“Flanimals” is coming to the big screen with the help of Universal-based Illumination Entertainment  creating  a 3-D animated feature based on  the  children’s book series by Ricky Gervais.

Gervais will voice the lead character, and the script will be written by Matt Selman (The Simpsons).

The four-volume series of creatures so ugly and misshapen they are cute and endearing is illustrated by Rob Steen. The story encompasses a world inhabited by these 50 species of creatures. Gervais’ character, a pudgy, perspiring purple creature, goes on a mission to change the world.