‘Ron’s Gone Wrong’ Studio Locksmith Animation Re-Teams With DNEG For ‘That Christmas’

Locksmith has picked the fast-growing DNEG Animation to handle animation production for its upcoming feature That Christmas. The two studios previously collaborated on Locksmith’s first feature, the Disney release Ron’s Gone Wrong.

That Christmas, which was announced last summer, has also newly revealed some of the key creative talent on the film.

Details:

• That Christmas is based on a series of kids’ books by filmmaker Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually), who is writing the screenplay with Peter Souter. It will be his first writing for an animated film.
• The film is currently in production in London with animator and story veteran Simon Otto (How to Train Your Dragon) directing what will be his feature debut.
• The film’s core creative team includes Justin Hutchinson-Chatburn (His Dark Materials, Black Mirror) as production designer, while Dave Edwardz (Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, Mary Poppins Returns) is head of layout, Kapil Sharma (Ron’s Gone Wrong, Trolls) is animation director, Ashley Boddy (Ron’s Gone Wrong, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon) is head of story, Doug Ikeler (Arthur Christmas, Open Season) is vfx supervisor, and Sim Evan-Jones (The Chronicles of Narnia, Shrek) is editor.
• Former Netflix and Disney veteran Nicole P. Hearon (Moana, Frozen) and Adam Tandy (The Thick of It, Detectorists) are producing. Executive producers include Elisabeth Murdoch, Sarah Smith, Julie Lockhart, Bonnie Arnold, Richard Curtis, Peter Souter, Colin Hopkins, and the books’ illustrator Rebecca Cobb.

Pictured at top: “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” “That Christmas”