Warner Bros. Pictures Animation has officially entered development on a Thisby Thestoop animated feature, adapting the acclaimed middle-grade fantasy series written by Zac Gorman. The project, which has already seen the studio option the book rights, aims to translate Gorman’s imaginative world of creature-filled dungeons and whimsical adventure into a cinematic experience.
The adaptation is being spearheaded by writing duo Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman, who brought the project to the studio with a pitch heavily inspired by the first installment of the series, Thisby Thestoop and the Black Mountain. While a release date has not been set, the attachment of Desmond and Sherman suggests a focus on high-concept storytelling blended with the heartfelt character arcs that defined the original books published by HarperCollins Publishers.
At its core, the story follows a young heroine who takes on the unconventional role of gamekeeper for a massive, sprawling dungeon. Far from a traditional quest, the narrative balances humor and fantasy as the protagonist manages the various creatures inhabiting her domain, creating a world that appeals to the curiosity of middle-grade readers and the visual appetite of animation fans.
A Legacy of Visual Storytelling
The transition from page to screen feels particularly organic given Zac Gorman’s own professional history. An Ann Arbor, Michigan native, Gorman is not only an author but a seasoned veteran of the animation industry. His fingerprints are on some of the most visually distinct projects of the last decade, having served as a storyboard artist on the Emmy Award-winning Over the Garden Wall for Cartoon Network.
Gorman’s ability to blend the surreal with the structured is further evidenced by his Annie Award nomination for character design on Nickelodeon’s Welcome to the Wayne. Beyond the screen, he established himself as a powerhouse in the comic world as the inaugural writer for the New York Times bestselling Rick and Morty comic series through Oni Press. This intersection of literary success and technical animation expertise provides a strong foundation for the Thisby Thestoop adaptation.
The source material itself has already garnered significant critical attention. The series was named a 2018 Cybils Awards Finalist in the Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category, where judges highlighted the work as being full of feeling and wit. The series was a 2021 nominee for the Washington Library Association Sasquatch Book Award, a distinction particularly notable because it is driven by the preferences of young readers themselves.
The Architects Behind the Script
In Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman, Warner Bros. Has tapped a writing team known for navigating complex tones and high-stakes narratives. The duo has a proven track record of adapting challenging source material, most notably their work on Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World, which was released as Knock at the Cabin under the direction of M. Night Shyamalan.
Their relationship with Warner Bros. Is not new; in 2018, the studio acquired their Black List script Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers following a competitive bidding process. This followed a string of critical successes on the Black List and Blood List, including their 2016 script Orb and the 2020 selection The Saturday Night Ghost Club.
More recently, Desmond and Sherman have pivoted toward large-scale animation and genre-bending thrillers. They provided critical production rewrites for Paramount’s Transformers One, which debuted in September 2024 and resonated strongly with viewers, earning a 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Their current slate remains ambitious, with adaptations of their own novella The Time Runner and the horror-thriller Wilderness Reform both in the works at Paramount.
Desmond & Sherman: Key Project History
| Project | Role | Studio/Director |
|---|---|---|
| Knock at the Cabin | Adaptation Writer | Universal / M. Night Shyamalan |
| Transformers One | Production Rewrites | Paramount / Josh Cooley |
| The Time Runner | Adaptation Writer | Paramount / Wes Ball |
| Wilderness Reform | Adaptation Writer | Paramount / Josh Ruben |
What In other words for the Animation Pipeline
The development of Thisby Thestoop signals a continued interest from major studios in “middle-grade” intellectual property—stories that sit in the sweet spot between children’s fables and young adult novels. By focusing on a protagonist who is a “gamekeeper” of a dungeon, the project taps into the enduring popularity of dungeon-crawl aesthetics and world-building, while grounding the spectacle in the “heartfelt character storytelling” promised by the studio.
For Gorman, the project represents a full-circle moment, merging his career as a cartoonist and storyboard artist with his success as a novelist. For Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, it adds a quirky, character-driven fantasy to a portfolio that increasingly values unique visual identities over standardized CGI looks.
As the project moves through the development phase, the next major milestones will likely include the announcement of a director and the unveiling of early concept art. Given Gorman’s background in character design, the visual development of this creature-filled world will be a key point of interest for fans of the series.
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