The LA Times reports that Technicolor is making a move from just being a Hollywood service company to a content creator and has teamed up with Berkeley Breathed to create a TV series based on his book Pete & Pickles. The Times notes that children’s animation is unpredictable.
Sarnoff said he was taken with Breathed’s work and distinctive style. “He has an incredible way of looking at the world,” he said.
Breathed admits he was skeptical when Sarnoff approached him about developing a TV series from his most recent book, “Pete & Pickles,” which was inspired by a drawing by his 7-year-old daughter. “I never associated [Technicolor’s] name with production. I said, what the hell are they doing?” Breathed said.
But he found Sarnoff’s boyish enthusiasm refreshing and was impressed by the quality of the animation Technicolor was producing in India. “My 20 years’ experience in Hollywood has shown that there is nothing better than working for a company that is hungry and anxious to prove themselves,” Breathed said.
Breathed is preparing a short treatment for the project, which does not yet have a distributor, to present to networks this summer. “I have a feeling my longtime fans are going to see a lot of Bloom County’s echo in this,” he said.
Breathed has another one of his books making the leap to animation. His book Mars Needs Moms! is being adapted into a Disney feature film produced by Robert Zemeckis.