STORM DOGS Film Project Teams THE LION KING Director Rob Minkoff With Tilly Norwood Creator Particle 6

Five dogs, one toddler, a massive storm, and the filmmaker who helped bring The Lion King to life. That’s the pitch behind a new family adventure called Storm Dogs, and it sounds like it could be a fun one.

Rob Minkoff, co-director of Disney’s The Lion King and director of Stuart Little, is in advanced discussions to develop and executive produce Storm Dogs for UK-based Particle 6. Minkoff will serve as the film’s creative lead, working with Particle 6 CEO Eline van der Velden to develop the story, characters, and screenplay ahead of its planned 2027 production.

Based on an original idea from Van der Velden, Storm Dogs takes place in an English village hit by a devastating storm. Two-year-old Poppy becomes separated from the adult caring for her, leaving five very different dogs as her unlikely rescuers.

The story unfolds across 24 hours as the dogs attempt to carry Poppy home through flooded fields, damaged bridges, and a countryside torn apart by the storm. The animals have to overcome their own instincts and differences along the way, eventually forming their own strange little family.

Their journey also changes Poppy’s dog-fearing mother, who comes away from the ordeal with a very different view of the animals she once feared.

The movie will blend live-action performances with photorealistic animated characters. The human roles will be filmed “conventionally,” while Poppy and the dogs will be created using a combination of live-action performance, traditional filmmaking methods, and emerging AI technology.

Particle 6 says its team is developing a “performance-driven process that translates an actor’s facial expressions, physicality, timing and emotional choices into the animated characters.”

The idea is to give actors control over the performances of the digital characters rather than having the technology generate those performances on its own.

Van der Velden explained why Minkoff was a natural fit for the project: “Rob has helped create some of cinema’s most enduring animal characters,” said Van der Velden. “His understanding of character, comedy and emotional storytelling makes him an extraordinary creative partner for Storm Dogs.

“This film presents a challenge that would be extraordinarily difficult to achieve through conventional production alone: a toddler and five dogs carrying much of the story through extreme weather and hazardous terrain.

“By bringing performers, filmmakers and emerging tools together, we can attempt something unusually ambitious while keeping every creative decision in human hands.”

Minkoff is also interested in exploring what these production techniques could bring to a character-driven adventure like Storm Dogs.

“I have spent much of my career looking for ways to create animal characters who are funny, emotionally truthful and completely alive. When I visited Particle 6 in London, I found a group of filmmakers who care deeply about story, character and performance.

“They are also serious about exploring how new production methods can expand how filmmakers’ imaginations are realised on screen. Storm Dogs is a wonderful opportunity to develop that approach together in the service of a story with real jeopardy, heart and humor.”

The use of AI will obviously attract attention, particularly given Particle 6’s history. Van der Velden says she views the technology as another filmmaking tool rather than something intended to replace the people making the movie.

“I’m not interested in AI as a replacement for human creativity. But I believe it has extraordinary potential to transform the process of making motion pictures, to help filmmakers manifest what they imagine with greater freedom and fewer limitations.

“We are still in the pioneering phase of this transformation, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to help define how it can be used responsibly.”

Particle 6 became a major part of the entertainment industry’s AI conversation after unveiling its AI actor Tilly Norwood at the Zurich Summit during the Zurich Film Festival last year.

The reveal sparked widespread debate over AI-generated performers and the technology’s place in film and television. Van der Velden is returning to the Summit this year to discuss what followed that viral introduction.

Tilly Norwood is also set to star in her own feature film, Misaligned, which is currently being developed by Particle 6.

Whatever people make of the technology involved, Storm Dogs has a pretty straightforward family adventure at its core.

With the filmmaker behind The Lion King and Stuart Little helping shape the characters and story, Storm Dogs will be an interesting project to watch as Particle 6 moves toward production in 2027.

Source: Deadline