Blue Sky Announces Two New Features – ‘Ferdinand’ and ‘Anibus’

Just days before the release of its latest animated feature, Epic, Blue Sky Studios has announced that it currently has two more features in the pipeline.

The first one is called Anubis, and is billed as a loose adaptation of the book, “The Anubis Tapestry: Between Twilights,” by Bruce Zick. The film is tentatively scheduled for release on July 15, 2016.

The second feature, Ferdinand, is an adaptation of the 1936 children’s book, “The Story of Ferdinand,” by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson. Ferdinand is a bull who doesn’t want to fight in the bullfighting arena like so many of his brothers, but instead just wants to smell the flowers. Walt Disney made an animated short out of the beloved classic in 1938.

Ferdinand is being brought to life by Rio and original Ice Age director Carlos Saldanha with an initial release date of April 7, 2017.

Blue Sky seems to be on an upward curve of late. Ice Age 4 was a commercial hit and movies like Horton Hears A Who! and Rio showed that they can do much more than just Ice Age sequels. And let’s not count out the highly anticipated Peanuts feature set for 2015! It’s great to see them making more book adaptations as well.

Are you familiar with the source material for these upcoming movies? What are your thoughts on these adaptations?