Guillermo del Toro gets animated at DreamWorks

Guillermo del Toro will write and direct the feature cartoon "Trollhunters" at DreamWorks Animation, where he is working on a number of other projects.

The Mexican filmmaker will serve as a consultant and executive producer on several films already in development, including "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and one yet-to-be-revealed project. His fingerprints will even be on the studio's next feature, "Megamind," which opens November 5.

Del Toro told the Hollywood Reporter that he was enthusiastic about animation because the entertainment landscape will shift over the next 10 years into a transmedia world -- a confluence of movies, TV, books, video and online -- and artists will need to be educated in all aspects of media.

"Transmedia," he said, "will not just be a buzz word."

The filmmaker also is convinced that animation has evolved into a medium that can attract moviegoers of all ages, including older audiences. "And I want to know it from the inside," he said. He views his role as an adviser on animated features as part of his education.

"Trollhunters," a working title, is based on a young-adult book del Toro submitted to publisher Hyperion about two weeks ago. He came up with the idea around the time he sold "The Strain," the vampire book trilogy he is writing with Chuck Hogan, and he has been working on it since.

"I wanted very much to develop a story that could be written for kids but dealt with a genre that was scary," he said. "It essentially combines fairy tales with modern times and is about how difficult it is to be kid. Normally, kids are idealized in animated films. But the growing pains, married with the notion that there is a world right next to us that is completely plagued by creatures of ancient lore, it's thematically fitting with the rest of my stuff."

Del Toro has already started writing "Trollhunters" and plans on finishing it before he shoots "At the Mountains of Madness," a James Cameron-produced adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft novel about an Antarctic expedition. That project is awaiting a green light from Universal.

In the meantime, though, del Toro will be busy at DreamWorks Animation. He said he met with studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg six months ago, they immediately clicked, and del Toro agreed to work on "Megamind" before any dealmaking began. He has been helping with the editing and structure of the movie, hoping to give it a brisker rhythm.

Del Toro believes he is joining DreamWorks Animation just as the company's "cultural footprint is growing," especially with movies such as "Kung Fu Panda" and "Dragon."