WETA's Wind In The Willows: First Concept Images And Promo Teaser Trailer

Back in June, it was announced that Peter Jackson's WETA (Lord of the Rings, District 9) was developing a live-action and animatronics adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic book The Wind in the Willows. The story follows four anthropomorphized characters in a classic pastoral English countryside, an yes, it has been adapted to the screen many times before. But this time around they are using WETA to provide a suite of animatronic effects to bring the animal characters to life.

WETA's Richard Taylor is overseeing the effects. Taylor should be familiar to many as the man behind a lot of the effects in The Lord of the Rings, as well as many other films. Directed by Ray Griggs and written by Bill Marsili (Lightspeed), the $30m production is scheduled to shoot this fall. But there is already some concept art and a promo teaser trailer online. Hit the jump!

Marsili's script supposedly keeps some elements of the original story "while changing the emphasis on others to provide a more streamlined conflict." The animals join forces " to save their land from a sinister plot that threatens to destroy the uneasy truce between the peaceful animals of the Willows and what remains of Mankind. Story begins when Mole ventures out of his lonely home for the first time and finds a world of new friendships, wonders and adventure waiting for him in the land of the Willows."

The url on the promo flyer (found via BleedingCool), thewindinthewillowsthemovie.net, actually presents us with a promotional teaser trailer for the film. It isn't much, but if you wait until the end, you will see Toad of Toad Hill for a few seconds. Click here to watch the trailer on the official site or watch the trailer embedded below:

[flv:http://media2.slashfilm.com/slashfilm/trailers/willows_trailer.flv 560 296]