Netflix has picked up The Shrinking of the Treehorn, which was previously in development at Paramount Pictures. It continues to have Ron Howard attached as director and Rob Lieber attached as writer.
This will be the second major project Ron Howard has teamed up with Netflix on. He previously directed the movie adaptation of the J.D. Vance novel Hillbilly Elegy for Netflix which was released in 2020. He also served as a producer on last year’s Netflix movie tick, tick.. BOOM! and of course, featured as the Narrator on Arrested Development.
Rob Lieber continues to be on script duties. The writer and producer is perhaps best known for his work on Sony’s Peter Rabbit and Goosebumps 2: Slappy’s Revenge.
Imagine Entertainment, the production company headed up by Howard and Animal Logic headed up by Zareh Nalbandian, continues to be attached to the animated feature film.
The movie will be based on the children’s book, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary having been released in 1971. It was written by Florence Parry Heide and illustrated by Edward Gorey.
Designed for ages between four and eight, here’s a rundown on what the book is about in case you’ve never read it:
“Treehorn is clearly shrinking, and his parents aren’t the least bit interested. His mother is obsessed with whether or not her cake will rise. His father, at one point addressing a son who can barely see over the table, states blindly, “Nobody shrinks.” Treehorn doesn’t seem all that bothered that his clothes are hanging over his extremities; he just feels someone should know. But the adults he tries to notify brush off his claim as either a ploy for attention or downright bad behavior.
Treehorn’s parents, his teacher, and his principal respond (or fail to respond) to his drastically diminishing stature in ways that will ring true to any kid who has tried to convince adults of the existence of fairies, the Loch Ness Monster, or things that go bump in the night.”
The move of The Shrinking of the Treehorn to Netflix continues the streamer’s list of acquisitions from external studios to feed its growing animation slate. It’s previously been reliant on the likes of Sony for its animation roster thus far with three pickups last year and K-Pop: Demon Hunters also eying a move to the service too.
Other animated Netflix movies in the upcoming animation slate includes My Father’s Dragon, The Sea Beast, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and The Magician’s Elephant.
