Freckless Productions will release The Phantom Tollbooth Turns 50 documentary this summer. Back in November 2011, director Hannah Jayanti raised $31,000 on Kickstarter to cover the production costs.
The official trailer is embedded above–what do you think? The movie will include appearances by author Norton Juster, illustrator Jules Feiffer, and Emmy Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce (who narrated the audiobook edition). Here’s more about the film:
We follow Norton and Jules as they return to the house in Brooklyn Heights where Norton began writing a little story ‘to get his mind off of what he had to do.’ Working as an architect, Norton was awarded a grant for a book on Urban Perception, which he promptly didn’t write. Instead, he created Milo. When he showed his notes to his neighbor, a young political cartoonist bent on overthrowing the government, Jules began sketching – and The Phantom Tollbooth was born.
The Phantom Tollbooth has been published in many different languages and inspired a 1970 animated film adaptation. Bibliophiles celebrated The Phantom Tollbooth‘s 50th anniversary in 2011. Both Norton and Juster spoke at a special Brooklyn Book Festival panel commemorating their beloved children’s book.