Writer/cartoonist/Pulitzer Prize winner Berkeley Breathed's children's book Flawed Dogs: The Year-End Leftovers at the Piddleton 'Last Chance' Dog Pound' (a mouthful, I know) is en route to its film debut, as it was announced yesterday that DreamWorks has picked up the rights. Breathed, best known for his long-running comic strip 'Bloom County', looks set to experience a profitable 2011, as his book Mars Needs Moms was adapted to film recently by Walt Disney Pictures and is set for a scheduled March 11 release. The illustrated tale of doggy "undesirables" features a surreal, almost psychedelic art style that is oddly reminiscent of the works of Salvador Dali. With DreamWorks reaching a creative peak recently, it will be interesting to see how they handle this license, and whether its distinct visuals will transfer well to the silver screen.
"In Flawed Dogs, we have a dog movie that has edge as well as heart, which will be inspired by the singularly brilliant visual and comedic sensibility of Berkeley Breathed. " said DreamWork's head of development Alex Schwartz, in a statement. "At Dreamworks animation we are excited to work with him on what we believe to be a universally appealing story that captures the unique and profound relationship between humans and their dogs."
In a world where Pixar can make children consider mortality with just a few pairs of computer generated eyes, it's good to see that DreamWorks are looking to add some edge to their output, and hopefully they are now looking to firmly avoid the tired pop-culture references and obvious gags that have driven the likes of Shrek into the ground.