With writing credits on Beauty and the Beast and Chicken Run, and even more credits as a storyboard artist, not to mention serving as director on Shrek 2 and most recently, Gnomeo & Juliet, it’s safe to say Kelly Asbury knows his way around an animated film. That should make him a good fit to write the adaptation of Pooch Cafe.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kelly has been tapped by Sony Pictures Animation to adapt the Paul Gilligan comic strip Pooch Cafe for a big screen release. The story centers on a dog named Poncho, described as a “cheese-loving, squirrel-fearing, toilet-drinking mutt who joins his canine friends at the Pooch Café, a neighborhood hangout where dogs can be dogs – comparing notes on such weighty issues as avoiding baths, zebra-flavored kibble, and the construction of a giant catapult with which to hurl all the Earthʼs cats into the Sun.”

So, this is clearly a pro-dogs movie, for those of you who consider cats to be the superior series. I’d count myself among that lot, but as someone who loves cheese and once feared squirrels as a child, it might not be all that difficult to relate to Poncho.


Sony Pictures Animation doesn’t have a lot under its belt, but it does have a lot in the works, including Pooch Cafe. The off-shoot of Sony Pictures Entertainment was behind Open Season, Surf’s Up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and The Smurfs. Cloudy was a loose adaptation of a book, and The Smurfs was a reboot/adaptation of sorts, so it’ll be interesting to see what the company does with Pooch Cafe. In the meantime, with Kelly set to write, it sounds like they have someone capable on board to get the story fit for a movie.