Coming Soon!, via Variety, has a rather large update on Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment’s traditionally animation Curious George, set to arrive in theaters November 2005. Apparently, Universal sees the well-known monkey as “the company’s Mickey Mouse,” as it will appear on everything from water bottles to the studio’s letterhead. The budget for Curious George is somewhere near $40 million, which is half of what the budget was when it was planned to be computer-animated. Producer Brian Grazer has been developing the project for more than a decade, securing John Shapiro and David Kirschner, also producers on the the film. Written by Karey Kirkpatrick (Chicken Run), Joe Stillman (the Shrek series), Michael McCullers (the Austin Powers sequels) and Daniel Gerson and Rob Baird (Monsters, Inc.), Curious George will be directed by Jun Falkenstein (The Tigger Movie). The movie will conatin an original story, instead of one from the books, and will “emphasize contemporary plot points with ‘edgy’ humor, while sidestepping the ‘not exactly PC’ aspects found in the ‘George’ books (George was kidnapped from the jungle and later put in a zoo.).” However, not being changed is the fact that George will not have the ability to speak. Producer Ron Howard admits that George not talking does present a challenge, “but it’s also what makes him a great character.” Pre-production started on Curious George a year ago, with a staff of 75 animators, working fourteen-hour days. Once Curious George is completed, the studio may keep the animation division and its staff to work on more films.