Punk Farm Movie Coming to the Big Screen?
Barn Animals Play Their Hearts Out in the Countryside
Sep 28, 2009
Dreamworks Animation obtained the rights to develop a movie based on the award-winning children's book Punk Farm over three years ago. Disappointingly, it was later canned by the same company. But could another film giant take it on?
Naturally, Punk Farm takes place on a Wisconsin farm. All seems normal during the day, but when Farmer Joe turns in for the night five animals (consisting of a singing sheep, guitarist pig, drummer cow, keyboardist chicken and bassist goat) rock out in the barn, aiming to make it all the way to Livestock, a rock music festival (and obvious play on the famous Woodstock).
The film was supposed to depict the band's journey into stardom, focusing on the farm animals' conflicts and relationships.
About the Former Developers
Punk Farm was set to be produced by Kevin Messick and Ice Age: The Meltdown writer Jim Hecht.
According to dexigner.com, Dreamworks' Head of Creative Development and Production said, "The whole idea behind Punk Farm is new and fresh, and truly something that lends itself perfectly to becoming a CG comedy. Jim and Kevin both have a keen sense for comedy and storytelling, and we're happy to have their talents behind this project."
Kevin Messick is known for previous films like A Lot Like Love and, more recently, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, a film set on a car lot starring Jeremy Piven and Ving Rhames. He is also busy developing other films at the moment, one being Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.
Jim Hecht doesn't have too many projects under his belt yet, but besides working on the Ice Age sequel, he produced 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd for Fireworks Entertainment. He was originally chosen to write the screenplay for Punk Farm.
About Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts on December 22, 1977, Jarrett J. Krosoczka is an author and illustrator of children's story books who graduated from Rhode Island School of Design.
His first published book, Good Night, Monkey Boy, is a story about a human boy who is really a monkey at heart (and in dress). All his mother wants is for him to go to sleep, but he will do just about anything to stay away from his bedroom, including raiding the refrigerator and swinging from the shower curtain! Good Night, Monkey Boy was published in 2001.
Krosoczka came up with the idea of Punk Farm from several different sources and inspirations from his childhood. After looking into the idea of using farm animals, he decided that he liked the nonconformist theme of living the opposite of what others expect. Originally, the main characters of his new book were going to be a pig who didn't like to get dirty and a chicken who refused to lay eggs.
After an editor concluded that the first idea wasn't working, Krosoczka came up with a story about a rock star kid, but he still wasn't satisfied with it since nothing seemed to work and tossed it aside. Eventually, the farm animal and rock music ideas were fused together and Punk Farm finally came together!
Decent Animation Studios that Could Make a Good Adaptation
Since the deal with Dreamworks has been severed, now is the time to ask which team could produce a well-made Punk Farm animated film. Some may say that Pixar is undoubtedly the best choice due to their heart-felt characters and plots. However, there are other decent companies that could also do a good job.
Walt Disney Animation is legendary with classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. It's arguable that their quality has decreased over time with the lackluster Chicken Little and uninspired Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but their overall record is still incredible to this day. The Princess and the Frog looks promising, so they shouldn't be counted out just yet. Disney is known for musical-themed movies, so a classic 2D version of Krosoczka's book could work.
Sony Pictures is also beginning to prove that they have learned from their past mistakes with the critical hit Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, another children's book-turned-movie about an inventor who makes the sky rain food with an odd technical device. They could easily make a humorous, well-scripted movie out of Punk Farm.
The moderately successful Nickelodeon Animation Studios may seem a bit too redundant as they already have a movie about humanistic barn animals with O Entertainment titled Barnyard: The Original Party Animals. The major difference between Barnyard and Punk Farm has to do with the behavior of the characters. The animals in Barnyard only talk, goof around and act human while the ones in Punk Farm actually use their musical talents to their advantage.
Kingdom Feature Productions arguably has some of the most detailed and realistic animation in their films, with the feathery penguins of Happy Feet being the best example. With a lot of work on CG, they could make a truly breathtaking 3D rendition of the story.
Punk Farm was set to release sometime in the future with no solid date being addressed. Although Dreamworks has dropped the project, hopefully another studio will work on it sometime.
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