Me and My Shadow will combine CGI with 2D, hand-drawn animation like the films of old; the Shadow World will reportedly be hand-drowned traditional animation, while the Human World will be created in CG.
First announced in late 2010, we now have the first piece of art from the upcoming DreamWorks Animation's movie, which will be directed by Alessandro Carloni (Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon).
The voice cast also currently includes Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, Something Borrowed) along with Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon) and Bill Hader (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Paul).
Written by Tom Astle and Matt Ember, the film tells the story of Stan (Hader), an extremely frustrated shadow who yearns for a dynamic life, but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb (Gad), the world's most boring human. Finally pushed to the brink, Shadow Stan breaks the singular rule of the Shadow World – “They lead, we follow” – and takes control of Stanley!
DreamWorks Animation Chief Creative Officer Bill Damaschke said:
Me and My Shadow, which is out in spring of 2014, is a combination of CG and traditional hand drawn animation. There is a reason to tell the story in that fashion. It's about what would happen if your shadow, that has been following you around and basically just follows what you do your whole life, just stood up and took over. The shadows will be animated hand drawn, and the other characters will be CG animated. There is a reason to do it [hand drawn animation] that felt creatively interesting.
Me and My Shadow will be released on March 14th, 2014.
