Vanguard Films has tapped Mike Johnson to direct Oz Wars, an animated feature film that will mix CG-animation with stop-motion techniques.
Johnson previously co-directed with Tim Burton the 2005 stop-motion feature Corpse Bride. He also directed episodes of the stop-motion TV series The P.J.’s.
“Mike Johnson is a spectacular director and one of the masters of stop-motion,” says John Williams, president and CEO of Vanguard. “We all think Oz Wars is a wildly original and commercial project that will thrill and astonish audiences. Additionally, due to revolutionary new stop-motion software, Mike will be making this world-class quality film at an unprecedentedly economical cost point.”
The project is written by Rob Moreland and Athena Gam and turns Oz into a contemporary, PG-13 fantasy film. Moreland scripted both Space Chimps films as well as Vanguard’s upcoming live-action film City of Dragons, while Gam’s credits include Vanguard’s recently announced Alien Rock Band, a live-action/CG hybrid.
