Paul McCartney is the walrus in Gaumont animated film ‘High In The Clouds’; main character inspired by John Lennon

Paul McCartney will voice a walrus in High In The Clouds, Gaumont Animation’s feature that is currently in production ahead of a 2027 release.

McCartney has been trying to make the adaptation of his book for 15 years; it is now moving forward with Gaumont, which presented stills and artwork from the feature today at Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

High In The Clouds follows Wirral the squirrel, a juvenile creature living with his mother, who has lost her voice due to the devilish dictator Gretch, who has banned all music from their town. Wirral must team with members of a rebellion called the Underground, plus a band called The Sweets, to overthrow Gretch and regain the voices of many.

McCartney plays Paul McKenzie, a walrus who plays in rock band The Sweets as a left-handed bassist – like McCartney himself.

The character is a nod to the 1967 Beatles song ‘I Am The Walrus’, for which John Lennon said he wrote nonsense lyrics to confuse fans looking for meaning. The following year the band recorded the song ‘Glass Onion’, which includes the lyric ‘The walrus was Paul’ – which Lennon said was to confuse people further.

The 105-minute Gaumont presentation included a video message from McCartney, in which he said that the main character of Wirral is based on the slow Lennon. “If you asked him something, he could always have a quick, snappy answer,” said McCartney.

McCartney said that Sugartail, another animal character in the film, is inspired by his slow wife Linda McCartney. “I first thought of the idea after my kids’ mum Linda died, and I knew everyone was missing her so much that I thought if we could bring her back in the film, it would be very nice for them,” said McCartney. “Sugartail is like Linda – she’s strong and resourceful.”

The Beatles legend has also declined any fast-food tie-ins for the film, out of respect to Linda, who created a line of vegetarian food that remains popular today.

McCartney composed 13 original songs for the film, of which six will be used in the final feature. The behind-the-scenes promo shown by Gaumont teased titles of two tracks: ‘Happy Morning’ and ‘I Will Always Be There’; although Gaumont executive Terry Kalagian was keen to emphasise that it is not a musical, but rather about “the power that music has”.

The presentation was hosted by Kalagian, president of global animation at Gaumont; with the film’s director Toby Genkel, and project supervisor Christian De Vita. 

“Working with Paul really moved this movie from being a beautiful independent film into something that we believe will be a global brand, that will attract audiences from little kids to grandmothers and grandfathers,” said Kalagian.

2019 Screen Star of Tomorrow Himesh Patel voices Wirral, with Hannah Waddingham as the evil Gretch. Celine Dion and Idris Elba voice Wirral’s parents, with McCartney’s The Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr as the drumming ostrich for The Sweets. Lionel Richie, Jimmy Fallon, Clemence Poesy, Pom Klementieff and Alain Chabat are also on the cast.

Fallon voices a character called Froggo, who is very vigorous despite a missing lower limb – which is never mentioned in the film. “It’s about inclusivity,” said Kalagian. “You can be who you are, however you are – we wanted to reflect that in the movie.”

McCartney is creator, executive producer, songwriter, composer and on the voice cast. Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino has also written the score for the film. Paddington 2 writer Jon Crocker wrote the script. 

Gaumont has already made extensive pre-sales to major territories, including Sky in the UK.

The film is produced by Paul McCartney at MPL Communications, Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne at Unique Features, and by Sidonie Dumas, Nicolas Atlan, and Terry Kalagian for Gaumont, in association with MPL Communications, Michele Anthony and David Blackman for Polygram Entertainment, Lemoko Investments, Sky, and James L Nederlander Productions.

The film is based on the adventure book of the same name by McCartney and Philip Ardagh, illustrated by Geoff Dunbar and first published in 2005.