Animal Logic, the Vancouver visual effects and animation studio, has announced that they’re going to be taking the book Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz, which was written by Michael Murpurgo and illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, is being musically adapted for the big screen. Alex Timber is directing from a screenplay by John August.
The story is essentially a retelling of L. Frank Baum’s book The Wizard of Oz, but from the point of view of Toto. In an interview with scbwikitetales.wordpress.com, Murpurgo explained, “We all know the original story from the film and perhaps less from the L Frank Baum book. It is a wonderful and magical tale — funny, frightening — and strange and a wonderful film, but I always felt that there was one character who had little part to play in the story. Dorothy we know and love, but her little dog, Toto, does little more than accompany her on her adventures, providing her with comfort and company, but we never know what he thinks of all that is going on. He just gets carried around a lot. So, I thought, why not tell the story again, but through Toto’s eyes? But it was really my friend, the illustrator of Toto, Emma Chichester Clark, who originally had the idea of a retelling the story with her own beloved dog, Plum, as the inspiration for Toto."
No word on when Toto will be released.