Brad Bird says he never pitched Ray Gunn to Pixar because the audience he had in mind did not fit the studio’s family-film reputation.
In a new Variety interview, Bird said he did not think the animated detective story was in Pixar’s “wheelhouse.” He pointed to the younger audience commonly associated with the studio’s films.
Bird also said putting Pixar’s name on the project could lead families to expect the same audience fit as the studio’s other movies. Pixar did not reject Ray Gunn; Bird chose not to pitch it there.
The filmmaker instead took the project to Skydance Animation. Netflix is set to release the movie.
Source: Variety’s October 10 interview with Brad Bird.