Christmas has come early for Apple Original Films as it will reteam with director Peter Baynton for a movie adaptation of the kids picture book Little Santa by author and illustrator Jon Agee.

The latest collaboration follows Baynton landing the Academy Award for Apple’s animated short The Boy the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Little Santa as an animated musical comedy adventure will follow Santa Claus as a child on an Oz-like trek through the North Pole, meeting and inspiring offbeat friends who create Christmas and remind the world to believe, according to a synopsis from the producers.

Baynton will direct Little Santa the movie based on a screenplay by Martin Hynes and will include original songs from Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie. Wildbrain will do the pre-production and animation for Little Santa, with Julia Pistor producing and Hynes and McKenzie sharing in the executive producer credits.  

Besides Little Santa, Apple Original Films also has other animated fare upcoming, including Snoopy Unleashed, the studio’s first original Peanuts film from Wildbrain and Peanuts Worldwide. Like Little Santa, the computer-generated animated Snoopy Unleashed film will follow Snoopy and Charlie Brown as they and the rest of the Peanuts gang as they go on an epic journey. Apple also holds the rights to the late Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts catalog.

Recent releases from Apple include F1: The Movie, The Lost Bus rescue drama from director Paul Greengrass, Highest 2 Lowest, which reunited Spike Lee with Denzel Washington, and The Gorge, starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy.

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