I don't have any kids, but I do live in the heavily kid-populated Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope, which means I have a vague awareness of things like Silly Bandz and that Bieber kid. I've also heard, vaguely, of things called Uglydolls, which are pretty much exactly what the title promises-- brightly colored, weirdly stitched felt dolls who kind of look like stuffed cartoon characters. The dolls are apparently wildly popular, and even more important, the creators David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim have come up with a back story and mythology for them. I bet you can guess what happens next!
Indeed, Deadline is reporting that Illumination Entertainment, the animation outfit based at Universal that gave us Despicable Me and Hop, has picked up the rights to the Uglydoll franchise, with plans to develop a feature film and maybe "a wider range of media opportunities" after that. Illumination chief Chris Meladandri praised the dolls and their "cult following," which of course means its time to turn them into a feature film that no one will be able to avoid for years to come. I guess it's kind of nice that movies based on toys are no longer limited to the Hasbros and Mattels of the world, but isn't the whole point of building a brand that feels handmade and small keeping it that way?
