Kevin Lima to direct The Incredible Mr. Limpet

The big news today is the announcement of Kevin Lima (Enchanted, Tarzan, A Goofy Movie) as director of a remake of The Incredible Mr. Limpet. I’m semi-excited about this because, as a kid, I really loved the original movie. Check out the original trailer below which plays up the live action sequences, and strangely enough, Arthur Godfrey’s cover of the film’s “I Want” song, “I Wish I Were A Fish”.

The animation in The Incredible Mr. Limpet was the last work produced by the original Warner Bros. animation studio, after ceasing production on 32 years of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts. Bill Tytla was brought in to supervise, but essentially the direction was handled by Robert McKimson. After Limpet the studio was disbanded.

The press reports of Lima assuming the director role on a Limpet remake do not mention if the animation sequences will be in CG or hand drawn. I know there were previous attempts in recent years to launch uncanny valley versions starring Robin Williams and/or Jim Carrey (with a Mike Judge script!), using ugly mo-cap human heads grafted onto CG fish bodies. Hopefully they will start from scratch and consider cartoon animation (a la Lima’s Enchanted). Could be a lot of fun.