Brazilian-born director Carlos Saldanha is set to direct Rio, an animated film abouta nerdy macaw who sets off in Crosby and Hope's footsteps on the Road To Rio.

Now we know what you're thinking: what makes a macaw nerdy? We're assuming that  he has a particularly naff bell in his cage, or has lined the bottom of it with pages from The Trainspotter's Guide. In any case, he leaves the comfort of his cage, apparently in small-town Minnesota, and heads to Rio de Janeiro. Once there, he gets involved with a gang in the slums and...wait, no that's wrong. But he does go to Rio.

Saldanha previously worked on the Ice Age franchise, co-directing the first film, going solo on Meltdown, the second and lead-directing on the nearly-finished third instalment Dawn of the Dinosaurs. He also co-directed Robots, so it will not surprise you to know that this film is yet another with Blue Sky Studios, who made all of those.

So, macaws: a good subject for animation?