The Exodus project was first announced on September 7, 2004, with the involvements of McKenna, executive producer Max Howard, and 50 to 75 animators from the studio ElectroAge revealed. Exodus was developing the film as part of a $50 million fund that also included "The Hero of Color City" and "Amarillo Armadillo"; "Igor" made up a chunk of the fund, being budgeted at $30 million. The original plan was to produce a short film, titled "Igor: Unholy Frijoles", that would get the producers comfortable with making a feature-length film and serve as a launch for a longer version of "Igor" to be released in 2007. The seven-minute short was also going to premiere in festivals before being distributed.