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Early Promo Teaser for Weta Workshop's Wind in the Willows

by Alex Billington
July 16, 2010
Source: Official Website

Whoa, wait just a minute. It was barely even a month ago that we first reported that a new Wind in the Willows movie, using a combination of live-action and animatronics, was in the works at Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop down in New Zealand. Considering movies made like that usually take a very long time to come together, I didn't expect to see anything from it for a while, but I'm surprised to say otherwise today. SlashFilm discovered that an early promo teaser trailer for Weta's The Wind in the Willows is available on the film's official website. It's only an early animated promo, while actual filming will start later this year.

Watch the early promo teaser for Weta's The Wind in the Willows:

The Wind in the Willows is the classic Kenneth Grahame fairy tale that has been adapted many times before, probably most memorably by Disney back in 1949 as The Adventures of Ichabod Crane & Mr. Toad. Weta's Richard Taylor, who worked heavily on Lord of the Rings and King Kong, is overseeing the effects. Directed by Ray Griggs and written by Bill Marsili (Lightspeed), the $30 million production is scheduled to shoot this fall using live-action and animatronics. In Marsilii's script, the animals join forces to save their land from a sinister plot that threatens to destroy an uneasy truce between the peaceful animals of the Willows and what remains of Mankind. Apologies for the teaser being so dark, that's how it came! Visit the official website.

Filed under Indies, Opinions, To Watch

From around the web:

almartva

This is doesn't look like Weta at all. It's a really bad promo even if it's early.
shadow

I think that this was probably material used to pitch the idea to the studio. At least that is what is comes off as, the animation is far to amateur and incomplete for it to be official material from the film.
Guy

#1 and #2 Agree
Robbie

I really think this comes a bit too early.
toonfed

Looks Horrible
Cineprog

I like Weta. This not bad for a first Prom Trailer for The Wind In The Willows, Shall a wait for more information on this project when it arrives.
harm

I loved Mr. Toad Disney's cartoon. So I was really nervous about this until the end when Toad giggles and runs off! heh. I'm sold and now am very interested and childlike curiosity.
Marc21qw

Very Tim Burtonish.
beavis

i'm with #7.......when the toad shows at the end - giggles and runs off - it sold me. i think there is great potential for this. for all the haters above - what did you expect? this was just announced a short time ago..........
Jedibilly

I hope it's not too much of a stop motion animation. Stop motion animation kind of ruins it.
Sean D.

That picture you have at the top is pretty creep ... ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!
claytonb

totally looks like a pitch package... weta is absolutely baller when it comes to effects, tintin probably won't suck visually. Anyway this doesn't make me want to see wind in the willows, it makes me wish they'd waited to show something good...
gray!2

i thought weta were meant to be good at animating.......
Blasto

There are 2 Wetas, Weta Workshop and Weta Digital both of which have their own animation teams, this is the Workshop.
Eli

Well that didn't do much for me but judging from that the fim will be dark. Does it need to be? Just my speculation, and yeah, a little early for promotion.
VOLD

Even with it looking just as it does i'd go see it. Looks interesting.
Jordan

Agree with #15. Hopefully the film will not be dark as the promo suggests - why take a lovely book like WITW and make it dark? The recent Alice in Wonderland tried that same and that was rubbish. Hopefully they respect the source material and get it right - the 1983 Cosgrove Hall film may be stop-motion animation, but it was very faithful to the book and will be hard to top if they don't do this one right.
Figflint

I can't wait!!!