In the old days, if a studio wanted to make an animated movie, they tried to grab someone who’d worked for Disney, but nowadays it’s Pixar that’s the brain trust everyone wants a part of. Numerous Dreamworks and Fox animated films have made use of ex-Pixar talent, and now Sony Animation is once more getting in on the act.
For Surf’s Up they got Toy Story 2 co-director Ash Brannon and ex-Disney animator Chris Buck, and now they’ve announced they’ve hired Doug Sweetland for their latest, an CG adaptation of The Familiars. Sweetland worked in various capacities on the likes of Toy Story, A Bug’s Like, Monster’s Inc, The Incredibles, Cars and Finding Nemo, before getting an Oscar nomination for directing Presto, the CGI short that accompanied Wall-E to cinemas.
The Familiars will be based on the children’s book by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, about a trio of magical apprentices who are kidnapped by an evil queen. Their only hope is their familiars (magical animal companions), a cat, a blue jay and a tree frog, who set off on a rescue mission.
It all sounds a bit Harry Potter with animals, but it’s a decent set-up for an animated movie. Epstein and Jacobson are currently writing the script, and Sam Raimi and Joshua Donen will produce.
It’ll be interesting to see if it works, as taking people away from the unique set-up at PIxar has had mixed results, due to the fact the PIxar movies are a team effort in the way few films are, so going it alone is often tough. There’s no news yet though of when the film might hit cinemas.