A trio of talented Brits have boarded one of the more unusual animated projects currently in the works, UK sales and distribution banner Kaleidoscope’s Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen.
Quantum of Solace‘s Gemma Arterton, Warm Bodies‘ Nicholas Hoult and veteran comedian Stephen Fry will lend their voices to kitchen utensils for the animated family film, which is scheduled to begin production in September.
Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen will center on the unlikely class warfare in an ordinary kitchen between everyday utensils and the snooty, shinier silver and cutlery from the other side of the table.
Director Alexander Williams described it as “a fantasy adventure aimed squarely at a family audience, but with enough sophisticated wit to keep the grown-ups happy.”
Williams, who previously worked as an animator for such hits as The Lion King and Pocahantas, explained that the project’s intent is “to bring a familiar world to life in a completely unfamiliar way” and answer the question, “What really happens in the kitchen after dark, when the humans leave?”
Friends writer Chris Brown penned the script.
Nothing is yet known about about which utensils Arterton, Hoult, and Fry will be voicing, though we can only hope that the casting director will have a sense of humor and cast Fry as the world’s wittiest frying pan.
One cannot help but think of Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen as a kind of Occupy Wall Street-era Toy Story, exploring a hidden world within our own while discussing pressing modern-day issues. Whether or not it will be successful in doing so remains to be seen.
Kaleidoscope CEO Spencer Pollard said that the film will be shopped around at Toronto and then the American Film Market (AFM) and that he expects “a lot of interest from the market.”
“The film has all the right ingredients to be a potential global theatrical family smash with excellent animation, a very fun script and A-list voice talent both for the U.K. and international market,” Pollard said.
What do you think? Could feuding kitchen utensils be the next big thing in animation after curious toys, warring insects, and talking cars? Are you excited to see which characters Arterton, Hoult and Fry end up voicing? Will you go see Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen? Tell us about it below.
