Animation producer/writer Steve Leiva currently has a piece on the LA Times blogspot on the early unsuccessful effort to bring Will Eisner's The Spirit to the screen as an animated feature.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/

In 1980 Brad Bird (The Incredibles), Gary Kurtz (American Graffiti and Star Wars), Jerry Rees (The Marrying Man) and Leiva optioned the film rights to "The Spirit" from Will Eisner in order to develop it into an animated feature. He writes: Written and to be directed by Brad, we intended "The Spirit" to be a revolutionary and -- we were convinced -- very successful animated feature. This was at a time when people were declaring Disney animation near dead, and upcoming animated features were along the lines of "The Care Bears Movie."
The article features a great snapshot of Steve, Brad and Will Eisner as young sprouts.

Interesting what-if.