David Hoberman (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Wonder) of Hobie Films and Caroline Fraser of HarperCollins Productions (Carmen Sandiego, The Oregon Trail) have announced the studios will produce an animated feature based on the children’s book The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White, with David Guion and Michael Handelman attached to write. Julie Meschko of Hobie Films will executive produce.
First published in 1970, The Trumpet of the Swan has sold 10 million copies worldwide, and has never gone out of print. The story begins on a beautiful pond deep in the forest, where a trumpeter swan named Louis is born without a voice. He can’t communicate with his family or tell the radiant young swan, Serena, that he’s fallen madly in love with her. When his father steals a trumpet to help him, it changes Louis’s life forever. Aided by a boy named Sam, Louis sets off on a musical odyssey across America to clear his father’s name, win his true love’s heart, become a world-famous musician and find his voice at last.
“The Trumpet of the Swan is one of the most powerful stories ever written about a character with a disability who learns that what makes them different makes them extraordinary,” said Fraser. “The story will take audiences on a breathtaking visual and musical journey as this beloved character finds his voice.”
Hoberman added, “I’m delighted to partner with HarperCollins Productions and Guion and Handelman in bringing E. B. White’s beautiful, elegant and touching story to the screen.”
One of the most celebrated English-language writers of all time, White was a prolific and accomplished essayist who won numerous accolades, including the National Medal for Literature, a special Pulitzer Prize citation, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His first book for children, Stuart Little, was published in 1945, followed by Charlotte’s Web, which won a Newbery Honor in 1953, and The Trumpet of the Swan, published in 1970. White is also renowned for The Elements of Style, written with William Strunk, Jr.
The writing and producing teams for The Trumpet of the Swan are currently collaborating on The Mouse and the Motorcycle, a live-action/CGI hybrid set up at Amazon MGM Studios, based on the series of books by Beverly Cleary.
Guion and Handelman are known for their work on family features including Netflix’s fantasy adventure Slumberland starring Jason Momoa, as well as Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb and the Paul Rudd–Steve Carell comedy Dinner for Schmucks.
Hobie Films is represented by WME. Guion and Handelman are repped by UTA. David Wienir represents HarperCollins Productions. The E. B. White estate is represented by CAA.
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