We found out almost a year ago that Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind 2010's Despicable Me and last year's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, were going to continue their adaptations of Seuss's works - something that came about as a result of Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri's friendly relationship with the author's widow, which led to Horton Hears a Who! when he was still at Blue Sky Studios - with a film adaptation of The Cat in the Hat, as well as a live-action Dr. Seuss biopic. Today, news emerged that they've secured another Seussian property, and will be remaking How the Grinch Stole Christmas in CG.
Variety reports that Pete Candeland is set to direct, having previously worked on Disney's Aladdin TV series and Gorillaz music videos. The Variety article points out that, despite his lack of big film experience, Candelend may well be a good fit for Illumination, given their previous good track record with relative novice directors. No writers, nor a release date, have been named yet, but Meledandri is producing and Seuss's widow, Audrey Geisel, is executive producing.
I wasn't all too taken with The Lorax - it felt padded and unoriginal, though its heart was in the right place, and you can't argue with its animation - and Illumination's The Grinch is going to have a hard time living up to Chuck Jones' 1966 animated TV special (see top), but The Grinch is definitely one of Seuss's most fertile properties, and, if all things come together well, it could be a really fun film.
Illumination are also working on Curious George, Woody Woodpecker and Addams Family films, as well as a Despicable Me spin-off - Despicable Me 2 is released on 28th June in the UK and 3rd July in the US.
Via Cartoon Brew.
Oh great, I can watch this great book be ruined twice over! Poor Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng for trying so hard to make their short films be accurate to the book whilst having to add padding that wasn't too over the top and unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteIf they must keep adapting Seuss, why can't they just do Tv special shorts out of them again? If shorts like 'The Gruffalo' and 'The Snowman' can be so memorable and popular whilst being made on a TV budget, why can't the Seuss stories too?
Bad enough knowing Dreamworks is in the process of making their own movie of Roahl Dahl's BFG. *hides under bed until it's all over*
Not a fan of The Lorax then I take it, Tre? Haha!
DeleteI agree with you, if I'm honest; I like to remain optimistic, but The Lorax was padded to infinity and beyond - and not well. I imagine the reason they're doing films, not shorts, is - pessimistic though it may sound - for the money, you can't argue with The Lorax's box office returns.
Also why is there going to be ANOTHER Curious George movie? It's aready had a pretty successful reboot about a decade or so ago. And a Woody Woodpecker movie? Wonder what 'celebrity' is gonna get the role of Woody, cos I can't see Billy West being famous enough to be in the movie.
ReplyDeleteJust when I was glad that the 'Marvin The Martian' and 'Hong Kong Phooey' movies were cancelled. 9_9
Yeah, this links in well to the adaptation article I wrote a while back - it seems a lot of animation studios have just plain run out of ideas.
DeleteI watched the Lorax last night for the first time and didn't mind it actually. Wasn't on par with Pixar or Dreamworks in terms of story but the animation is up there with the best. Let's hope they can grasp what makes the source material so loved and not just pad it out with gags or side stories which miss the point.
ReplyDeleteWell, don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it; it had a lot of heart, a really good ending and some touching stuff. But everything with Ted and Audrey just felt like filler to me.
DeleteBut at the same time, I loved Despicable Me. So, I', hopeful for Illumination's rather packed upcoming slate.