Just what is it about William Joyce that makes him the creative equivalent of catnip for Hollywood animation studios? Perhaps it’s because his books often lead to wildly successful films such as Shrek.
The latest getting the red carpet treatment into production is his tale The Leaf Men And The Brave Good Bugs, winner of the 2004 award for Title That’s A Complete Mouthful And Most Likely To Be Shortened When Filmed.
Fox Animation and Ice Age director Chris Wedge will shove the book into development at Wedge’s ‘toon facility Blue Sky. Joyce and Jim V Hart have been hired to scribble a script based on the book, which will expand on the somewhat basic, heavily illustrated story.
Leaf Men is described an epic adventure™, with a brigade of the courageous creepy crawlies marching to save a nearby garden, battling a devious spider-queen (someone get Joan Collins on the phone now!) and tracking down the mythical Leaf Men to help save the day.
Wedge had been hard at work developing Tor Seidler’s book Wainscott Weasel, but with Leaf Men now his first priority, that weasel has well and truly gone pop.
