Fantastic Films International and Dygra Films have lined up Hollywood star power for the English-language version of their upcoming CG-animated feature film Spirit of the Forest. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the voice cast will be led by Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) Giovanni Ribisi (Avatar), Ron Perlman (Hellboy II: The Golden Army) and Anjelica Huston (The Darjeeling Limited).
Spirit of the Forest is an eco-conscious family film about woodland animals whose home is threatened when a greedy businessman decides to build a highway through it and recurits an evil townswoman (Houston) to help pave the way. Astin and Ribisi will lend their vocies to a pair of gopher buddies who hatch a scheme to scare them off by conjuring up the ‘Spirit of the Forset’ with the help of an old oak tree (Perlman).
Spanish toon studio Dygra previously produced the feature films The Living Forest (2001) and Midsummer Dream (2005), which both won the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar for best animated feature. Spanish audiences will get to see the latest effort in September, after buyers get a first look a the Cannes film festival next month. The pic will be distributed by FFI internationally, with the exception of Spain and Portugal.
Houston is also part of the all-star voice cast for in Wes Anderson’s upcoming animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl book The Fantastic Mr. Fox. The title role will be voiced by George Clooney, with Cate Blanchette and Anderson favorites Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman helping out as supporting characters.
