Mars Needs Moms is a 3D computer-animated sci-fi film based on the book by Berkeley Breathed. It is set to be released by Walt Disney Pictures and will be directed by Simon Wells. The film stars Seth Green, Joan Cusack, Dan Fogler, Elisabeth Harnois and will be produced by Robert Zemeckis and his studio ImageMovers Digital.
Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she’s nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her “mom-ness” for their own young.
Milo’s quest to save his mom involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader (Mindy Sterling). With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a rebellious Martian girl called Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), Milo just might find his way back to his mom — in more ways than one.
The film will be the final project produced by ImageMovers Digital before its expected closure in 2011, and it is being created using performance capture. ImageMovers Digital is a studio run by film director Robert Zemeckis and The Walt Disney Company specializing in performance capture and CGI. On March 12, 2010, the Walt Disney Studios and ImageMovers Digital announced that they will close operations by January 2011, after the production is completed on Mars Needs Moms.
The IMAX release will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology.