If you needed more evidence that animation studios can’t get enough features about farm animals, look no further than the latest news from DreamWorks Animation. The studio’s next animated feature will be based on Jarrtt J. Krosocska’s popular children’s book Punk Farm, in which a sheep, a chicken, a pig, a goat and a cow join forces to form an underground rock band and travel to perform at a music festival called Livestock! The story was developed by producer Kevin Messick and Jim Hecht (co-writer of Ice Age: The Meltdown). The film will be exec produced by Messick and penned by Hecht. The project will be overseen by DreamWorks Animation’s head of development Kristine Belson.
Messick said, ‘I loved Jarrett Krosoczka’s children’s book,’ says Messikc. ‘It captured my imagination as something that could be a terrific music-driven animated movie. When I approached Jim about getting involved, we both loved the idea of this group of farm animals with the rebellious spirit of punk rock.
Messick also served as producer on the Ashton Kutcher-Amanda Peet comedy, A Lot Like Love. He’s developing several projects, including Who’s Your Mama at Fox, One Shot (based on the best-selling books by Lee Child) for Cruise Wagner Productions at Paramount, and Black Hole, based on the comic book series by Charles Burns, which he is producing with Plan B and MTV Films, also for Paramount.
In related news, Steve Oederkirk’s CG-animated farm animal project, Barnyard will hit theaters on July 28. Remember that this one centers on Otis, a carefree cow (voiced by Kevin James) who learns a few things about growing up and acting responsibly by the end of the story. The farm animals in this feature are voiced by Sam Elliot, Rob Paulsen, Courteney Cox, Wanda Sykes and Danny Glover’and yes, they like to sing and dance as well!
