Wes Anderson Is Returning To Feature Animation With ‘Isle of Dogs’

Following a year of rumors and speculation, director Wes Anderson officially announced his next animated feature, Isle of Dogs, via a Youtube video this morning:

Not much is known about the project other than that there’s a bunch of dogs in it (one of whom is briefly shown in the clip above), but considering that Anderson’s transition into animation with his first stop motion film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, was so successful, there are plenty of people who are eagerly anticipating his return to the art form. Like Fox, Isle of Dogs will be animated in the U.K.

The voice cast announcement includes numerous actors of Japanese descent, which provides another clue about the film’s themes and/or setting. The cast includes Edward Norton, Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, F. Murray Abraham, Tilda Swinton, Kunichi Nomura, Harvey Keitel, Akira Ito, Akira Takayama, Koyu Rankin, Yoko Ono, Courtney B. Vance, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Bob Balaban, and Liev Schreiber.

This poster of concept artwork also released today perhaps yields additional clues about the film: