The Guardian Brothers: Meryl Streep, Zendaya to voice characters

Meryl Streep, Mel Brooks, Nicole Kidman, and Zendaya are set to voice characters in upcoming animated film The Guardian Brothers.

Streep will voice the movie’s storyteller, Mel, tracing the tale of a Chinese family in danger of losing its wonton soup shop. When the family’s grandmother dies, she leaves the restaurant in the hands of a young girl named Raindrop (Zendaya) and her mother (Kidman), who must combat a rival business owner’s attempt to sabotage it. This upsets The Guardians, a group of protectors who live across the universe and have watched over Earth’s humans for centuries, so two of its recent retirees step in to save the family.

The film was originally distributed in China in January under the title The Little Door Gods, directed by Gary Wang and produced by Zhou Yu. It serves as the second animated movie procured by The Weinstein Company this week, following The Nut Job 2 announcement on Monday.

Streep previously voiced characters in adventure comedies Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and The Ant Bully (2006), Brooks lent his vocals to the likes of Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), Spaceballs: The Animated Series, and Dora the Explorer, and Kidman took on Norma Jean for Happy Feet (2006). The Guardian Brothers will serve as Zendaya’s first major vocal role.