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Iconic filmmaker David Lynch passed away at the age of 78 years old this week, leaving the movie and television world reeling, as Lynch was a seismic figure in both mediums. Not only was Lynch known for films such as The Elephant Man, Dune, and Mulholland Drive, he was also the creative mind behind the paradigm-shifting television series Twin Peaks.
After news of Lynch’s passing broke, movie fans had all sorts of reactions to the news, from heartbreak to appreciation to anger. The anger wasn’t directed at Lynch, of course, but at Netflix for putting the kibosh on what could have been the visionary filmmaker’s final project.
In April of last year, Lynch told Deadline that he was trying to find financing for his animated project Snootworld after Netflix “rejected” his “fairytale” pitch.
“Just recently I thought someone might be interested in getting behind this so I presented it to Netflix in the last few months but they rejected it,” Lynch said.
The project sounds classically Lynchian as the storyline was described as “wackadoo” and the world as “crazy” and “magnificient.”
“Snootworld is kind of an old fashioned story and animation today is more about surface jokes. Old fashioned fairytales are considered groaners: apparently people don’t want to see them. It’s a different world now and it’s easier to say no than to say yes.”
“It takes my breath away how wacky it is. The Snoots are these tiny creatures who have a ritual transition at aged eight at which time they get tinier and they’re sent away for a year so they are protected,” co-writer Caroline Thompson explained. “The world goes into chaos when the Snoot hero of the story disappears into the carpet and his family can’t find him and he enters a crazy, magnificent world.”
Following Lynch’s passing, movie fans raged at the idea that Netflix would turn down the chance to make a David Lynch project while simultaneously green-lighting instantly forgettable garbage.
“Shoutout to everybody at Netflix who decided not to move forward with all the projects David Lynch wanted to do in his final years. I’m sure all the other stuff you greenlit instead was much better,” read a tweet with over 1.4 million views and 84,000 likes.
“We need to [redacted] everyone at Netflix for cancelling lynch’s last movie mid-production btw,” added another viral post.
“Netflix should be deeply ashamed and embarrassed that they refused to fund Lynch’s possible final project. Disgusting company,” a third perturbed cinephile chimed in.
Lynch’s final film, Inland Empire, released in 2006, and his final project was Twin Peaks: The Return, which aired to critical acclaim on Showtime in 2017.
He was nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards three times, for his work on The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive. In 2019, he was given an Academy Honorary Award “for fearlessly breaking boundaries in pursuit of his singular cinematic vision.”