Toronto animation studio Cuppa Coffee and California-based Planet Grande Pictures have optioned David Duchovny’s novel Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale and are developing it as an animated holiday special.

Holy Cow, which entered The New York Times best seller list earlier this year, follows the journey of a pig, turkey and a cow who – after realizing life on earth might be shorter than they anticipated – embark on a trip across the world that takes them to Turkey, Israel and India. 

The project came to Cuppa via Planet Grande’s Veronica Brady, who recommended the book to Cuppa Coffee head Adam Shaheen as a story that would translate well as a stop motion holiday special. The prodcos optioned the book and approached Duchovny, who boarded the project as an executive producer.

Shaheen says the prodcos are pitching the series in the coming weeks to deliver the hour-long special for Christmas 2016.

“A Christmas special is really a 12-month commitment,” Shaheen told Playback Daily, noting that if a broadcaster signs on, the project will go into production in the next two months.

The script for the hour-long special is being written by Billy Frolick (Madagascar).

Executive producers on the project are Shaheen, Duchovny, as well as Planet Grande’s Veronica Brady, Eamon Harrington and John Watkin.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock