Announced a year ago as being the first project of Walt Disney Studios and Guillermo del Toro’s new production label Disney Double Dare You, Trollhunters has landed at DreamWorks Animation.
Del Toro will write and direct the adaptation of a young-adult book the filmmaker submitted to publisher Hyperion about two weeks ago.
An article at The Hollywood Reporter says that del Toro has decided to make DreamWorks Animation his animation home: “He will serve as a consultant and exec producer on several projects already in development, including ‘Kung Fu Panda 2,’ ‘Puss in Boots’ and one yet-to-be-revealed project. His fingerprints will even be on DWA’s next feature, ‘Megamind,’ which hits theaters Nov. 5.”
About the project, del Toro said: “I wanted very much to develop a story that could be written for kids but dealt with a genre that was scary. It essentially combines fairy tales with modern times and is about how difficult it is to be kid. Normally, kids are idealized in animated films. But the growing pains, married with the notion that there is a world right next to us that is completely plagued by creatures of ancient lore, it’s thematically fitting with the rest of my stuff.”
Del Toro has already started writing Trollhunters and plans on finishing it before he shoots At the Mountains of Madness.
According to the trade, del Toro is beginning his fourth week of design work with Lightstorm Entertainment on his directorial project At the Mountains of Madness. He is having a summit with Universal in three weeks at which he and his team will present a budget, art and maquettes to the studio’s executives.
Here is the press release on del Toro teaming up with DreamWorks Animation:
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq:DWA – News) announced today that famed Oscar-nominated director Guillermo del Toro has named the studio his home for animated feature film projects. Del Toro will join Andrew Adamson and Michelle Raimo as Executive Producer on Puss In Boots, which is scheduled to be released on November 4, 2011.
DreamWorks Animation has acquired from del Toro Trollhunters (working title), an original project from which the Company plans to produce a 3D animated feature film, which will be written and directed by del Toro himself. The exciting new story of Trollhunters is being kept entirely under wraps at the studio. Additionally, del Toro will consult on a number of DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming feature film releases.
“Animation is a singularly unique medium in that it allows an artist to envision, articulate and manipulate whole new worlds that spark the imagination in amazing ways,” said Guillermo del Toro. “Nowhere have I found a greater concentration of spirit and creativity than at DreamWorks Animation and I cannot imagine a better place for me to pursue my ambition as a filmmaker: to tell the best possible stories that can reach the biggest number of people around the world.”
“On behalf of the entire studio, I’d like to warmly welcome Guillermo into the DreamWorks family of filmmakers; we are incredibly honored that he has chosen our studio as his home for feature animation,” said Bill Damaschke, Co-President of Production at DreamWorks Animation. “Guillermo brings a unique vision and unmatched level of inventiveness to his storytelling and we cannot wait to see what he can do together with our creative team here at DreamWorks Animation.”
