Paul McCartney’s Animated Film Casts Hannah Waddingham, Celine Dion, & More

High in the Clouds, the long-awaited animated feature from Paul McCartney, has found its main cast. According to Variety, Celine Dion, Himesh Patel, and musical theater performer Hannah Waddingham lend their vocals to the movie, which will also feature Idris Elba, Lionel Richie, Ringo Starr, Jimmy Fallon, Clémence Poésy, Pom Klementieff, and Alain Chabat.

Based on McCartney's children's book that he wrote with Philip Ardagh, the animated film will be directed by Toby Genkel from a script by Jon Crocker. It will also feature new songs by the Beatles star, with a score by Michael Giacchino. Originally developed for Netflix, the movie is looking for a distributor in the U.S. 

High in the Clouds follows an imaginative teenage squirrel named Wirral who finds himself pulled into a ramshackle gang of teenage rebels who live high in the clouds after he accidentally antagonizes Gretsch the owl, the tyrannical leader who has banned music.

Hannah Waddingham's extensive work in the theatre includes the role of The Witch in The Wizard of Oz (opposite Michael Crawford and Danielle Hope), Desiree in A Little Night Music (Garrick Theatre and Menier Chocolate Factory), The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot (a role she originated in the West End, and played on Broadway), Into The Woods (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Bad Girls The Musical (West Yorkshire Playhouse), A Chorus of Disapproval (Theatr Clywd), Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Likes of Us (Sydmonton Festival), The Beautiful Game (Cambridge Theatre) and Lautrec (Shaftesbury Theatre). She has been twice nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (in 2007 for Spamalot and in 2010 for A Little Night Music).