Sean Astin has signed on for the CGI-animated Spirit of the Forest, an eco-fairy tale for Fantastic Films International and Dygra Films.
Has anyone seen any Dygra films? I haven’t, so I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
The former hobbit joins Giovanni Ribisi, Ron Perlman and Anjelica Huston for the film, scheduled for screening at next month’s Festival de Cannes with plans for a 2009 release.
Astin and Ribisi play two gopher friends whose home is threatened when an evil businesswoman (Huston - she plays a lot of evil women lately) plans to tear down their forest to build a highway. With the help of an old oak tree (Perlman), the animals and their friends fight back with a vengeance.
More after the jump…
Astin says the eco-topic is close to his heart. “In Lord of the Rings, my favorite element in the story was the Ents, these massive trees getting cut down that fought for their own survival; in Spirit, the trees also come to life,” said Astin, noting the environmental message in both films. “It’s another way of telling a story that needs to continue to be told. Progress comes at a price.”
Spain-based Dygra’s The Living Forest (2001) and Midsummer Dream (2005) each won the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar for best animated feature. Forest will hit theaters in September in Spain.
Sounds cute! I wonder if it’ll be similar to Over the Hedge, which also had an eco-theme. I’ve been a big fan of Sean Astin’s since Lord of the Rings, and also after reading his book, There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale
Image: Spirit of the Forest, Dygra Films, 2008
Sorry, comments for this entry are closed at this time.