Disney’s Florida studio spent years on My Peoples, a bluegrass comedy about Appalachian folk-art dolls, and talked to Dolly Parton about voicing its star. See why Disney pulled the plug in 2003.
Dolly Parton almost had a Disney animated movie.
In the early 2000s, Disney’s Florida animation studio was making My Peoples, a bluegrass-filled comedy about Appalachian folk-art dolls that come to life. Parton was reported as the voice of Angel, the movie’s lead doll. Then Disney canceled it in late 2003.
Parton died Aug. 25 at 80, and ABC and Disney+ air a live tribute to her on Oct. 21. So here’s a look back at the Disney movie that had her name all over it, and why it never reached theaters.
What was My Peoples about?
Director Barry Cook, who co-directed “Mulan,” started working on it in 1999, Animated Views reported in a 2012 interview with Cook. It grew out of his short story “The Ghost & His Gift,” a retelling of Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost.”
The movie was set in late-1940s Appalachia. A young man named Elgin Harper carves a folk-art doll, Angel, out of a flour scoop as a gift for Rose McGee. The problem: Rose’s family is feuding with his, a lot like the real Hatfields and McCoys.
A spell from Rose’s father backfires and brings Angel to life. And Angel has no interest in being anybody’s peace offering. She has a bad attitude and a plan to skip town.
Angel had plenty of company. Cook dreamed up a whole gang of dolls, including an Abraham Lincoln with a scrub-brush body and spoons for ears, and Ms. Spinster, carved from the wooden leg of Elgin’s late aunt.
Was Dolly Parton in My Peoples?
She was reported to be.
The rumored voice cast included Parton as Angel, Lily Tomlin as Ms. Spinster, Hal Holbrook as Abraham Lincoln, Travis Tritt as Elgin and Ashley Judd as Rose, Animated Views reported. Charles Durning and Lou Rawls were on that list, too.
Cook stayed careful about it. “I’m probably not at liberty to discuss their involvement to a great degree, because that’s up to them,” he said.
But he did confirm the interest. “We definitely talked to them and wanted them to be part of the film,” Cook said.
What music was in My Peoples?
Bluegrass and country, lots of it.
Ricky Skaggs signed on as executive music producer and wrote three songs, one with Marty Stuart, Animated Views reported. Skaggs also worked with Hank Williams III to update a Hank Williams Sr. classic.
“It was a dream cast of people to put together musically,” Cook said.
Cook gave some credit to “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Its hit soundtrack showed Hollywood executives what bluegrass could do. “In a way, that film opened the door to make the development of My Peoples possible,” he said.
Skaggs is on the lineup for the Oct. 21 Parton tribute, too.
What would My Peoples have looked like?
It was going to be a hybrid. Cook planned about 70% computer animation and 30% hand-drawn animation, with computer-animated dolls and hand-drawn humans, according to Animated Views. The budget was $45 million.
To sell it, Cook shipped a wooden violin case to a meeting in Los Angeles. Inside was a sculpture of Angel, “almost like it was a little casket,” he said.
A fan uploaded an early test trailer for the movie, from back when it was called A Few Good Ghosts:
Why did Disney cancel My Peoples?
The movie went through a lot of names first. It became Once in a Blue Moon, then Elgin’s People, then Angel & Her No Good Sister, and finally A Few Good Ghosts by October 2003, Animated Views reported. By then, the dolls were brought to life by the spirits of Elgin’s ancestors.
On Nov. 14, 2003, David Stainton, then president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, told the Florida staff the movie was canceled. More than 100 people would be let go within two months.
In an email to staffers in Burbank, Stainton explained the call. “The fundamental idea is not strong enough or universally appealing enough to support the kind of performance our movies must have today,” he wrote, as Animated Views reported.
Cook later learned it came down to two movies.
“For us, it came down basically to Mark Dindal’s Chicken Little or My Peoples. One was going to get made, but not both,” he said. “The decision was made. Mark’s film won out.”
Disney was moving away from hand-drawn animation at the time, and it soon closed the Florida studio, too.
“That moment in my career was absolutely heartbreaking,” Cook said.
Could My Peoples ever come back?
Disney hasn’t announced anything.
Cook talked about the chances of a revival on the “Appalachia Meets World” podcast in 2022. One of the hosts made it clear he’d love to see it happen.
What other Disney projects did Dolly Parton do?
Her best-known Disney role was on TV. Parton played Aunt Dolly on Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana,” including the Season 1 episode “Good Golly, Miss Dolly,” according to Disney Channel.
Jim Hill Media dug into her “long and surprisingly deep connection to Disney” on its podcast two days after she died.
The Oct. 21 special, “CMA Presents I Will Always Love You: A Celebration of Dolly Parton,” airs live from 9 to 11 p.m. ET on ABC and streams live on Disney+.
What are some fun facts about My Peoples?
One scene had the dolls hijack a drive-in. To ruin Rose’s date, the dolls tap into the speaker box and dub over the movie on screen. “I really felt, with that scene, we’d cracked the code on the movie,” Cook said.
Some big Disney names worked on it. Andreas Deja, the animator behind Gaston, Jafar and Scar, was drawing Rose McGee, according to Animated Views.
A preacher doll got cut. Disney executives worried the Preacher Man character might come off as an offensive stereotype, Animated Views reported.
Cook kept directing. He later co-directed “Arthur Christmas” (2011).
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Josh Armstrong, Animated Views, July 30, 2012: Director Barry Cook remembers the Peoples of Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida
Appalachia Meets World, April 15, 2022: Episode 48, “My Peoples” with Barry Cook
The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, Aug. 27, 2026: The Dolly Parton Disney Movie That Almost Was
Disney Channel on YouTube: Hannah Montana, “Aunt Dolly Comes to Town and Visits Miley!”
Maxie’s Random Junk on YouTube: A Few Good Ghosts (a.k.a. My Peoples) proof-of-concept trailer
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