Who knew the guy who blamed it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol had a thing for kiddy comedies? According to Variety, Jamie Foxx and Malcolm Spellman came up with a animated project called Welcome to the Jungle and 20th Century Fox Animation went for it.
Foxx will work as a triple threat on this one. Not only is he on board to produce alongside his partner and manager Jamie Rucker King for FoxxKing Entertainment, but he’ll also voice the lead character and write some original songs for the film. Lucky for Foxx, his work stops there. Spellman will be the man to pen the script. “I’m psyched about Welcome to the Jungle because it’s specifically built to utilize Jamie’s talent with voices and as a musician,” Spellman explained. As for plot details, the only hint the writer would provide was, “Life is a jungle and welcome to it.”
Foxx is an old pro when it comes to filmmaking, but he hasn’t had much experience in the animation department. Way back in 1996, Foxx voiced a character for the show C-Bear and Jamal and only recently returned to the sound booth for the upcoming short Malice N Wonderland. Not only is Spellman’s resume rather minimal, but it’s completely void of animation work. Even the studio is stepping into new territory. Other than Robots and Horton Hears a Who!, Fox has mainly hidden behind the Ice Age franchise. With Rio due out in 2011 and rumors of Leaf Men and Spore to follow, the studio will have to make a serious effort to get with the times and at least attempt to catch up to Pixar and DreamWorks Animation.
By Perri Nemiroff
