Ron Howard to Direct First Animated Movie for Netflix, Called The Shrinking of Treehorn

Esteemed director Ron Howard is officially jumping into the world of animated movies. On Monday, a report from The Ankler confirmed that Howard's first animated feature, an adaptation of The Shrinking of Treehorn, has been acquired by Netflix. Peter Rabbit alum Rob Lieber is attached to write the adaptation, which was first in development at Paramount back in 2019. The film will adapt Florence Parry Heide and Edward Gorey's 1971 children's book of the same name, and will be a musical set in New York City during the holidays which follows a young boy who starts shrinking one day, even if his parents barely seem to notice.

Howard has become iconic as an actor, producer, and director, with his duties in the latter including Frost/Nixon, A Beautiful Mind, and the upcoming Thirteen Lives. He also recently entered the genre space with 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, replacing original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

"I understood that this difference had created a schism to the point where they weren't going to be able to go on working together, and that was really unfortunate because I like Phil and Chris, and I also really admire them," Howard expressed to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. "When I looked at the footage and read the script, which I liked, I felt like I understood what it was that the studio and Lucasfilm were looking for in finishing the movie and reshooting some of the movie, and in a few places, I thought of reconceiving a few scenes, which they were open to. I had some really comforting conversations with Phil and Chris, who let me know that they weren't leaving because I was coming in."

Howard noted that an added bonus of working on Solo was the development of the upcoming Willow series, as he pointed out, "For me, it was an absolute exercise in professionalism and friendship, and it indirectly led to a season of Willow, which we're doing now [with Solo co-writer] Jonathan Kasdan."

"There's a lot I really love about Solo, and yet it didn't hit the zeitgeist when it came to the market. Damn,"  the filmmaker confessed.