We’ve witnessed quite a few mythical creature discoveries in animation recently, whether it’s with Smallfoot by Warner Bros. or Missing Link by Laika. Now with the help of Pearl Studio, it’s DreamWorks’ turn to reveal their finding of a magical Yeti in the official trailer of Abominable.

Set in Mainland China, adventure-seeking teenager Yi (voiced by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s Chloe Bennet) discovers a young Yeti hiding on the top of her Shanghai apartment. Yi then teams up with her misfit friends Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor of Super Buddies) and Peng (Albert Tsai of The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show) on a 2,000-mile journey to return the Yeti they call “Everest” to the mountain of his namesake. However, they must stay ahead of the wealthy Burnish (Eddie Izzard of Rock Dog), a man who is purely committed to capturing Everest.

Of the casting mentioned above, Tenzing Norgay Trainor is a notable standout, as he is the grandson of Tenzing Norgay, one of the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest alongside Sir Edmund Hillary.

Abominable started development as early as 2010 from the mind of director/writer Jill Culton, a former Pixar storyboard artist and best known as one of the directors of Sony Pictures Animation’s first feature Open Season. Todd Wilderman, a supervising animator on Open Season, is co-directing Abominable with Culton. Over the Hedge‘s Tim Johnson serves as an executive producer.

An American-Chinese co-production, Abominable will be the second collaboration between DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai-based Pearl Studio. Pearl previously collaborated on 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3 during the time the studio was still called Oriental DreamWorks.

In spite of its familiar premise, Abominable feels refreshing original in DreamWorks’ current period of sequelitis. Plus, the trailer does a solid job selling this adventure with the beautiful scenery, the orchestral arrangement of Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way,” and the semi-serious/semi-comedic tone that’s akin to How to Train Your Dragon, promising to give us something fresh and very heartfelt.

Abominable is scheduled for release in North American cinemas on September 27, 2019, via Universal Pictures. Chinese distribution will be handled by Pearl themselves.

What are your thoughts on Abominable so far? Has it gotten you “Yeti” for this epic Himalayan adventure?

Edited by: Kajsa Rain Forden