Silent film-star Harold Lloyd to be turned into a cartoon

The Cinesite production company has announced plans to produce animated features concerning American Silent Film icon and comedian, Harold Lloyd.

Lloyd’s granddaughter will be involved with the production

Lloyd's career lasted from the mid-1910s to the late 1940s and he is considered a contemporary of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Laurel & Hardy. While he is mostly associated with the silent film era today, especially with his actions of physical comedy, he did transition into “talkies” later in his career, having made around 200 features.

The project will involve collaboration between Harold Lloyd Estate and Comic Animations.

Dave Rosenbaum, who serves as Cinesite’s chief creative officer, will develop the animated films with the help of Lloyd’s granddaughter, Suzanne Lloyd, who is the legal owner of her grandfather's film library, and Eamonn Butler, who serves as Cinesite’s executive animation director.

In a released statement, Suzanne said that her grandfather crafted the image of a relatable, empathetic "boy next door" and that he has still entertained "generations" of fans, in addition to thanking Rosenbaum and Butler for helping bring her grandfather’s image to modern audiences.

Added to that, she was excited over the endeavor, as she believed the people of today "need laughter more than ever."

For his part, Rosenbaum also said in a released statement that modern films also owe a lot to Lloyd, with his contributions to camerawork and storytelling.

Cinesite hopes to make more forays into animated feature films

Comic Animations is an intellectual property of Cinesite and has announced at least two other upcoming animated projects that will soon go into production. The first is said to be “Riverdance,” which will be based around the famous Irish dance group. The second is called “Imaginary Friend,” is inspired by a song recorded by kid-hop artist Secret Agent 23 Skidoo.

This isn’t the first time Lloyd has entered the animated world.

A parody of the actor, named Harold Zoid, appeared in an episode of the Fox animated sitcom “Futurama,” entitled, "That's Lobstertainment!" Cast as a crustacean-like alien who was the grandfather of series regular Dr. Zoidberg, the character was shown in a few silent films that were parodies of films that Lloyd had made real life, in addition to wearing Lloyd’s iconic glasses and hat. With the series set in the future, the joke was that the style of classical silent films came back into fashion for early holograms produced in the 2920’s.