Buzz
Not all artists and writers are able to fully realize their grand visions. Sometimes, their plans are too ambitious. Other times, life simply interferes. Yet, despite these unfinished masterpieces, audiences often appreciate what remains—or may not even notice the absence of a conclusion. Here are the stories behind 11 famous works that left us wondering what could have been.
1. Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished) (1822) // Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert, likely a victim of syphilis and known by the nickname "Little Mushroom," is remembered not for his personal life, but for his lasting musical legacy. One of his most famous yet incomplete works is this symphony, which remains a popular piece of classical music. As music critic Brian Newbould noted, it’s more of a "half-finished symphony," with just two fully orchestrated movements—far fewer than the usual four. The reason behind Schubert’s abrupt halt on the composition is unknown, and a friend of his kept the incomplete work hidden for almost 40 years after the composer’s passing.
2. The Thief and the Cobbler (1992 // Richard Williams
British animation legend Richard Williams is widely recognized today for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. However, he spent an extraordinary three decades crafting The Thief and the Cobbler, an animated retelling of Arabian Nights stories. The film was a standout in the animation world (with plot points and character designs later appearing in Disney’s Aladdin), but Williams ultimately lost control of the project to financiers, leaving about 15 minutes of animation unfinished. The film was later reworked and hastily completed, resulting in a theatrical release that didn't do justice to Williams's vision. In response, fans have created a “re-cobbled” version that attempts to restore the film to its original form based on Williams’s intended artistry.
3. Portrait of George Washington (1796) // Gilbert Stuart
This famous, square-jawed portrait of George Washington became the basis for the image of the first president on the U.S. dollar bill, as well as countless reproductions. Our perception of Washington, the man who could not tell a lie, largely derives from this single painting, known as The Athenaeum. However, political portraitist Gilbert Stuart never completed the portrait of Washington. Instead, he kept the unfinished canvas—the head and shoulders were done, but the rest remained incomplete—and used it to produce over 100 copies, which he sold for substantial amounts. The original portrait was challenging to paint, too, with Washington’s new set of false teeth causing his mouth to appear bulgy.
4. The Silmarillion (1977) // J.R.R. Tolkien
Following the release of The Lord of the Rings in 1954 and 1955, fantasy enthusiasts eagerly awaited the next monumental work from J.R.R. Tolkien, the Anglo-Saxon scholar turned fantasy writer. While he produced a few shorter works, it wasn’t until after his death in 1973 that The Silmarillion finally saw the light of day. The book had its origins as early as 1916, and Tolkien continued refining it into the 1970s. After his passing, his son, Christopher, organized his father’s manuscripts, and the collection of Middle-Earth legends skyrocketed to the top of The New York Times bestseller list.
5., 6., and 7. The Trial (1925), The Castle (1926), and Amerika (1927) // Franz Kafka
In these three novels, the Bohemian writer Franz Kafka (born in the country of Bohemia) tried to extend his short story brilliance into full-length works. However, he never fully succeeded, leaving the three books incomplete in various states of disarray—The Castle doesn’t even have a completed last sentence. Kafka died in 1924 at the age of 40, and in his will, he directed his friend Max Brod to destroy all his unpublished writings. Instead, Brod published them, solidifying Kafka's place as a literary giant.
8. Requiem (1791) // Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
There is much myth surrounding Mozart’s final composition, which was commissioned by Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach and consumed the composer even as he lay on his deathbed. What is certain is that Mozart completed only the first two movements of the piece. He outlined the subsequent sections, but passed away before finishing it. Mozart’s widow, Constanze, then enlisted one of Mozart’s students, Franz Xaver Süssmayer, to complete the remaining sections. However it came together, the piece is now seen as a monumental classic and has inspired numerous modern composers to create their own versions of a “complete” Requiem.
9. and 10. Don Quixote (1969) and The Other Side of the Wind (1976) // Orson Welles
Filmmaker Orson Welles is known for his legacy of unfinished and abandoned films. Don Quixote was shot over a span of 15 years, but the project remained incomplete, compounded by the death of the actor playing the title character. The surviving fragments of the film were pieced together into a confusing 1992 release.
The Other Side of the Wind had a different fate. This was Welles's last complete non-documentary film, filmed from beginning to end. However, it ran into trouble when partial funding came from a relative of the shah of Iran. After the Iranian revolution, the ownership of the film became unclear, and Welles never had the chance to finalize the editing. Director Peter Bogdanovich worked extensively to complete the film, but due to rights issues, it remained unavailable for many years. In 2018, the film premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.
11. Kubla Khan (1798) // Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge initially envisioned his iconic poem to be 200 or 300 lines long. The entire work came to him during a hallucinatory dream, and he began writing it down immediately after waking. However, Coleridge was interrupted by a "person on business from Porlock," causing him to forget the remainder of the poem. The phrase "a person from Porlock" has since become a literary symbol for an intruder who disrupts a writer’s train of thought. Writers like Nabokov and Heinlein have referenced this incident, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams used it as a key plot element in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
