In the summer of 1968, as protests echoed in the streets and psychedelia reigned in the airwaves, Walt Disney Studios completed a film unlike anything it had ever attempted before. Jorinda and Joringel—an adaptation of the haunting Brothers Grimm tale—was dark, surreal, and uncomfortably adult. It told the story of enchanted captivity, twisted love, and transformation through loss. With a soundtrack composed by underground folk-rock legends and animation that fused pop art with shadow puppetry, it was a vision far from talking mice and magic castles.
But then... it disappeared.
Rumors swirled: that Walt himself had ordered the film shelved before his death; that its imagery was too disturbing for family audiences; that it contained hidden messages supporting the counterculture movement. For decades, Jorinda and Joringel existed only as whispers on studio lots and among animation historians—until a print was mysteriously discovered in a locked vault beneath the Disney archives.
This is the untold story of the film that never was: a deep dive into its psychedelic creation, its controversial suppression, and the strange alchemy of fairy tale and revolution that nearly changed the face of animation forever.
With rare concept art, interviews, and declassified studio memos, Walt’s Forgotten Flower uncovers the most enigmatic chapter in Disney history—and asks what happens when innocence collides with awakening.