Director Nathan Greno has revealed the details of the complex development of Swapped, his new animated film on Netflix. Originally conceived as Powerless, a teenage superhero story centered on empathy, the project became tangled in a confusing plot. During a key meeting, Greno admitted the problem to John Lasseter and asked to start over from scratch, getting the green light for a radical change.
From superheroes to creatures: Skydance's technical twist 🎬
The solution to avoid human transformation clichés came from Lasseter, who suggested eliminating human characters entirely. This change forced the team to redesign every scene, character, and narrative dynamic from an animal perspective. The decision involved considerable technical effort in animation and script, redirecting the original teenage tone toward a more abstract and visual approach, where empathy had to be expressed without human faces.
Lasseter: when your boss tells you to erase the humans 😅
Imagine walking into a meeting, admitting your film is a disaster, and your boss replies: okay, but remove all the humans. That's what happened at Skydance. Greno went from directing a teenage superhero film to orchestrating an animal drama without a single biped in sight. At least, that way they saved themselves the dilemma of choosing live-action actors for the voice cast.