While filmmaker Noah Baumbach first rose to prominence with 2005’s The Squid and the Whale, the director has been taking a rather stealthy approach to his projects as of late.  He filmed this year’s excellent Frances Ha on the cheap and in secret, only confirming its existence when it had completed production, and we know next to nothing about his currently in-production effort While We’re Young.  Well now you can add yet another secret project to Baumbach’s resume, as he has apparently been covertly directing DreamWorks Animation’s Flawed Dogs in his spare time.  Hit the jump for more.

An adaptation of Berkeley Breathed’s illustrated novel Flawed Dogs has been in development at DreamWorks Animation for nearly three years now, but it appears that movement on the project is further along than we previously thought.  Bleeding Cool reports that Baumbach is directing the pic and has been working in secret on the project for some time.  The story centers around a dachshund who must reclaim his place in the family after being wrongly exiled by a jealous show dog.  It’ll be interesting to see how well Breathed’s distinctive imagery is translated to the screen, but I’m eager to see an animated film completely from the mind of Baumbach.

The release of Flawed Dogs is likely still some time away, as DWA has its schedule pretty much set through 2016; that gives Baumbach ample time to juggle his live-action projects with his duties on the animated feature.  This isn’t the Greenberg director’s first time working with DreamWorks Animation, as he previously co-wrote Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted.  Of course he also co-wrote Wes Anderson’s brilliant stop-motion animated feature The Fantastic Mr. Fox.