Sounds like Disney is determined to pandemic-proof their movies.

While I have my major criticisms about The Mandalorian as a narrative, I have to admit, there’s something incredibly Star Wars about it. Just like Lucas did in the ‘70s, ’80s, and ‘00s, it pushed forward technology in an unprecedented direction. Utilizing Stagecraft technology, it allowed The Mandalorian to maintain the galaxy-hopping scope of the franchise within the budget of a standard streaming TV series. It’s almost too perfect that it came right at the start of a pandemic.

Earlier this year, countless productions were put on hold. In an unprecedented move, more films than we can count were delayed, making it clear that our world simply wasn’t prepared for a pandemic. As a result, many studios, including Disney, have had to put down losses for the most recent quarter. But what if…a studio could ensure that such setbacks never happened again? It seems like the technology is almost there, but could the actually make it work?

According to one user in the WDW Magic forum, that’s exactly what they’re trying. User WDW Pro recently posted an extensive breakdown of what they’ve been hearing from various sources. 

“Recieved [sic] word recently that Disney is seeking to diversify its ability to produce movies and shorts in the event that the pandemic continues into the future, or in the event that such a crisis should ever occur again,” WDW Pro posted. “According to sources, Disney is seeking to push forward with the same technology used to create movies such as The Lion King 2019 and The Jungle Book 2016, as well as human facial CGI seen in Rogue One, to begin work on an unnamed film that would be fully computer animated but presented as a live action [sic] film featuring human characters.”

RELATED – How The Groundbreaking Mandalorian Technology Could Help Restart Hollywood

But, “wait,” you may be saying. “This says nothing about a whole bunch of films.” Well, this does seem to be in service of a greater cause down the line.

“The goal is to test the waters of creating computer animated films indistinguishable from live action [sic], thus bypassing the need for actors (and actor salaries), as well as the need for proximity,” WDW Pro stated. It’s that last part that’s important. It pretty much states that, with this new method, we wouldn’t have to worry about endangering lives during production. But they continued. “According to one source, the unnamed film is a movie about young Indiana Jones, though no other person has been able to corroborate the subject matter.”

But the tests wouldn’t start with the young Indiana Jones film (assuming that’s real). The user goes on to state that they could be testing this on the Cosmic Rewind ride at Walt Disney World. Should this pan out as a proof of concept, it could mean Disney will go forward with this technological direction to pandemic-proof their movies.

From the sound of it, Disney isn’t necessarily hoping to fully get rid of actors. This appears to be a big reaction to the pandemic. They never want to be in this position again, and see this as step to actively avoid being stalled out again.

What do you think of this rumor? How do you feel about Disney looking to pandemic-proof their business? Sound off down below!

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SOURCE: WDW Magic