 Depardieu was in high demand following his success in the Provençal drama "Jean de Florette" and Weir was advised he would have to wait a year for his availability.In late 1988, Weir met with Jeffrey Katzenberg at Disney (which produced the movie via Touchstone Pictures), who suggested Weir read a script recently received.On a flight back to Sydney, Weir was captivated and 6 weeks later returned to Los Angeles to cast the principal characters.