Meet Mosley, the hump-backed beast of burden with a big part to play in the new animated feature film from writer-director Kirby Atkins. Mosley introduces some curious creatures known as Thoriphants, domesticated animals with obvious intelligence who appear to have much more going on in their species' history than is apparent at first blush. The first trailer for the film, courtesy of Variety, comes out of Berlinale, and it's quite a compelling watch. It's full of heart, humor, and adventure, and teases philosophical complexity in less than two minutes. Keep an eye out for this one.

Atkins makes his feature directorial debut with Mosley having written for The BFG and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip, and having worked on visual effects for The Smurfs 2 and the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius franchise, some episodes of which he also directed. He also voices Mosley in this picture, lending his specific point of view to the title character both behind the camera and in his performance as the beleaguered creature as he sets out to discover his true nature.

Watch the compelling first trailer for Mosley below:

As you can glean from the trailer, Mosley follows the title character and his family of Thoriphants, who have the ability to speak but have also been sentenced to a life of servitude for reasons unknown. In seeking his family's freedom, Mosley embarks on a perilous journey to find the mythical land of Kinesareth. There's a lot of compelling action and adventure elements going on in that first trailer for what's a familiar but original tale; consider me curious.From Lotus Entertainment, New Zealand's Huhu Studios, and China Film Animation, Mosley marks the first co-production between the two countries. Lotus will premiere the film in Berlin on February 7th at the European Film Market, and quite a few international territories will already be screening the family-friendly animated movie. There's no word yet on a U.S. release, but with a voice cast featuring Rhys Darby (Trolls, Voltron Legendary Defender), John Rhys Davies (Lord of the Rings), Temuera Morrison (Aquaman) and Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess), we're hoping to hear something relatively soon.

“It’s a visually stunning movie, and I’ve been in awe of the collaborative work of artists in New Zealand and China,” producer Daniel Story told Variety. “The film has scope and power and can easily stand alongside any big studio project. I think we’re about to break the rules for what an animated feature film can do in the independent space.”