Montreal-Madrid based Pink Parrot Media has announced the voice cast for its 3D animated feature Butterfly Tale at this year’s American Film Market (AFM), casting the voice talents of Tatania Maslany (She-Hulk, Trollhunters, Rise of the Titans, Bite Size Halloween) as Jennifer and Mena Massoud (Aladdin, Aladdin 2, The Royal Treatment) as Patrick/ The film is set for theatrical release in the fall of 2023.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Tatiana and Mena on board to voice these characters,” said director Sophie Roy. “I’ve been following Tatiana’s career for years. She’s an exciting actress with unbelievable range second to none. She is the perfect person to play Jennifer. Finding an actor to play Patrick whose character is resilient, naive, fearless and optimistic was no easy task. Mena has all these qualities and more. I can’t wait to go into the recording studio with these two talented actors!”
Synopsis: Butterfly Tale is a heartwarming animated feature film about Patrick, a gutsy and resourceful teen butterfly who cannot fly — but won’t let that keep him down! It is a tale of adventure, self-realization and heroism, told with humor, which message is that our differences are less important than the bonds we share, and it is in adversity that our true character shines through.
“We have been eagerly looking for just the right voices to portray these two wonderful characters,” said Tania Pinto Da Cunha, VP/Partner at Pink Parrot Media. “Tatiana and Mena have an enormous amount of talent, as seen in their acting credits. We are so lucky to have these two actors as part of our feature. Together, the two of them are going to bring Patrick and Jennifer to life, ready to share the adventures we have set forth in Butterfly Tale.”
The film is produced by Marie-Claude Beauchamp of Montreal-based CarpeDiem Film & TV (Snowtime, Racetime) and Emely Christians of Germany’s Ulysses Films (The Amazing Maurice, Ooops! Noah Is Gone). The producers said in a joint comment:
“We are very happy to be producing this fantastic film full of excitement, heart and fun and that we are now able to roll-out with announcements about this amazing cast! Tatiana and Mena will inspire the success of our butterflies and carry them into the world.”
Butterfly Tale animated feature film has already been pre-sold to Canada (Vortex, Maison 4:3), CIS (Top Films), France (Wildbunch), Former Yugoslavia (Blitz), Germany (Wildbunch), Middle East (Front Row), Spain (Flins & Piniculas) and Poland & Romania (Monolith).
Directed by Roy, whose previous credits include producer on Racetime and The Legend of Sarila, the family adventure’s writing team includes Heidi Foss and Lienne Sawatsky.
As well as being an author, screenwriter, story editor and working in series development for shows on HBO, FOX, PBS, YTV, Nickelodeon and BBC, Foss is a well-known Canadian stand-up comedian. Foss recently served as story editor on the first season of Air Bud Ent.’s Pup Academy (Disney).
Sawatsky was nominated for the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards and WGC Awards for Best Writing on the animated TV series Wishfart. She is best known for her work on notable series for Disney Channel (Sidekicks), Nickelodeon (Middlemost Post), Cartoon Network (Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5) and more recently the original Netflix show Kid Cosmic.
Butterfly Tale was recognized with the Animation Screenplay Award from the 2021 Stuttgart International Animation Film Festival (IFTS).
