Great news for fans of Fantastic Mr. Fox is nigh–director Wes Anderson is officially returning to that film’s winning combination of stop-motion animation and cartoonish canines. Isle of Dogs, an obvious pun on the phrase “I love dogs,” is currently filming in London with an all-star cast that includes Edward Norton in the lead role of Rex the dog. Above, you can see the very first image of Rex as he appears in footage that has already been shot.

It’s not clear what the story will be, beyond the vague official synopsis of, “Set in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows a boy’s odyssey in search of his dog.” The Isle of Dogs was previously the title of a 16th-century English play banned for being too lewd and possibly slanderous, but no copies have survived for anyone to be sure. We can extrapolate, however, that there will be a Japanese element to the story, as the cast includes Kunichi Nomura. Koyu Rankin, Akira Ito, Akira Takayama, and Yoko Ono–and this is the first piece of official concept art:

As part of a fundraiser for the film foundation, Anderson is auctioning off items like the original artwork above, autographed DVDs, and the chance to win a small voice-over role in the film alongside the likes of Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, and Scarlett Johansson (you can also buy yourself a role outright for $50,000). Via Indiewire, here’s a video from Mr. Anderson explaining the whole thing:

Wes Anderson from Crowdrise on Vimeo.

No doubt the movie will not be a radical departure from the quirky non-sequitur humor of every one of the director’s movies to date, but that’s still pretty radical for American-directed animated features. The more distinct voices we have in animation, the better, and if it frees up Anderson to fully create a world from the ground up, that’s cause for celebration.

What do you think the movie will be like? We love comments, so let’s have some below!