Twentieth Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios have begun prepping the 3D-animated HORTON HEARS A WHO, with ROBOTS story consultant and former Pixar animator Jimmy Hayward co-directing with ROBOTS art director Steve Martino, VARIETY reports. A spring 2008 release is set.
Ken Daurio and Cinco Paul have finished the script, and storyboarding has begun under the supervision of Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri and Blue Skys Chris Wedge, both of whom are producing.
Exec producing will be Audrey Geisel, Theodor Geisels widow, who sold Fox both HORTON and an option for a sequel based on HORTON HATCHES AN EGG.
Hayward spent a decade as an animator on TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, MONSTERS, INC. and A BUGS LIFE. He was elevated to supervising animator on TOY STORY 2.
Emmy winner Martino came to Blue Sky after establishing such vfx/animation houses as MetroLight Studios, which earned an Oscar for vfx work on TOTAL RECALL, and Click 3X L.A., where he was animation director.
Martino and Hayward have taken advantage of access to Dr. Seuss notes and letters explaining his visual inspiration for Horton and his world. Theyre collaborating with visual development artists Dice Tsutsumi, Sang Jun Lee and Sean Tann, and full scale animation will begin by summer.
Meledandri contends that 3D animation is best suited to exploring the richly imagined world of Dr. Seuss.
He had one of the greatest imaginations, and opening a Dr. Seuss book as a child or an adult meant entering his unique world, Meledandri said. We always felt that there were inescapable limits on how successfully live-action filmmaking could translate Geisels vision to film. With CG imagery and the amazing talents of the artists at Blue Sky, we have the opportunity to truly transport an audience into the enchanted world of Seuss and, for 80 minutes, make then believe that it really exists.
Fox Animation vp John Cohen is shepherding the project with Meledandri. Meanwhile, Fox releases Blue Skys ICE AGE 2: THE MELTDOWN March 31.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
