Guillermo del Toro Announces First DreamWorks Animation Project

Guillermo del Toro has been working with DreamWorks Animation as a consultant through the Summer and has officially announced that they will be home for all future animation projects. He will act as a consultant and executive producer on several projects already in development, including Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots and one yet-to-be-revealed project.

His first project will be to write and direct an original feature tentatively titled Trollhunters, based on a young-adult book del Toro submitted to publisher Hyperion recently. The project should be completed before he goes into full production on the live action adaptation, At The Mountains of Madness.

In an interview with THR, del Toro had this to say:

"I wanted very much to develop a story that could be written for kids but dealt with a genre that was scary," he said. "It essentially combines fairy tales with modern times and is about how difficult it is to be kid. Normally, kids are idealized in animated films. But the growing pains, married with the notion that there is a world right next to us that is completely plagued by creatures of ancient lore, it's thematically fitting with the rest of my stuff."

Here's the official Press Release from DWA:

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq:DWA - News) announced today that famed Oscar-nominated director Guillermo del Toro has named the studio his home for animated feature film projects. Del Toro will join Andrew Adamson and Michelle Raimo as Executive Producer on Puss In Boots, which is scheduled to be released on November 4, 2011.

DreamWorks Animation has acquired from del Toro Trollhunters (working title), an original project from which the Company plans to produce a 3D animated feature film, which will be written and directed by del Toro himself. The exciting new story of Trollhunters is being kept entirely under wraps at the studio. Additionally, del Toro will consult on a number of DreamWorks Animation's upcoming feature film releases.

"Animation is a singularly unique medium in that it allows an artist to envision, articulate and manipulate whole new worlds that spark the imagination in amazing ways," said Guillermo del Toro. "Nowhere have I found a greater concentration of spirit and creativity than at DreamWorks Animation and I cannot imagine a better place for me to pursue my ambition as a filmmaker: to tell the best possible stories that can reach the biggest number of people around the world."

"On behalf of the entire studio, I'd like to warmly welcome Guillermo into the DreamWorks family of filmmakers; we are incredibly honored that he has chosen our studio as his home for feature animation," said Bill Damaschke, Co-President of Production at DreamWorks Animation. "Guillermo brings a unique vision and unmatched level of inventiveness to his storytelling and we cannot wait to see what he can do together with our creative team here at DreamWorks Animation."