 Stevens , Bilson , De Meo , and Dear began to pitch The Rocketeer in 1986 to the major film studios but were turned down . " This was 1986 , long before Batman or Dick Tracy or anything similar " , Stevens explained . " In those days , no studio was interested at all in an expensive comic book movie . We got there about three years too early for our own good ! " Walt Disney Studios eventually accepted The Rocketeer because they believed the film had toyetic potential and appeal for merchandising . The Rocketeer was set to be released through the studio 's Touchstone Pictures label ; Stevens , Bilson , De Meo , and Dear all signed a contract which would permit them to make a trilogy of Rocketeer films . However , Disney studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg switched the film to a Walt Disney Pictures release . According to Stevens , " immediately , Betty and anything else ' adult ' went right out with the bathwater . They really tried to shoehorn it into a kiddie property so they could sell toys . All they really wanted at the end of the day , was the name " . 
