Paint World/Trivia


 * The idea of Paint World was originally conceived by animators Geo G. and Michael Wildshill in the 1980s while working at Hanna-Barbera before their newly-formed animation studio Geo G. Productions was separated from Hanna-Barbera and renamed as Gingo Animation in 1988; they always wanted to realize their dream of producing an animated feature-length film. Geo then came up with the story of the film, which was about a boy who attempts to save his world from losing its colors.

After the success of Gingo's short film The Special Visitor in 1989, the studio was approached by Universal Studios to produce an animated feature film that would become Paint World, an offer which the founders immediately accepted. The deal was settled in May 1989, and Geo and Wildshill, along with fellow Gingo animator Audel LaRoque, began working on the script of Paint World, which was to be directed by Geo in his feature-length directorial debut. The original draft was completely different from the final version of the film. In the draft, Deon Splatt was named Splat and was a human child raised by humanoid creatures known as "paintrolls." Years passed, Splat, now a young adult, had found out that the world is coming apart by losing colors that were stolen by wicked monsters so he teamed up with his friends to stop the monsters. After their victory of wiping out the monsters, Splat then became the leader of the paintrolls. Splat is the only main character in the original draft who made it to the final version as Deon Splatt. Some of the characters in the draft later become Deon's family and friends in final film.

Gingo approved of the film's script and pre-production for Paint World started, set for a Thanksgiving 1991 release date. The studio then looked for actors to be cast in the film. In late 1989, the Gingo staff flew to production of the 1990 film Back to the Future Part III to discuss the part of Splat with Michael J. Fox. Scott Weinger, known for his role as the title character of the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin, was also being reportedly considered for the role of Splat. Wildshill's choices for the other characters included Jim Carrey, Bill Murray and Kate Winslet. However, development for Paint World was stalled in February 1990 when Universal and Gingo became concerned over the upcoming release of the 1991 animated films, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Universal's another animated film An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (which were both released on the same day). Gingo abandoned Paint World in March 1990 after the studio had already designed six months worth pre-production and Universal had left the project. The studio then decided to start work on other projects, such as the short film Spot and the television series Gabriel Garza to be aired on CBS in 1991.

With the success of Gabriel Garza, Gingo began concerning their interest in restarting development on Paint World in late 1994. The following year, Gingo revived the project and the staff brought The Lion King writer Irene Mecchi on to help rewrite their 1989 script with additional input from Thomas Lennon and David Silverman. As Geo was busy on other projects at the time, writer LaRoque was selected to direct the film in his directorial debut. Universal then returned to the film in 1996 and secured Gingo's first animated feature with the film.