10 Most Delayed Films Ever

Disney may be the world's most famous film studio but Walt Disney's wild demands and habit of spontaneously changing his plans often lead to massive delays in his work, especially with Sleeping Beauty. Now, the average animated feature takes four years to make.

Since the script of Sleeping Beauty was written in 1951, Disney expected it to open in 1955. Although the director, Wilfred Jackson, prepped the animation by 1953, Disney demanded major restructuring of the story, throwing out a lot of Jackson's work.

While Jackson revised the script, he suffered a heart attack, forcing Eric Larson to take over the director's chair. Disney became so sick and tired of setbacks, he refused to have story meetings, which delayed production even further. Disappointed with Larson's work, Disney had him replaced with Clyde Geronimi. Disney then had ANOTHER director, Wolfgang Reitherman, work alongside Geronimi for the climatic battle scene.

Still unsatisfied, Disney hired two more directors to rework certain scenes, including the opening. After seven long years, Sleeping Beauty was finally released. Despite making $5.3 million, making it the most successful film of the year apart from Ben-Hur, it was a flop since it failed to recoup its $6 million budget.