Director/illustrator Dave McKean and author SF Said will reteam to adapt Varjak Paw, their children’s book about a kung fu kitten, into an animated feature for the Jim Henson Company. McKean, who recently worked with the Hensons on his directorial debut MirrorMask, illustrated the book as well as its recently released follow-up The Outlaw Varjak Paw to which the Henson’s have optioned the rights.

When intruders threaten his family, the Mesopotamian blue kitten Varjak Paw journeys to the Outside for help and in the process discovers he is part of a mystical tradition of magical martial arts.

“Illustrating the ‘Varjak Paw’ books was a real pleasure,” McKean said. “This is a great classic adventure story with broad visual possibilities. I think it is an ideal project for The Jim Henson Company, SF and I to create.”

Varjak Paw was published in 2003 by David Fickling Books at Random House and won the Nestle Book Prize Gold Medal.