‘Rio’ Director To Helm ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ Live-Action Adaptation

If you grew up in the 70’s and the 80’s there’s a pretty good chance that you read the Phantom Tollbooth in school. The story does something that not many others have successfully been able to achieve. It blended fantasy and Math. Today it was announced that Carlos Saldanha, director of films like Rio, 4 of the 5 Ice Age flicks, and Ferdinand.

This is actually not the first time that The Phantom Tollbooth has been adapted to the big screen. In 1970, the book was adapted into a mostly animated film starring Eddie Munster (Buch Patrick) along with the voices of Mel Blanc and Chuck Jones.

Hailed as “a classic. . . . humorous, full of warmth and real invention” (The New Yorker), this beloved story–first published more than fifty ago–introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond.

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .