Daily Variety reports that Disney animator Mike Disa has been hired to direct Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil for the Weinstein Co. and Kanbar Ent. The sequel was put into the pipeline after the first Hoodwinked, a modestly budgeted independent CG feature, grossed $51 million domestically and $109 million worldwide in 2005. The fairytale spoof also topped video rental and sales charts when it debuted in May of last year.
Disa has served as an animator on such Mouse House releases as Pocahantas, The Hunchback of Notra Dame, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, Treasure Planet and Home on the Range. His credits also include the Disneytoon Studios efforts The Tigger Movie and Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, as well as Warner Bros. Looney Tunes: Back in Action. The former video game designer most recently served as technical consultant on Strarz Media’s toon feature The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, a direct-to-DVD animated feature from the mind of rocker-turned-horrormeister Rob Zombie.
Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil is being produced by. While the fist film was made for around $20, the budget for the followup will likely be more in the $40 million ballpark. The sequel will have Red Riding Hood (Anne Hathaway) teaming up with The Wolf (Patrick Warburton) to investigate the disappearance of Hansel and Gretel. Writers/directors Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech are bringing most of the other characters back as well.
Animation is being handled by Kanbar Animation, which SKYY Vodka entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar and former Disney Animation exec Sue Bea Mongomery set up in Manila for the first movie. Kanbar and David K. Lovegren are producing the sequel with Eric Robinson overseeing production for the Weinstein Co.
The Weinsteins haven’t met such good fortune with subsequent animated releases Doogal and Arthur and the Invisibles, but recently rebounded with its distribution partnership with Warner Bros. on TMNT. Other computer-animated features on The Weinstein Co.’s distribution slate include Exodus Film Group’s Igor and the French animated musical Piccolo, Saxo and Company. The company has also acquired rights to produce an animated feature based on the Jerry Lewis comedy classic, The Nutty Professor, and is producing Escape From Planet Earth with Hoodwinked scribes Tony Leech and Cory Edwards.
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