In the summer of 1998, it became apparent that "Kingdom of the Sun" was not far along enough in production to be released in the summer of 2000 as planned. At this time, one of the Disney executives reportedly walked into Fullmer's office and, placing his thumb and forefinger a quarter-inch apart, angrily stated "your film is this close to being shut down." Fullmer approached Allers, and informed him of the need to finish the film on time for its summer 2000 release as crucial promotional deals with McDonald's, Coca-Cola and other companies were already established and depended upon meeting that release date. From screenings, Allers' vision of the film was recognized as having far too many elements. Schumacher and Peter Schneider spoke to Allers and Dindal to try to work out a pared down film, but the two had different ideas for which direction to take the film. Schumacher and Schneider broke the staff into two small teams under Allers and Dindal, and effectively had them run a "bake-off" to decide which version to go. While Allers altered some of the details of the original pitch, Dindal proposed a complete tonal shift into a comedy that Schumacher and Schneider responded favorably to. Allers gracefully allowed Dindal's version of the film to go forward, and opted to step down from co-director. With this change in direction, on September 23, 1998, the project became dormant with production costs amounting towards $25–30 million and twenty-five percent of the film animated.