Director Taika Waititi is no stranger to making films about controversial figures. Hell, his upcoming “Jojo Rabbit” features the filmmaker starring as a version of Adolf Hitler. But with his schedule filling up with all that post-“Thor: Ragnarok” work, including a live-action “Akira,” it appears that Waititi had to make some tough choices, including dumping a long-in-development animated film about Michael Jackson’s pet chimp, called “Bubbles.”
According to Cartoon Brew, Waititi has backed out as co-director of the film “Bubbles,” which is a stop-motion animated film about the famous chimp that was best friends with the controversial, now-deceased King of Pop. And as you might imagine, after Waititi backed out of the film, Netflix decided that it didn’t want to be in the Michael Jackson’s pet chimp business either.
We have no doubt that a Taika Waititi animated film about the weirdness that is “Bubbles” would have been hilarious. Almost everything that the filmmaker touches has been comedic gold. He even made Thor cool and funny (while also introducing the world to the beauty of Korg), which is no easy task. But perhaps when looking at a busy schedule, with necessary sacrifices needing to be made, the first one on the chopping block is probably going to be the comedy about the pet of an alleged child molester. Makes sense.
Waititi hinted recently that the film was already on the backburner. Speaking to Deadline, he said, “That [‘Bubbles’] script has been around for a long time, and it’s a little bit stuck in the early stages of trying to figure out what it could be and what it would look like. It’s a fucking brilliant script, though. It’s so cool to look at the idea of telling a story like this through the eyes of a chimpanzee.”
He added, “But right now I’m finishing two other features—one which I’m looking to do this year—and finishing ‘Jojo,’ and there are a couple of TV shows I’m developing. There’s about two or three that I mentioned to the press, and they’re way back on my backburner.”
So, while it’s a sad day for film fans hoping for the epitome of weird –an animated Michael Jackon/pet chimpanzee movie– we can’t help but think that this is the best route for all parties involved.
That being said, if you’re anxiously awaiting your next dose of Waititi goodness, “Jojo Rabbit” is expected to hit theaters on October 18. And if that’s too long to wait, why not check out the pretty great “What We Do In The Shadows” FX series?
