For a studio that once built its reputation on turning highly specific ideas into something audiences everywhere could recognize themselves in, Pixar now seems increasingly nervous about anything that might be judged too narrow too early. That tension runs straight through The Hollywood Reporter’s new look at “Be Fri,” the canceled original that, according to insiders cited in the story, died after years of development and left some former staffers calling the fallout “devastating.”
The project came from Kristen Lester, the filmmaker behind Pixar’s 2019 SparkShort “Purl.” “Purl” was a pointed, funny story about trying to survive inside a male-centric culture, and the report says “Be Fri” was likewise rooted in Lester’s own life—specifically, “inspired by Lester’s real-life experience involving an adolescent friendship that dissolved.”
According to a former Pixar employee cited in the reporting, the film centered on two teenage girls who drift apart after learning their favorite magical-girl TV show was real, and eventually expanded into a mission to save humanity. The same source said the project went through multiple rounds of notes and several iterations before Disney’s concerns hardened around whether boys would connect to it.
That former staffer described the final version in strong terms, saying, “It was on ‘Hoppers’ level. It befuddles me why they passed on it, but with each round of notes, Disney didn’t feel like little boys could see themselves in the film enough. Basically, Disney reps were like, ‘We can’t have a girl power movie.’” THR’s reporting says the decision to stop progress on the film came in late 2023.
THR also says the cancellation landed hard inside Pixar. One former staffer described it as “devastating,” and the report presents “Be Fri” as a female-centered original that had moved well beyond the earliest stages before it was shut down.
For a company that once prided itself on original storytelling, and now seems willing to do almost anything to please with sequels and safer commercial plays, this news only makes the loss of “Be Fri” feel that much more disappointing.
