I don’t often use “crackerjack” as a superlative, but I can think of no better choice for this Stuff Of Legends kid’s movie premise that leaps off the page wiht what is accurately described by Deadline as a mix of Toy Story and Chronicles of Narnia.
A young boy in 1944 is abducted by the Boogeyman, dragged by the ankles into the closet realm known as The Dark. The boy’s puppy rallies his toys to follow his master in a rescue mission. Once in the closet, each of those toys become menacingly large and agile creatures who engage in a war with the Boogeyman’s forces. Those armies are comprised of the other toys stored in the closet, a mix of medieval knights, cowboys and toy soldiers.
Does that not sound great?
This all comes from a pitch from Pete Candeland, a director known for his Gorillaz-related video work and the absolutely triumphant opening animation for Rock Band: The Beatles. A new favorite at Disney, this is an acquisition of a graphic novel they’ve made on his behalf. Currently he’s working on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride for them. Disney really ought to let him skip that shit and get straight to work on this. I’m a bit put off by the screenwriter being Shawn “Abduction” Christensen and the Alice In Wonderland namedrop when describing the digitally-generated live-action world in which they intend to set the movie. Still though, that’s an awesome children’s film premise if I’ve ever heard one, so I’ll be hoping for the best.