Noah Baumbach is directing an upcoming adaptation of Berkeley Breathed’s Flawed Dogs for Dreamworks. Baumbach is a hot commodity right now, as his films Frances Ha and The Squid and the Whale were both great critical successes. He has already worked in animation, writing for Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Fantastic Mr. Fox, which were also well received.
As for Breathed, the author of the brilliant Bloom County and Opus comics, this is not the first of his stories to be translated to film. In 1991, Skip Jones directed the charming A Wish for Wings that Work, a 22-minute short distributed by Amblin and Universal. In 2011, Disney released Mars Needs Moms, a mo-cap film based on Breathed’s book of the same name. That film was a spectacular flop, critically and in the box-office.
Baumbach may be just the right fit for Breathed’s unique artistic style, though. Baumbach’s films are noteworthy for their fresh, somewhat dark art direction and endearing—if melancholy—characters. The main character in Breathed’s story is a dachshund named Sam the Lion, who eventually loses a leg and uses a spoon as a prosthetic. This isn’t your typical happy-go-lucky-puppy children’s book.
Bleeding Cool wrote yesterday that this project has been a secret, but it was discussed in a New Yorker article from April.
This film is one that gets me excited, as a fan of Breathed’s wacky, whimsical style and Baumbach’s distinct, heartfelt direction. As Dreamworks has many films already set with release dates, it seems likely that the earliest we’ll see this movie will be 2016.
Are you all excited? Let us know in the comments below.
Animation Fascination 
Dreamworks seems to have too many animated movies in production and/or planned. Like whatever happened to the “My Shadow and Me” film?
As far as I know ” Me and My Shadow” is still in production
I say you can never have too many animated movies!