DOWNTON ABBEY Creator Julian Fellowes is Developing a WIND IN THE WILLOWS Movie With Weta Digital
It looks like the classic children’s novel The Wind in the Willows is finally going to get a that feature film adaptation. This project has been in and out of development for years, but it looks like it finally landed the right talent.
The writer and director of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, is teaming up with producer Gerald R. Molen and Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital to bring this story to life with CG technology for a new generation. Fellowes previously worked on a musical version of The Wind in the Willows that premiered in the U.K. four years ago. Fellowes wrote the script for that project, so he’s obviously very familiar with the story.
Molen, who won an Academy Award with Steven Spielberg for producing Schindler’s List, had this to say in a statement:
“We are finalizing some of the finest actors to lend their creative and vocal talents. We could not have dreamed of a better writer and creative force than Julian Fellowes to work with Ray Griggs to bring to life the classic English novel’s characters, nor finer visionaries than Weta to capture the look and feel of Grahame’s world. We have all the right pieces to create what will prove to be the definitive adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic.”
Just in case you aren’t familiar with the story, The Wind in the Willows “follows the adventures of the anthropomorphic animals Mole, Rat, Badger, Toad, and their friends. When the novel begins, Mole is at home doing spring cleaning, and he is quite bored with it. He casts down his cleaning instruments and runs to the surface to plow through rabbits along the roads and through grasses in the meadows to the river. It is at the river that Mole meets Rat, and the two form an immediate friendship. This friendship brings Rat’s friends Badger, Otter, and Toad into the story.”
The story continues to follow the animals on their adventures and misadventures. “Toad, a well-to-do heir, goes through innumerable fads such as his interest in motor-cars. However, when he steals a car, it is his undoing, He is arrested and sentenced to jail. He escapes from jail disguised as a washer-woman. Meanwhile, the other animals must deal with the bad reputations they have for being Toad's friend.Toad’s home is taken over by menacing animals from the Wild Woods, and the four friends rally together to save the house. With the Wild Wooders driven away, Toad turns over a new leaf and becomes a respectable aristocrat. He is loved and admired by many. He deepens his friendship with Mole, Rat, and Badger; and, the four often take long walks and live well thereafter.”
The filming will take place at Peter Jackson’s Stone Street Studios in New Zealand, while Skywalker Sound will design all the sound effects and ambient noise.
I’ll be looking forward to this.
Source: Variety