Editing Dead Poets Society (section)

=== Development ===
The original script was written by [[Tom Schulman]], based on his experiences at the [[Montgomery Bell Academy]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee]], particularly with his inspirational teacher, [[Samuel Pickering]].<ref name="Focus: Samuel F. Pickering, Jr.">{{cite news |title=Real-life professor inspires 'Dead Poets' character |newspaper=[[TimesDaily]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=July 10, 1989 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oGoeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5548%2C1862015 |location=Florence, AL, USA |publisher=Tennessee Valley Printing Co., Inc. |access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="ride">{{cite news |last=Henderson |first=Bill |date=January 12, 1992 |title=Williams and Then Some |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/12/books/robin-williams-and-then-some.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191209221814/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DA113BF931A25752C0A964958260 |archive-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref name="AFI">{{cite web |title=Dead Poets Society (1989) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/67915 |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]] |access-date=24 February 2023}}</ref> [[Jeff Kanew]] was originally hired as the director, and Kanew had envisioned [[Liam Neeson]] in the role of Keating.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meil |first=Eila |title=Casting Might-Have-Beens: A |publisher=McFarland |year=2005 |isbn=9780786420179 |location=New York}}</ref> Other actors considered for the role were [[Dustin Hoffman]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brady |first=Celia |date=March 1989 |title=Bring Back the Kids: Hollywood's Littlest Stars and Biggest Egos in their Middle Ages |journal=Spy |pages=107}}</ref> [[Mel Gibson]], [[Tom Hanks]] and [[Mickey Rourke]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walsh |first=Keri |title=Mickey Rourke |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2014 |isbn=9781844574308 |location=London |pages=2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-02 |title=Secret Heartbreak, Unbreakable Bonds and Bombed Auditions: 30 Secrets You Might Not Know About Dead Poets Society |url=https://www.eonline.com/news/1046114/secret-heartbreak-unbreakable-bonds-and-bombed-auditions-30-secrets-you-might-not-know-about-dead-poets-society |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=E! Online}}</ref> [[Robin Williams]], who was [[Touchstone Pictures]]'s preferred choice, was ultimately cast, but on the first day of shooting outside [[Atlanta]], Williams did not show, for he did not want to work with Kanew.<ref name="UCTV">{{cite web |title=Dead Poets Society - Script to Screen |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rnXafN336E |publisher=University of California Television |access-date=24 February 2023 |date=March 7, 2013 |via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> The studio burned down the already-built sets, and replaced Kanew with another director.<ref name="UCTV" />

In late 1988, [[Peter Weir]] met with [[Jeffrey Katzenberg]] at [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]]. Katzenberg, who oversaw Touchstone Pictures, suggested that Weir read Schulman's script. On the flight back to Sydney, Weir was captivated, and six weeks later returned to [[Los Angeles]] to cast the principal characters.<ref name="King 2018 430">{{Cite book|title=Fast Times and Excellent Adventures|last=King|first=James|publisher=Constable|year=2018|isbn=9781472123725|location=London|pages=430}}</ref> It was when Weir was given directing duties that filming began in earnest.<ref name="UCTV" /> In Schulman's manuscript, Keating had been ill and slowly dying of [[Hodgkin lymphoma]], with a scene showing him on his hospital deathbed. This was removed by Weir, who deemed it unnecessary, reasoning that it would focus audiences' attention on Keating's illness, rather than on what he stood for.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.writersupercenter.com/studionotes/columns/article2678.htm|title=Dead Poets Society's Tom Schulman on the Art of Surviving Hollywood|publisher=Writersupercenter.com|access-date=March 31, 2015|first=Tom|last=McCurrie|date=March 15, 2004|archive-date=April 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425125338/http://www.writersupercenter.com/studionotes/columns/article2678.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Early notes on the script from Disney also suggested making the boys' passion dancing rather than poetry, as well as a new title, ''Sultans of Swing'', focusing on the character of Mr. Keating, rather than on the boys, but both were dismissed outright.<ref name="King 2018 430"/>