From Variety – Doug Sweetland, a Pixar veteran of 16 years, has signed on to helm The Familiars for Sony Pictures Animation. Based on the novel by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, The Familiars is the story of the animals chosen to be familiars for young wizards in training. Sam Raimi and Josh Donen will exec produce.
While at Pixar, Sweetland worked on animated features including Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo.
Dare we then hope for a reasonably decent animated feature from Sony? Only time will tell…
Book Jacket:
The Familiars are the magical animal companions to a wizard or witch. When three young wizards-in-training get kidnapped by the evil queen of the land, it is up to their familiars to go a dangerous journey to rescue them. You’ll meet Aldwyn, an orphan alley cat pretending to have telekinesis; Skylar, a know-it-all blue jay who can cast illusions; and Gilbert, a hapless tree frog with the ability to see visions of the future in pools of water. See what happens when these three animal assistants — typically relegated to the background or found sitting quietly on their wizard’s shoulders — go on a heroic adventure of their own!
You can read an excerpt here.
