One of my favorite animated films of the last few years was Sony Pictures Animation’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. The film is incredibly funny, delightfully goofy, and has a strong emotional center that grounds the story. It didn’t come as a surprise when I learned that it was directed by Clone High alums Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and it also didn’t come as a surprise when Lord and Miller rose to prominence with their subsequent features 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie. The sequel, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, was in no way a disappointment, and now Sony is looking to further the delicious story in TV form.
Sony announced today that it is developing twenty-six 22-minute traditionally animated episodes of a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs TV show with DHX Media. The show will be a prequel series that focuses on the teen years of Flint Lockwood, with plenty of familiar faces popping up along the way. The Cloudy 2 Blu-ray included a collection of traditionally animated shorts that were quite fun so there’s plenty of promise in this Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series idea. More after the jump, including the official synopsis.
The announcement does not come with a network attached, so it will be interesting to see where the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs TV show lands. It’s also unclear if this means the feature film franchise will be taking a break or if Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series is simply an expansion of the brand. I’d love to hear that Lord and Miller are involved in some capacity (they produced the sequel), but the press release makes no mention to that end.
Hopefully we hear more information about the series soon, but for now read the official synopsis below:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series takes place before giant food came raining down on Swallow Falls. Flint Lockwood is a high school tween with big dreams. Swallow Falls is a blue-collar town where sardines are driving a booming economy. But Flint suffers from NFD: Non Fish-related Dreams. He wants to be a serious scientist and maybe one day not have his inventions blow up in his face. Along for the ride is Sam Sparks, who's the new girl in town and the school's newest wannabe ace reporter. These two outsiders come together for laughs and comedic adventures with all the great characters from the film: Flint's Dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny the head of the school's audiovisual, school gym teacher Earl before he becomes a cop, Brent who still models baby wear, and Mayor Shelbourne, who wins every election on the pro-sardine platform.