Filmmaker Ron Howard is set to turn his attention to the world of animation for the first time, with Variety reporting that he has signed on to direct a feature-length adaptation of Florence Parry Heide’s children’s book The Shrinking of Treehorn.
The 1971 book follows a young man who begins shrinking in size after playing a strange board game. The movie adaptation is being produced by Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment along with Animal Logic, the company behind The LEGO Movie and Happy Feet, and will incorporate the same aesthetics as artist Edward Gorey’s book illustrations. Rob Lieber (Peter Rabbit, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) is writing the script.
“I’ve long had this passionate point of view that Ron Howard should make a tentpole animated movie,” said Animal Login CEO Zareh Nalbandian. “It was serendipitous that Imagine was sort of evolving and growing, and Animal Logic was more and more committed to the development and production of our own intellectual property. We have a shared vision of what that space can be.”
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Howard is currently shooting his Netflix feature Hillbilly Elegy, which features a cast that includes Amy Adams, Haley Bennett, Glenn Close and Gabriel Basso.
Originally published June 24, 2019. Updated June 23, 2019.
