Veteran DreamWorks Director Tim Johnson Launches New Animation Banner, Will Helm ‘Wizard Of Id’ Feature

A new independent animation banner is betting on legacy newspaper comics to stake out space in an ever-shifting animation landscape.

Goodman Pictures has teamed with director Tim Johnson to launch Underneath the Umbrella Productions and develop film and television projects. The venture launches with a trio of notable literary acquisitions: Johnny Hart’s long-running comic strips B.C. and Wizard of Id, as well as The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr.

Johnson, whose credits include Over the Hedge, Home, and Antz, is set to co-write and direct the company’s first feature, an animated adaptation of Wizard of Id. He’ll script the project alongside Tom Astle, continuing a creative partnership that dates back to Home.

In a release, Johnson explained:

This is a dream project. As a young boy, I learned to draw by tracing the original Johnny Hart and Brant Parker comic strip. I grew up on the timeless humor of Wizard of Id. Similar to my experience directing Over the Hedge, I believe the rich characters and sharp wit of Wizard offer incredible potential to create a family film that appeals to many generations and cultures. Teaming up with Tom Astle on this new film project is a real joy.

The slate’s underlying IP is about as legacy as it gets. B.C. (launched in 1958) and Wizard of Id (1964, co-created with Brant Parker) were staples of newspaper comics pages for decades, each earning the Reuben Award, a rare distinction, doubly so for strips from the same creator. Both titles reached global syndication heights that are unlikely to be duplicated in today’s largely digital media ecosystem.

Johnson added:

All three initial Underneath the Umbrella Productions projects are rare finds – unicorns! They have strong four-quadrant, family-audience appeal. They work internationally. They are based on high quality, award-winning IPs. They have humor and heart, and a natural fit for animation.

No synopsis was included for the proposed feature, but the Wizard of Id strip is set in a satirical medieval kingdom populated by a scheming monarch, a long-suffering wizard, and a rotating cast of prisoners, knights, and peasants. Featuring gag-driven stories, it uses anachronistic humor to skewer modern politics, class hierarchies, and institutional power, often filtering contemporary concerns through a fantasy lens.

Rights to the comics were secured from Patti Hart of John Hart Studios, while The Book of the Dun Cow, a National Book Award winner, comes via the estate of Wangerin.