Prior to 2015, Brad Bird had earned enough goodwill to generate interest in any project he had lined up. After The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille were all hailed as animated masterpieces, Bird made the leap into live-action with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol — a roaring success that revitalized the waning action franchise. Bird’s next project was an original science fiction project, and the eventual revelation that it would be named after one of Walt Disney Parks’ most beloved attractions only earned it more buzz.
2015 was a monumental year for Disney, as the studio launched a sequel to The Avengers, a new Star Wars film, and two releases from Pixar. However, these films all came from subsidiaries; while Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar had become indistinguishable from the Disney brand, the studio sought another success like Pirates of the Caribbean. Given the failures of several four-quadrant live-action films aimed at the Pirates of the Caribbean audience (including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Tron Legacy, and John Carter), investing in the creative vision of an established auteur seemed like a logical decision for the company.
