DreamWorks Animated Film Gets a Re-Awakening

When DreamWorks Animation ended its partnership with Aardman Animation earlier this year, I was disappointed to learn that DreamWorks would be holding on to Crood Awakening, an animated caveman project the two studios were working on together that was written by Monty Python alum John Cleese and Racing Stripes scribe Kirk De Micco. Personally, I'd like Aardman to be in charge of all animated films, especially any co-written by the man who gave us the Ministry of Silly Walks. Alas, Crood will be made by Americans, and even much of Cleese's and De Micco's script is being rewritten.

The film is now in the hands of Chris Sanders, who is best known as the co-writer-director of Lilo & Stitch. Sanders just left Disney, where he had been taken off American Dog, supposedly for making it "too quirky for its own good." He plans to do a significant rewrite on Crood, which will probably lose much of its British flavor, though if we're lucky will also be filled with lots of quirk. The other major difference between what the project used to be and what it is now is the style of its animation. Under Aardman the film was expected to be made with claymation, the studio's usual medium despite its use of computers for Flushed Away, but now it will certainly be done with computer animation -- and shot with 3-D projection in mind, of course. We have plenty of years before we get to see if DreamWorks' rearrangement works out, as the studio won't be able to release the film until 2010 or 2011.