Elton Will Animate ALW's Joseph

Yesterday I heard the news that Rocket Pictures plans to produce an animated film version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the first musical of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Rocket Pictures is a British film company founded in 1996 by Elton John to produce family and music themed film and TV projects. It has acquired the film rights to Joseph from ALW's Really Useful Group that will be a co-producer. This musical was first presented as a 15-minute pop cantata at Colet Court School in London in 1968 and was recorded as a concept album in 1969. After the success of the next Lloyd Webber and Rice piece, Jesus Christ Superstar, the show received stage productions beginning in 1970 and expanded recordings in 1971 and 1972. While still undergoing various transformations and expansions, the musical was produced in the West End in 1973, and in its full format was recorded in 1974 and opened on Broadway in 1982. Several major revivals and a 1999 straight-to-video film, starring Donny Osmond, followed. I always loved this show for its disarming innocence.