Twitch Film (via First Showing) is reporting that an R-rated English language animated puppet movie is in development following a test pilot shown to potential investors in order to help finance the feature.
The majority of characters in the movie will be played by animatronic-faced hand puppets. In a quote courtesy of Slash Film, Hoffman describes the film as:
“‘A live-action version of a cartoon world.’ A bit like an adaptation of a graphic novel. It is our world, yet not. As a living painting by C. M. Coolidge, which is drawing everything to a head.”
From the stills on show below, quick comparisons can be made to Peter Jackson’s Meet The Feebles – the creatures reminiscent of Gremlins, Critters, or something out of Labyrinth. According to the official synopsis:
“Snow White the rabbit is stuck in a sadistic man’s pet store, she craves for love but nobody wants to take her home. But one day the animals wreck havoc and they all escape, including Snow White. She gets lost with her newfound freedom and almost dies, until the nice old lady Alice saves her. Snow White would’ve had a bright future if not for Alice’s jealous and vindictive dogs, who call on their friend Flash, a shady and devious pimp cat. Together they plan to transform Alice’s apartment into a brothel for animals, and force Snow White and even the human Alice into prostitution.”
“We R Animals is a comic adventure, filled with drug using cats, horny dogs, cat-ninja assassins, vampire bats, cruelty and magic. In essence We R Animals is a love story told with warmth, where sometimes the laughter sits in the throat and forces us to question the morals and views of both animals and man.”
Like some bonkers cross between Team America and Cats and Dogs, We R Animals should stand proud among the Thors and 5nal Destinations of its prospective 2011 release. With the latest Muppets movie in apparent limbo, W R Animals will more than compensate for the time being – just leave the kids at home for this one.
This is definitely one for Audio Description.