Beasts of Burden to Become a Feature Film

Something tells us that if you liked Oliver & Company as a kid and grew up to become a slightly more twisted adult, then you might be into the Dark Horse comic Beasts of Burden. And if you are indeed a fan of the paranormal investigating pets, then you will be very excited to know that the comic is being adapted into a full-length film. Originally an Eisner Award-winning short story, Beasts of Burden was turned into a successful comic series by writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson. And now, it’s getting the CG-animation treatment from the people who brought us Shrek. There is reason to believe that this could be, at the very least, super interesting.

The original short story, “Stray,” first appeared in The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings in 2003 and is available online here. They eventually gained enough popularity to be featured in an issue of Hellboy. And it’s about neighborhood pets, gathering together to investigate paranormal activities! It’s like Scooby Doo with only animals, but grittier, more for the adult set. Though since there will most likely be an attempt to market this for families, if written as well as Shrek was, it will appeal to kids and adults (with enough subtle adult humor to go over the kids’ heads, fingers crossed).

Andrew Adamson, who directed Shrek and The Chronicles of Narnia, will be producing along with Aron Warner (Strange Weather Productions) and Mike Richardson (Dark Horse). There still seems to be some uncertainty about this actually being made, according to Comics Alliance, so while we’ll eagerly anticipate this, we won’t hold our collective breath just yet.

But it’s probably safe to assume that this is not Beverly Hills Chihuahua with ghosts. And that, already, is something to be thankful for.

(Comics Alliance via Gamma Squad)