan (Tarzan) was the animator supervisor. The Wild earned $102 million on an $80 million budget, making it a flop. As Disney had little interest in giving it a strong marketing push. Since it was sandwiched between Ice Age 2: Meltdown and DreamWorks Over the Hedge.

Similarities to Other Animated Movies and Elements

I (Samson) don`t want you
(Ryan) to lick my paw :)

Released in a time where most animated studios were trading ideas from each other, it`s fair to call The Wild derivative. Mostly because it blatantly ripoffs DreamWorks Madagascar (released almost a year priorly). Sure, it may be a shallow comparison, but both films has a similar plotline. The only exception is how Madagascar lacks a parent/child angle. But in that regard, The Wild also borrows a cue from The Lion King: A father/son dynamic between two lions, without the loss (and yes, even the logo for Broadway musical for The Lion King is present). Ryan even has a similar arc as Simba had and takes our cast to Africa (where it has wildebeest as the antagonists). But The Lion King isn`t the only movie it resembles, as the kidnapping is almost straight from Finding Nemo. And it has a protagonist being a parent (who even has his own tragic backstory, as Samson is neglected by his father and never even gets to get a closure).

I was bummed out because
the movie wasn`t about me :)

Something that is rarely seen, but similar to both Nemo and 101

Dalmatians. If Chicken Little was a transitional movie from Disney, proving that they could make a movie that was truly modern, without being steeped in the mold from it`s past, The Wild was a continuation. It was executed in the same way, being mostly fun and frivolous and having pop songs (Coldplay`s Clocks). But as for it`s elements, it has an interspecies romance between a squirrel and a giraffe. And friendship between different animals who should`ve been enemies. And yes, regardless of what could be said about the screenplay, it`s clever enough to show the differences of being in captivate and being in the wild.

The Staple of The Wild

I`m the Golden Lion from the
Sun :)

As for the overall staple of The Wild, the truth is that it`s not highly rated. It only has a 5.2 on Imdb, 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, 36 on Popcornmeter and 63% on Google. It`s pretty safe to call it semi-forgotten, as it`s been hardly remembered. But why were people turned off by it? Well, some thought it was generic, shallow, had a frenetic pacing, lazy animation, dumb characters, a idiotic baddie and jokes that fall flat. And that it was overall terrible. As for my own personal opinion about it, do I agree with the bad remarks? Well, the truth is that The Wild is a mixed bag for me. It manages to shine when it does it`s strengths right.

Don`t get used to this, Nigel :)

As it tells a sturdy story, has some good voice acting, animation, score and does have it`s moments. But it still has some truly, awfully cringey moments. Much of the comedy in the second and third half is bloody awful (pardon my expression) and awkwardly juvenile (especially the beetles). But as for it`s placement in the Disney canon, since it wasn`t a Disney production, it`s never been included in Disney`s official list of animated features. Not even when Disney radically changed their list in 2010 and included Dinosaur to make Tangled the 50th full-length feature film. So it`s placement in the Disney lineup is pretty much non-existent.

Behind the Scenes Information

In November 1998, Walt Disney Pictures got a pitch from writers Mark
Gibson and Philip Halprin. By January 1999, it was named the working titles of The Big Break and The Great Escape at the Bronx Zoo. The idea had been kicked around every studio since the early 90s. And it was planned to be in claymation in stop motion. It was originally titled Wild Life, directed by Howard Baker and Roger Gould (who were first-timers) and was to be animated by The Secret Lab (Dinosaur). It was a retro-1960's New York version of My Fair Lady (1964), but having Eliza Doolittle as an elephant. As a CGI version of Pygmalion. Some self-centered club-hopping kids get banned from their favorite night spot, a club called "Wild Life." And the only way they'll get back into the club is with a celebrity. And they`ll notice a lady elephant who sings and dances. But during the process, the kids learns to care about the elephant, who struggles to handle her public life, but hates it more when her celebrity starts to fade. It was going to be Toon Rendered (to give a 2D outline effect).

And having design influences from Klasky Csupo, Nickelodeon and
James and the Giant Peach. Some hated the designs. Disney wanted a young voice cast, as actors from Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Hans Bacher (Mulan) was the production designer and Brian McEntee (Beauty and the Beast) was the art director. And that it was better than Dinosaur. It was going to be more adult and edgy, with a cowboy character with a gay influence. And some bathroom jokes. The crew hoped that it could be released by Touchstone Pictures or Miramax. Six months and $20 million were spent. Tom Schumacher stopped Wild Life because the story wasn't strong enough. And after Roy Disney saw an early reel in the fall of 2000 (where the gay character teased another gay character, as they entered the New York City sewer system, saying he'd never been down a man hole before) decided that it wasn`t appropriate for Disney.

And it was killed after the studio spent $20 million. But Schumacher
denied that the adult tone had to do with the cancellation, as it was deleted. Despite how directors ignored some of his notes. But Wild Life didn`t got enough of him, for being busy with many projects. In September 2000 the project was revived. It was going to be like Dinosaur, a blend of CGI and live action, but it was scrapped after Dinosaur`s Box Office results. Clint Goldman met Steve Williams (Industrial Light & Magic) and both joined the project in 2002, which was going to be a live-action project, because of Madagascar. But it was turned to animation. The animation began in 2003 and took two years to complete. Over 400 animators worked on the film. Sutherland had to practice roaring like a lion. And he practiced in his car on the freeway, not seeing a woman in the next lane watching him. Jennifer Aniston, Frances McDormand, Amanda Plummer, and Jennifer Beals were considered for Bridget. The Wild was the most expensive animated film produced in Canada. It was the first and last C.O.R.E. Feature Animation film, as they closed in 2010. Nigel the koala was a minor character until a lengthy recording session saw him much more fleshed out. The opening scene was rendered in CG, despite it`s 2D style. Made by Ken Duncan and Mike Smith at Real Effects.

Epilogue

Look, I told you it wasn`t hard
to climb this fence, Ryan :)

At the end, it`s hard to defend something like The Wild. A movie that is mostly regarded as mediocre as a whole and is semi-forgotten. But as for my own personal experience with it, did I dislike it? Yes and no. When I saw it during it`s release year on Disney Channel, I remember liking parts of it, but also cringing at it`s awful parts. And frankly, revisiting it after not seeing it in two decades, I feel the exactly the same way about it. It doesn`t try and fall as hard as it`s predecessor, Chicken Little (which is overall inferior, in my opinion and had a bigger weight on it`s shoulders. For being Disney`s first official transition to a new medium). But The Wild still has some truly, awfully cringey moments.

We`re the Canine versions of
the Hyenas from The Lion
King :)

But does it truly deserve to be hated and neglected? Yes and no. While the awkward parts sullies the movie and prevents it to reach it`s full potential, I can still look past that for how The Wild shines with it`s own strengths. But still, The Wild is a middle-of-the-road movie and doesn`t needs to be regarded as something bigger than it is. But while that being said, since this entry was meant to synergize it`s 20th Anniversary (yes, it`s hard to believe that this movie is now that old), there`s nothing else to wish The Wild Happy 20th Anniversary and may you continue to have many more.