Ron Howard To Direct Animated Feature Based On Children's Book 'The Shrinking Of Treehorn'

Ron Howard has accomplished quite a bit in his filmmaking career, from helming Oscar-winning films, acclaimed documentaries, and even a “Star Wars” spin-off. But he has yet to take a stab at an animated feature. Well, that’s changing now.

According to Variety, Howard has signed on to direct an animated adaptation of the children’s book, “The Shrinking of Treehorn.” The film is about a young boy that begins to shrink in size after playing a strange board game. ‘Shrinking’ will share a visual aesthetic to the book’s art, created by famed artist Edward Gorey.

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The film is being financed and distributed by Paramount Animation and will be produced by Howard’s Imagine and the production company behind “Happy Feet,” Animal Logic. “The Shrinking of Treehorn” is written by Rob Lieber, who is probably best known for the films “Peter Rabbit” and “Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.”

“I’ve long had this passionate point of view that Ron Howard should make a tentpole animated movie. That’s how this started,” said Zareh Nalbandian, Animal Logic’s entertainment CEO. “It was serendipitous that Imagine was sort of evolving and growing, and Animal Logic was more and more committed to the development and production of our own intellectual property. We have a shared vision of what that space can be.”

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The excitement is also felt by Paramount Animation, with its president Mireille Soria saying, “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Imagine and Animal Logic on these two very exciting projects and hope this marks the beginning of a long and wonderful collaborative relationship.”

No word on when we might see “The Shrinking of Treehorn.” Howard is currently slated to begin production on his next film ‘The Hillbilly Elegy” fairly soon. Perhaps he’ll focus on the animated feature after.