Breaking News: Blue Sky Studios & Fox Animation to Adapt Garth Nix's "Frogkisser!"

Frogkisser! is not even released yet (due out in February 2017 by Scholastic in the US and in Spring via Picadilly Press in the UK) but has already gotten a lot of interest. So much so that it's been snapped up for a live action-animation hybrid movie by Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age, Rio, Epic, The Peanuts Movie).

Here's Nix's excited tweet:

Garth Nix: “FROGKISSER! is one of those novels that just bubble out of the imagination and demand to be written all at once and won’t permit anything else to get in the way. I am delighted that my various publishers have all responded to the book with as much exuberance as I felt while I was writing it.”

And i's a musical!

Fox Animation recently announced an initiative to expand what it calls "family hybrid" movies and the Australian author's book is first cap off the rank. Apart from great news for Nix and fairy tale fans, this clues us into a interesting direction for future movies coming from Fox and Blue Sky - a musical family hybrid - aka live action and animation fantasy family-friendly movie! We really are going back to the trends of the 80's and 90's in a good way. (Disney will be taking notice, you can be certain.)

It is indeed a "princess kissing frogs" story but with a wonderful Garth Nix twist. Here's the blurb:

The Last Thing She Needs Is a Prince. 

The First Thing She Needs Is Some Magic.  

Poor Princess Anya. Forced to live with her evil stepmother's new husband, her evil stepstepfather. Plagued with an unfortunate ability to break curses with a magic-assisted kiss. And forced to go on the run when her stepstepfather decides to make the kingdom entirely his own. 

Aided by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischievous wizards, Anya sets off on a Quest that, if she plays it right, will ultimately free her land-and teach her a thing or two about the use of power, the effectiveness of a well-placed pucker, and the finding of friends in places both high and low. 

With Frogkisser!, acclaimed bestselling author Garth Nix has conjured a fantastical tale for all ages, full of laughs and danger, surprises and delights, and an immense population of frogs. It's 50% fairy tale, 50% fantasy, and 100% pure enjoyment from start to finish. 

Fox seems pretty happy about it. They even seemed to have gotten a jump on the marketing. Appearing on Ralph Millero's Instagram today (Millero is 20th Century Fox Vice President in charge of The Peanuts Movie), with the caption "How many frogs have you kissed?":