Even though DreamWorks Animation honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg is content to keep the money train rolling on the studio’s tried and true franchise (there are plans for half a dozen “Kung Fu Panda” movies), the studio will get to some more original content. Eventually.
DreamWorks Animation formally announced today that work is underway on a new film, “Me and My Shadow.” Mixing CG and hand drawn animation, and being primed for 3D (of course), the film will tell the story of “Shadow Stan, an extremely frustrated shadow who yearns for a dynamic life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, the world’s most boring human. Finally pushed to the brink, Shadow Stan breaks the singular rule of the Shadow World (“They lead, we follow”), and takes control of Stanley!”
Mark Dindal (“Chicken Little,” “The Emperor’s New Groove“) is directing with a script originally written by Steve Bencich and Ron Friedman (“Chicken Little,” “Open Season“) and getting a redo by writing team Tom Astle and Matt Ember (“Get Smart“). That’s more or less all the info for now, though celebrity voices will become attached sooner or later. It actually sounds like a pretty fun concept and given that DreamWorks has been giving Pixar a run for their money lately, we’re definitely intrigued to see how this one turns out. The film hits theaters in March 2013.