In honour of World Book Day on 23 April, Netflix unveiled the first look of their upcoming animated feature inspired by Ruth Stiles Gannett’s Newbery-winning children’s book My Father’s Dragon. This exquisite film comes from five-time Academy Award-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Academy Award-nominated director Nora Twomey.
The film follows a boy named Elmer struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother. Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime. The film stars Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Dianne Wiest, Rita Moreno, Chris O’Dowd, Judy Greer, Alan Cumming, Yara Shahidi, Jackie Earle Haley, Mary Kay Place, Leighton Meester, Spence Moore II, Adam Brody, Charlyne Yi, Maggie Lincoln, Jack Smith with Whoopi Goldberg and Ian McShane.
The OTT giant is also excited to bring other beloved tales and stories of adventure to life like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, The Magician’s Elephant and Nimona, all coming soon.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi’s classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion musical directed by del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.
Nimona is adapted from the New York Times bestselling graphic novel by author ND Stevenson. A knight is framed for a crime he didn’t commit and the only person who can help him prove his innocence is Nimona, a shape-shifting teen who might also be a monster he’s sworn to kill. Set in a techno-medieval world unlike anything animation has tackled before, this is a story about the labels we assign to people and the shapeshifter who refuses to be defined by anyone.
The Magician’s Elephant, directed by Wendy Rogers, is based on Two-time Newbery Award winning author Kate DiCamillo’s classic novel. When Peter, who is searching for his long-lost sister named Adel, crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square, there is only one question on his mind: is his sister still alive? The answer, that he must find a mysterious elephant and the magician who will conjure it, sets Peter off on a harrowing journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever.
From saying YES in Yes Day to the adventures of The Willoughbys, there’s a variety of programming on Netflix for the whole family to enjoy together with films like Rescued by Ruby , and series like Ada Twist, Scientist, Green Eggs and Ham, Llama Llama and The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants.
Amidst the upcoming shows like My Father’s Dragon and other family friendly shows, there is news of cancellation of several high-profile animated series. As per a report in IGN, an animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Twits has been canceled. But this work will have a feature film based on it. The adaptation of Jeff Smith’s critically-acclaimed comic Bone is another show to be dismissed.
After the recent loss of subscribers, Netflix was seen taking these steps. The report also mentioned that their creative leadership and development director for original animation Phil Rynda and many of her team members also left their jobs at the organisation.