Pharrell Williams Cast as Narrator in ‘The Grinch’

Pharrell Williams has been cast in the role of the narrator for the forthcoming animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas with leading man Benedict Cumberbatch.

The film, which is directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, is coming from Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind the blockbuster Despicable Me films. Williams provided music for all of those movies, and his song “Happy,” which appeared on the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, became a massive hit in 2013.

Producer Chris Meledandri, who has worked on all of Illumination’s animated hits, will produce the film. Meledandri is one of a number of names who has been attached to the planned animated adaptation of Eric Powell’s creator-owned comic The Goon over the years.

According to Deadline, who broke the casting news, Williams has composed and will perform an original song for the movie.

The film’s composer, Danny Elfman, has worked with Tyler, The Creator to devleop a new version of the classic Grinch theme “You’re a Mean One.”

You can hear a bit of that below.

Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch lends his voice to the infamous Grinch, who lives a solitary life inside a cave on Mt. Crumpet with only his loyal dog, Max, for company. With a cave rigged with inventions and contraptions for his day-to-day needs, the Grinch only sees his neighbors in Who-ville when he runs out of food.

Each year at Christmas they disrupt his tranquil solitude with their increasingly bigger, brighter and louder celebrations. When the Whos declare they are going to make Christmas three times bigger this year, the Grinch realizes there is only one way for him to gain some peace and quiet: he must steal Christmas. To do so, he decides he will pose as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, even going so far as to trap a lackadaisical misfit reindeer to pull his sleigh.

Meanwhile, down in Who-ville, Cindy-Lou Who—a young girl overflowing with holiday cheer—plots with her gang of friends to trap Santa Claus as he makes his Christmas Eve rounds so that she can thank him for help for her overworked single mother. As Christmas approaches, however, her good-natured scheme threatens to collide with the Grinch’s more nefarious one. Will Cindy-Lou achieve her goal of finally meeting Santa Claus? Will the Grinch succeed in silencing the Whos’ holiday cheer once and for all?”

The Grinch hits theaters on November 9.