Chris Sanders' Crood Awakening
Lilo and Stitch director joins DreamWorks Animation
Chris Sanders is the director of Crood Awakening, a "Stone Age Comedy" written by comic legend John Cleese.
DreamWorks Animation announced that Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stitch) will direct the "Stone Age comedy" Crood Awakening.
“I look forward to working with Jeffrey (DreamWorks CEO Katzenberg) and the other filmmakers at DreamWorks Animation," Sanders said in the official statement. "They have dedicated themselves to a complex and classic craft, but have also proven that they are driven to take it to new places. It is their willingness to break boundaries that makes them unique. I've seen firsthand where they are headed, and I'm excited to be part of it."
Katzenberg was suitably effusive, responding, “Chris is one of the most inventive and imaginative filmmakers I’ve ever worked with. His unique storytelling style and sensibility are perfectly suited for Crood Awakening. It is such a pleasure to collaborate with him once again on another exciting project. We are so happy to have him on board at DreamWorks."
The script was written by John Cleese (Monty Python's Flying Circus, A Fish Called Wanda) and Kirk DiMicco (Racing Stripes). It was supposed to have been animated by Britain's Aardman Animation, but DreamWorks retained the script when the two studios cut short their collaboration late last year. Sanders has announced that he is planning to "significantly rewrite" the script.
Chris Sanders had worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation for many years, racking up credits on movies such as Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan. His 2003 directorial debut, Lilo and Stitch, was one of WDFA's few hit movies in the past ten years.
Sanders had been recently yanked from his current project at the Mouse House, American Dog, and his movie was taken over by Chris Williams.
