Disney Buys Rights to Stuff of Legend

is reporting that Walt Disney Studios has made a pitch deal for the indie comic Stuff of Legend, and hopes to develop the property as a live action-CGI hybrid. Animator Pete Candeland (Tank Girl, The Return of Jafar), who has spent the last few years working with The Gorillaz on music videos and on the Beatles Rock Band game, will direct the film based on a script from Abduction's Shawn Christensen. It's an embarrassment of riches for Candeland right now, who was also recently tapped to direct a big-screen version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride for Disney, which they're hoping to turn into a hit in the same way they did with Pirates of the Caribbean. Stuff of Legend was written by Brian Smith and Mike Raicht with art by Charles Paul Wilson III. It was published by Th3rd World Studios. Deadline describes the project as follows:

"A young boy in 1944 is abducted by the Boogeyman, dragged by the ankles into the closet realm known as The Dark. The boy's puppy rallies his toys to follow his master in a rescue mission. Once in the closet, each of those toys become menacingly large and agile creatures who engage in a war with the Boogeyman's forces. Those armies are comprised of the other toys stored in the closet, a mix of medieval knights, cowboys and toy soldiers."

Candeland and Christensen reportedly have spent the better part of a year developing the property, which is being compared to projects like Toy Story, Chronicles of Narnia, The Indian in the Cupboard and Bridge to Terabithia.