The DisInsider has just learned that a new feature film is in development for Disney+.

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Songs For a Whale, based on the Lynne Kelly children’s novel, is currently in the stage of casting the film. It will be produced by Jane Starz (The Indian in the Cupboard, Ella Enchanted, Sneakerella) and will be adapted for the screen by original author Lynne Kelly. It will be released exclusively on Disney+, though a release date is unknown at this point.

The synopsis for the film will sound familiar to those who have read Kelly’s novel:

“Young Iris was born deaf and always had a problem feeling heard herself. When she discovers a lone whale singing at a frequency unintelligible to other whales, she sets out to find the frequency that will make Blue 55 feel less alone.”

Song For a Whale was published by Random House in 2019 to considerable praise and went on to win the Schneider Family Book Award. Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan (also adapted for Disney+) has called it “fascinating, brave and tender… A triumph.”

Lynne Kelly herself is a sign language interpreter and special education teacher whose knowledge of the Deaf community and culture gave her a unique perspective which she was able to capture in this, her second novel.