Curious George (2005)

CURIOUS GEORGE

Directed by: Jun Falkenstein (The Tigger Movie) replaced David Silverman (Monsters Inc.); rumor has it that Chris Buck (Tarzan) might take over
Written by: Michael McCullers, Dan Gerson, Robert L. Baird, and Joe Stillman

Budget: $25 million
Production Started on: October 1, 2003
Release Date: November 4, 2005 (Tentative)

CAST

The Man in the Yellow Hat... Will Ferrell

STORY

The troublemaking primate is taken from the jungle and brought by The Man in the Yellow Hat to the city, where he gets into mischief. His spunky and fun-loving nature endear him to new friends he meets along the way and lands him in a series of adventures.

INTERESTING FACTS

Created by Margret Rey and husband H. A. (Hans Augusto) Rey, Curious George is one of the world's most enduring and best-selling children's book characters: an irrepressible but oddly silent primate who left the African jungle to live with the enigmatic man in the yellow hat. The book, like the movie, had a bumpy start: in 1939, the newly married Reys, both Germans, had their ex-pat life in Paris interrupted by the Nazi invasion. Taking their Curious George manuscript with them, the Reys fled on their bicycles, eventually completing the book in the south of France. The Reys arrived in New York in October of 1940, and Houghton Mifflin published Curious George in 1941. When the first Curious George book was published in England in 1942, King George VI was ruler of Britain. To avoid insulting the British monarch, the decision was made to change Curious George's name to "Zozo" in the editions published in Blighty. Six more titles have since followed in the series, selling more than 20 million copies worldwide and translated into 14 languages.

Variety revealed on December 12, 2001 that David Silverman, the little publicized co-director of Monsters, Inc., was in talks to turn the popular children's icon Curious George into an all computer-animated feature. Given that Monsters, Inc. had posted a robust $212 million in domestic gross for Disney to date, Universal's renewed enthusiasm for the long-developed project was understandable.

Universal Pictures had previously spent several years developing the picture with producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard as a star-driven, live-action film like How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Arnold Schwarzenegger was even at one point thinking about playing the Man in the Yellow Hat!

Imagine Entertainment tapped its Undercover Brother co-scribe Michael McCullers on June 5, 2002 to write the script for the all-CGI adaptation. McCullers also wrote Austin Powers in Goldmember with Mike Myers. Based on the character created by Margret Rey and husband H.A. Rey, George will mark Universal's first foray by into all-CGI moviemaking.

At the height of his glory at the newly merged Vivendi Universal, former Chairman Jean-Marie Messier touted the spunky monkey as the new conglomerate's Mickey Mouse, an adorable mascot that could be synergized across every division and endow the corporation with just the right touch of insouciance and cuddliness. But as the corporation was in the midst of imploding in August 2002, Universal's co-president of production, Mary Parent, pointed out that "it's not like we have Curious George Way and a statue of Curious George holding up the building."

Yet that hasn't stopped the company's plans to turn the little chimp into a big-screen franchise, although a film based on the character is still in the early stages of development with an eye on a 2005 release. "It's been really hard for me," said producer Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment, who has been chipping away at the problem for a decade. "I tried to do it live-action, then mixed-media, then live action with digital effects, then I realized it might look old-fashioned." He had commissioned numerous drafts, as well as design experiments, before settling on the apparently definitive computer-generated animation take. The latest version of the script is being worked on by Michael McCullers of Austin Powers fame. "The message of the piece I find very personal," Grazer adds. "It's curiosity that excites me every day and keeps me alive."

Dan Gerson and Robert L. Baird, who already worked with director David Silverman on the animated feature Monsters, Inc., were hired in November 2002 to rewrite the CGI project.

A Universal insider revealed on May 9, 2003 that "Curious George (Imagine/Universal) is now being directed by Jun Falkenstein (The Tigger Movie) as a 2-D Theatrical feature set for 2005 release." Indeed, the Los Angeles Times confirmed a couple of days later that "Universal--concerned about a budget that topped $100 million--scrapped plans to enlist ILM in making a computer-animated adaptation of the children's classic Curious George. The studio and producer Imagine Entertainment now are now making a traditional, hand-drawn animated version for one-fourth the cost."

'JHBucktooth' reported on May 20, 2003 that "the script I saw had kung-fu and Ozzy Osbourne jokes." 'Mr. Fun' specified that "a character may or may not sound just a little bit like Ozzy, but we're talking about a teeny tiny bit in the film. Actually, the film makers seem to have the highest respect for the source material and don't want to compromise it. I wouldn't fear too much. The film is in good hands."

Dark Horizons reported in August 2003 that "a new live-action version with a CG George is tipped to be on the fast track for a September 2005 release." However, insiders have denied this claim.

'Sir Farticus' revealed on August 17, 2003 that "the entire story crew [of the 2D project] recently got laid off because they want to rework the story and make changes. Which begs the question: WHY WOULD YOU LAY OFF YOUR STORY CREW! Animators were supposed to come on sometime in December, but now it's possibly been pushed back to January or evern later. People there, as IS Hollywood, can't make up their minds."

Sources at Universal reported on September 3, 2003 that Chris Buck (Tarzan) had been offered to replace Jun Falkenstein (The Tigger Movie) in the directorial chair. Buck reportedly used this as a leverage to get better terms for his current contract with Disney but is unlikely to accept.

The project began as various incarnations of a live action/CGI mix, and then was developed at ILM for a while as an all-CGI film. Besides cost issues, the problem was reportedly that both mediums felt like a very unnatural fit for a sweet, simple children's book character. Which is why it was being developed, as of September 2003, as a 2-D, hand-animated film with some CGI elements.