New Line is known for a lot of things, but animation isn’t one of them. So to hear that they acquired the story to Handmade Films’ Planet 51 was a bit of a surprise. At first I thought they were going to take the animated original and make it live action but it seems for the first time in New Line’s history they are going to produce an animated feature!
Written by Joe Stillman (Shrek), the story is set on Planet 51, whose inhabitants live in fear of an alien invasion. Their fears are realized when astronaut Capt. Charles “Chuck” Baker arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, the astronaut has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and return home.
Oh how clever to use of the Area 51 pun to introduce a culture who would have a conspiracy about an alien invasion. I really like this dynamic of the human being considered the alien and watching this strange society react to something they perceive as an epidemic proportion threat.
Oh wait. I liked this movie better when it was called Monsters Inc.
But really, the equation has a lot of potential for misunderstood fun and good old fashioned tomfoolery, so its likely to be a hit with the kids.
