Variety is reporting that Anna Faris, Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake will be heading to Jellystone Park to join Warner Bros.’ live-action/CG animated film, Yogi Bear.
Eric Brevig (Journey To The Center Of The Earth) will be directing the current script written by Brad Copeland. An original script was written by Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia.
Shooting’s expected to start next month in New Zealand.
Faris is in negotiations to portray a documentary filmmaker in the film. Aykroyd is in negotiations to voice the titular “smarter than your average bear” with Timberlake in talks to voice his sidekick, Boo-Boo.
Yogi Bear, inspired by Art Carney’s Ed Norton on The Honeymooners, was originally created by the masterful team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and made first appeared in the cartoon world in 1958 as a supporting character on the The Huckleberry Hound Show. In 1961 he finally got his own show.
He was originally voiced by Daws Butler who did many of the voices for Hanna-Barbera including Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw and Wally Gator amongst others.
Not much is known about the actual plot of the film yet, but it has been stated that it will follow the animated series, with Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo running around Jellystone Park, as they try to avoid Ranger Smith, and steal pic-a-nic baskets. Faris’s character will apparently be documenting the two bears’ escapades.
The fact that this film is being made doesn’t surprise me. It seems on par with what Hollywood is doing these days. And Aykroyd seems like a promising choice for Yogi, however I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about Timberlake voice Boo-Boo. Sure, he’s proved in other films that he can be pretty funny, but Boo-Boo? The biggest problem here is Faris, she’s sure to bring the film down as she does most things she touches.
So the really big question is, who’s going to play Ranger Smith?
