Lorraine Toussaint, Brian Tyree Henry, and Cree Summers are just a few of the stars attached to Netflix’s new animation The Magician’s Elephant.
The film is based on two-time Newbery Award-winner Kate DiCamillo’s novel of the same name and it will mark Wendy Rogers’ directorial debut. She will direct based on a script by Martin Hynes.
The Magician’s Elephant follows Peter, who is searching for his long-lost sister, as he crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square. His one question is: 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 journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever.
Director Wendy Rogers said: “Peter’s story planted itself in my heart when I first read the book – I felt very connected to him, and was totally captivated by the world and the characters. The power of hope, the belief that anything is possible, and the ability to ask “what if?” are all themes that are woven into the fabric of this film, and resonate now more than ever.”
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Benedict Wong, Noah Jupe, Sian Clifford, Pixie Davies, Natasia Demetriou, Dawn French, Aasif Mandvi, Mandy Patinkin, Miranda Richardson are also lending their voice to the project. Jupe will voice Peter, Wong will play the Magician and Davies will be Peter’s sister Adel.
Julia Pistor is producing The Magician’s Elephant.
“When I first read Kate DiCamillo’s book, I knew that I had to make The Magician’s Elephant into a film,” pistor said. It’s as inspiring as it is entertaining, and has such a wonderful blend of adventure, heart, magic and off-center humor. The film has such a unique visual style that transports the audience away to another world, one that Wendy and I wanted to ensure reflects the world as it really is – full of different cultures and beliefs.”
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The production design comes from Max Boas (Abominable), art direction from Luri Lioi (How to Train Your Dragon trilogy), editing by Robert Fisher Jr. (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), pre vis lead will be Gary H. Lee (Kung Fu Panda) and head of story is Mark Sperber (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2). Line producer is Jennifer Teter (Sherlock Gnomes) and computer imagery comes from Animal Logic.
The film is currently in production. As of now, there is no release date attached.