The creator of the Cartoon Network series Over The Garden Wall, Patrick McHale, has been tapped to direct a Netflix feature film adaptation of the beloved fantasy adventure series Redwall. Netflix owns the rights for all 22 books in Brian Jaques’ classic series and will also have a TV series in the works.

The name Redwall refers to an abbey that serves as the setting for the battles of good and evil between different species of rodents and other anthropomorphic animals over the course of the book series. It is a well-regarded and financially successful series that is often compared to the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

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McHale’s film adaptation will be based on the first book in the series, which follows a young monk mouse named Matthias as he fights to protect his peaceful community from the evil one-eyed rat, Cluny the Scourge, and his army. The series will follow the adventures of the Redwall Abbey founder, Martin the Warrior, specifically. This is the first adaptation of Redwall since the death of author Brian Jaques in 2011 and a 1999 Canadian television series. That show lasted three seasons, each based on a different book in the series.

Netflix has a wide range of animated and anime shows and movies in its catalog, including those based on Castlevania, Voltron, Carmen Sandiego, and She-Ra. This announcement is one of a slew of future animated series recently announced by Netflix, including some based on video game characters Star Fox, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft.  

McHale seems like the perfect pick for this film. In addition to his work on Over the Garden Wall, he has written for Adventure Time and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Over The Garden Wall is a 10 episode miniseries about the adventures of Wirt, voiced by Elijah Wood, and his brother through a mysterious forest.

The miniseries balances an interesting, dark yet witty tone, which is part of the reason it has attracted a cult following of sorts. It’s the kind of tone that would lend itself nicely to Redwall, which has a somewhat gritty tone itself.

Redwall is in development at Netflix.

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Source: Variety