This film is unique in that it attracted a substantial amount of talent from both old and new sources. Many of the cast and crew members went on to have successful careers in the animation industry. Co-writer Joe Ranft became a script supervisor at Pixar, while animators Glen Keane, Kirk Wise and Kevin Lima went on to animate and co-direct films of the Disney Renaissance, such as "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", "Pocahontas", "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Tarzan". Keane would also go on to produce the 2010 animated film "Tangled". Effects animator Mark Dindal directed Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove" and "Chicken Little", as well as Warner Bros.' "Cats Don't Dance". Character designer Rob Minkoff directed "The Lion King", "Stuart Little", "Stuart Little 2" and "Mr. Peabody & Sherman". After directing a financially unsuccessful film "The Marrying Man" in 1991, Jerry Rees now directs Disney theme park films. Voice actors Jon Lovitz and Phil Hartman wound their way onto animated series such as "The Simpsons". Many have noted that this film shares similarities to the "Toy Story" franchise, also worked on by John Lasseter. Rees saw it as "the next inanimate object feature".