 The film was directed by Nickelodeon's "Rugrats" co-creator and former Hanna-Barbera animator Gábor Csupó, who was first recommended for the job by Walden Media President Cary Granat.Although Csupó had never worked on a live-action film before, it "didn't worry Granat in the least".Csupó stated that he was interested in making the film because he "had the ambition to do a live-action film for a long time", but that he "didn't like anything until I read this book".