There is hope for original ideas in Hollywood after all! Isaac Adamson’s Black List-topping script told from the point of view of Michael Jackson’s pet chimp, Bubbles, will be made into a stop-motion animated film produced by Community‘s Dan Harmon.
There’s even a method to this madness. Harmon executive produced Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion dramedy, which earned a Best Animated Film Oscar nomination. That film used 3D printed puppets to bring its characters to life, and presumably Bubbles will be created using similar methods.
Really, it makes perfect sense for this unique story to be told using a similarly unique technique. Here’s how Deadline describes it:
Bubbles tells the story of Michael Jackson’s life and history from the perspective of the pet Chimp which got a close-up view after being adopted by Jackson from an Austin, Texas research facility and took up residence at the Neverland Ranch in 1983. He became Jackson’s constant companion until he became overaggressive and was moved to a monkey sanctuary in Florida. The script has been considered a very inventive way to tell an unauthorised story of Jackson without needing permission.
Thus far, there’s no director or actors (who will be the voice of Bubbles?) attached, which doesn’t hamper our enthusiasm for any of this one bit.
Top: A chimp (not Bubbles) hangs out at the Chimp Haven sanctuary in Keithville, LA. Photo by Brandon Wade/AP Images for the Humane Society of the United States and Chimp Haven.