‘My Father’s Dragon’: Netflix Shares First-Look Image And Reveals Cast Of Cartoon Saloon’s Next Feature

Netflix has dropped a first-look image and shared early production details for its upcoming animated feature My Father’s Dragon, directed by Cartoon Saloon’s Nora Twomey.

What we know so far:

• The film is based on Ruth Stiles Gannett’s Newbery Medal-winning kids’ book of the same name.
• Synopsis: Struggling to cope after a move to the city with his mother, Elmer runs away in search of Wild Island and a young dragon who waits to be rescued. Elmer’s adventures introduce him to ferocious beasts, a mysterious island and the friendship of a lifetime.
• Twomey is the Oscar-nominated director of The Breadwinner and has received numerous recognitions for her other work, including her feature debut The Secret of Kells which she co-directed with Tomm Moore. She also produced Apple TV+’s Wolfwalkers and is co-founder, partner, and creative director at Cartoon Saloon. She has previously spoken with Cartoon Brew about her role as a studio owner.
• The script was written by Inside Out screenwriter Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur) who adapted the screen story with John Morgan.
• The animation is produced at Kilkenny, Ireland-based Cartoon Saloon. Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn from Mockingbird Pictures and Paul Young of Cartoon Saloon produce.
• My Father’s Dragon is Mockingbird Picture’s first animated feature. Other Mockingbird titles include Albert Nobbs, 5 to 7, and Life.
• Executive producers include LeFauve and Morgan, Tomm Moore, and Gerry Shirren from Cartoon Saloon, and Alan Moloney and Ruth Coady of Parallel Films.
• The film’s voice cast features Jacob Tremblay, Gaten Matarazzo, Golshifteh Farahani, Dianne Wiest, Rita Moreno, Chris O’Dowd, Judy Greer, Alan Cumming, Yara Shahidi, Jackie Earle Haley, Mary Kay Place, Leighton Meester, Spence Moore II, Adam Brody, Charlyne Yi, Maggie Lincoln, Jack Smith, Whoopi Goldberg, and Ian McShane.
• Netflix’s film won’t be the first time that Gannett’s book is adapted as a feature. In 2007, a Japanese version was released, directed by Masami Hata (Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, Jetter Mars).