Disney’s Strange (And Misguided) Plans For An Animated Catcher In The Rye Movie

J.D. Salinger’s 1951 book “The Catcher in the Rye” might be one of the most widely read American novels ever. Its protagonist, the 16-year-old Holden Caulfield, has become a model for adolescent angst, constantly expressing his disgust for the world and calling everyone and everything he objects to “phony.” He feels he can still connect with certain individuals as he comes of age, notably younger kids, but that he is growing distant from the rest of the world. When asked what he wants to do with his life, Holden pictures a fantasy wherein he stands in a field of rye situated on top of a cliff. As children play in the rye, it’s his job to catch them before they fall off the precipice. He is the catcher in the rye.

Salinger’s book has been widely scrutinized and reinterpreted. It’s as celebrated for its understanding of angst as it is pilloried for its nihilism, sex, and vulgarity. It’s also been frequently censored, although many American high schools still assign it to students. “The Catcher in the Rye” became particularly notorious in 1980 when it was found in the pocket of the man who murdered John Lennon. (The assassin wrote in the book that it was his “statement.”) A copy of “Rye” was similarly found in the possession of a man who tried to kill Ronald Reagan. Years prior, Salinger had withdrawn from the public eye, becoming a famed recluse and refusing to give interviews. These assassins only caused him to withdraw further.

“Rye” remains very popular, however, and many filmmakers have wanted to adapt the novel to the big screen in the decades since its release. Salinger forbid it, however, no matter who approached him. Artists ranging from Jerry Lewis to Jack Nicholson all expressed an interest in playing Holden Caulfield, but Salinger still said no. Weirdest of all, Walt Disney once considered making an animated version of “Rye” … featuring anthropomorphic dogs.

As stated, Salinger didn’t allow anyone to adapt his works to film in his lifetime, and it was all likely because of how much he hated 1949’s “My Foolish Heart,” a loose adaptation of his short story “Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut.” “The movie was panned when it was released. Evidently, it was so bad that it forced Salinger to give up on Hollywood altogether. There was to be no film version of “The Catcher in the Rye.”

Salinger once explained why in a letter, arguing that cinema is a lousy medium for communicating inner monologues (something that’s vital to Holden). To quote the author directly:

“(F)or me, the weight of the book is in the narrator’s voice, the non-stop peculiarities of it, his personal, extremely discriminating attitude to his reader-listener, his asides about gasoline rainbows in street puddles, his philosophy or way of looking at cowhide suitcases and empty toothpaste cartons — in a word, his thoughts. He can’t legitimately be separated from his own first-person technique.”

Nevertheless, the following film personalities all toyed with the notion of adapting “The Catcher in the Rye” at one point or another: Marlon Brando, Elia Kazan, Billy Wilder, Steven Spielberg, Harvey Weinstein, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Ralph Bakshi. (If you know anything about Bakshi’s animated workthen you know he might’ve made an amazing adaptation of Salinger’s novel in particular.)

Eventually, in 2018, Don Hahn directed “Howard,” a documentary about songwriter and longtime Disney collaborator Howard Ashman. When Collider interviewed Hahn about the film in 2020, he discussed some of the stalled Disney projects that Ashman was involved with, most notably a sequel called “Mary Poppins Comes Back” (which was written in the 1980s). Hahn also revealed Ashman was once attached to work on a project called “Dufus,” something the interviewer hadn’t heard of.

When asked about it, Hahn dropped a bomb: “Dufus” was “‘Catcher in the Rye’ with German Shepherds,” the filmmaker explained, laughing as he did. “I’m not making that up,” he added.

Here’s how the story goes:

Back in 1986, Michael Eisner, then the newly-minted CEO of Disney, really wanted to turn “The Catcher in the Rye” into a movie, as he was a huge fan of Salinger’s original novel. At the same time, Eisner knew he would never be able to buy the film rights from the famously stingy author. As such, he felt he could sidestep any copyright issues by simply changing the characters into German Shepherds, altering the title, and straying from Salinger’s central narrative just enough. The film in question was to be called “Dufus.”

Scant evidence of this project exists, but it is real. Eisner even asked his buddy and studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg to write to Ashman to see if he would be interested in collaborating on a few intended movies, including the aforementioned “Mary Poppins” sequel, “The Little Mermaid” (which he did end up working on) and “Dufus.” That letter is proof that the highest muckety-mucks at Disney (Mickety-Mouses?) were fully intending to move ahead on the project. Hahn elucidated the matter during his interview with Collider, explaining:

“Michael loved ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and he said, ‘We ought to do ‘Catcher in the Rye.” And we told him the truth, which is Salinger’s never going to do ‘Catcher in the Rye’ for anybody. And he said, ‘Well, let’s just do that kind of story, that kind of growing up, coming of age story.’ So it was that.”

Of course, “The Catcher in the Rye” will enter the public domain in 2031, at which point it’s quite likely someone will take a cinematic bat to it. That being said, anyone who’s read “The Catcher in the Rye” would be able to tell you that adapting it into a movie kind of goes against the message of the book.

Perhaps … perhaps … filmmakers will stay away out of respect.