Henry Selick, the wonderfully talented filmmaker behind The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, has set his sights on a new project: The very popular "Here Be Monsters" series by Alan Snow, the first chapter of which is called "The Ratbridge Chronicles."

According to IGN FilmForce, "Illustrated with more than 500 of Snow's black-and-white drawings, the story centers on a young boy who tries to save his town from an evil plot.

Selick compared the project to another popular animated kid book adaptation with broad-based appeal. "Like Shrek, Here Be Monsters is packed with multi-layered humor appealing to both child and adult audiences. It has a winning combination of the familiar elements of a boy's fight against evil, set in an extraordinary world, with a whimsical cast of characters."

LAIKA is currently working on the CG and stop-motion movie Coraline and the CG film Jack & Ben's Animated Adventure."