Weta Digital's The Wind in the Willows film has been revived with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

Peter Jackson's effects company will provide CGI animation for the four main characters of Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger, according to Variety, with Oscar-winner Richard Taylor overseeing the project.

Weta first became attached to a new version of Kenneth Grahame's classic children's novel in 2010. That film was slated for release in 2012.

Composite: Stuff Peter Jackson, left, and Julian Fellowes will collaborate on the project.

At the time, a Weta spokesperson told Stuff the Lord of the Rings digital effects outfit was making animatronic puppets for the project.

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The film didn't make it into production that time, but it now looks more certain with the involvement of Fellowes, who four years ago wrote a musical version of the 1908 novel for the West End.

Schindler's List Oscar-winner Gerald R Molen is reported to be producing the film, which will be shot at Jackson's Stone Street Studios in Miramar, Wellington.

Kent Blechynden Oscar winner Richard Taylor will oversee Weta's effects.

The Wind in the Willows features anthropomorphic animal characters living in a pastoral version of Edwardian England. Aside from the film versions, it has been adapted numerous times for stage, television and radio.

In 2014, The Guardian placed it at number 38 on its list of the greatest novels in the English language.