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Sergio Pablos’ ‘Ember’ Will Not Proceed at Netflix

The streamer reportedly is no longer moving forward with the Oscar-nominated ‘Klaus’ director and his SPA Studios on the 2D hand-drawn feature, which it announced just this past June as part of its current European slate of animated features and series.

Netflix will not proceed with Oscar-nominated Klaus director Sergio Pablos’ new 2D hand-drawn animated feature film, Ember, according to a Variety report.

Announced by the streamer this past June as part of an aggressive European slate of animated features and series, the film is billed as an epic adventure tale of humankind’s quest for fire told through the eyes of young Dikika who embarks on an impossible race to a distant volcano to retrieve the precious spark that will save her tribe. No release date was given.

Sources at Netflix told Variety the decision is “creative driven, not cost-related.” Pablos retains the rights to the film and can shop it elsewhere.

Earlier this year, the streamer axed a number of shows in development and production, including executive producer Ava DuVernay’s Wings of Fire, the preschool program Antiracist Baby, and the children’s film With Kind Regards From Kindergarten. Those cuts came on the heels of Meghan Markle’s Pearl getting scrapped while still in development, as well as Chris Nee’s (Ada TwistDino Daycare and Jaydeep Hasrajani’s action-comedy series Boons and Curses getting shut down in the middle of production.

Pablos is known for working as a supervising animator on Disney films such as Tarzan and Treasure Planet, as well as for having developed the original story upon which films like Despicable Me and Smallfoot are based on. He started SPA Studios in 2004.

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Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.