10 Movies Actually Improved By Studio Interference

Pixar's journey to creating their 1995's feature film debut Toy Story is well known for its financial struggles. However, these difficulties pale in comparison to the ridiculous levels of studio interference from Disney who managed to both almost ruin and then save the film during its production.

In exchange for their financial support, director John Lasseter and his team were required to give frequent presentations to then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios Jeffery Katzenberg.

During these meetings, Katzenberg would reportedly lobby for Lasseter and team to add more "edginess" to the film's lead characters, so it would appeal to a more adult audience.

The result was something that Lasseter would later describe as "a story filled with the most unhappy, mean characters that I've ever seen". Upon showing Disney the film's first half in late 1993, the studio shutdown production in an event dubbed 'The Black Friday Incident'.

Thankfully for Pixar, the studio finally relented control and allowed Lasseter to achieve his creative vision. Katzenberg also allowed the project to be filed under the wing of Walt Disney Feature Animation which enabled Pixar to consult directly with Disney's animation veterans.

Production would later re-start in February 1994 and the final film was recieved with enormous critical and commercial success, launching Pixar's decades-long domination of the animation industry.