Production of the feature film is currently at first animatic stage, with filmmaker Rob Minkoff (The Lion King, Mr Peabody & Sherman, Stuart Little 1&2) guiding the production team in LA on revamping the script and creating the animatic. Based on the Mel Brooks’ classic comedy, Blazing Saddles, the action-packed animated feature follows a young dog, Hank, as he suddenly finds his rookie Samurai skills being put to the test when he is unexpectedly put in charge of Kakamucho a town entirely inhabited by cats!
The CG animation for the production will be completed by Cinesite at their Montreal and Vancouver studios, both facilities have recently delivered all CG animation production services for MGM’s The Addams Family.
Commenting from London, Guy Collins said ‘Blazing Productions Ltd have been working behind the scenes to bring this project to its audience. It had always been clear that Blazing Samurai represents the very top end of independent animation filmmaking, with its fantastic script, great characters, strong source IP and in the hands of Rob Minkoff there is the opportunity to make a very special movie. Aniventure shared the vision for the film and working together we will ensue a successful outcome in bringing this content to market. With their involvement in the movie it also gives us added flexibility and management over the exploitation of the film’s distribution and ancillary rights to the benefit of all participants.’
Adam Nagle, a senior executive at Aniventure said “Having met with the creative team working on Blazing Samurai and seeing the quality of the opportunity we were delighted to jump on board with the project and help get it moved into production immediately. Rob Minkoff and the whole team have done an excellent job in getting this film ready and we are very happy to get the show on the road ” The deal was negotiated by producer Steve Hamilton Shaw for Aniventure.