One of the big disappointments in the recent merger between Disney and Fox was the shelving of director Wes Ball and writer Gary Whitta's adaptation of David Petersen's graphic novel Mouse Guard. Now, Ball has hit Twitter to share the sad news that efforts to set the project up at other studios has failed. Yet from the ashes of the pre-production process comes a look at what might have been, as the rough demo for the film's look at tone is now online.
It's a fascinating glimpse of the process of making a movie like this (an early stage, at least) as the footage, which has basic animation and rich concept design, demonstrates what Ball and his team were going for, with the proviso that the final product would be brought to life via Andy Serkis' Imaginarium and the effects gurus at Weta.
Mouse Guard was to have drawn from Petersen's story, which is set in a medieval world and tells of an order of mice who are the sworn protectors of their realm, seeing off foxes, eagles and threats from other rodents. Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Idris Elba, Jack Whitehall and Sonoya Mizuno were among those attached to bring the characters to life.
Further benefit can be found via Whitta, who posted a link to his script for the film.
We remain hopeful that some version of the story could see the light of day down the road, but for now, this is one bunch of mice that have well and truly been trapped.