Lisa Frank movie to bring ’90s nostalgia, rainbows, unicorns to the big screen
Lisa Frank's characters are coming to the big screen. Credit: Lisa Frank via Facebook
The colorful world of iconic 1990s school-supply artist Lisa Frank is in development as a movie.
In a statement first published by The Hollywood Reporter, producer Jon Shestack announced he is working to develop a live-action/animated film based on Frank’s rainbow-hued characters and designs. “Lisa Frank’s world is cheerful, it’s optimistic, it’s hip, but it is without snark,” Shestack, whose films include “The Last Seduction,” “Air Force One” and “Dan in Real Life,” announced in a statement. “It’s just sort of impossible to scowl when you’re smiling, and why would you want to? I’m so stoked to be part of this.”
Frank’s work, aimed at preteens and teens, leans heavily on motifs such as unicorns, puppies, ballet-dancing bunnies and a fluffy kitten named Purrscilla.
The reclusive artist, who has seldom been photographed or interviewed, added in a statement, “I have always wanted to do a feature film that brings the world of Lisa Frank to life. We have so much backstory on our characters and they have been alive in my imagination since the beginning.”
On Wednesday, Lisa Frank Inc. posted on the company’s Facebook page, “BIG NEWS!!!!!!! Coming soon....” and linked to The Hollywood Reporter article.
At its heyday in the late 1990s, the Tucson-based Lisa Frank Inc., founded in 1979, had sales of more than $60 million annually. By the early 2010s, according to Dun & Bradstreet, the company was earning in the area of $2.3 million a year, and no longer operates retail stores.
