Studio 100 Media is set to produce a brand-new animation film about the famous little girl from the Swiss Alps Heidi. Studio 100 is the rights holder of the classic 1974 anime series and producer of the CGI series from 2015, followed by a second season in 2019. The adventurous series, all adapted from the timeless novel about the orphan girl from Switzerland, written by Johanna Spyri, has still not lost its sparkle and fascination.
Planned for completion in 2024, the film currently in pre-production stage is a co-production between Studio 100 Media and Fabrique Fantastique and its scriptwriter is Rob Sprackling, best known for Gnomeo & Juliet. Studio 100 Film will be responsible for the international sales, with LEONINE Studios already on board as distribution partner for the German-speaking territories. Pre-sales with Adler in Italy, Kaleidoscope in the UK, NOS Lusomundo in Portugal, FilmHouse in Israel, and Blitz for Ex-Yugoslavian territories have also been confirmed.
Executive producer Thorsten Wegener says: “To stay true to the spirit of the original work and its characters that generations of children and adults have loved and embraced, coming up with a new storyline was indeed challenging. However, we have remained loyal to Heidi’s personality as a brave, cheerful, and extremely sensitive girl. In this new film, Heidi combines all the qualities of a positive heroine while touching on environmental topics for a global and modern audience.”
Heidi teaches the importance of a simple life, the preservation of nature, kindness, and compassion. All these qualities are Heidi’s recipe for a happy life – living in harmony with your surroundings and putting others before yourself. Playing an important role in this new film is a lynx family. Introducing these remarkable cats into the story ties in with the current situation, where they are being bought back from extinction and into their natural habitat in the Alps.
“Heidi is one of the world’s most well-known and beloved children’s literary characters – and has been for over 100 years! So, it’s a great honour to revive her and the wonderful world of Dorfli in this sequel to the original story,” comments writer Rob Sprackling.
Director and producer of the film Tom Van Gestel from Farbrique Fantastique adds: “There are several reasons why we want to produce this film. First, it’s refreshing to see something with a leisurely and calm tempo that Heidi’s film has to offer. The execution of this film has really taken time, which is in stark contrast to the more recent animation films or series now available. We see this as a fun challenge and want to preserve this calm aspect throughout. In addition, the film takes a special stand on ecology, nature, and deforestation, which is now more topical than ever.”
Studio 100 Film will present first looks of this ambitious project at this year’s AFM in Santa Monica.
